Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
23-4 (13-2MAC)
Toledo
10-16 (5-10MAC)
Women's Volleyball Sweeps Toledo; Earns MAC Title
November 12, 2010 | Women's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. - - With the crowd erupting throughout the arena, a blast from freshman outside hitter Kylee Baker (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North H.S.) helped the Ball State women's volleyball team clinch a 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-19) victory over Toledo and the outright 2010 Mid-American Conference Regular Season Championship Thursday evening at Worthen Arena.
The Cardinals, who improved to 23-4 (13-2 MAC), earn the program's eighth MAC Regular Season title and first since the 2002 season. Ball State also remains a perfect 11-0 in home matches this season, and extends its overall homecourt winning streak to 14 dating back to last season. Toledo falls to 10-16 (5-10 MAC) with the loss.
"This is a great night for Ball State University and our volleyball program," said BSU first-year head coach Steve Shondell. "We are really excited to end the eight-year drought of hanging a banner in this arena. I am really proud of the girls not only for how they played tonight, but how hard they have worked to get to this point. I am really excited for the University to win a MAC Championship."
While Baker smashed the eventual match-winner, it was the play of fellow freshman middle blocker Mindy Marx (Grand Haven, H.S./Grand Haven Mich.) which sparked the Cardinals to outright MAC title. Marx tied for match-high honors with a career-best 12 kills, while hitting for a career-high .588 (12-2-17) rate of success. She also finished the night with a career-high and match-best five total blocks.
"Everything Mindy did tonight seemed to turn to gold," added Shondell. "They could not stop her offensively and she blocked a lot of balls. She played like she is capable of playing tonight. I think she caught Toledo a little off guard, they were not expecting a match like that from her."
Junior middle blocker Kelsey Brandl (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North H.S.) also turned in a strong effort for the Cardinals, tying Marx for match-high honors with 12 kills, while adding a .632 (12-0-19) hitting mark. She also tallied three blocks to help BSU hold an 11 to 0 advantage in team blocks for the night.
Junior setter Brittany McGinnis (Fraser, Mich./Fraser H.S.) guided the Cardinals' offense to a .358 (46-8-106) rate of success for the night, while handing out 38 assists and collecting nine digs. She also tallied three kills and a block.
Rounding out BSU's top attackers were junior right side hitter Jennifer Boyd (Evans City, Pa./Seneca Valley H.S.) and Baker. Boyd collected eight kills and a .412 (8-1-17) hitting mark, while Baker blasted seven markers to go along with eight digs.
In the backcourt, senior libero Alyssa Rio (Wayne, Ill./St. Francis H.S.) added a match-best 21 digs to help the Cardinals hold a 60 to 44 edge in the category for the match.
Lauren Rafdal paced the Toledo offense with 12 kills. As a team, the Cardinals limited the Rockets to a .147 (34-17-116) hitting effort. UT libero Katie Westerfeld added a team-high 14 digs.
With the Cardinals holding a slim 11-10 advantage in the opening set, a dump from McGinnis sparked a 7-3 run giving BSU an 18-13 edge and forcing Toledo to use both its timeouts. Kills from Boyd and Marx extended the lead to six at 20-14, only to see UT battle back within three at 21-18.
That is where Brandl came to life, connecting for three-straight kills to give BSU set-point at 24-18. Brandl then combined with Baker for a set-winning block at 25-18.
The Rockets held within one point for the first part of the opening set, as BSU played to a 14-13 lead. However three UT errors and a McGinnis kill gave Ball State a 17-13 advantage and the momentum in the set. With the Cardinals leading 22-17, a kill and block from Whitney Heeres (Flushing, Mich./Flushing Senior H.S.) pushed BSU to set-point at 24-17, while a Toledo attack error ended the frame at 25-17.
After the teams traded the first six points of the third set, three BSU blocks over the next four rallies, with two including Marx, forced an early Toledo timeout at 7-3. The Cardinals added the next point, thanks to a Heeres kill, and played to a seven-point edge at 17-10.
While four-straight Toledo points cut the BSU edge to 17-14, the Cardinals came out of a timeout with kills from Brandl and Marx to reclaim the momentum. A furious rally at the end, which included a pair of spectacular digs from Rio, gave BSU match-point at 24-19. The Cardinals then locked up the 2010 MAC Regular Season title with a kill from Baker on the next play.
The Ball State women's volleyball team closes out the 2010 regular season Saturday with a 7 p.m. first serve against Akron. BSU will honor its five-member senior class which includes Rio, Hannah Sullivan (New Albany, Ind./New Albany H.S.), Karin Caudill (Selma, Ind./Burris Laboratory School), Charde' Phillips (Elyria, Ohio/Elyria H.S.) and Alexis Shonkwiler (Marion, Ind./Eastbrook H.S.) who is electing to graduate on time instead of using her final year of eligibility.
