Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
24-4 (14-2MAC)
Akron
15-13 (7-9MAC)
WVB Ends Regular Season With 3-1 Win Over Akron
November 14, 2010 | Women's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State women's volleyball team completed the 2010 regular season and celebrated senior night with a 3-1 (21-25, 25-19, 25-17, 25-17) victory over Akron Saturday evening at Worthen Arena.
The Cardinals conclude the 2010 regular season with a 24-4 (14-2 Mid-American Conference) record, which ties as the best 28-match record in program history. The Zips dropped to 15-13 (7-9 MAC) with the loss.
"While it took us a little while to get going, I thought we played really well tonight," said BSU head coach Steve Shondell. "Akron is a nice ball club, extremely well coached and led the East Division for a few weeks this year. I knew it would take an outstanding effort to beat them, especially coming off the emotional Thursday night MAC Championship win."
Leading BSU's senior group on the court was libero Alyssa Rio (Wayne, Ill./St. Francis H.S.) who picked up a match-best 29 digs. She also tallied a service ace and picked up a kill to help the Cardinals complete a perfect 12-0 home record this season. With the 29-dig effort, Rio raised her team-leading digs-per-set average to 5.88. She entered the match ranked second in the nation at 5.82.
Seniors Charde' Phillips (Elyria, Ohio/Elyria H.S.), Hannah Sullivan (New Albany, Ind./New Albany H.S.), Karin Caudill (Selma, Ind./Burris Laboratory School) and Alexis Shonkwiler (Marion, Ind./Eastbrook H.S.) also contributed in the victory.
"We sent our seniors out in style tonight," added Shondell. "We were able to get them all on the floor and it was exciting to pick up a win for them after all the hard work and dedication they have given us. We had a great crowd tonight, and they really got behind our seniors and team."
Offensively, three Cardinals finished the contest with double-digit kills, led by 14 from freshman outside hitter Whitney Heeres (Flushing, Mich./Flushing Senior H.S.).
Junior right side hitter Jennifer Boyd (Evans City, Pa./Seneca Valley H.S.) added 13 kills and hit a team-best .522 (13-1-23). Freshman outside hitter Kylee Baker (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North H.S.) added 10 kills in the contest, while collecting eight digs.
Also turning in a solid all-around effort was junior middle blocker Kelsey Brandl (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North H.S.) with seven kills and a .312 (7-2-16) hitting mark. She also blasted a match-best four aces, including three straight in the final set to give BSU match-point.
Freshman middle blocker Mindy Marx (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven H.S.) also tallied seven kills, while tying Brandl for match-high honors with four total blocks.
Junior setter Brittany McGinnis (Fraser, Mich./Fraser H.S.) guided the Ball State offense to a .276 (55-20-127) rate of success for the match, handing out 47 assists, while adding seven digs, three kills and three aces.
As a team, Ball State limited the Zips' offense to a .175 (49-24-143) mark, with Tina Dimitrijevs collecting a team-high 13 kills. Chelsea Harvey added a team-best 16 digs.
The 2010 MAC Regular season champions, Ball State has earned the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in the upcoming MAC Tournament and will play in the third quarterfinal match at 4:30 p.m. Friday at the SeaGate Centre in Toledo, Ohio.
"The MAC Tournament is going to be a great challenge for all the teams who are there," said Shondell. "All eight teams that make it Toledo could win, there is that much parody in the league. We are not taking anything for granted. I hope we can go in, compete and play well. There is no clear-cut favorite going into the tournament, it is wide open."
The teams battled to a 9-9 deadlock in the opening set, before a BSU attack error and Alex Cocklin kill sparked a 6-1 run from the guests, giving Akron a 15-11 advantage. The Zips extended their lead to six, at the 22-16 mark, only to have a Heeres marker and back-to-back Boyd blasts bring BSU back within three and force an Akron timeout at 22-19.
Unfortunately, the Zips answered with the next two points, and went on to win the frame 25-21 on an Ari Mewhorter kill.
With the teams holding even at the 12-12 mark of the second stanza, a kill from Boyd and a McGinnis service aces helped spark a 5-0 Cardinals run, pushing the score to 17-12. The Zips crawl back within three at the 19-16 mark, only to have a Baker smash spark a 4-0 BSU run to make the score 23-16.
Another Baker kill gave BSU set-point at 24-17, while an Akron service error ended the set at 25-19.
With Ball State holding a 9-8 edge in the third game, back-to-back kills from Heeres and Baker, followed by Brandl's first ace of the night, led to an Akron timeout at 12-8. BSU added the next point after the break, and maintained the four-point lead at the 18-14 mark.
After a Jackie Goleman kill cut the BSU advantage to three, at 18-15, a pair of kills from Brandl surrounding a sneak attack kill from Rio gave Ball State the momentum back and a 21-15 lead. Moments later, another McGinnis ace gave BSU set-point, while a Boyd marker ended the frame at 25-17.
Ball State held another slim one-point lead at the 11-10 mark of the fourth game, only to have back-to-back Heeres kills give them the momentum in the frame, as well as a 13-10 lead. A block from Boyd and Brandl pushed the edge to six at the 18-12 mark.
Following a Heeres kill which made the score 21-17, three straight aces from Brandl set up match-point for the Cardinals. Shondell would turn to four-year senior Caudill to serve the final point, as her effort helped set up a match-winning kill from Marx.
