Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
21-4 (11-2MAC)
Eastern Michigan
22-8 (9-4MAC)
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ball State | 16 | 25 | 16 | 25 | 15 | 3 |
| Eastern Michigan | 25 | 22 | 25 | 23 | 7 | 2 |
WVB Battles Past EMU, Takes Two-Match MAC Lead
November 06, 2010 | Women's Volleyball
YPSILANTI, Mich. - - In a match fitting of the top two teams in the Mid-American Conference, the Ball State women's volleyball team tallied a pivotal 3-2 (16-25, 25-22, 16-25, 25-23, 15-7) come-from-behind victory over Eastern Michigan Friday evening at EMU's Convocation Center.
With the win, the Cardinals (21-4 / 11-2 MAC) take a two-match lead in the MAC regular season standings with three matches left to play. With a win tomorrow night at Central Michigan (7 p.m. first serve), the Cardinals can secure at least a tie for the MAC regular season title for the first time since the 2002 season.
Eastern Michigan drops to 22-8 (9-4 MAC) with the loss and is now tied with Northern Illinois (9-4 MAC) and Western Michigan (9-4 MAC) for second-place in the MAC West Division and regular season race.
"Tonight we put together a tremendous come-from-behind victory over a team that was right on our heels in the conference race," said Ball State head coach Steve Shondell. "To go on the road and beat a team that played as well as Eastern Michigan did tonight is a great achievement. We are real excited to come away with the victory after such a seesaw battle on EMU's home court."
In Friday's win over the Eagles, freshman outside attackers Kylee Baker (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North H.S.) and Whitney Heeres (Flushing, Mich./Flushing Senior H.S.) paced the Ball State offense with 16 and 14 kills, respectively. Baker added 12 digs for her sixth double-double of the season, while posting a solo stuff and a .271 (16-3-48) hitting percentage. Heeres added three digs and a block assist, while connecting for a .182 (14-4-55) clip.
Junior middle blocker Kelsey Brandl (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North H.S.) added 13 kills to go along with a .407 (13-2-27) hitting percentage, while also securing three blocks.
Reigning CVU.com National Player of the Week Alyssa Rio (Wayne, Ill./St. Francis H.S.) led the Ball State defense with 27 digs, while adding BSU's only two aces, including a match-winner. With her 27 digs, Rio is now three shy of becoming the second player in program history to collect 2,000 career digs at 1,997.
Junior defensive specialist Kaylee Schembra (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli H.S.) and freshman defensive specialist Catie Fredrich (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls H.S.) finished the night with 19 and 10 digs, respectively.
Junior setter Brittany McGinnis (Fraser, Mich./Fraser H.S.) guided the Ball State offense to a .243 (58-15-177) rate of success in the contest, including a .556 (10-0-18) mark in the final set. She handed out a team-best 53 assists to go along with seven digs and three blocks.
Also turning in solid offensive numbers for the Cardinals were junior right side hitter Jennifer Boyd (Evans City, Pa./Seneca Valley H.S.) and freshman middle blocker Mindy Marx (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven H.S.) with seven apiece. Boyd connected for three straight kills midway through the fifth set, while Marx hit .600 (7-1-10) for the match.
Eastern Michigan also had three players tally double-figure kills in the contest with 18 each from Rachel Iaquaniello and Paige Robeck. Both also added 18 digs in the match, while EMU libero Haley Stein collected a match-best 29. Erin Short added 15 kills for the Eagles.
With Ball State holding a 5-4 lead in the opening frame, a kill from Robeck sparked a 6-0 run to give the host Eagles an 11-5 lead. The Cardinals scored three of the next four points, cutting the EMU advantage to four at 12-8. From there, however, Eastern Michigan scored the next five points and went on to win the set 25-16.
Eastern Michigan carried over the momentum early in the second stanza, as two kills from Robeck helped the Eagles pull out to a 4-1 lead. A pair of EMU service errors and an ace from Rio helped BSU battle back within one at 5-4. While the Eagles were able to build another three-point lead at the 9-6 mark, a kill from Brandl and a pair of errors from the hosts evened the score at nine.
Moments later, kills from Heeres, Marx and Boyd gave the guests a 13-11 advantage. Eastern Michigan answered with the next four points, reclaiming the lead and forcing a BSU timeout at 15-13. A three-point run sparked by a Boyd kill looked to give the Cardinals momentum, but EMU followed with the next four points leading to Ball State's second timeout at 19-16.
Eastern Michigan added another point after the break, only to have a pair of Baker kills help Ball State battle back and even the score at 20-20. Two more Baker kills helped give the Cardinals a 23-21 lead, while an EMU service error gave BSU set-point at 24-22. Brandl and McGinnis followed with a set-winning block at 25-22 to even the match at one set apiece.
Another early run gave the hosts another 4-1 lead to open the third set. The Cardinals responded with kills from Marx, Brandl and Baker to tie the score at 4-4. With the frame knotted at eight, the Eagles were able to capitalize on three BSU errors to build a 13-9 edge forcing BSU's first timeout of the set.
Unfortunately, EMU added four of the next five points leading to Ball State's second timeout of the frame at 17-10. The Eagles went on to win the game 25-16 on a Jenn Swartz marker.
Brandl scored two early kills in the fourth frame, helping Ball State establish a 4-1 lead. EMU battled back within one at the 8-7 mark, only to have kills from Brandl and Baker help reestablish BSU's three-point edge at 10-7. Moments later, a kill from Heeres and an EMU attack error pushed the score to 13-9 leading to a timeout from the hosts.
With Ball State maintaining a 15-12 edge, EMU rattled off the next three points, tying the score at 15 and causing a BSU minute break. The score remained deadlocked at 18-18, before a Baker blast and an Eagles error gave BSU the next two points. After an Iaquaniello marker, kills from Brandl and Heeres moved the score to 22-19 in favor of the guests.
Following an Eastern Michigan timeout, the Eagles responded with the next two points to draw within one at 22-21. Kills from Heeres and Boyd helped give BSU set-point at 24-22, while an EMU service error ended the frame at 25-23.
In the pivotal final set, the teams battled to a 4-4 stalemate, before a Brandl kill sparked a 3-0 run from Ball State, giving the Cardinals a 7-4 advantage. A kill from Heeres two plays later gave BSU an 8-5 edge at the side switch.
Behind three-straight kills from Boyd, the Cardinals extended their lead to five points at the 11-6 mark. After a kill from EMU's Short moved the score to 11-7, four straight Ball State points ended the set at 15-7 and gave the Cardinals a two-match advantage in the MAC standings entering the final three matches of the season. A Brandl kill gave BSU match-point at 14-7, while Rio's second ace of the night secured the Ball State victory.
