Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
2-0
Indiana State
1-1
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana State | 15 | 22 | 18 | 0 |
| Ball State | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Women?s Volleyball Sweeps Indiana State, Improves To 2-0
August 28, 2010 | Women's Volleyball
FOLLOW THE ACTION IN THE 2010 SIUE COUGAR CLASSIC:
BSU vs. SIU-Edwardsville - - Live Stats / Audio / Video
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - - Ball State's (2-0) freshman outside hitters continued to shine Saturday morning, combining for 32 kills to lead the women's volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-18) victory over Indiana State (1-1) in the 2010 SIUE Cougar Classic at the Vadalabene Center.
"Much like last night, we were consistent from the beginning of the match to the end," said BSU head coach Steve Shondell. "We also found a way to hold on and win set two when ISU fought back within two at 23-21. We had exceptional play from our left-side attackers today, while our team as a whole turned in another solid, fundamentally sound performance."
The morning session saw freshman outside hitter Whitney Heeres (Flushing, Mich./Flushing Senior H.S.) take her turn leading the BSU offense, smashing a career-high 17 kills and hitting .353 (17-5-34) in just her second collegiate match. Heeres also added four digs and two block assists.
Fellow freshman outside Kylee Baker (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield H.S.) posted 15 kills for the second-consecutive match, while falling one dig shy of her first career double-double with nine. She also finished the match with a .464 (15-2-28) hitting mark. After her first two collegiate matches, Baker is hitting .529 with a team-best 30 kills on 51 swings with just three errors.
"Whitney and Kylee are both competing well and playing with confidence," said Shondell. "When you play with confidence, a lot of good things happen. They are out there having fun and hitting smart shots. Brittany is doing a good job getting them the ball and things are going well so far."
Behind some more solid setting from junior Brittany McGinnis (Fraser, Mich./Fraser H.S.), the Cardinals offense finished the match with a season-high .304 (50-16-112) attack percentage. McGinnis also got involved in the action, throwing down five kills and posting a .625 (5-0-8) rate of success.
In the backcourt, senior libero Alyssa Rio (Wayne, Ill./St. Francis H.S.) led all players with a match-high 13 digs, while junior Kaylee Schembra (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli H.S.) added 12.
Overall, the Cardinals limited Indiana State to a .167 (29-13-96) rate of success, while holding a 47 to 39 edge in digs. Morgan Dall paced the Sycamores' attack with 11 kills, while Kiya James added a team-best 10 digs.
McGinnis got the match started for the Cardinals with a quick over pass that slipped between the Indiana State defenders for a kill. From there, BSU charged to a 5-2 lead after kills from Heeres and Kelsey Brandl (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North H.S.).
After a kill from Charde' Phillips (Elyria, Ohio/Elyria H.S.) pushed the edge to four at 8-4, four kills from Baker over the next five rallies helped the Cardinals build a seven-point cushion at 12-5. With Ball State leading by seven at 20-13, two kills and a block assist from Heeres helped BSU surge ahead by nine at 23-14. A McGinnis kill gave BSU set-point at 24-14, while Heeres ended the frame two plays later at 25-15.
A couple of early BSU errors and two blocks from Dall helped the Sycamores build a 4-1 edge in the second set. With the Cardinals trailing 7-4, a kill from Mindy Marx (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven H.S.), a Baker service ace and a Heeres blast evened the score at seven. After a three-point run from ISU, Ball State rattled off the next five points to take their first lead of the frame at 12-10.
A Brandl kill and two more Baker smashes upped the Ball State lead to three at 16-13, while another Baker kill moved the score to 18-14. Indiana State scored the next two points, only to have kills from McGinnis and Heeres extend the advantage back to four at 20-16.
After two more Heeres kills helped push the score to 23-18, kills from ISU's Stacy Qualizza and Loni Mackinson cut the lead to two at 23-21 and forced a BSU timeout. A kill from Brandl after the break gave BSU set-point, while an Indiana State attack error ended the set at 25-22.
The teams battled to an 8-8 stalemate to open the third game, before a Marx kill and back-to-back Brandl blasts helped Ball State gain momentum and a three-point lead at 11-8. Brandl and Heeres combined for a block assist on the next play, forcing an early timeout from the Sycamores.
Ball State added the next two points after the pause in the game, upping their advantage to six at 14-8. The Cardinals would not let down from there, eventually winning the set 25-18 on a Rio service ace.
The Ball State women's volleyball team concludes play in the 2010 SIUE Cougar Classic later this evening, with a 7 p.m. (CT) showdown with the host SIU-Edwardsville Cougars.
