Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
6-0
Oakland
3-4
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland | 23 | 21 | 14 | 0 |
| Ball State | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Women?s Volleyball Takes Active Ankle Title With Sweep Of Oakland
September 05, 2010 | Women's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State (6-0) women's volleyball team captured the 2010 Active Ankle Challenge title with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-14) sweep of Oakland (3-4) Saturday evening at Worthen Arena.
The Cardinals, who have not dropped a set this season, are off to their best start since 1989, when BSU also started 6-0. Ball State's 18-set winning streak is also the fourth-longest in program history. The best start in a season for a BSU squad came in 1973, when the team run off 10-straight to open the second season in program history.
"I thought tonight was as well as we have competed all year," said first-year head coach Steve Shondell. "It was a match where we had everyone playing well, which very seldom happens in volleyball. We felt like for us to succeed and win tonight, we needed good performances from everybody."
As a team, the Cardinals connected for a season-best .339 attack percentage, with 48 kills to just eight errors in 112 attempts. Junior setter Brittany McGinnis (Fraser, Mich./Fraser H.S.) did another solid job spreading out the BSU offense, with five players collecting at least five kills and at least 12 attempts.
"Our offense is coming together," said Shondell. "It is something we are working hard at and hope to continue to improve."
After her third straight strong match of the tournament, junior middle blocker Kelsey Brandl (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North H.S.) was named the tournament's MVP. In the championship match versus Oakland, she scored 10 kills and hit .381 (10-2-21). She also collected three more digs and two more blocks.
"Kelsey gave us three great matches," said Shondell about the tournament MVP. "She is bringing leadership to the team, competing well and coming through when games are on the line. She is doing everything we expect her to do, and really need her to do. I thought she had a solid tournament from start to finish, which is why she was rewarded with a great honor."
Freshman outside hitter Kylee Baker (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North H.S.) led the Ball State offense with 16 kills and finished the match without a hitting error in 36 attempts for a .444 hitting mark. She also tallied 11 digs for her first career double-double to earn a spot on the all-tournament team.
Freshman outside hitter Whitney Heeres (Flushing, Mich./Flushing Senior H.S.) also turned in a solid attacking night for the Cardinal and white, blasting seven kills and recording a .300 (7-1-20) hitting mark. With the score of the first set tied at 21, Heeres came through with three huge kills to shift the momentum back to BSU's side in the 25-23 opening-frame win.
Junior middle blocker Jennifer Boyd (Evans City, Pa./Seneca Valley H.S.) and senior right side Charde' Phillips (Elyria, Ohio/Elyria H.S.) added six and five kills, respectively, in the contest.
Senior libero Alyssa Rio (Wayne, Ill./St. Francis H.S.) was also named to the all-tournament squad after pacing all players with 22 digs. She also added the Cardinals' lone service ace of the contest.
Overall, the Ball State defense limited Oakland to a tournament-low .140 (37-19-129) attack percentage, despite 13 kills from Meghan Bray. Brittany Dunn led the Golden Grizzlies with 15 digs. For their efforts throughout the tournament, Oakland's Jenna Lange and Ashley Nevelle were named to the all-tournament team.
In the opening match of Saturday's evening session, Robert Morris (3-4) earned a hard-fought 3-1 (25-22, 31-29,23-25, 25-19) victory over Tennessee State (0-4). Amanda Craig represented Robert Morris on the all-tournament team, while Muncie native Kamille King earned Tennessee State's selection.
In the opening set, Ball state surged to an 8-2 edge thanks to some strong serving from McGinnis and Catie Fredrich (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls H.S.), which helped force five early Golden Grizzlies errors. Oakland battled back within one at the 9-8 mark, only to have the Cardinals push the lead back to four at 13-9 after a Boyd kill and back-to-back OU attack errors.
BSU maintained the four-point edge at 21-17, before a pair of kills from Bray sparked a 4-0 Oakland run which tied the set at 21. Two Heeres kills gave BSU a 23-21 lead, only to have kills from Allison Bell and Bray knot the score back at 23. Heeres followed with perhaps her biggest kill of the night, giving BSU set-point, while a Brandl blast on the next rally ended the frame at 25-23.
Ball State led from start to finish in the second game, as Brandl picked up where she left off with a kill to open the set. BSU led by as many as four early, before back-to-back aces from Brittany Holbrook and a Amber Miehlke ace helped rally OU back within one at 14-13.
A kill from Baker stopped the run, however, and BSU pulled back ahead by five at 20-15 after kills from Heeres and Brandl. A Phillips kill gave BSU set-point at 24-20, while a Boyd marker ended the frame at 25-21.
The Cardinals jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the third set, and never looked back, winning 25-14. BSU took its first 10-point lead at 18-8 on a Heeres kill, before winning the match on a solo block from Baker.
The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to action Tuesday, when it hosts in-state rival IUPUI in a 7 p.m. first serve at Worthen Arena.
