Ball State University
16-3, 5-1MAC
Eastern Michigan
15-6, 3-3MAC
Women?s Volleyball Suffers First MAC Loss At EMU
October 09, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
YPSILANTI, Mich. - - The Ball State women's volleyball team could not complete another Saturday comeback, suffering its first Mid-American Conference loss of the season to Eastern Michigan by a score of 3-1 (25-20, 25-23, 16-25, 28-26) Saturday evening at EMU's Convocation Center.
While the Cardinals fall to 16-3 (5-1 MAC) with the loss, the effort remains BSU's best start to a season through the first 19 matches, tying the mark set in both 1973 and 2000. The Eagles improve to 15-6 (3-3 MAC) with the victory and snap BSU's 15-match MAC regular season winning streak.
Junior transfer outside hitter Kara Bates led a trio of Cardinals with double-digit kills, collecting a team-high 14. She also added a pair of blocks.
Senior middle blocker Kelsey Brandl finished the night with 10 kills and helped lead BSU in the third-set victory with five kills, three aces and a pair of blocks. Her three aces led all players, as did her six total blocks (one solo and five assists).
Senior middle blocker/right side attacker Jennifer Boyd added 11 kills, while hitting for a .409 (11-2-22) rate of success. She also collected four total blocks (one solo and three assists). Sophomore transfer Lauren Grant also had another solid outing, hitting .417 with six kills.
Defensively, sophomore libero Catie Fredrich led all players with a career-high 31 digs, while adding another perfect effort from the service line.
Senior setter Brittany McGinnis posted her 37th career double-double with 49 assists and 12 digs, while leading the Ball State offense to a .179 (57-27-168) hitting mark for the match. Also collecting double-digit digs for Ball State were sophomore outside hitter Kylee Baker and senior defensive specialist Kaylee Schembra with 16 and 13, respectively.
Eastern Michigan's Paige Roback led all players with 18 kills, while Rachel Iaquaniello and Kristen Baker each tallied 13 for EMU. Four Eagles finished the night with double-figure digs, led by Haley Stein's 23.
For the third consecutive match, the Cardinals tallied 12.0 total blocks as a team to limit the EMU offense to a .176 (57-26-176) hitting effort. The Eagles finished the contest with eight team blocks. BSU also held an 83-71 edge in digs and a 5-4 advantage in aces.
The Ball State women's volleyball team concludes its four-match road swing next weekend with matches at MAC East Division leader Ohio (Friday) and Kent State (Saturday). Both matches are scheduled for 7 p.m. first serves.
