Ball State University
9-0
Jacksonville State
1-8
WVB Earns 3-1 Win Over Jacksonville State
September 10, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - - The Ball State women's volleyball team pushed its season-opening winning streak to nine matches with a 3-1 (23-25, 25-15, 25-22, 25-12) victory over Jacksonville State (1-8) Saturday afternoon in its second match of the 2011 Purdue Active Ankle Challenge at Holloway Gymnasium.
Play in the tournament concludes at 7:30 p.m. this evening with the Shondell Showdown, as head coach Steve Shondell and the Cardinals battle 13th-ranked Purdue which is led by his brothers Dave (head coach) and John (assistant coach) Shondell. Both the Cardinals (9-0) and Boilermakers (8-0) enter the match with undefeated records.
In the morning session victory, senior middle blocker Kelsey Brandl (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North H.S./Cincinnati) continued her stellar play, racking-up a match-best 16 kills to go along with a match-high .650 (16-3-20) hitting mark. She also tallied her eighth service ace of the tournament while logging a pair of blocks.
Junior transfer outside hitter Kara Bates (Bradley, Ill./Bradley Bourbonnais Community/Maryland) also turned in a strong performance, racking up 13 kills and a .250 hitting mark. She also collected six digs and an ace.
Senior middle blocker/right side attacker Jennifer Boyd (Evans City, Pa./Seneca Valley H.S.) carried the offensive load early for the Cardinals going off for nine kills in the first three sets, while finishing the match with a .600 (9-0-15) hitting mark.
Senior setter Brittany McGinnis (Fraser, Mich./Fraser H.S.) ran the offense to a .314 hitting mark, dishing out 38 assists while collecting eight digs, an ace and a block.
Sophomore libero Catie Fredrich (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls H.S.) paced all players with a match-best 14 digs.
In addition to the Shondell family connection in the nightcap, Jacksonville State junior outside hitter Jen Meyer is the younger sister of Ball State men's volleyball four-year letterwinners Nick (2004-07) and Lee (2008-11) Meyer. Meyer finished the match with four kills and a pair of blocks.
Liza Senenkova led the Gamecocks with 11 kills, while Stephanie Koontz added 10. Kelly Cole collected a team-best 11 digs.
As a team, the Cardinals limited Jacksonville State to a .103 hitting mark, while holding a 47-31 edge in digs. BSU also out-aced the Gamecocks 6-4, while JSU held an 8-4 edge in team blocks.
Ball State was the first to take control of the opening set, as an ace from senior defensive specialist Kaylee Schembra (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli H.S.) gave the Cardinals a 13-10 lead. The Gamecocks responded with the next three points and eventually pulled ahead 20-17. Kills from Brandl and Boyd helped BSU tie the score at 20, but three straight JSU points moved the score to 23-20.
Ball State would cut the gap to one, at 24-23, thanks to a kill from Lauren Grant (Egan, Minn./Eastview H.S./Cincinnati). However, following a Gamecocks timeout, a kill from Senenkova ended the set at 25-23.
The Cardinals jumped out to an early 8-4 lead in the second stanza, led by a pair of kills from Brandl. Jacksonville State battled back to take a brief 12-11 edge, but the timely substitution of sophomore outside hitter Kylee Baker (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North H.S.) sparked an 8-1 run from the Cardinals leading to a JSU timeout at 19-13.
The Gamecocks scored the first point out of the break, but BSU added the next three capped by an ace from sophomore setter/defensive specialist Jacqui Seidel (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles East H.S.) to make the score 22-14. Following another JSU point, Brandl blasted kills on the next three rallies to end the set 25-15.
With the score of the third frame tied at 11, a pair of BSU errors surrounding a JSU solo block helped the Gamecocks take a 14-11 edge. Ball State battled back to tie the score at 17, while the teams treaded three-point runs pushing the score to 20-20.
Several rallies later, back-to-back Brandl markers gave BSU its first lead since in the frame since the 1-0 mark, forcing JSU to call timeout trailing 23-22. Brandl followed with another blast to give the Cardinals set-point at 24-22. Ball State concluded the set on the next rally with a block from Brandl and McGinnis.
Six Jacksonville State attack errors and a McGinnis ace helped Ball State rattle off the first seven points of the fourth game. From there, the Cardinals were on cruise control, winning the frame 25-12 on Bates sixth kill of the set.
