Ball State University
6-0
Murray State
0-7
WVB Earns Marriott Volley Brawl Tournament Title
September 03, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
VALPARAISO, Ind. - - With a 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-17) sweep of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Saturday evening at Valparaiso's ACR, the Ball State women's volleyball team took home the 2011 Marriott Volley Brawl Tournament championship.
The Cardinals went a perfect 4-0 in the tournament to improve to 7-0 for the second straight season under second-year head coach Steve Shondell.
For their efforts in the two-day tournament, senior middle blocker Kelsey Brandl (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North H.S./Cincinnati) was named the tournament Most Valuable Player and junior outside hitter Kara Bates (Bradley, Ill./Bradley Bourbonnais Community H.S./Maryland) was named to the all-tournament team.
Brandl finished the tournament with a team-best 50 kills, while posting a .395 (35-7-80) hitting percentage. She also served up a team-best five aces. Bates added 35 kills and a .350 (35-7-80) hitting mark, while collecting 28 digs.
In Saturday evening's win over the Islanders, Bates blasted 11 kills while hitting for a .455 (11-1-22) rate of success. She also collected 10 digs for her first double-double for the Cardinals.
Sophomore outside hitter Whitney Heeres (Flushing, Mich./Flushing Senior H.S.) added a match-best 12 kills in the contest, while collecting three digs.
Sophomore middle blocker Mindy Marx (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven H.S.) posted a match-best .600 hitting mark, scoring seven kills on 10 swings with one error. The effort helped the Cardinals hold a .255 (43-16-106) to .132 (29-15-106) hitting edge in the victory.
Sophomore libero Catie Fredrich (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls H.S.) scored a match-high 19 digs, helping Ball State to a 56-41 lead digs. Fredrich finished the tournament with 75 total digs for a 5.36 digs-per-set average.
Brianna Brink led the Islanders with eight kills, while Micah Nolan collected a team-high 11 digs.
The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to action Friday, when it battles Western Carolina at 4 p.m. in its first of three matches at the Purdue Active Ankle Challenge.
BALL STATE VERSUS MURRAY STATE RECAP
VALPARAISO, Ind. - - The Ball State women's volleyball team opened the second day of action in the 2011 Marriott Volley Brawl with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-19) sweep of Murray State Saturday afternoon at Valparaiso's ARC.
With the win, BSU improves to 3-0 in the two-day event and is one win shy of claiming the tournament title. The Cardinals, who move to 6-0 on the season, battle Texas A&M-Corpus Christi later this evening at 7 p.m. (CT). The Racers fall to 0-7 with the loss.
As a team, the Cardinals connected for a season-best .384 (50-12-99) hitting percentage, led by senior middle blocker/right side attacker Jennifer Boyd's (Evans City, Pa./Seneca Valley H.S.) .700 effort. Boyd finished the match with a season-high 14 kills on 20 swings with no errors. She also tallied a team-high four total blocks and a service ace.
Also turning in solid attacking numbers was senior middle blocker Kelsey Brandl (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville H.S./Cincinnati) who hit .667 for the contest with 14 kills on 18 swings with two errors. Brandl also tallied three blocks to help BSU to a 7-3 advantage in team blocks.
Sophomore outside hitter Whitney Heeres (Flushing, Mich./Flushing Senior H.S.) added 10 kills in the contest, while junior outside hitter Kara Bates (Bradley, Ill./Bradley Bourbonnais Community H.S./Maryland) posted eight.
Senior setter Brittany McGinnis (Fraser, Mich./Fraser H.S.) led BSU to its best attacking mark of the season by dishing out a match-best 46 assists to go along with two digs and an ace. The effort moves McGinnis to fourth in program history with 3,580 career assists.
In the backcourt, sophomore libero Catie Fredrich (Menomonee Falls, Wis./Menomonee Falls H.S.) collected a match-best 17 digs, giving her 56 for the tournament for a 5.09 digs-per-set average.
Teresa Krog led the Murray State attack with 16 kills, while Kayleah Sauer collected a team-high 13 digs.
Ball State's defense held the Racers to a .239 hitting mark for the contest, while holding a 41-37 edge in team digs.
