Ball State University
8-8 (2-1MAC)
Eastern Michigan
10-7 (1-2MAC)
Defense Lifts Volleyball Past Eastern Michigan
October 04, 2014 | Women's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. - - After falling behind two-sets-to-one, the Ball State women's volleyball team used a strong defensive effort to rally past Eastern Michigan by a score of 3-2 (25-16, 16-25, 16-25, 27-25, 15-13) Friday night at Worthen Arena.
With the win, the Cardinals even their overall record at 8-8 and improve to 2-1 in Mid-American Conference play. The Eagles fall to 10-7 (1-2 MAC) with the loss.
“I thought both teams really fought their hearts out tonight,” Ball State head coach Steve Shondell said. “It was the type of match you hate to see either team lose. Eastern Michigan may have played their best match of the year, making it really hard on us to score. I thought we played our best match defensively. Both teams really did a lot of good things, and I think that is why it came down to a two-point fifth set. It was such a hard-fought, well-played match by both teams.”
With EMU serving for match-point at 25-24 in the fourth set, kills from redshirt junior middle hitter Hayley Benson (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Bradley) and redshirt freshman outside hitter Sabrina Mangapora (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield) gave the Cardinals new life. Mangapora would follow with perhaps the biggest play of the match, recording a thunderous solo block on EMU's Katie Karsowski to extend the match to a fifth set.
In the final frame, the Cardinals pulled ahead 7-4 early, only to see the Eagles rally back and take a 13-12 lead. However, back-to-back Eastern Michigan errors set up a match-winning kill from redshirt junior middle hitter Kelly Hopkins (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo).
Hopkins would lead all players with a career-high 17 kills, while connecting for a .265 (17-8-34) rate of success. Benson and Mangapora also tallied double-digit kills for Ball State with 14 and 12, respectively.
In the backcourt, junior Kati Vasalakis (Yorktown, Ind./Yorktown) returned to the libero role to collect a career-high tying 24 digs, which paced all defenders. Sophomore defensive specialist Nikki Box (Yorktown, Ind./Yorktown) also finished the contest with a career-high 19 digs.
Junior setter Jenna Spadafora (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) guided the Ball State offense to a .178 (68-34-191) attack percentage for the match, handing out 58 assists, while collecting five kills of her own.
Jill Briner and Megan Crawshaw each posted 10 kills for the Eastern Michigan offense, while Natalie Folk led five Eagles with double-digit digs at 18. EMU hit .175 (48-21-154) at a team for the match.
The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to action Saturday, when it hosts Central Michigan at 7 p.m. in another pivotal MAC West Division showdown at Worthen Arena.
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State women's volleyball, follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateWVB and @SteveShondell on Twitter.
- BallStateSports.com -
