Ball State University
4-6
IPFW
5-6
Women?s Volleyball Wins Five-Set Thriller At IPFW
September 18, 2014 | Women's Volleyball
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - - After winning the program's longest set in the 25-point rally scoring era to open the match, the Ball State (4-6) women's volleyball team held on for a thrilling 3-2 (36-34, 21-25, 25-22, 28-26, 15-12) victory at IPFW (5-6) Wednesday evening at the Gates Sports Center.
“Tonight was like a rollercoaster, which has been the story to our season,” Ball State head coach Steve Shondell said. “I thought we came-of-age tonight, and had some people step up and compete better than they have all year. It was such a great team effort to come here today and beat a strong IPFW team on their home court. I am proud of the way we stayed mentally tough at crunch time tonight.”
In a return to her hometown, junior setter Jenna Spadafora (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) dished out a career-high 60 assists and guided the Ball State offense to a .196 (64-32-163) attack percentage in the victory. She also came up with a critical kill, her only one of the match, late in the fifth set to help seal the victory.
Overall, three Cardinals finished the match with double-digit kills led by redshirt freshman outside attacker Sabrina Mangapora (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield) and redshirt sophomore outside attacker Mackenzie Kitchel (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove/Cincinnati) at 15 apiece.
In addition, redshirt junior middle hitter Kelly Hopkins (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo) added 14 kills, to go along with a team-best .333 (14-4-30) attack mark.
In the backcourt, redshirt junior libero Alex Fuelling (Decatur, Ind./Bellmont/Morehead State) led all players with a career-high 24 digs. Overall, Ball State held a 73-to-56 advantage in digs for the match.
IPFW's Emily Spencer led all players with 27 kills, while Kendall Wienkes logged a team-high 14 digs. As a team, IPFW connected for a .230 (70-27-187) rate of success, while holding a 16.0-to-6.0 edge in total blocks.
After falling behind 6-1 in the opening set, the Cardinals rallied back to take their first lead of the match, at 11-10, on a block assist from redshirt junior middle hitter Hayley Benson (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Bradley) and Spadafora. With Ball State holding a 16-14 edge, the host Mastodons fought back to tie the score with the next two points and from there an epic battle ensued.
The teams played to a 34-34 stalemate before kills from Benson and Mangapora sealed a win for the Cardinals in their longest set in the 25-point rally scoring era.
Ball State jumped out to a 16-10 lead in the second set, only to see IPFW respond with a 9-2 run to take a 19-18 advantage. The Cardinals managed to reclaim the lead momentarily, at 20-19, only to see the Mastodons rattle off six of the final eight points to win the set 25-21.
IPFW surged out to a 5-1 lead in the third set, and held a five-point edge at the 17-12 mark. This time, however, it was Ball State's turn for the come-back as the guests fought back to tie the score at 22-22. After IPFW's second timeout of the set, a costly attack error gave Ball State a 23-22 lead. Mangapora followed with her second solo block in the late-set run, while a Spadafora solo block capped the set and the Cardinals' comeback at 25-22.
The fourth set was another back-and-forth battle as the teams played to a 23-23 stalemate. IPFW had the first chance to win the set at 24-23, but Mangapora and freshman opposite Jessica Lindsey (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) followed with back-to-back kills to give Ball State its first match point at 25-24. Unfortunately, IPFW would survive two match points from the Cardinals, and win the set 28-26.
In set five, Ball State pulled ahead 5-3 after a kill from Mangapora. However, the Mastodons stormed back with the next four points to take a 7-5 lead and force a Cardinals timeout. After an IPFW ball handling error, back-to-back kills from Kitchel and Lindsey gave Ball State an 8-7 edge at the court switch.
The hosts tied the set on the next rally, and the score remained tied at the 12-12 mark. Mangapora broke the stalemate her career-high tying 15th kill of the match, while back-to-back IPFW errors ended the game at 15-12 and the match at 3-2 in favor of Ball State.
The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to action Friday, when it opens play in the VCU Invitational with matches versus East Tennessee State (Noon) and Virginia (5 p.m.).
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State women's volleyball, follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateWVB and @SteveShondell on Twitter.
- BallStateSports.com –
