Ball State University
7-8 (1-1MAC)
Northern Illinois
9-7 (2-0MAC)
Strong Middle Play Fails To Lift Volleyball Past NIU
September 28, 2014 | Women's Volleyball
DEKALB, Ill. - - Despite a dominating performance from its middle attackers, the Ball State women's volleyball team suffered a 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-15) loss to Northern Illinois Saturday night in Mid-American Conference action at Victor E. Court.
The Cardinals drop to 7-8 (1-1 MAC) with the loss, while the Huskies improve to 9-7 (2-0 MAC) with the victory.
Ball State's middles turned in a dominating offensive performance despite the setback, as redshirt juniors Kelly Hopkins (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo) and Hayley Benson (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Bradley) combined for 21 kills and a .545 (21-3-33) attack percentage. Hopkins smashed 11 of those kills, while connecting for a career-best .643 (11-2-14) attack percentage. Benson finished the match with 10 kills and a .474 (10-1-19) hitting mark.
Redshirt freshman outside hitter Sabrina Mangapora (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield) collected nine kills and hit .353 (9-3-17) for the Cardinals, while redshirt junior libero Alex Fuelling (Decatur, Ind./Bellmont/Morehead State) was the only player to collect double-digit digs in the match, with 10.
Junior setter Jenna Spadafora (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) guided the Cardinals offense to a .265 (38-16-83) attack percentage for the match, dishing out 33 assists while adding nine digs and three kills.
NIU's Mackenzie Roddy led all players with 15 kills, while Jenna Radtke added 10. T'ara Austin had a team-high seven digs for Northern Illinois. Overall, the Huskies hit .382 (43-9-89) for the match and out-aced the Cardinals 6-to-2.
With the score of the opening set tied at nine, back-to-back Ball State miscues sparked a 7-2 run by the Huskies, giving the hosts a 16-11 edge. After a Ball State timeout, the Cardinals scored the next three points to cut the NIU lead to 16-14. The Cardinals would cut the gap to one point, at 21-20, only to see the Huskies score the next three points on the way to winning the frame 25-21.
The teams battled to a 6-6 tie in the second stanza, before the Huskies managed to pull ahead by four at the 14-10 mark. NIU maintained the four-point lead, at 20-16, only to see the Cardinals fight back within one at 21-20. Northern Illinois reached set point up 24-21, only to have a Hopkins kill and a Fuelling ace bring the guests within one, at 24-23. Unfortunately for Ball State, a Radtke kill following a NIU timeout ended the set at 25-23.
The Cardinals fell behind 11-8 early in the third frame, only to battle back within one at 11-10. However, Northern Illinois scored the next five points and cruised to a 25-15 third-set victory.
After playing 12 matches on the road over the last four weeks, the Ball State women's volleyball team returns to Worthen Arena next weekend, when it host MAC West Division rivals Eastern Michigan (Friday at 7 p.m.) and Central Michigan (Saturday at 7 p.m.).
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State women's volleyball, follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateWVB and @SteveShondell on Twitter.
- BallStateSports.com -
