Ball State University
3-1
Montana
0-4
Volleyball Rallies To Top Montana In UniWyo Classic
September 05, 2014 | Women's Volleyball
LARAMIE, Wyo. - - The Ball State women's volleyball team hit .316 (37-13-76) over the final three sets in a thrilling 3-2 (23-25, 18-25, 25-19, 25-22, 15-12) come-from-behind win over Montana Friday afternoon to open play in the UniWyo Cowgirl Classic hosted by the University of Wyoming.
The Cardinals, who improve to 3-1 on the year with the victory, will play tournament host Wyoming at 9 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT tonight in a match which will be streamed live by the Mountain West Network (www.themw.com).
“There is no better feeling than to come back from a two-game deficit and win three straight sets to win a match,” Ball State head coach Steve Shondell said. “We faced the same situation a week ago, and could not recover after being down 2-0. I thought Jessica Lindsey turned in a great performance for us coming off the bench, while Amanda Raker was extremely good from start to finish.”
In a strong appearance off the bench, freshman opposite Jessica Lindsey (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) blasted a career-high seven kills and hit a career-best .583 (7-0-12) to help the Cardinals rally past Montana (0-4). Lindsay also served up a pair of aces and added two digs in the victory.
Redshirt junior middle hitter Amanda Raker (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian/Butler) smashed a career-high 10 kills, while hitting for a career-best .381 (10-2-21) rate of success. She also proved to be a dominating force at the net, adding a career-high and team-best five total blocks (one solo and four assists).
Redshirt junior middle hitter Hayley Benson (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Bradley) led the Ball State attack with 13 kills, while also hitting .579 (13-2-19) for the match. Redshirt junior outside hitter Alex Fuelling (Decatur, Ind./Bellmont/Morehead State) added her first double-double of the season with 12 kills and a team-best 14 digs.
Junior setter Jenna Spadafora (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) tied a career-high with 42 assists in the match, helping guide the Ball State offense to a .195 (58-32-133) rate of success. On defense, the Cardinals limited Montana to a .219 (53-23-137) attacking mark.
Trailing 23-20 in the opening set, a kill from Raker helped spark three straight Ball State points, tying the score at 23. Unfortunately, a pair of Cardinals' miscues allowed the Grizzlies to score the final two points of the set.
Ball State would jump out to a 7-3 edge early in the second set, only to see Montana tie the score at 10-10. With the set tied at 15-15, the Grizzlies recorded the next five points and went on to win the frame 25-18.
Montana scored the first point of the third frame, only to see Ball State pull ahead 5-2 on a run capped by a solo block from Benson. Ball State pulled ahead by eight points at the 21-13 mark, before winning the set 25-19 on a kill from Benson.
The Cardinals pulled out to an 18-13 lead in the fourth set, only to see the Grizzlies tie the score at 22-22. However, back-to-back Montana miscues set up a frame-winning kill from Ball State redshirt freshman outside hitter Sabrina Mangapora (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield) at 25-22.
The decisive fifth set was played to a 12-12 stalemate before kills from Fuelling and Lindsay gave the Cardinals match-point at 14-12. Ball State capitalized on a Montana attack error on the following rally, taking the set 15-12 and the match 3-2.
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State women's volleyball, follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateWVB and @SteveShondell on Twitter.
