Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
11-13 (5-5MAC)
Bowling Green
5-18 (1-9MAC)
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bowling Green | 16 | 22 | 11 | 0 |
| Ball State | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
WVB Soars Past Falcons To Complete Weekend Sweep
October 25, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State women's volleyball team closed out a successful Family Weekend with a service ace from sophomore setter McCallen Kennedy (Boca Raton, Fla./North Broward Preparatory School) in a 3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-11) sweep of visiting Bowling Green Saturday evening in Worthen Arena.
One night after sweeping Miami, the second-place team in the Mid-American Conference East Division, the Cardinals evened their league record at 5-5 and improved to 11-13 overall with another solid all-around team effort versus the Falcons (5-18 / 1-9 MAC). As a team, Ball State collected its second-best attack percentage of the season, at .360 (44-13-86), while redshirt junior outside attacker Mackenzie Kitchel (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove/Cincinnati) led the Cardinals individually with a career-high .588 (12-2-17) rate of success.
“We had a great weekend,” sixth-year head coach Steve Shondell said when summing up the team's performance over the last two days. “I thought we played extremely well Friday night versus Miami, and played good enough to win tonight. The thing I was most pleased about this weekend was our serving game. We served the ball as tough as we have all year, and kept our opponents out of their offense both nights. I give our players a lot of credit for their great serving, playing a beautiful match last night and finding a win to win tonight when we were not quite as sharp.”
The teams battled to a 9-9 tie in the opening set, before three kills from Kitchel and two more from senior setter Jenna Spadafora (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) helped the Cardinals break open the frame with a 10-2 run. While BGSU was able to battle back within five, at 21-16, four different Ball State players connected for kills over the next four rallies to end the set a 25-16.
The Cardinals carried over the momentum into the second frame, scoring seven of the first 10 points. However, the Falcons put together a strong run of their own, pulling ahead 10-8 with a 7-1 run. Bowling Green maintained a two-point advantage at 19-17, only to see kills from sophomore opposite attacker Jessica Lindsey (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central) and senior outside attacker Alex Fuelling (Decatur, Ind./Bellmont /Morehead State) even the score at 19.
Bowling Green managed one more lead in the frame with the next point, but back-to-back blasts from senior middle Kelly Hopkins (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo) shifted the momentum back to the Cardinals. A block assist from Spadafora and Hopkins would give Ball State set-point, while Kitchel ended the frame at 25-22 with a kill on the next rally.
After the 10-minute break, Ball State capitalized on kills from Kitchel and Spadafora, as well as a pair of Falcons' attack errors, to score the first four points of the third set. The Cardinals held a five-point lead, at 14-9, before a kill from Hopkins and back-to-back blasts from Kitchel sparked an eight-point run. Redshirt freshman middle Meg Starling (Hopkinsville, Ky./University Heights) would get her first kill of the match to make the score 23-11, while a BGSU attack error and Kennedy's ace closed the game at 25-11 and the match at 3-0.
In addition to her career-high .588 attack percentage, Kitchel led the Ball State offense with 12 kills and scored one of the match's two solo blocks. Fuelling and Hopkins tied for second on the squad with eight kills apiece, with Fuelling adding six digs and Hopkins hitting .429 (8-2-14).
Not only did Spadafora set the Cardinals' offense to a .360 hitting mark, she also smashed seven kills and hit .545 (7-1-11) herself, while dishing out 34 assists, collecting eight digs and earning a match-best three total blocks (one solo and two assists).
Senior libero Kati Vasalakis (Yorktown, Ind./Yorktown) led all defenders with a match-high nine digs, and climbed up one more rung up Ball State's career digs list, moving to ninth with 1,132 career digs.
On defense, the Cardinals limited the Bowling Green attack to a .086 (27-19-93) attack percentage, with Madeline Brandewie notching a team-high eight kills. Kallie Seimet earned a team-best eight digs. Ball State out-dug BGSU 38-to-24 and also held a 6-to-2 edge in team blocks.
“As a team, I think we are really starting to believe,” Shondell added. “We played so well last week at Ohio and Kent State, but came back with no wins and that was tough. This weekend, it was really good to see the team rewarded for its good play. We have been playing really good volleyball for the last two weeks. We have to keep the momentum and remember it's not how you start, but how you finish.”
The Ball State women's volleyball team closes out its current four-match home stand next week, with a Thursday match versus travel partner Toledo and a Saturday showdown versus Buffalo. Both matches are set for 7 p.m. first serves, with Thursday's also being broadcast live by ESPN3.
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State women's volleyball, follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateWVB and @SteveShondell on Twitter.
- BallStateSports.com -
