Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
13-15, 7-7MAC
Northern Illinois
16-10, 12-2MAC
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ball State | 14 | 20 | 12 | 0 |
| Northern Illinois | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Despite Loss, Women?s Volleyball Locks Up Spot in MAC Tournament
November 08, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
DEKALB, Ill. - - While the Ball State women's volleyball team was not celebrating a victory Saturday night, suffering a 3-0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-12) loss at Mid-American Conference leader Northern Illinois, the team can rest a little easier when it gets back from DeKalb, Ill., knowing it has locked up one of eight spots in the 2015 MAC Tournament hosted by Ohio Nov. 19-22.
With seven league wins, the Cardinals (13-15, 7-7 MAC) were helped by a Kent State victory over Eastern Michigan Saturday night, which officially locked up a spot for Ball State in the eight-team tournament field. The Eagles are currently the first team, out with a 4-10 MAC record, and cannot catch the Cardinals with just two matches remaining in the 2015 MAC regular season.
In Saturday's match, the league-leading Huskies (16-10, 12-2 MAC) were out for revenge after suffering a 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-21) loss to the Cardinals in an Oct. 2 contest played in Worthen Arena. NIU, which was playing without two key players in the first matchup, had its entire lineup for tonight's match and came out firing on all cylinders.
“It was apparent from the opening point that NIU was on a mission to avenge their 3-0 loss in Muncie five weeks ago and that's exactly what they did,” sixth-year Ball State head coach Steve Shondell said. “The Huskies played as well tonight as any team we have played all season and deserved the sweep. On our side of the net, we did not have the energy we had last night against WMU. The highlight of our match was the performance of Mackenzie Kitchel. After struggling at WMU, she bounced back with an outstanding offensive performance against an excellent NIU defense.”
Overall, the Huskies defense dominated the Ball State offense, limiting the team to just 21 kills and a .067 (21-16-75) attack percentage on the night. Redshirt junior outside attacker Mackenzie Kitchel (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove/Cincinnati) provided the lone bright spot for the Cardinals' offense, tying for team-high honors with six kills and hitting .429 (6-0-14) for the match.
The Cardinals defense did not fare much better, as Northern Illinois finished the match with a .444 (42-10-72) attack percentage, including a perfect 10-0-10 effort from Jenna Radtke, who was one of NIU's two players who missed the first meeting due to injury. T'ara Austin led the Northern Illinois attack with 13 kills, while Mary Grace Kelly, who was the other missing cog in the first match, added seven kills.
In the Ball State backcourt, senior libero Kati Vasalakis (Yorktown, Ind./Yorktown) and senior outside attacker Alex Fuelling (Decatur, Ind./Bellmont /Morehead State) tied for team-high honors with six digs. Anna Brereton paced the Huskies defense with 10 digs.
The Ball State women's volleyball team closes the 2015 regular season next weekend, when it hosts Eastern Michigan (Friday) and Central Michigan (Saturday). Both matches will start at 7 p.m. and have been recently added to Ball State's ESPN3 broadcast list, with Ball State Sports Link covering the action for the broadcasts.
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State women's volleyball, follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateWVB and @SteveShondell on Twitter.
- BallStateSports.com -
