Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
6-7
Purdue
8-2
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ball State | 24 | 21 | 14 | 0 |
| Purdue | 26 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Women?s Volleyball Drops Tough Battle at No. 22 Purdue
September 19, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - - Freshman middle Meg Starling (Hopkinsville, Ky./University Heights) inspired the Ball State women's volleyball offense by tying a career-high with seven kills in the opening set, but the Cardinals ultimately suffered a 3-0 (26-24, 25-21, 25-14) setback to 22nd-ranked Purdue Friday evening in the Boiler Box Challenge held in Holloway Gymnasium.
With all three Shondell brothers on the sidelines coaching, the Steve Shondell led Cardinals (6-7) nearly pulled off an impressive opening-set win over the nationally-ranked Boilermakers (8-2) who are led by head coach Dave Shondell and assistant coach John Shondell.
“We fought tonight with the heart and pride it takes to play with one of the top teams in the nation,” Ball State's Shondell said. “Both teams played at an extremely high level and put on a great show for the big crowd in attendance. For two sets, it was nip and tuck nearly the entire way. We put ourselves in a position to win set one, but Purdue fought back like great teams do and won in overtime. Tonight, we learned we can go into one of the most hostile environment in America and compete. That is a great lesson to learn.”
With Ball State trailing 23-21 in the first frame, a well-called timeout helped setup a kill from Starling which pulled the Cardinals within one. After a kill from Alexa Smith gave the Boilermakers set-point, Ball State freshman right side Brooklyn Goodsel (Corry, Pa./Corry Area) responded with a kill and a service ace to tie the score at 24. Unfortunately, Purdue was able to collect the next two points and win a hard-fought opening set, which saw 15 ties and eight lead changes, by a score of 26-24.
The Cardinals carried over their strong play into the second set, battling to a 17-17 stalemate more than midway through the frame which forced a Purdue timeout. The Boilermakers scored three straight out of the 75-second stoppage, only to see the Cardinals battle back within one, at 21-20, thanks in part to a kill from freshman outside Ellie Dunn (Sugar Grove, Ill./Kaneland). That was as close as Ball State would get, however, as Purdue scored four of the final five points to win the set 25-21.
Purdue then showed why they are considered one of the top teams in the nation by coming out of the locker room and scoring the first seven points of the third set. The Cardinals were able to battle back within five, at 9-4, but would get no closer as the Boilermakers won the frame 25-14 to sweep the match.
Starling's seven kills would lead the Ball State offense, while senior middle Kelly Hopkins (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo) followed a strong performance in the tournament opener with a six kill and a .375 (6-0-16) hitting effort versus Purdue. Both Starling and Hopkins tied for team-high honors with two block assists.
Dunn also finished the match with six kills for Ball State, while Goodsel added three. Senior libero Kati Vasalakis (Yorktown, Ind./Yorktown) led all defensive players with 14 digs.
While the Cardinals were unable to pull out the victory, they did manage to significantly cut down their unforced error total from the first match of the day, leading to a back-and-fourth battle in front of 2,280 fans at Holloway Gymnasium.
Despite the better all-around play, the Boilermakers were able to limit Ball State to a .102 (31-20-108) attack percentage, while connecting for a .252 (43-17-103) rate of success. Purdue also held the edge in digs (47-to-38) and total blocks (7.0-to-4.0), while both teams served up four aces and five service errors. Annie Drews led the Purdue offense with 14 kills, while Amanda Neill brought up a team-best 12 digs.
The Ball State women's volleyball team closes play in the Boiler Box Challenge Saturday at 5:30 p.m. against South Dakota in a contest which will be played in Mackey Arena.
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State women's volleyball, follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateWVB and @SteveShondell on Twitter.
- BallStateSports.com -
