Friday, October 12
Muncie, IN
7 p.m.
Ball State University
15-5 (6-1MAC)
3
vs
1
Ohio University
8-12 (3-4MAC)
1
2
3
4
F
Ohio
20
26
25
18
1
Ball State
25
28
20
25
3
Team Effort Leads Volleyball Past Ohio in Four Sets
October 12, 2018 | Women's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State women's volleyball team had plenty of heroes in Friday's hard-fought 3-1 (25-20, 28-26, 20-25, 25-18) Mid-American Conference victory over Ohio in Worthen Arena.
Senior outside attacker Ellie Dunn led the Cardinals (15-5; 6-1 MAC) with 19 kills and added 15 digs for her eighth double-double of the season. She also moved up to 11th on Ball State's career kills list at 945.
Junior setter Amber Seaman served up a career-high six aces, handed out 46 assists, collected eight digs, tallied five blocks and added a kill for one of her best all-around matches of the season. With the six aces, Seaman raised her career total to 91.
Junior libero Kate Avila and freshman defensive specialist Cathryn Starck tied for team-high honors with 16 digs each, both making several spectacular defensive plays to keep rallies alive and set up Ball State points.
However, it was a dominating four straight blocks at the net all involving junior middle Sydnee VanBeek that truly deflated the Bobcats (8-12; 3-4 MAC) and helped the Cardinals pick up its fifth consecutive victory and first home win over Ohio since the 2010 season.
The visitors from Athens had just won the third set, using a pair of challenges to turn was would have been a 19-12 Ball State lead into an eventual 25-20 third set loss. It was the first set the Cardinals dropped since a 3-1 setback at Northern Illinois on Sept. 22.
Ball State would not dwell on the momentary setback, however, as a kill from freshman opposite Reece Kral pushed the hosts ahead 5-4 in the fourth. Kral and VanBeek then combined for three straight blocks, while VanBeek followed with a solo stuff to remove any doubt about the outcome of the match.
BSU went on to build a 13-5 lead, with another VanBeek block thrown in the run, and won the frame 25-19 on VanBeek's eighth and final kill of the match. All of VanBeek's match-high seven blocks came in the final set, while she also scored four of her eight kills in the frame. She also served up one of her career-high four aces in the fourth to account for 12 of Ball State's 25 points in the final set.
Redshirt senior middle Meg Starling also had a strong night at the net with six total blocks, helping the Cardinals out-block the Bobcats 15-to-8 for the match. Kral finished the contest with eight kills and four blocks, while sophomore outside Kia Holder added seven kills and a pair of blocks.
On the other side of the court, Jamie Kosiorek led Ohio with 17 kills, while Macy Reihing was credited with a team-high 25 digs.
Head Coach Kelli Miller:
"Ohio is a tough and talented team. They came in and gave us a great battle. Overall, I thought we did a great job maintaining our composure and answering their point runs. We had a lot of different people step up throughout the match and I am proud of the intensity and fight we showed tonight."
"Something we have been working on is not focusing on what happened the last point, but playing every single point as its own. There was a stretch were Ohio had some really good serves that were causing us a lot of problems. However, we did not let ourselves get rattled. We just played the point, reset and moved on to the next play."
"Every night in the MAC is going to be a challenge. You have to come ready to play and be your best every single time you step on the court. That is the beauty of the MAC right now, everybody is playing at a high level and that makes for some fun volleyball."
Inside the Numbers:
- With wins in the first two sets Friday, Ball State extended its set winning streak to 14. It ties as the 11th-longest set winning streak in program history with a run from Oct. 1, 1991 to Oct. 12, 1991. It was also the program's longest set winning streak since a 21-set run in 2010.
- With her career-high six service aces, junior setter Amber Seaman raised her career total to 91 which leaves her eight shy of moving into the top 20 in program history. Seaman, who is looking to become just the 19th player in program history to reach 100 career aces, is also the first player to record at least six aces in a match for the Cardinals since then setter Brittany McGinnis tallied seven versus Central Michigan on Nov. 12, 2011.
- With her match-high 19 kills versus Ohio, senior outside hitter Ellie Dunn climbed to 11th in program history with 945 career kills, moving past Liz Cothren's (1994-97) career total of 927. Dunn needs just 55 more kills to become only the 11th player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills.
- With her match-high 16 digs versus Ohio, junior libero Kate Avila extend her streak of matches with double-digit digs to 49 and raise her career total to 78. She also raised her career digs total to 1,459 which ranks sixth in program history.
Up Next:
The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to Worthen Arena Saturday night, when it hosts Kent State for another 7 p.m. first serve.
Follow The Cardinals:
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State women's volleyball, follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateWVB and @VBCoachMiller on Twitter.
- BallStateSports.com -
Senior outside attacker Ellie Dunn led the Cardinals (15-5; 6-1 MAC) with 19 kills and added 15 digs for her eighth double-double of the season. She also moved up to 11th on Ball State's career kills list at 945.
Junior setter Amber Seaman served up a career-high six aces, handed out 46 assists, collected eight digs, tallied five blocks and added a kill for one of her best all-around matches of the season. With the six aces, Seaman raised her career total to 91.
Junior libero Kate Avila and freshman defensive specialist Cathryn Starck tied for team-high honors with 16 digs each, both making several spectacular defensive plays to keep rallies alive and set up Ball State points.
However, it was a dominating four straight blocks at the net all involving junior middle Sydnee VanBeek that truly deflated the Bobcats (8-12; 3-4 MAC) and helped the Cardinals pick up its fifth consecutive victory and first home win over Ohio since the 2010 season.
The visitors from Athens had just won the third set, using a pair of challenges to turn was would have been a 19-12 Ball State lead into an eventual 25-20 third set loss. It was the first set the Cardinals dropped since a 3-1 setback at Northern Illinois on Sept. 22.
Ball State would not dwell on the momentary setback, however, as a kill from freshman opposite Reece Kral pushed the hosts ahead 5-4 in the fourth. Kral and VanBeek then combined for three straight blocks, while VanBeek followed with a solo stuff to remove any doubt about the outcome of the match.
BSU went on to build a 13-5 lead, with another VanBeek block thrown in the run, and won the frame 25-19 on VanBeek's eighth and final kill of the match. All of VanBeek's match-high seven blocks came in the final set, while she also scored four of her eight kills in the frame. She also served up one of her career-high four aces in the fourth to account for 12 of Ball State's 25 points in the final set.
Redshirt senior middle Meg Starling also had a strong night at the net with six total blocks, helping the Cardinals out-block the Bobcats 15-to-8 for the match. Kral finished the contest with eight kills and four blocks, while sophomore outside Kia Holder added seven kills and a pair of blocks.
On the other side of the court, Jamie Kosiorek led Ohio with 17 kills, while Macy Reihing was credited with a team-high 25 digs.
Head Coach Kelli Miller:
"Ohio is a tough and talented team. They came in and gave us a great battle. Overall, I thought we did a great job maintaining our composure and answering their point runs. We had a lot of different people step up throughout the match and I am proud of the intensity and fight we showed tonight."
"Something we have been working on is not focusing on what happened the last point, but playing every single point as its own. There was a stretch were Ohio had some really good serves that were causing us a lot of problems. However, we did not let ourselves get rattled. We just played the point, reset and moved on to the next play."
"Every night in the MAC is going to be a challenge. You have to come ready to play and be your best every single time you step on the court. That is the beauty of the MAC right now, everybody is playing at a high level and that makes for some fun volleyball."
Inside the Numbers:
- With wins in the first two sets Friday, Ball State extended its set winning streak to 14. It ties as the 11th-longest set winning streak in program history with a run from Oct. 1, 1991 to Oct. 12, 1991. It was also the program's longest set winning streak since a 21-set run in 2010.
- With her career-high six service aces, junior setter Amber Seaman raised her career total to 91 which leaves her eight shy of moving into the top 20 in program history. Seaman, who is looking to become just the 19th player in program history to reach 100 career aces, is also the first player to record at least six aces in a match for the Cardinals since then setter Brittany McGinnis tallied seven versus Central Michigan on Nov. 12, 2011.
- With her match-high 19 kills versus Ohio, senior outside hitter Ellie Dunn climbed to 11th in program history with 945 career kills, moving past Liz Cothren's (1994-97) career total of 927. Dunn needs just 55 more kills to become only the 11th player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills.
- With her match-high 16 digs versus Ohio, junior libero Kate Avila extend her streak of matches with double-digit digs to 49 and raise her career total to 78. She also raised her career digs total to 1,459 which ranks sixth in program history.
Up Next:
The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to Worthen Arena Saturday night, when it hosts Kent State for another 7 p.m. first serve.
Follow The Cardinals:
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State women's volleyball, follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateWVB and @VBCoachMiller on Twitter.
- BallStateSports.com -
Team Stats
OHIO
BSU
Kills
51
51
Errors
27
21
Attempts
157
151
Hitting %
.153
.199
Points
65.0
77.0
Assists
47
50
Aces
6
11
Blocks
8.0
15.0
Game Leaders
Kills
19
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
8
Aces
4
Blocks
7
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
DS
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballRS / M
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's Volleyball
DS
/ Women's Volleyball
MH
/ Women's VolleyballMH
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