Saturday, October 13
Muncie, IN
7 p.m.
Ball State University
16-5 (7-1MAC)
3
vs
0
Kent State University
9-13 (2-6MAC)
1
2
3
F
Kent State
15
21
18
0
Ball State
25
25
25
3
Volleyball’s Offense Soars in Saturday Sweep of Kent State
October 13, 2018 | Women's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. - - Led by another dominating offensive performance, the Ball State women's volleyball team picked up its sixth straight win with a 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-18) sweep of Kent State Saturday night in Mid-American Conference play at Worthen Arena.
The Cardinals (16-5; 7-1 MAC) could not be stopped on offense starting with a kill from junior middle Sydnee VanBeek on the opening serve. BSU went on to hit an astonishing .483 (15-1-29) in the opening set and finished the match with its fourth-best mark of the season at .360 (49-9-111).
Leading the charge against the Golden Flashes (9-13, 2-6 MAC) were Ball State's middle duo of redshirt senior Meg Starling and VanBeek, who combined for 22 kills and a .528 (22-3-36) attack percentage. Starling accounted for 12 kills and a .455 (12-2-22) rate of success, while VanBeek notched 10 kills and hit .643 (10-1-14) on the night.
Starling also finished the contest with four total blocks, while VanBeek added a block assist and a service ace to her stat line.
Guiding the offense once again was junior setter Amber Seaman who dished out 40 assists and added a kill of her own on four swings. She also served up three more aces, to raise her career total to 94, tallied four total blocks and collected six digs.
Senior outside attacker Ellie Dunn led all players with 13 kills, while adding seven digs, a pair of service aces and a block assist. In addition, redshirt senior outside Jessica Lindsey and freshman opposite Reece Kral added six kills apiece, while hitting .278 (6-1-18) and .357 (6-1-14), respectively.
In the backcourt, junior libero Kate Avila collected a team-high 17 digs, while junior defensive specialist Anna Jensen added 11. Overall, the Ball State defense held a 49-to-46 edge in total digs and a 9.0-to-2.0 advantage in team blocks.
Kent State was led offensively by Danie Tyson's nine kills, while Erin Gardner was credited with a match-high 19 digs. The Golden Flashes finished the contest hitting .248 (37-12-101).
Head Coach Kelli Miller:
"A great offense like we had tonight starts with our backcourt being able to handle a serve. Tonight, we were able to spread the ball around evenly. When you do that, it makes a huge difference in how you score. It all starts with the first ball and our hitters being ready, that allows everyone to succeed."
"I thought Amber continued to do what she has done all season. She knew the game plan well, took advantage of another strong passing effort from our backcourt and turned in another great serving performance. When she gets really confident at the service line, she can lead us on big point runs like she did tonight. This is the type of performance we expect from her every night, and it's what's helping lead us to where we are right now in the MAC ."
"We put a big emphasis on serving this week in practice, because I felt like the last couple weeks we haven't put a ton of pressure on our opponents. That was one area we knew we had to improve upon. This weekend, we were able to put constant pressure on both Ohio and Kent State, and that type of performance is going to be critical as we enter the second half of the MAC season."
"Overall, I think we have gotten better each and every week. But we can't get complacent. We have to continue to work hard in practice and bring every ounce of effort we have into every match. We have a tough week ahead of us, as we travel to two-time defending MAC regular season champion Miami and Bowling Green, both of whom are tied with us for the overall MAC lead this season."
Inside the Numbers:
- Ball State's current six-match winning streak is its longest of the season, and the program's longest since an 11-match run beginning Sept. 7, 2013 versus Western Illinois and ending following a Sept, 28, 2013 victory over Central Michigan.
- Led by nine aces from junior setter Amber Seaman, the Cardinals blasted a total of 19 service aces this weekend. It's the most aces Ball State has registered in back-to-back matches since the 2007 season when the Cardinals tallied 22 starting with six in a five-set win at Toledo (Sept. 27) and followed with 16 in a home win over Buffalo (Sept. 29).
- With her nine service aces on the weekend, Amber Seaman raised her career total to 94 which leaves her five shy of moving into the top 20 in program history. With her six aces versus Ohio Friday, Seaman became 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 13 kills versus Kent State, senior outside hitter Ellie Dunn raised her career total to 958 which is 11th in program history. Dunn needs just 42 more kills to become only the 11th player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills.
- With her team-high 17 digs versus Kent State, junior libero Kate Avila extend her streak of matches with double-digit digs to 50 and raised her career total to 79. She also raised her career digs total to 1,476 which ranks sixth in program history.
Up Next:
The Ball State women's volleyball team will take its six-match winning streak on the road next weekend when it travels to MAC East Division co-leaders Miami and Bowling Green, both of which are tied with Ball State for the overall MAC lead at 7-1. The Cardinals and RedHawks will battle at 7 p.m. Friday, while BSU will face the Falcons at 5 p.m. Saturday.
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 -
The Cardinals (16-5; 7-1 MAC) could not be stopped on offense starting with a kill from junior middle Sydnee VanBeek on the opening serve. BSU went on to hit an astonishing .483 (15-1-29) in the opening set and finished the match with its fourth-best mark of the season at .360 (49-9-111).
Leading the charge against the Golden Flashes (9-13, 2-6 MAC) were Ball State's middle duo of redshirt senior Meg Starling and VanBeek, who combined for 22 kills and a .528 (22-3-36) attack percentage. Starling accounted for 12 kills and a .455 (12-2-22) rate of success, while VanBeek notched 10 kills and hit .643 (10-1-14) on the night.
Starling also finished the contest with four total blocks, while VanBeek added a block assist and a service ace to her stat line.
Guiding the offense once again was junior setter Amber Seaman who dished out 40 assists and added a kill of her own on four swings. She also served up three more aces, to raise her career total to 94, tallied four total blocks and collected six digs.
Senior outside attacker Ellie Dunn led all players with 13 kills, while adding seven digs, a pair of service aces and a block assist. In addition, redshirt senior outside Jessica Lindsey and freshman opposite Reece Kral added six kills apiece, while hitting .278 (6-1-18) and .357 (6-1-14), respectively.
In the backcourt, junior libero Kate Avila collected a team-high 17 digs, while junior defensive specialist Anna Jensen added 11. Overall, the Ball State defense held a 49-to-46 edge in total digs and a 9.0-to-2.0 advantage in team blocks.
Kent State was led offensively by Danie Tyson's nine kills, while Erin Gardner was credited with a match-high 19 digs. The Golden Flashes finished the contest hitting .248 (37-12-101).
Head Coach Kelli Miller:
"A great offense like we had tonight starts with our backcourt being able to handle a serve. Tonight, we were able to spread the ball around evenly. When you do that, it makes a huge difference in how you score. It all starts with the first ball and our hitters being ready, that allows everyone to succeed."
"I thought Amber continued to do what she has done all season. She knew the game plan well, took advantage of another strong passing effort from our backcourt and turned in another great serving performance. When she gets really confident at the service line, she can lead us on big point runs like she did tonight. This is the type of performance we expect from her every night, and it's what's helping lead us to where we are right now in the MAC ."
"We put a big emphasis on serving this week in practice, because I felt like the last couple weeks we haven't put a ton of pressure on our opponents. That was one area we knew we had to improve upon. This weekend, we were able to put constant pressure on both Ohio and Kent State, and that type of performance is going to be critical as we enter the second half of the MAC season."
"Overall, I think we have gotten better each and every week. But we can't get complacent. We have to continue to work hard in practice and bring every ounce of effort we have into every match. We have a tough week ahead of us, as we travel to two-time defending MAC regular season champion Miami and Bowling Green, both of whom are tied with us for the overall MAC lead this season."
Inside the Numbers:
- Ball State's current six-match winning streak is its longest of the season, and the program's longest since an 11-match run beginning Sept. 7, 2013 versus Western Illinois and ending following a Sept, 28, 2013 victory over Central Michigan.
- Led by nine aces from junior setter Amber Seaman, the Cardinals blasted a total of 19 service aces this weekend. It's the most aces Ball State has registered in back-to-back matches since the 2007 season when the Cardinals tallied 22 starting with six in a five-set win at Toledo (Sept. 27) and followed with 16 in a home win over Buffalo (Sept. 29).
- With her nine service aces on the weekend, Amber Seaman raised her career total to 94 which leaves her five shy of moving into the top 20 in program history. With her six aces versus Ohio Friday, Seaman became 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 13 kills versus Kent State, senior outside hitter Ellie Dunn raised her career total to 958 which is 11th in program history. Dunn needs just 42 more kills to become only the 11th player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills.
- With her team-high 17 digs versus Kent State, junior libero Kate Avila extend her streak of matches with double-digit digs to 50 and raised her career total to 79. She also raised her career digs total to 1,476 which ranks sixth in program history.
Up Next:
The Ball State women's volleyball team will take its six-match winning streak on the road next weekend when it travels to MAC East Division co-leaders Miami and Bowling Green, both of which are tied with Ball State for the overall MAC lead at 7-1. The Cardinals and RedHawks will battle at 7 p.m. Friday, while BSU will face the Falcons at 5 p.m. Saturday.
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
KENTST
BSU
Kills
37
49
Errors
12
9
Attempts
101
111
Hitting %
.248
.360
Points
40.0
66.0
Assists
34
44
Aces
1
8
Blocks
2.0
9.0
Game Leaders
Kills
13
Aces
2
Blocks
1
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
10
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
DS
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's Volleyball
OH/DS
/ Women's Volleyball
RS / M
/ Women's VolleyballOPP
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's VolleyballMH
/ Women's VolleyballMH
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