Saturday, October 6
Buffalo, NY
6 p.m.
Ball State University
14-5, 5-1MAC
3
at
0
University at Buffalo
10-8, 2-4MAC
1
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F
Ball State
25
25
25
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Buffalo
23
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23
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Avila’s Serving Helps Volleyball Run Past the Bulls
October 06, 2018 | Women's Volleyball
BUFFALO, N.Y. - - Trailing 13-4 in the opening set, the Ball State women's volleyball team rattled off 11 straight points to shift momentum to its side and run past Buffalo in straight sets (25-23, 25-22, 25-23) Saturday night in Mid-American Conference play at UB's Alumni Arena.
After a Bulls (10-8; 2-4 MAC) service error gave the Cardinals (14-5; 5-1 MAC) the ball at 13-5 in the opening set, junior libero Kate Avila served up an ace and followed with 10 more points to push Ball State ahead 15-13. BSU would never trail in the set again, winning 25-23 on one of freshman opposite Reece Kral's nine kills on the night.
The rest of the match with a back-and-fourth battle, with the Cardinals pulling out the second set by three points (25-22) and the third by two (25-23).
In addition to her service ace in the first frame, Avila collected a match-high 14 digs and helped solidify Ball State's passing game with a perfect reception percentage in 19 attempts.
In addition to her opening-set winner, Kral led the Cardinals offense with a .500 (9-1-16) attack percentage and added four block assists. She also deposited the kill that end the match in the third frame.
Senior outside attacker Ellie Dunn knocked down a team-high 14 kills, raising her career total to 926 which moves her from 15th to 12th on Ball State's career chart. She is now two kills shy of passing Liz Cothren's (1994-97) career total of 927 for 11th in program history and 74 shy of becoming only the 11th player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills.
While Buffalo managed to hold a 47-to-39 advantage in kills for the night, BSU held the overall attacking advantage with a .231 (39-15-104) rate of success compared to a .207 (47-23-116) mark for the Bulls. Ball State also held a 9-to-5 lead in total blocks.
Junior setter Amber Seaman dished out 35 assists for the Cardinals, while also collecting five digs, two kills and an ace. Junior middle Sydnee VanBeek tied Kral for match-high honors with four total blocks, while redshirt senior middle Meg Starling added three. VanBeek also tallied five kills and Starling scored six.
Buffalo's Andrea Mitrovic led all players with 19 kills, while Larra Bickelhaupt paced the Bulls with 11 digs.
Head Coach Kelli Miller:
"Tonight, was a hard-fought win on the road. Buffalo is a physical team that gave us fits early in the first set. However, I was happy with how our defense bounced back and picked up the intensity after that."
"Reece and Ellie were big for us offensively, They were aggressive and hit the right shots when needed. Kate's service pressure was huge tonight. Her big run in set one really turned the momentum of the match."
"Overall, we must continue to improve our serve and pass game. When we're handling the ball well, we can run a balanced offense and that's a crucial part of our team's success."
Inside the Numbers:
- Ball State has won its last 12 sets, which ties as the 15th-longest set winning streak in program history and is the team's longest since the 2015 season when BSU also swept four straight matches from Oct. 23 to Oct. 31. The last match of that run was a 3-0 victory over Buffalo. The longest set winning streak in program history is 23 from Nov. 3, 1993 to Nov. 27, 1993.
- With Saturday's win, Ball State improved to 23-1 all-time versus Buffalo, including nine straight wins. The Cardinals are 9-1 all-time in matches hosted by Buffalo. In addition, of Ball State's 23 wins in the series, 15 have been sweeps, six have come in four sets and two have went the distance
- With another service ace in Saturday's win over Buffalo, junior setter Amber Seaman raised her career total to 85. Seaman, who leads the Cardinals with 22 aces this season, is looking to become just the 19th player in program history to reach 100 career aces.
- With her match-high 14 digs versus Buffalo, junior libero Kate Avila extend her streak of matches with double-digit digs to 48 and raise her career total to 77. She also raised her career digs total to 1,443 which ranks sixth in program history.
Up Next:
The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to Worthen Arena next weekend for matches versus Ohio (Friday) and Kent State (Saturday). Both are scheduled for 7 p.m. first serves.
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 -
After a Bulls (10-8; 2-4 MAC) service error gave the Cardinals (14-5; 5-1 MAC) the ball at 13-5 in the opening set, junior libero Kate Avila served up an ace and followed with 10 more points to push Ball State ahead 15-13. BSU would never trail in the set again, winning 25-23 on one of freshman opposite Reece Kral's nine kills on the night.
The rest of the match with a back-and-fourth battle, with the Cardinals pulling out the second set by three points (25-22) and the third by two (25-23).
In addition to her service ace in the first frame, Avila collected a match-high 14 digs and helped solidify Ball State's passing game with a perfect reception percentage in 19 attempts.
In addition to her opening-set winner, Kral led the Cardinals offense with a .500 (9-1-16) attack percentage and added four block assists. She also deposited the kill that end the match in the third frame.
Senior outside attacker Ellie Dunn knocked down a team-high 14 kills, raising her career total to 926 which moves her from 15th to 12th on Ball State's career chart. She is now two kills shy of passing Liz Cothren's (1994-97) career total of 927 for 11th in program history and 74 shy of becoming only the 11th player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills.
While Buffalo managed to hold a 47-to-39 advantage in kills for the night, BSU held the overall attacking advantage with a .231 (39-15-104) rate of success compared to a .207 (47-23-116) mark for the Bulls. Ball State also held a 9-to-5 lead in total blocks.
Junior setter Amber Seaman dished out 35 assists for the Cardinals, while also collecting five digs, two kills and an ace. Junior middle Sydnee VanBeek tied Kral for match-high honors with four total blocks, while redshirt senior middle Meg Starling added three. VanBeek also tallied five kills and Starling scored six.
Buffalo's Andrea Mitrovic led all players with 19 kills, while Larra Bickelhaupt paced the Bulls with 11 digs.
Head Coach Kelli Miller:
"Tonight, was a hard-fought win on the road. Buffalo is a physical team that gave us fits early in the first set. However, I was happy with how our defense bounced back and picked up the intensity after that."
"Reece and Ellie were big for us offensively, They were aggressive and hit the right shots when needed. Kate's service pressure was huge tonight. Her big run in set one really turned the momentum of the match."
"Overall, we must continue to improve our serve and pass game. When we're handling the ball well, we can run a balanced offense and that's a crucial part of our team's success."
Inside the Numbers:
- Ball State has won its last 12 sets, which ties as the 15th-longest set winning streak in program history and is the team's longest since the 2015 season when BSU also swept four straight matches from Oct. 23 to Oct. 31. The last match of that run was a 3-0 victory over Buffalo. The longest set winning streak in program history is 23 from Nov. 3, 1993 to Nov. 27, 1993.
- With Saturday's win, Ball State improved to 23-1 all-time versus Buffalo, including nine straight wins. The Cardinals are 9-1 all-time in matches hosted by Buffalo. In addition, of Ball State's 23 wins in the series, 15 have been sweeps, six have come in four sets and two have went the distance
- With another service ace in Saturday's win over Buffalo, junior setter Amber Seaman raised her career total to 85. Seaman, who leads the Cardinals with 22 aces this season, is looking to become just the 19th player in program history to reach 100 career aces.
- With her match-high 14 digs versus Buffalo, junior libero Kate Avila extend her streak of matches with double-digit digs to 48 and raise her career total to 77. She also raised her career digs total to 1,443 which ranks sixth in program history.
Up Next:
The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to Worthen Arena next weekend for matches versus Ohio (Friday) and Kent State (Saturday). Both are scheduled for 7 p.m. first serves.
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
BSU
UB
Kills
39
47
Errors
15
23
Attempts
104
116
Hitting %
.231
.207
Points
52.0
53.0
Assists
37
44
Aces
4
1
Blocks
9.0
5.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
14
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Players Mentioned
DS
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballRS / M
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's VolleyballMH
/ Women's VolleyballMH
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