Volleyball Battles Past UMBC in Five Sets

TOWSON, Md. - - After falling behind 2-1 in the match, the Ball State women's volleyball team opened the fourth set with a 13-1 run and pulled out a thrilling 3-2 (20-25, 25-13, 20-25, 25-18, 15-11) come-from-behind victory over UMBC Friday afternoon in its first match of the Tiger Invitational hosted by Towson.

Leading the charge for the Cardinals (7-4) at SECU Arena was senior outside attacker Ellie Dunn who registered five of her match-high 20 kills in the big run to open the fourth set. Dunn hit .300 (20-5-50) for the match and also collected nine digs and a pair of block assists.

The Retrievers (3-7) also had a rough time getting the ball past the block of redshirt senior middle Meg Startling who led all players with seven total blocks (two solo and five assists). Starling was also second on the squad with 11 kills and hit .312 (11-1-32).

Rounding out Ball State's top contributors on offense was junior middle Sydnee VanBeek with 10 kills and a .400 (10-2-20) rate of success. Overall, junior setter Amber Seaman set the Cardinals to a .201 (55-21-169) attack percentage, by dishing out 38 assists. She also collected 12 digs for her first double-double of the season.

Speaking of solid backcourt play, junior libero Kate Avila led all players with a match-high 29 digs, while junior defensive specialist Anna Jensen collected 11. Jenson also served up a match-high three aces.

Paola Rojas led three UMBC attackers in double figures with 15 kills and a .464 (15-2-28), while Carmen Freeman added a team-high 20 digs to go along with 13 kills.

Head Coach Kelli Miller:
"In the fourth set, I felt like our service pressure really picked up which helped our defense overall. We won a few long rallied and started to develop a consistent rhythm which continued through the end of the match."

"Ellie kept fighting today. UMBC was playing scrappy defense and she stayed the course and found ways to score when we needed it."

"Meg has been a huge net presence for us. She forces opponents to hit tough shots which is key for a blocker."

Inside the Numbers:
- With her 20 kills in Friday's win over UMBC, senior outside attacker Ellie Dunn broke into the top 20 in program history with 828 career kills. The total currently ties as for 16th with Cassy Herode (1991-94). Dunn's 2.70 career kills-per-set average is just outside the top 20, while her three matches with 20-or-more kills are tied for 18th.

- Over the last four matches, redshirt senior middle Meg Starling had registered 33 total blocks over 20 sets for an impressive 1.65 blocks-per-set average to raise her season average to 1.23. The NCAA leader Reed Copeland from Wyoming entered the week averaging 1.88 blocks per set this season.

- With her season-high 29 digs Friday, junior libero Kate Avila has recorded double-digit digs in 40 consecutive matches and 69 times over her career. Her 1,315 career digs rank sixth in program history, with her dig total versus UMBC allowing her to pass Kelly Cochran's (2003-06) career total of 1,309 for sixth.

Up Next:
The Ball State women's volleyball team concludes its final pre-conference tournament Saturday (Sept. 15) with matches versus Tiger Invitational host Towson (1 p.m.) and La Salle (4:30 p.m.).

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 -

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Team Stats

Ellie Dunn

Meg Starling

Sydnee VanBeek

Amber Seaman

Players Mentioned

Kate Avila

Ellie Dunn

Anna Jensen

Amber Seaman

Meg Starling

Sydnee VanBeek

Players Mentioned

Kate Avila

Ellie Dunn

Anna Jensen

Amber Seaman

Meg Starling

Sydnee VanBeek