Saturday, September 15
Towson, MD
1 p.m.
Ball State University
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Towson University
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Ball State
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Volleyball Claims Tiger Invitational Title with Pair of Saturday Wins
September 15, 2018 | Women's Volleyball
TOWSON, Md. - - The Ball State women's volleyball team closed the non-conference portion of the regular season with a pair of dominating wins over Towson and La Salle Saturday afternoon at SECU Arena to claim the Tiger Invitational championship title.
After starting the tournament with a hard-fought 3-2 win over UMBC Friday, the Cardinals (9-4) opened Saturday's doubleheader by scoring the first nine points in a 3-0 (25-12, 27-25, 25-18) sweep of the host Tigers (4-8).
Ball State went on to claim the tournament title with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-13, 25-19) win over the Explorers (7-6) in its tournament finale. With La Salle leading 7-6 early in the second and looking to even the match, the Cardinals went on an 8-0 run to reclaim the momentum on the way to its third sweep of the week.
Headlining Ball State's play at the Tiger Invitational was junior libero Kate Avila who led the Cardinals defense with 59 digs for a 5.36 digs-per-set average. Avila also led Ball State's primary passers with a .981 (51-for-52) reception percentage and served up an ace.
Redshirt senior middle Meg Starling also had a strong tournament, as she averaged 2.82 kills and 1.45 blocks per set while hitting .351 (31-4-77). Junior setter Amber Seaman led the Ball State offense to a .246 attack percentage over the three matches, handing out 8.91 assists per set. She also averaged 2.27 digs, tallied eight kills and served up four aces.
Senior outside Ellie Dunn closed the tournament with a team-high 40 kills (3.64 per set), while junior middle Sydnee VanBeek record 24 (2.18 per set).
Head Coach Kelli Miller:
"It's nice to have positive momentum going into the conference season. But at the same time, we know that a new season begins next week. We must continue to get better in preparation for a tough MAC season."
"Kate was a rock for us this weekend. She passed well, was making big-time defensive plays and most of all, she was leading our team with not just her play but also her voice and energy. I am really proud of the way she played this weekend."
"We learned a lot from our match Friday night. We came out flat and lacked energy which resulted in us not playing to our full potential. We were very fortunate to come out with the win. We certainly learned the value of playing hard and with energy for every point and that's something I'm confident we will do moving forward."
"We have put an emphasis on playing each point as its own and not allowing what happened the previous point to affect the next. That's certainly a mental toughness skill, but one we're putting a lot of attention on in practice. We saw it pay off with several large runs this weekend."
Ball State vs. Towson Recap:
The Ball State women's volleyball team stepped on the gas early, scoring the first nine points of the match, on their way to a dominating 3-0 (25-12, 27-25, 25-18) victory over Towson early Saturday afternoon at SECU Arena.
In its first of back-to-back matches on the day at the Tiger Invitational, the Cardinals picked up their second win of the tournament by out-hitting the Tigers by a .254 (45-14-122) to .162 (37-18-117) margin.
Freshman opposite Reece Karl had the hot hand for Ball State, registering eight kills and hitting .538 (8-1-13). She also led all players with four total blocks (one solo and three assists), including combining with redshirt senior Meg Startling for the match winner.
Starling would lead the Ball State offense with a season-high 12 kills, while also notching three total blocks (one solo and two assists) and hitting .400 (12-2-25). Senior outside attacker Ellie Dunn was second on the squad with 11 kills, marking her 11th match of the season with double digit kills.
Dunn also served up a match-high three aces, as the Cardinals out-aced the Tigers 8-1.
In the backcourt, junior libero Kate Avila led the Ball State defense with 15 digs, while freshman defensive specialist Cathryn Starck was next with 11. Overall, Ball State's defense held a 52-50 advantage in digs and a 7-4 lead in blocks.
Rounding out the Cardinals' top contributors was junior setter Amber Seaman with a match-high 31 assists, eight digs, four kills and a pair of aces.
Olivia Finckel led the Tigers with 11 kills, while Anna Holehouse recorded a match-best 22 digs.
Ball State vs. La Salle Recap:
The Cardinals carried over the momentum from their first match of the day, scoring a second straight sweep with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-13, 25-19) win over La Salle Saturday evening.
After not trailing in the opening set, Ball State fell behind 7-6 early in the second. The Cardinals answered with an eight-point run and never looked back winning the set 25-13 and sweeping the match.
Junior middle Sydnee VanBeek paced the Ball State offense in the win over the Explorers, scoring a team-high 10 kills and hitting a season-best .625 (10-0-16). Sophomore outside hitter Kia Holder was not far behind, registering nine kills and hitting .222 (9-3-27).
Redshirt senior middle Meg Starling continued her solid play at the net, leading all-players with a match-high six total blocks (two solo and four assists). She also finished the match with eight kills and a .350 (9-1-20) attack percentage.
Rounding out Ball State's top attackers was senior outside Ellie Dunn with nine kills. Defensively, junior libero Kate Avila was credited with a team-high 15 and logged a perfect reception percentage in 15 attempts. Dunn and freshman defensive specialist Cathryn Starck followed with eight digs apiece.
Junior setter Amber Seaman guided the Ball State offense to a weekend-high .306 (41-7-111) attack percentage by handing out 29 assists. She was also credited with two aces and five digs.
La Salle's Devin Corah led all players with 13 kills, while Jensen Sharrits collected a match-best 19 digs.
Inside the Numbers:
- It was a tournament full of big runs for the Cardinals, starting with a 12-point run in the fourth set of Friday's win over UMBC. Ball State opened Saturday's match versus Towson with a nine-point run and added a seven-point run early in the third set. In the tournament finale versus La Salle, the Cardinals went on an eight-point run midway through the second set.
- With her 20 total kills Saturday, senior outside attacker Ellie Dunn raised her career total to 848 which continues to rank 16th in program history. In addition, the raised her career kills-per-set average to 2.71 which is just outside the top 20 on Ball State's career charts.
- Redshirt senior Meg Starling had two more impressive blocking effort Saturday and finished the Tiger Invitational with 16 total blocks and a 1.45 blocks-per-set average. Throw in her seven total blocks in the win over IUPUI Tuesday and Starling averaged 1.64 blocks-per-set for the week to raise her season average to 1.26.
- With 15 digs in each of Ball State's two wins Saturday, junior libero Kate Avila has recorded double-digit digs in 42 consecutive matches and 71 times over her career. Her 1,345 career digs rank sixth in program history, while her 4.59 career digs-per-set average is fourth.
Up Next:
The Ball State women's volleyball team opens Mid-American Conference play next weekend starting 7 p.m. Friday at Western Michigan. The Cardinals will then travel to Northern Illinois for an 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT first serve 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 -
After starting the tournament with a hard-fought 3-2 win over UMBC Friday, the Cardinals (9-4) opened Saturday's doubleheader by scoring the first nine points in a 3-0 (25-12, 27-25, 25-18) sweep of the host Tigers (4-8).
Ball State went on to claim the tournament title with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-13, 25-19) win over the Explorers (7-6) in its tournament finale. With La Salle leading 7-6 early in the second and looking to even the match, the Cardinals went on an 8-0 run to reclaim the momentum on the way to its third sweep of the week.
Headlining Ball State's play at the Tiger Invitational was junior libero Kate Avila who led the Cardinals defense with 59 digs for a 5.36 digs-per-set average. Avila also led Ball State's primary passers with a .981 (51-for-52) reception percentage and served up an ace.
Redshirt senior middle Meg Starling also had a strong tournament, as she averaged 2.82 kills and 1.45 blocks per set while hitting .351 (31-4-77). Junior setter Amber Seaman led the Ball State offense to a .246 attack percentage over the three matches, handing out 8.91 assists per set. She also averaged 2.27 digs, tallied eight kills and served up four aces.
Senior outside Ellie Dunn closed the tournament with a team-high 40 kills (3.64 per set), while junior middle Sydnee VanBeek record 24 (2.18 per set).
Head Coach Kelli Miller:
"It's nice to have positive momentum going into the conference season. But at the same time, we know that a new season begins next week. We must continue to get better in preparation for a tough MAC season."
"Kate was a rock for us this weekend. She passed well, was making big-time defensive plays and most of all, she was leading our team with not just her play but also her voice and energy. I am really proud of the way she played this weekend."
"We learned a lot from our match Friday night. We came out flat and lacked energy which resulted in us not playing to our full potential. We were very fortunate to come out with the win. We certainly learned the value of playing hard and with energy for every point and that's something I'm confident we will do moving forward."
"We have put an emphasis on playing each point as its own and not allowing what happened the previous point to affect the next. That's certainly a mental toughness skill, but one we're putting a lot of attention on in practice. We saw it pay off with several large runs this weekend."
Ball State vs. Towson Recap:
The Ball State women's volleyball team stepped on the gas early, scoring the first nine points of the match, on their way to a dominating 3-0 (25-12, 27-25, 25-18) victory over Towson early Saturday afternoon at SECU Arena.
In its first of back-to-back matches on the day at the Tiger Invitational, the Cardinals picked up their second win of the tournament by out-hitting the Tigers by a .254 (45-14-122) to .162 (37-18-117) margin.
Freshman opposite Reece Karl had the hot hand for Ball State, registering eight kills and hitting .538 (8-1-13). She also led all players with four total blocks (one solo and three assists), including combining with redshirt senior Meg Startling for the match winner.
Starling would lead the Ball State offense with a season-high 12 kills, while also notching three total blocks (one solo and two assists) and hitting .400 (12-2-25). Senior outside attacker Ellie Dunn was second on the squad with 11 kills, marking her 11th match of the season with double digit kills.
Dunn also served up a match-high three aces, as the Cardinals out-aced the Tigers 8-1.
In the backcourt, junior libero Kate Avila led the Ball State defense with 15 digs, while freshman defensive specialist Cathryn Starck was next with 11. Overall, Ball State's defense held a 52-50 advantage in digs and a 7-4 lead in blocks.
Rounding out the Cardinals' top contributors was junior setter Amber Seaman with a match-high 31 assists, eight digs, four kills and a pair of aces.
Olivia Finckel led the Tigers with 11 kills, while Anna Holehouse recorded a match-best 22 digs.
Ball State vs. La Salle Recap:
The Cardinals carried over the momentum from their first match of the day, scoring a second straight sweep with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-13, 25-19) win over La Salle Saturday evening.
After not trailing in the opening set, Ball State fell behind 7-6 early in the second. The Cardinals answered with an eight-point run and never looked back winning the set 25-13 and sweeping the match.
Junior middle Sydnee VanBeek paced the Ball State offense in the win over the Explorers, scoring a team-high 10 kills and hitting a season-best .625 (10-0-16). Sophomore outside hitter Kia Holder was not far behind, registering nine kills and hitting .222 (9-3-27).
Redshirt senior middle Meg Starling continued her solid play at the net, leading all-players with a match-high six total blocks (two solo and four assists). She also finished the match with eight kills and a .350 (9-1-20) attack percentage.
Rounding out Ball State's top attackers was senior outside Ellie Dunn with nine kills. Defensively, junior libero Kate Avila was credited with a team-high 15 and logged a perfect reception percentage in 15 attempts. Dunn and freshman defensive specialist Cathryn Starck followed with eight digs apiece.
Junior setter Amber Seaman guided the Ball State offense to a weekend-high .306 (41-7-111) attack percentage by handing out 29 assists. She was also credited with two aces and five digs.
La Salle's Devin Corah led all players with 13 kills, while Jensen Sharrits collected a match-best 19 digs.
Inside the Numbers:
- It was a tournament full of big runs for the Cardinals, starting with a 12-point run in the fourth set of Friday's win over UMBC. Ball State opened Saturday's match versus Towson with a nine-point run and added a seven-point run early in the third set. In the tournament finale versus La Salle, the Cardinals went on an eight-point run midway through the second set.
- With her 20 total kills Saturday, senior outside attacker Ellie Dunn raised her career total to 848 which continues to rank 16th in program history. In addition, the raised her career kills-per-set average to 2.71 which is just outside the top 20 on Ball State's career charts.
- Redshirt senior Meg Starling had two more impressive blocking effort Saturday and finished the Tiger Invitational with 16 total blocks and a 1.45 blocks-per-set average. Throw in her seven total blocks in the win over IUPUI Tuesday and Starling averaged 1.64 blocks-per-set for the week to raise her season average to 1.26.
- With 15 digs in each of Ball State's two wins Saturday, junior libero Kate Avila has recorded double-digit digs in 42 consecutive matches and 71 times over her career. Her 1,345 career digs rank sixth in program history, while her 4.59 career digs-per-set average is fourth.
Up Next:
The Ball State women's volleyball team opens Mid-American Conference play next weekend starting 7 p.m. Friday at Western Michigan. The Cardinals will then travel to Northern Illinois for an 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT first serve 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 -
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Team Stats
BSU
TOWSON
Kills
45
37
Errors
14
18
Attempts
122
117
Hitting %
.254
.162
Points
60.0
42.0
Assists
40
34
Aces
8
1
Blocks
7.0
4.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
11
Aces
3
Blocks
1
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
DS
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's Volleyball
DS
/ Women's VolleyballMH
/ Women's Volleyball
MH
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