Saturday, September 8
Muncie, IN
7 p.m.
Ball State University
5-4
2
vs
3
Indiana University
6-2
1
2
3
4
5
F
Indiana
25
23
24
25
15
3
Ball State
16
25
26
21
13
2
Late Rallies Lift Indiana Past Women’s Volleyball in Five Sets
September 08, 2018 | Women's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State women's volleyball team could not hold on to several late leads and suffered a 3-2 (25-16, 23-25, 24-26, 25-21, 15-13) loss to in-state rival Indiana to close play in the Ball State Active Ankle Challenge Saturday night in Worthen Arena.
"While we gave a great effort tonight, I thought early in every set we gave away two or three bunny points and those came back to haunt us at the end of the fourth and fifth sets," head coach Kelli Miller said. "We played really hard after that, but we have to learn to play hard from the get go and not give anyone easy points."
After dropping the opening set, the Cardinals (5-4) rallied to win the next two and build a 2-1 lead on the visiting Hoosiers (6-2). Ball State looked poised to close out the match in the fourth, leading 19-15 late. However, IU rattled off six straight points and went on to win the set 25-21 to even the match.
The Cardinals had another shot in the fifth frame, holding an 8-7 edge at the court switch. Unfortunately, Indiana scored five of the next six points to pull ahead 12-9. Ball State battled back to tie the set at 13 but could not carry the momentum the rest of the way as the Hoosiers scored the final two points to take the match.
"Indiana has a lot of great hitters, so we had to pick and choose each rotation who we were going to put our main focus on," Miller added. "Tonight, they just had one too many swings that we did not have an answer for."
Ellie Dunn led all players with a season-high 21 kills, marking the second time in her career the senior outside attacker has registered 20-or-more kills in a match. She also collected 13 digs for her team-leading sixth double-double of the season.
"I think there were some spurts where our ball control dropped and Ellie got a lot of our jump sets," Miller said. "I think she did a good job making sure we took great swings on tough balls. She played her heart out and that is really all I can ask."
Dunn was also named to the Active Ankle Challenge All-Tournament Team for her play over the two-day event. She led all Ball State attackers with 53 kills for a 4.42 kills-per-set average. She also registered 33 digs and seven total blocks on defense over the course of the tournament.
In addition to the solid offensive performance from Dunn, freshman opposite Reece Kral had a breakout night versus the Hoosiers, blasting a career-high 14 kills on a .310 (14-5-29) attack percentage. She also secured a career-high five total blocks to help the Cardinals hold a 14-8 advantage as a team.
Rounding out Ball State's top attackers Saturday was junior middle Sydnee VanBeek who registered 12 kills and a .500 (12-1-22) attack percentage. Defensively, VanBeek added five digs and four block assists.
Redshirt senior middle Meg Starling led all players with seven total blocks, while junior libero Kate Avila collected a team-high 25 digs and junior defensive specialist Anna Jensen secured a career-high 17 digs.
The Ball State offense connected for a .240 (64-20-183) attack percentage in the match, while Indiana hit for a .282 (78-25-188) rate of success.
Hayden Huybers led a trio of Hoosiers with 18 kills, while Kendall Beerman secured a match-high 26 digs.
It will be a quick turnaround for the Ball State women's volleyball team which hosts IUPUI Tuesday for a 7 p.m. first serve in Worthen Arena.
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State women's volleyball, follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateWVB and @VBCoachMiller on Twitter.
- BallStateSports.com -
"While we gave a great effort tonight, I thought early in every set we gave away two or three bunny points and those came back to haunt us at the end of the fourth and fifth sets," head coach Kelli Miller said. "We played really hard after that, but we have to learn to play hard from the get go and not give anyone easy points."
After dropping the opening set, the Cardinals (5-4) rallied to win the next two and build a 2-1 lead on the visiting Hoosiers (6-2). Ball State looked poised to close out the match in the fourth, leading 19-15 late. However, IU rattled off six straight points and went on to win the set 25-21 to even the match.
The Cardinals had another shot in the fifth frame, holding an 8-7 edge at the court switch. Unfortunately, Indiana scored five of the next six points to pull ahead 12-9. Ball State battled back to tie the set at 13 but could not carry the momentum the rest of the way as the Hoosiers scored the final two points to take the match.
"Indiana has a lot of great hitters, so we had to pick and choose each rotation who we were going to put our main focus on," Miller added. "Tonight, they just had one too many swings that we did not have an answer for."
Ellie Dunn led all players with a season-high 21 kills, marking the second time in her career the senior outside attacker has registered 20-or-more kills in a match. She also collected 13 digs for her team-leading sixth double-double of the season.
"I think there were some spurts where our ball control dropped and Ellie got a lot of our jump sets," Miller said. "I think she did a good job making sure we took great swings on tough balls. She played her heart out and that is really all I can ask."
Dunn was also named to the Active Ankle Challenge All-Tournament Team for her play over the two-day event. She led all Ball State attackers with 53 kills for a 4.42 kills-per-set average. She also registered 33 digs and seven total blocks on defense over the course of the tournament.
In addition to the solid offensive performance from Dunn, freshman opposite Reece Kral had a breakout night versus the Hoosiers, blasting a career-high 14 kills on a .310 (14-5-29) attack percentage. She also secured a career-high five total blocks to help the Cardinals hold a 14-8 advantage as a team.
Rounding out Ball State's top attackers Saturday was junior middle Sydnee VanBeek who registered 12 kills and a .500 (12-1-22) attack percentage. Defensively, VanBeek added five digs and four block assists.
Redshirt senior middle Meg Starling led all players with seven total blocks, while junior libero Kate Avila collected a team-high 25 digs and junior defensive specialist Anna Jensen secured a career-high 17 digs.
The Ball State offense connected for a .240 (64-20-183) attack percentage in the match, while Indiana hit for a .282 (78-25-188) rate of success.
Hayden Huybers led a trio of Hoosiers with 18 kills, while Kendall Beerman secured a match-high 26 digs.
It will be a quick turnaround for the Ball State women's volleyball team which hosts IUPUI Tuesday for a 7 p.m. first serve in Worthen Arena.
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State women's volleyball, follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateWVB and @VBCoachMiller on Twitter.
- BallStateSports.com -
Team Stats
IND
BSU
Kills
78
64
Errors
25
20
Attempts
188
183
Hitting %
.282
.240
Points
94.0
80.0
Assists
72
60
Aces
8
2
Blocks
8.0
14.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
21
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
14
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
DS
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's Volleyball
OH/DS
/ Women's VolleyballRS / M
/ Women's Volleyball
MH
/ Women's VolleyballMH
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