Saturday, September 21
Muncie, IND
Noon
Ball State University
5-5
2
vs
3
Wright State
6-1
1
2
3
4
5
F
Wright St.
22
25
25
20
15
3
Ball St.
25
20
15
25
12
2
Photo by: Bobby Ellis (Ball State Creative Services)
Volleyball Serves Up Missouri State in Weekend Finale
September 21, 2019 | Women's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. - - Powered by a season-high 11 service aces, the Ball State women's volleyball team closed play in the Active Ankle Challenge with a commanding 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-16) sweep of Missouri State Saturday night in Worthen Arena.
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After falling three points short in a five-set thriller, 3-2 (22-25, 25-20, 25-15, 20-25, 15-12), to a now 11-1 Wright State team in Saturday's opening match, the Cardinals (6-6) put pressure on the Bears (3-11) from start to finish in its final pre-conference match of the year.
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With Ball State leading 6-4 early in the opening set against Missouri State, freshman Chloe Rickenbach entered to serve and made an immediate impact with back-to-back aces. She added two more aces later in the set and finished the night with a career-high six to lead a brilliant Ball State serving effort.
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"Chloe has always been a great server," head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said. "We really focused this week in practice on putting a ton of effort and emphasis on our service pressure. We're not the biggest blocking team, so we have to find ways to score points from the service line to be able to help out our defense. Chloe did a great job hitting zones and putting pressure on them consistently."
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Aided by the strong service pressure, the Cardinals finished the match with a .267 (40-13-101) attack percentage, led by 12 kills from freshman opposite Allison Hamaker and 10 from freshman outside Natalie Risi.
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"Wright State was really good defensively and we had trouble getting the ball to the floor, they just dug everything," Phillips said. "In tonight's match against Missouri State, we were in system more. We were able to handle their serve receive better, which allowed us to be a little bit more diverse offensively and ultimately led us to hitting a higher percentage."
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Hamaker, who blasted 14 kills in Friday's win over Austin Peay and tied her career-high with 16 kills earlier in the day versus Wright State, was named to the Active Ankle Challenge All-Tournament Team for her play over the two days. Not only did she lead the Ball State offense with a 3.82 kills-per-set average during the tournament, but she also hit a team-best .337 (42-11-92). Her best effort came Saturday night, when she connected at a .526 (11-2-19) clip against the Bears.
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Joining Hamaker on the all-tournament team for the Cardinals was senior libero Kate Avila, who led the Ball State defense with a 4.18 digs-per-set average. Her best effort came Saturday morning, when she corralled 31 digs versus the Raiders. It was the second time this season Avila has registered 30-or-more digs in a match.
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In addition to Hamaker's 16 kills and Avila's 31 digs versus Wright State, senior setter Amber Seaman collected her first double-double of the year with 44 assists and 18 digs. The Cardinals also served up nine aces versus the Raiders, its highest mark of the season until Saturday night.
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The Ball State women's volleyball team turns its attention to league play next, starting with a Thursday match at Toledo. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
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"The goal is to continue to get better each and every week, and I feel like we accomplished that this week," Phillips said. "We also want to come out right at the get go, feeling confident and getting into an offensive rhythm early like we did tonight. Ultimately, we want to continuing to play better each and every week and just take it one opponent at a time, starting Thursday at Toledo."
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For the most up-to-date news on Ball State women's volleyball, follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateWVB and @VBCoachMiller on Twitter.
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2019 Ball State Active Ankle Challenge All-Tournament Team
Wright State - Jenna Story (MVP)
Wright State - Celia Powers
Wright State - Teddie Sauer
Ball State - Allison Hamaker
Ball State - Kate Avila
Austin Peay - Brooke Moore
Missouri State - Laynie Dake
- BallStateSports.com -
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After falling three points short in a five-set thriller, 3-2 (22-25, 25-20, 25-15, 20-25, 15-12), to a now 11-1 Wright State team in Saturday's opening match, the Cardinals (6-6) put pressure on the Bears (3-11) from start to finish in its final pre-conference match of the year.
Â
With Ball State leading 6-4 early in the opening set against Missouri State, freshman Chloe Rickenbach entered to serve and made an immediate impact with back-to-back aces. She added two more aces later in the set and finished the night with a career-high six to lead a brilliant Ball State serving effort.
Â
"Chloe has always been a great server," head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said. "We really focused this week in practice on putting a ton of effort and emphasis on our service pressure. We're not the biggest blocking team, so we have to find ways to score points from the service line to be able to help out our defense. Chloe did a great job hitting zones and putting pressure on them consistently."
Â
Aided by the strong service pressure, the Cardinals finished the match with a .267 (40-13-101) attack percentage, led by 12 kills from freshman opposite Allison Hamaker and 10 from freshman outside Natalie Risi.
Â
"Wright State was really good defensively and we had trouble getting the ball to the floor, they just dug everything," Phillips said. "In tonight's match against Missouri State, we were in system more. We were able to handle their serve receive better, which allowed us to be a little bit more diverse offensively and ultimately led us to hitting a higher percentage."
Â
Hamaker, who blasted 14 kills in Friday's win over Austin Peay and tied her career-high with 16 kills earlier in the day versus Wright State, was named to the Active Ankle Challenge All-Tournament Team for her play over the two days. Not only did she lead the Ball State offense with a 3.82 kills-per-set average during the tournament, but she also hit a team-best .337 (42-11-92). Her best effort came Saturday night, when she connected at a .526 (11-2-19) clip against the Bears.
Â
Joining Hamaker on the all-tournament team for the Cardinals was senior libero Kate Avila, who led the Ball State defense with a 4.18 digs-per-set average. Her best effort came Saturday morning, when she corralled 31 digs versus the Raiders. It was the second time this season Avila has registered 30-or-more digs in a match.
Â
In addition to Hamaker's 16 kills and Avila's 31 digs versus Wright State, senior setter Amber Seaman collected her first double-double of the year with 44 assists and 18 digs. The Cardinals also served up nine aces versus the Raiders, its highest mark of the season until Saturday night.
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The Ball State women's volleyball team turns its attention to league play next, starting with a Thursday match at Toledo. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
Â
"The goal is to continue to get better each and every week, and I feel like we accomplished that this week," Phillips said. "We also want to come out right at the get go, feeling confident and getting into an offensive rhythm early like we did tonight. Ultimately, we want to continuing to play better each and every week and just take it one opponent at a time, starting Thursday at Toledo."
Â
For the most up-to-date news on Ball State women's volleyball, follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateWVB and @VBCoachMiller on Twitter.
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2019 Ball State Active Ankle Challenge All-Tournament Team
Wright State - Jenna Story (MVP)
Wright State - Celia Powers
Wright State - Teddie Sauer
Ball State - Allison Hamaker
Ball State - Kate Avila
Austin Peay - Brooke Moore
Missouri State - Laynie Dake
- BallStateSports.com -
Team Stats
WSU
BSU
Kills
65
60
Errors
19
30
Attempts
199
223
Hitting %
.231
.135
Points
81
74
Assists
56
53
Aces
5
9
Blocks
11
5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
16
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
8
Aces
2
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
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