Volleyball Sweeps Toledo in MAC Opener

TOLEDO, Ohio - - The Ball State women's volleyball team had its offense running on all cylinders Thursday night in Savage Arena, as four different players blasted nine kills in a 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-22) sweep of Toledo to open Mid-American Conference play.

While it was the Rockets (7-6; 0-1 MAC) who entered the night with a league-leading .229 team attack percentage, it was the Cardinals (7-6; 1-0 MAC) who looked like the offensive juggernauts thanks in large part to the play of its freshman class.

Opposite Allison Hamaker led the charge early, blasting five kills and hitting .625 (5-0-8) in the opening set. Her strong play allowed the rest of the Cardinals offense to get going as well, and she was one of four freshmen attackers to finish the night with nine kills. She was joined by outside Natalie Risi, outside Natalie Mitchem and middle MyKel Ivy.

"It was a great start to the MAC season," head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said. "The upperclassmen did a great job of having our team prepared and the freshmen did a great job of trusting themselves and just playing our style of volleyball."

In addition to the solid offensive play, with senior setter Amber Seaman and redshirt freshman setter Esther Grussing combining to run the offense at a .233 (44-16-120), the Cardinals were just as good on defense.

The first frame played a large part in setting the defensive tone, as Ball State collected 27 digs and held Toledo to a .085 (11-7-47) rate of success. Risi and senior libero Kate Avila both collected nine digs in the opening stanza and finished the night tied for match-high honors with 17 digs. Overall, the Ball State defense limited the Rockets to a .137 (33-17-117) attack percentage.

"A big part of our defensive success was out service pressure," Phillips said. "We were able to keep Toledo off balance with our serving and that allowed our defense to set up early and slow down their offense."

Like Phillips said, the Cardinals put on a show from behind the service line, tallying six aces in the sweep. Risi and Ivy recorded two ace apiece, while Avila and Seaman collected one each. Over the last four matches, Ball State has served up 31 total aces, or 2.21 aces per set which would be good enough to lead the MAC by a large margin and would rank in the top four nationally.

"We've been putting a ton of focus on improving our service pressure in practice with our pace and location," Phillips said. "That is one area we are in complete control of in the match, so we want to make sure we take advantage of those situation."

The Ball State women's volleyball team closes its first road swing of the MAC season Saturday night with a 7 p.m. first serve at Akron.

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

Natalie Risi

Allison Hamaker

Natalie Mitchem

MyKel Ivy

Players Mentioned

Kate Avila

Esther Grussing

Allison Hamaker

MyKel Ivy

Natalie Mitchem

Natalie Risi

Amber Seaman

Players Mentioned

Kate Avila

Esther Grussing

Allison Hamaker

MyKel Ivy

Natalie Mitchem

Natalie Risi

Amber Seaman