Friday, October 1
Muncie, IN
6:30 p.m.
Ball State University
13-3,3-1MAC
3
vs
0
Ohio
1-14,1-3MAC
1
2
3
F
Ohio
17
19
15
0
Ball St.
25
25
25
3
Photo by: Michael Hickey
Volleyball Sweeps Ohio; Improves to 3-1 in #MACtion
October 01, 2021 | Women's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State women's volleyball team hit the court running Friday night in Worthen Arena, earning a dominating 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-15) victory over Ohio in Mid-American Conference action.
In fact, the Cardinals (13-3; 3-1 MAC) did not trail the entire night and were only tied with the Bobcats (1-14, 1-3 MAC) once in the match; at the 1-1 mark of the third set.
"We had a much different game plan coming in tonight after seeing how they defended us yesterday, and I thought we executed that really well," head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said. "I was proud of our girls from the get-go, executing a different offensive plan."
The main driver for Friday's sweep, another dominating performance on offense by Ball State which connected for a .388 (45-7-98) attack percentage. Leading the charge for the second consecutive night was sophomore middle Lauren Gilliland with 11 kills and a .647 (11-0-17) hitting mark.
Combined with her team-high 13 kills and match-best .583 (13-0-22) rate of success in Thursday's five-set thriller, Gilliland hit an astonishing .615 (24-0-39) for the series and averaged a team-leading 3.0 kills per set.
Gilliland was not the only Cardinals player to find offensive success, however, and another very balanced attack kept Ohio guessing on nearly every swing. That led to eight kills apiece from junior middle Marie Plitt, junior opposite Natalie Mitchem and graduate transfer outside Emily Hollowell. Graduate transfer Jaclyn Bulmahn was not far behind with seven kills.
Freshman setter Megan Wielonski once again ran the Ball State offense to near perfection, and its second-best hitting mark of the season, handing out 34 assists to go along with three kills and seven digs.
"It all starts with our ball control, which allows us to move the ball around and get a lot of different people involved in the offense," Phillips added. "Our hitters are doing a great job of demanding the ball and being in the right place. That is certainly our strategy, and we want to continue to be able to do that."
Speaking of the passing game, which saw BSU's defenders finish the night without being aced, junior libero Natalie Risi led the team with a 14 digs and successfully passed all nine serves she faced. Sophomore defensive specialist Kate Vinson finished the match one dig shy of double figures with nine, while facing a team-high 14 serves.
In addition to her strong attacking numbers, Gilliland dominated at the net, registering six total blocks. As a team, the Cardinals out-blocked the Bobcats 6.0-to-2.0.
Caitlin O'Farrell led the Ohio attack with 10 kills, while libero Sam Steele paced all players with 15 digs. One night after hitting .308 (73-24-159) in a losing effort, the Ball State defense limited the Bobcats to a .162 (34-17-105) attack percentage Friday.
"So far, I've enjoyed being able to make adjustments after the first night and see how our team is able to respond on the fly without a practice," Phillips said. "I think that's a credit to the girls and their toughness to be able to make adjustments. We're not going to be able to do that next weekend as we're playing two different opponents. That will be a different challenge for us. We'll have to be ready right away and not wait until the next night to figure it out"
The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to action next Friday, with a 7 p.m. first serve at Akron. The Cardinals will then travel to Buffalo Saturday for a 4 p.m. first serve.
In fact, the Cardinals (13-3; 3-1 MAC) did not trail the entire night and were only tied with the Bobcats (1-14, 1-3 MAC) once in the match; at the 1-1 mark of the third set.
"We had a much different game plan coming in tonight after seeing how they defended us yesterday, and I thought we executed that really well," head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said. "I was proud of our girls from the get-go, executing a different offensive plan."
The main driver for Friday's sweep, another dominating performance on offense by Ball State which connected for a .388 (45-7-98) attack percentage. Leading the charge for the second consecutive night was sophomore middle Lauren Gilliland with 11 kills and a .647 (11-0-17) hitting mark.
Combined with her team-high 13 kills and match-best .583 (13-0-22) rate of success in Thursday's five-set thriller, Gilliland hit an astonishing .615 (24-0-39) for the series and averaged a team-leading 3.0 kills per set.
Gilliland was not the only Cardinals player to find offensive success, however, and another very balanced attack kept Ohio guessing on nearly every swing. That led to eight kills apiece from junior middle Marie Plitt, junior opposite Natalie Mitchem and graduate transfer outside Emily Hollowell. Graduate transfer Jaclyn Bulmahn was not far behind with seven kills.
Freshman setter Megan Wielonski once again ran the Ball State offense to near perfection, and its second-best hitting mark of the season, handing out 34 assists to go along with three kills and seven digs.
"It all starts with our ball control, which allows us to move the ball around and get a lot of different people involved in the offense," Phillips added. "Our hitters are doing a great job of demanding the ball and being in the right place. That is certainly our strategy, and we want to continue to be able to do that."
Speaking of the passing game, which saw BSU's defenders finish the night without being aced, junior libero Natalie Risi led the team with a 14 digs and successfully passed all nine serves she faced. Sophomore defensive specialist Kate Vinson finished the match one dig shy of double figures with nine, while facing a team-high 14 serves.
In addition to her strong attacking numbers, Gilliland dominated at the net, registering six total blocks. As a team, the Cardinals out-blocked the Bobcats 6.0-to-2.0.
Caitlin O'Farrell led the Ohio attack with 10 kills, while libero Sam Steele paced all players with 15 digs. One night after hitting .308 (73-24-159) in a losing effort, the Ball State defense limited the Bobcats to a .162 (34-17-105) attack percentage Friday.
"So far, I've enjoyed being able to make adjustments after the first night and see how our team is able to respond on the fly without a practice," Phillips said. "I think that's a credit to the girls and their toughness to be able to make adjustments. We're not going to be able to do that next weekend as we're playing two different opponents. That will be a different challenge for us. We'll have to be ready right away and not wait until the next night to figure it out"
The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to action next Friday, with a 7 p.m. first serve at Akron. The Cardinals will then travel to Buffalo Saturday for a 4 p.m. first serve.
Team Stats
Ohio
BSU
Kills
34
45
Errors
17
7
Attempts
105
98
Hitting %
.162
.388
Points
36
54
Assists
33
40
Aces
0
3
Blocks
2
6
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
6
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's VolleyballOH / OPP
/ Women's VolleyballOH / OPP
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
DS / S
/ Women's Volleyball
S
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