Saturday, September 4
Dayton, OH
10 a.m.
Ball State University
6-0,0-0MAC
3
vs
0
DePaul
3-2,0-0Big East
1
2
3
F
DePaul
22
17
20
0
Ball St.
25
25
25
3
Photo by: Julia Kostopolous
WVB Moves to 7-0; Wins TRU by Hilton Tournament Title
September 04, 2021 | Women's Volleyball
DAYTON, Ohio - - The Ball State women's volleyball team played two very different matches Saturday at the TRU By Hilton Dayton Beavercreek Invitational host by Wright State.
In the end, however, it was the squad's depth and effort Saturday which lifted the Cardinals to a pair of wins, its second consecutive pre-conference tournament title, and a 7-0 overall record on the year.
"Our depth continued to be huge for us this weekend," head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said after Saturday's matches. "The defense at this tournament was unreal. That forced us to transition and work time and time again, which can wear anyone down. Having that depth and the next woman come in and provide production was huge."
The day started with a solid 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-20) victory over DePaul in the morning session, with the Cardinals riding the strong arm of graduate transfer outside Jaclyn Bulmahn to victory.
Bulmahn finished the contest with a match-high 12 kills and hit an impressive .393 (12-1-28) from the outside.
The day concluded with a down-to-the-wire slugfest with neither squad surrendering any ground. In the end, it was Ball State who would come out victorious once again by topping Marshall 3-2 (25-18, 17-25, 25-22, 22-25, 15-11).
One of the biggest contributors for the Cardinals in the nightcap was graduate transfer opposite Emily Hollowell who registered a career-high nine kills and a pair of blocks over the final two sets. She led Ball State with three kills and a block in the final frame, including a smash to give BSU the lead for good.
"Jaclyn and Emily both have been awesome additions to the roster," Phillips said. "Their experience in big moments really helps us. Now that we're a month into training, you can see the chemistry developing and growing between not just those two, but all our newcomers. That's what you have to have during preseason; tough battles and moments to stress and help your teammates grow together. I think we're doing just that."
Not to be lost on the day was the defensive effort of sophomore libero Kate Vinson, who led the Cardinals with 16 digs in the opener and paced all players with a career-high 29 digs in the nightcap. She also successfully passed 65 of the 68 serves she faced, the most of any BSU player on the day.
"Vinson was really solid today," Phillips added about her libero. "She's starting to get more comfortable with the bro jersey and playing with confidence as she should. I love how coachable she is. She's just going to keep getting better and better."
The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to action Friday, when it opens play in the Cy-Hawk Series Tournament with matches versus Iowa State (Noon ET / 11 a.m. CT) and host Iowa (8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT).
"The maturity of this team has really impressed me, especially with us having so many newcomers," Phillips concluded. "They stay calm under pressure, compete hard and have good player leadership. They want to be great and every person on our roster comes into practice on a mission to win a championship. That allows our practices to be highly competitive which translates into game day."
MATCH RECAP: Ball State 3 - DePaul 0
The Cardinals opened the day with a dominating win over DePaul, taking out the Blue Demons (3-2) in straight sets.
It started with another solid attacking effort in the opening set, this time from Bulmahn who smashed seven of her match-high 12 kills in the 25-22 first frame win.
The Cardinals went on to win the second set 25-17 and held a 19-6 advantage in the third before mixing up the lineup and taking the set 25-20.
Junior opposite Natalie Mitchem was second on the squad with 10 kills to go along with a .391 (10-1-23) attack percentage. Junior middle Marie Plitt also turned in an impressive offensive showing, hitting .350 (8-1-20) in the win, while tying sophomore middle Lauren Gilliland for team-high honors with three total blocks.
Once again it was freshman Megan Wielonski who led the Ball State offense, helping the squad finish the contest with a .229 (42-12-131) attack percentage over her two-and-a-half sets at the setter position.
Wielonski also collected her second consecutive double-double, earning 11 digs to go along with her 23 assists. Meanwhile, Vinson led the BSU backcourt with 16 digs.
Overall, Ball State held a .229 to .152 advantage in attack percentage and served up the only two aces of the match. Jill Pressly led the Blue Demons attack with 12 kills, while Rachel Krasowski was credited with a match-best 26 digs, helping DePaul to a 66-55 edge in that statistic.
MACTH RECAP: Ball State 3 - Marshall 2
The Cardinals closed the day with perhaps its toughest battle of the young season, earning a five-set victory over the Herd (2-4).
In the team's longest match of the year, there was no shortage of heroes in the contest. However, one of the biggest was Hollowell who turned in a dominating performance off the bench over the final two sets.
Hollowell, who actually also ended the day's opening match with a kill, was the spark BSU needed down the stretch. She blasted a career-high nine kills over the final two sets and came up with a solo block and huge kill to give BSU the lead for good in the fifth at 11-10.
In addition, sophomore outside Cait Snyder came up with some huge contributions off the bench, including scoring kills for BSU's final two points of the night. She finished the match with eight total kills.
Mitchem was Ball State's top attacker in the contest with 14 kills, while Plitt was just one off with 13. Gilliland added nine kills and a team-high six total blocks.
Wielonski finished the match with her third consecutive double-double, ranking second on the team behind Vinson with 15 digs. She also handed out a career-high 58 assists, seven better than last night's total versus Wright State.
Rounding out Ball State's top contributors on defense were junior transfer defensive specialist Havyn Gates and senior defensive specialist Cathryn Starck with 14 and 12 digs, respectively.
Ciare DeBell led the Marshall attack with 19 kills, while Sarah Schank had a team-high 26 digs. Overall, the Herd held a .208 to .144 attacking advantage in the match, while also out-blocking (18.0-13.0) and out-digging (88-87) the Cardinals.
In the end, however, it was the squad's depth and effort Saturday which lifted the Cardinals to a pair of wins, its second consecutive pre-conference tournament title, and a 7-0 overall record on the year.
"Our depth continued to be huge for us this weekend," head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said after Saturday's matches. "The defense at this tournament was unreal. That forced us to transition and work time and time again, which can wear anyone down. Having that depth and the next woman come in and provide production was huge."
The day started with a solid 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-20) victory over DePaul in the morning session, with the Cardinals riding the strong arm of graduate transfer outside Jaclyn Bulmahn to victory.
Bulmahn finished the contest with a match-high 12 kills and hit an impressive .393 (12-1-28) from the outside.
The day concluded with a down-to-the-wire slugfest with neither squad surrendering any ground. In the end, it was Ball State who would come out victorious once again by topping Marshall 3-2 (25-18, 17-25, 25-22, 22-25, 15-11).
One of the biggest contributors for the Cardinals in the nightcap was graduate transfer opposite Emily Hollowell who registered a career-high nine kills and a pair of blocks over the final two sets. She led Ball State with three kills and a block in the final frame, including a smash to give BSU the lead for good.
"Jaclyn and Emily both have been awesome additions to the roster," Phillips said. "Their experience in big moments really helps us. Now that we're a month into training, you can see the chemistry developing and growing between not just those two, but all our newcomers. That's what you have to have during preseason; tough battles and moments to stress and help your teammates grow together. I think we're doing just that."
Not to be lost on the day was the defensive effort of sophomore libero Kate Vinson, who led the Cardinals with 16 digs in the opener and paced all players with a career-high 29 digs in the nightcap. She also successfully passed 65 of the 68 serves she faced, the most of any BSU player on the day.
"Vinson was really solid today," Phillips added about her libero. "She's starting to get more comfortable with the bro jersey and playing with confidence as she should. I love how coachable she is. She's just going to keep getting better and better."
The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to action Friday, when it opens play in the Cy-Hawk Series Tournament with matches versus Iowa State (Noon ET / 11 a.m. CT) and host Iowa (8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT).
"The maturity of this team has really impressed me, especially with us having so many newcomers," Phillips concluded. "They stay calm under pressure, compete hard and have good player leadership. They want to be great and every person on our roster comes into practice on a mission to win a championship. That allows our practices to be highly competitive which translates into game day."
MATCH RECAP: Ball State 3 - DePaul 0
The Cardinals opened the day with a dominating win over DePaul, taking out the Blue Demons (3-2) in straight sets.
It started with another solid attacking effort in the opening set, this time from Bulmahn who smashed seven of her match-high 12 kills in the 25-22 first frame win.
The Cardinals went on to win the second set 25-17 and held a 19-6 advantage in the third before mixing up the lineup and taking the set 25-20.
Junior opposite Natalie Mitchem was second on the squad with 10 kills to go along with a .391 (10-1-23) attack percentage. Junior middle Marie Plitt also turned in an impressive offensive showing, hitting .350 (8-1-20) in the win, while tying sophomore middle Lauren Gilliland for team-high honors with three total blocks.
Once again it was freshman Megan Wielonski who led the Ball State offense, helping the squad finish the contest with a .229 (42-12-131) attack percentage over her two-and-a-half sets at the setter position.
Wielonski also collected her second consecutive double-double, earning 11 digs to go along with her 23 assists. Meanwhile, Vinson led the BSU backcourt with 16 digs.
Overall, Ball State held a .229 to .152 advantage in attack percentage and served up the only two aces of the match. Jill Pressly led the Blue Demons attack with 12 kills, while Rachel Krasowski was credited with a match-best 26 digs, helping DePaul to a 66-55 edge in that statistic.
MACTH RECAP: Ball State 3 - Marshall 2
The Cardinals closed the day with perhaps its toughest battle of the young season, earning a five-set victory over the Herd (2-4).
In the team's longest match of the year, there was no shortage of heroes in the contest. However, one of the biggest was Hollowell who turned in a dominating performance off the bench over the final two sets.
Hollowell, who actually also ended the day's opening match with a kill, was the spark BSU needed down the stretch. She blasted a career-high nine kills over the final two sets and came up with a solo block and huge kill to give BSU the lead for good in the fifth at 11-10.
In addition, sophomore outside Cait Snyder came up with some huge contributions off the bench, including scoring kills for BSU's final two points of the night. She finished the match with eight total kills.
Mitchem was Ball State's top attacker in the contest with 14 kills, while Plitt was just one off with 13. Gilliland added nine kills and a team-high six total blocks.
Wielonski finished the match with her third consecutive double-double, ranking second on the team behind Vinson with 15 digs. She also handed out a career-high 58 assists, seven better than last night's total versus Wright State.
Rounding out Ball State's top contributors on defense were junior transfer defensive specialist Havyn Gates and senior defensive specialist Cathryn Starck with 14 and 12 digs, respectively.
Ciare DeBell led the Marshall attack with 19 kills, while Sarah Schank had a team-high 26 digs. Overall, the Herd held a .208 to .144 attacking advantage in the match, while also out-blocking (18.0-13.0) and out-digging (88-87) the Cardinals.
Team Stats
DePaul
BSU
Kills
41
42
Errors
22
12
Attempts
125
131
Hitting %
.152
.229
Points
48
50
Assists
40
35
Aces
0
2
Blocks
7
6
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
8
Aces
1
Blocks
3
Kills
3
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
DS
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's VolleyballOH / OPP
/ Women's VolleyballOH / OPP
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
DS
/ Women's Volleyball
DS / S
/ Women's Volleyball
S
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