Volleyball Sweeps Eastern Michigan In Saturday #MACtion

MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State women's volleyball team was firing on all cylinders Saturday evening in Worthen Arena, closing the weekend with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-16) sweep of Eastern Michigan.

The Cardinals (10-6; 2-2 Mid-American Conference) finished the night hitting .267 (35-11-90) and turned in a dominating effort at the net with 10 total blocks, its second-highest total of the season.

"Ten blocks in three sets is a huge improvement for us," head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said. "We've been working really hard. These girls are putting in the effort, and sometimes it just takes a match like this to feel like what you've been doing is starting to pay off."

BSU's effort at the net helped limit the Eagles (1-15; 0-4 MAC) to a .073 hitting effort. The Cardinals also served tough all night, with six aces and several big point runs.

"Tonight, our service pressure was consistent throughout all three sets, and our blocking presence forced Eastern Michigan into a few more errors than what they had last night. Our ball control and our service pressure were top-notch all night and allowed us to feel comfortable, like we were in command of the whole match."

Leading the Cardinals on the block was senior middle Marie Plitt with five total on the night, to go along with seven kills and a .400 (7-1-15) attack percentage.

Another key contributor at the net was freshman opposite Madison Buckley who tallied a career-high four total blocks while playing in the final two sets. Buckley also scored four kills on nine swings.

"We have a lot of trust in each other, and I know that if I do my job and all my teammates do theirs, we can have great success," Buckley said. "That's just what we did. After a couple of not-so-good weekends, this is exactly what we needed, especially on our home court."

Overall, six different Cardinals recorded at least one block in the win.

Moving to offense, senior outside Natalie Rise led all players with 12 kills and hit an impressive .476 (12-2-21). And while she had limited sets, junior middle Lauren Gilliland made the most of every swing, scoring six kills and hitting .857 (6-0-7). Gilliland also collected three total blocks.

Running it all for Ball State was sophomore setter Megan Wielonski, who dished out 29 assists and added eight digs and a service ace.

In the backcourt, senior libero Maggie Huber tied for match-high honors with 11 digs, while serving up a match-best three aces.

The Eastern Michigan offense was led by Samantha Basham and Callie Minshew who registered eight kills apiece. EMU did hold a 40-to-29 edge in total digs, with Emma McMahon tying for match-high honors with all.

The Ball State women's volleyball team will face its first two MAC East Division foes next weekend, with it hosts Akron on Friday and Buffalo on Saturday for Dig Pink Night. Both matches are slated to start at 6 p.m.

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Team Stats

Natalie Risi

Marie Plitt

Lauren Gilliland

Cait Snyder

Players Mentioned

Madison Buckley

Lauren Gilliland

Maggie Huber

Marie Plitt

Megan Wielonski