Volleyball Blasts Past Western Michigan To Move Into First in MAC

MUNCIE, Ind. - - Ball State women's volleyball hit .327 as a team and had four players smash double-digit kills in a 3-1 (25-27, 25-22, 25-22, 25-17) come-from-behind victory over Western Michigan in a pivotal Mid-American Conference matchup Friday night in Worthen Arena.

It was pivotal because coupled with a Bowling Green five-set loss to Eastern Michigan, the Cardinals (16-6; 8-2 MAC) moved into a tie with the Falcons (13-8; 8-2 MAC) for the top spot in the conference standings.

In addition to BSU's solid offensive play, it was a late rally by the defense which helped the Cardinals earn their eighth consecutive win. BSU limited the Broncos (13-9, 5-5 MAC) to a .019 hitting mark in the final set, including posting three of its four total blocks in the frame.

"In the final set, we changed a couple things we were doing matchup wise, and I thought our service pressure forced WMU to become more one dimensional," head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said. "We finally slowed them down just enough that it allowed us to have better reads on what they were doing."

In the first three sets, it was all offense. WMU took the opening frame hitting .312, while BSU won the second with an even more impressive .600 mark. After three sets, with Ball State leading 2-1, the Cardinals were hitting .354 while the Broncos were at .363.

"Tomorrow, we're going to have to continue to find ways to slow WMU's offense down," Phillips added. "Western Michigan was hitting a crazy high percentage those first three sets and we did not stay patient. They play defense, they make long extended rallies. I felt like we were not disciplined enough and made silly errors early. We must be disciplined tomorrow, know WMU is going to make plays, and continue to stay the course."

However, the Ball State defense rallied in the fourth set, while the offense added 14 more kills and a .244 rate of success to close the match.

Junior outside Cait Snyder led the quartet of Cardinals attackers in double figures with 18 kills, while hitting at a .349 (18-3-43) clip.

Senior outside Natalie Mitchem was right behind with her 10th double-double of the season, scoring 15 kills and adding a season-best 19 digs. She also served up a pair of aces and tallied a pair of solo blocks.

Rounding out Ball State's attackers in double figures were senior middle Marie Plitt with 13 and senior opposite Natalie Mitchem with 11. Plitt also .414 (13-1-29) and chipped in eight digs, while Mitchem connected at a .323 clip.

Junior middle Lauren Gilliland led the Ball State offense with a .421 hitting mark, finishing the match with nine kills on 19 swings with just one error.

On the defensive end, five Cardinals finished the night with double-digit digs, led by 21 from senior libero Maggie Huber. Sophomore setter Megan Wielonski added 14, to go along with a season-high 59 assists for her 13th double-double of the season.

Rounding out Ball State's defenders in double figures were senior defensive specialist Havyn Gates and freshman defensive specialists Paige Busick with 11 each. Busick's 11 digs were a career-high, while she was the only primary passer on either squad with a perfect reception percentage at 15-for-15.

Maggie King would lead the WMU attack with 23 kills, while Abi Wilcoxson scored 14. Broncos' libero Andelyn Simkins collected a match-best 22 digs.

Overall, the Cardinals limited WMU to a .263 hitting mark for the night, aided by the strong fourth set. BSU held a 90-to-77 edge in total digs, and out-aced WMU by an 8-to-6 margin.

The teams will battle again tomorrow night with another 6 p.m. first serve in Worthen Arena.

Next Event

Team Stats

Cait Snyder

Natalie Risi

Marie Plitt

Natalie Mitchem

Players Mentioned

Paige Busick

Havyn Gates

Lauren Gilliland

Maggie Huber

Natalie Mitchem

Marie Plitt

Cait Snyder

Megan Wielonski