Back-To-Back; Volleyball Clinches Second Straight MAC Regular Season Title

MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Mid-American Conference Women's Volleyball Championship will return to Muncie as Ball State claimed its second consecutive MAC regular season title with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-16) sweep of Toledo Wednesday night in Worthen Arena.

The Cardinals (23-7; 15-3) locked up the No. 1 seed and hosting rights to the upcoming MAC Tournament with another strong all-around performance, hitting .313 (44-13-99) as a team and limiting the Rockets (18-11; 11-7 MAC) rate of success.

"It's awesome to win, and I really try to emphasize that to these guys all the time," head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said. "It is not easy to win in this league, and certainly that is something we want to celebrate and are excited about. However, we know our vision and our goals, and I told them one goal down, many more to come.

"Certainly, we are going to enjoy tonight, but we really have our sights set on winning the MAC Tournament Championship and getting an NCAA bid."

Perhaps the biggest spark to the title clinching win came from the service line, however, as a strong push from senior outside Natalie Risi helped turn a 17-15 opening set deficit to a 25-18 frame victory.

Risi's strong serving, including an ace to make the score 20-17, shifted the momentum from Toledo to Ball State, paving the way for the victory. Overall, Risi finished the match with three aces, to go along with seven digs and three early kills.

Junior outside Cait Snyder led the Ball State offense with 12 kills, while hitting .321 (12-3-28) in another strong outing versus the Rockets. Snyder, who blasted the championship-clinching kill, registered a career-high 19 kills in the first meeting at Toledo on Oct. 19.

Marie Plitt also turned in a dominating performance, smashing 10 kills and hitting .562 (10-1-16). She also had a hand in four of Ball State's six blocks, including a pair of solo stuffs.

Rounding out Ball State's top contributors on offense was senior opposite Natalie Mitchem with nine kills and a .300 (9-3-20) hitting mark.

Senior libero Maggie Huber led the Cardinals' backcourt with 12 digs, while also serving up an ace. Sophomore setter Megan Wielonski finished just shy of her 19th double-double of the season with 36 assists and nine digs.

Wielonski also scored a pair of kills, including the second-set winner, while adding an ace and a block assist. In a solid performance off the bench, freshman outside Katie Egenolf added four kills and hit .400 (4-0-10).

In addition to out-hitting Toledo, Ball State held a 40-to-39 edge in digs, a 7.0-to-6.0 advantage in blocks, and a 7-to-5 lead in aces.

Taylor Alt led the Toledo attack with 12 kills, while Ryann Jaqua added a match-high 15 digs.

With the first-round bye, the Ball State women's volleyball team returns to action Monday at 4:30 p.m. against the winner of the No. 4 Central Michigan vs. No. 5 Toledo.

"We are really comfortable at home, and have a great fan environment," Phillips added. "With the matches being played a little earlier in the holiday week, I am hopeful we can get some great fans in here. I think that plays a huge role in our confidence and our ability to put pressure on opponents. When it comes tournament time, you want any and every advantage you can get."

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Team Stats

Cait Snyder

Marie Plitt

Natalie Mitchem

Lauren Gilliland

Players Mentioned

Katie Egenolf

Maggie Huber

Natalie Mitchem

Marie Plitt

Natalie Risi

Cait Snyder

Megan Wielonski