Friday, November 10
Muncie, IN
6 p.m.
Ball State University
15-12,12-4MAC
3
vs
1
NIU
8-20,6-10MAC
1
2
3
4
F
NIU
17
25
15
24
1
Ball St.
25
23
25
26
3
Gates' 1,000th Dig at Ball State Leads Strong WVB Effort in Win Over NIU
November 10, 2023 | Women's Volleyball
MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State women's volleyball team opened its final home weekend of the 2023 season with a 3-1 (25-17, 23-25, 25-15, 26-24) victory over Northern Illinois Friday evening inside Worthen Arena.
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"I'm glad we got the win," head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said after the match. "I certainly think we were not in great rhythm. It felt like a back-and-forth match and we weren't consistently in great offensive rhythm, but we found a way in a couple different tight sets to come out on top. You've got to be able to find ways to win, even when you are not firing on all cylinders. Credit to our team for continuing to push through and finding ways to step up when it was needed."
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In a prelude to Saturday's senior night, the Cardinals (15-12; 12-4 Mid-American Conference) used big contributions from fifth-year middle Marie Plitt and fifth-year libero Havyn Gates to spark the win.
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Plitt led all attackers and tied her season high with 17 kills, while hitting for a .615 (17-1-26) rate of success. The effort helped her raise her career attack percentage to .364, which is currently the best mark in program history. It also raised her season rate of success to .410 after she entered the night ranked 22nd nationally at .400.
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Gates registered her 1,000th career dig at Ball State with her second of a match-high 21 digs. It is her team-leading fifth match with 20-or-more digs this season, and adding her 1,124 digs over her two-year career at Indiana Wesleyan, raised her collegiate dig total to 2,143.
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"Havyn is one of those people who is going to do everything she can to throw her body around and make plays," Phillips said. "Reaching 1,000 digs at Ball State is a big accomplishment and I am proud of her for that. Hopefully, she has many more digs to come."Â
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While the Huskies 8-20 (6-10 MAC) held an early 3-2 edge in the opening set, Ball State answered with eight of the next 10 points to take control of the frame. The Cardinals would lead by as many as eight, at 17-9, before taking the set 25-17 on Plitt's sixth kill of the night.
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NIU would respond with the first three points in the second set and would go on to pull ahead by seven at 16-9. Ball State would chip away at the lead, however, with one of freshman outside Kendall Barnes' career-high 14 kills tying the score at 21. Another Barnes blast kept the score tied at 23, but the Huskies would score the final two points to escape with the set win.
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Ball State answered with the first three points out of the long break, thanks in part to a pair of kills from redshirt freshman outside Aniya Kennedy. The Cardinals would not let down in the frame, going on to win 25-15 thanks to back-to-back blasts from Plitt.
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The fourth frame started with a 4-1 NIU run, but the Cardinals used a blast from sophomore right side Madison Buckley to spark a 6-0 stretch and give the hosts an 8-5 edge. Kills from Barnes and Plitt would extend Ball State's lead to six points, at 18-12, before it was NIU's turn to rally.
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The Huskies would battle back to take a 23-22 edge before senior outside Cait Snyder was subbed in. Snyder would not disappoint, getting a kill on her first rally to even the score. Junior setter Megan Wielonski followed with a kill of her own, one of her four on the night, giving Ball State match point.Â
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While a service error stopped the Cardinals momentarily, an NIU attack error followed. Kennedy would then smash her 14th and final kill to give BSU the 26-24 set win and the 3-1 match victory.
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In addition to the three Cardinals with double-figure kills, freshman middle Camryn Wise turned in a strong effort, blasting eight kills and connecting for a match-best .700 (8-1-10) rate of success.
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Wielonski dished out 49 total assists in the win, helping guide the Ball State offense to a .264 (61-23-144) hitting percentage. She also collected 10 digs for her 14th assist/dig double-double of the season.
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Also chipping in double figure digs were junior defensive specialist Kendall Seimet and senior defensive specialist Kate Vinson with 13 and 11, respectively. Seimet also served up a career-high four aces, as BSU held a 9-to-4 edge in the category for the match.
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Overall, the Ball State defense limited the NIU attack to a .163 (45-22-141) hitting percentage, with Nikolette Nedic leading the squad with 12 kills. Nazli Guvener led the Huskies with 15 digs.
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"Right now, every win is so critical," Phillips said. "We're talking about seeding, about finding rhythm, finding what's going to be our best situation going into the MAC Tournament. Every time out here is a critical match, and tomorrow being senior night adds an emotional layer. But the level of how important it is with how the season goes, it's a pretty big one."
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The Ball State women's volleyball team closes the home portion of its 2023 slate Saturday with another 6 p.m. first serve versus NIU. The match will serve as Senior Night for the Cardinals who will honor Gates, Plitt, Vinson, Zoe Conway, Lauren Gilliland and Addie Halverson following the contest.
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"I'm glad we got the win," head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said after the match. "I certainly think we were not in great rhythm. It felt like a back-and-forth match and we weren't consistently in great offensive rhythm, but we found a way in a couple different tight sets to come out on top. You've got to be able to find ways to win, even when you are not firing on all cylinders. Credit to our team for continuing to push through and finding ways to step up when it was needed."
Â
In a prelude to Saturday's senior night, the Cardinals (15-12; 12-4 Mid-American Conference) used big contributions from fifth-year middle Marie Plitt and fifth-year libero Havyn Gates to spark the win.
Â
Plitt led all attackers and tied her season high with 17 kills, while hitting for a .615 (17-1-26) rate of success. The effort helped her raise her career attack percentage to .364, which is currently the best mark in program history. It also raised her season rate of success to .410 after she entered the night ranked 22nd nationally at .400.
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Gates registered her 1,000th career dig at Ball State with her second of a match-high 21 digs. It is her team-leading fifth match with 20-or-more digs this season, and adding her 1,124 digs over her two-year career at Indiana Wesleyan, raised her collegiate dig total to 2,143.
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"Havyn is one of those people who is going to do everything she can to throw her body around and make plays," Phillips said. "Reaching 1,000 digs at Ball State is a big accomplishment and I am proud of her for that. Hopefully, she has many more digs to come."Â
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While the Huskies 8-20 (6-10 MAC) held an early 3-2 edge in the opening set, Ball State answered with eight of the next 10 points to take control of the frame. The Cardinals would lead by as many as eight, at 17-9, before taking the set 25-17 on Plitt's sixth kill of the night.
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NIU would respond with the first three points in the second set and would go on to pull ahead by seven at 16-9. Ball State would chip away at the lead, however, with one of freshman outside Kendall Barnes' career-high 14 kills tying the score at 21. Another Barnes blast kept the score tied at 23, but the Huskies would score the final two points to escape with the set win.
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Ball State answered with the first three points out of the long break, thanks in part to a pair of kills from redshirt freshman outside Aniya Kennedy. The Cardinals would not let down in the frame, going on to win 25-15 thanks to back-to-back blasts from Plitt.
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The fourth frame started with a 4-1 NIU run, but the Cardinals used a blast from sophomore right side Madison Buckley to spark a 6-0 stretch and give the hosts an 8-5 edge. Kills from Barnes and Plitt would extend Ball State's lead to six points, at 18-12, before it was NIU's turn to rally.
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The Huskies would battle back to take a 23-22 edge before senior outside Cait Snyder was subbed in. Snyder would not disappoint, getting a kill on her first rally to even the score. Junior setter Megan Wielonski followed with a kill of her own, one of her four on the night, giving Ball State match point.Â
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While a service error stopped the Cardinals momentarily, an NIU attack error followed. Kennedy would then smash her 14th and final kill to give BSU the 26-24 set win and the 3-1 match victory.
Â
In addition to the three Cardinals with double-figure kills, freshman middle Camryn Wise turned in a strong effort, blasting eight kills and connecting for a match-best .700 (8-1-10) rate of success.
Â
Wielonski dished out 49 total assists in the win, helping guide the Ball State offense to a .264 (61-23-144) hitting percentage. She also collected 10 digs for her 14th assist/dig double-double of the season.
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Also chipping in double figure digs were junior defensive specialist Kendall Seimet and senior defensive specialist Kate Vinson with 13 and 11, respectively. Seimet also served up a career-high four aces, as BSU held a 9-to-4 edge in the category for the match.
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Overall, the Ball State defense limited the NIU attack to a .163 (45-22-141) hitting percentage, with Nikolette Nedic leading the squad with 12 kills. Nazli Guvener led the Huskies with 15 digs.
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"Right now, every win is so critical," Phillips said. "We're talking about seeding, about finding rhythm, finding what's going to be our best situation going into the MAC Tournament. Every time out here is a critical match, and tomorrow being senior night adds an emotional layer. But the level of how important it is with how the season goes, it's a pretty big one."
Â
The Ball State women's volleyball team closes the home portion of its 2023 slate Saturday with another 6 p.m. first serve versus NIU. The match will serve as Senior Night for the Cardinals who will honor Gates, Plitt, Vinson, Zoe Conway, Lauren Gilliland and Addie Halverson following the contest.
Team Stats
NIU
BSU
Kills
45
61
Errors
22
23
Attempts
141
144
Hitting %
.163
.264
Points
55.0
72.0
Assists
40
58
Aces
4
9
Blocks
6
2
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
17
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
14
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
14
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
OPP
/ Women's Volleyball
DS/L
/ Women's Volleyball
DS/L
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's Volleyball
DS/L
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
DS/L
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's VolleyballMB
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