Saturday, November 18
Kalamazoo, MI
6:30 p.m.
Ball State University
16-14,13-5MAC
2
vs
3
Bowling Green - MAC Quarterfinals
18-12,11-7MAC
1
2
3
4
5
F
Bowling Green
25
25
26
26
16
3
Ball St.
21
13
28
28
14
2
Volleyball’s Comeback Bid Falls Two Points Short in MAC Quarterfinals
November 18, 2023 | Women's Volleyball
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - - The third-seeded Ball State women's volleyball team left it all on the court Saturday night, rallying from down two sets to force a deciding fifth frame. Unfortunately, with the final set tied at 14, sixth-seeded Bowling Green would score the final two points in an epic 3-2 (25-21, 25-13, 26-28, 26-28, 16-14) Mid-American Conference Championship quarterfinal showdown at Western Michigan's University Arena.
"I couldn't be prouder of the freshman and our entire squad tonight," head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said. "We fought hard and played with heart until the end. It's great to see the young guns stepping up, playing with toughness and not backing down at all. We played Ball State volleyball tonight, and I couldn't be prouder of our fight and toughness."
After dropping the opening two sets to the Falcons (18-12) by scores of 25-21 and 25-13, the Cardinals jumped out to a 16-12 lead in the third. While Bowling Green made a run of its own, battling back to take a 20-18 edge, Ball State would not back down.
MAC Freshman of the Year Aniya Kennedy would be the first to take charge, following a BGSU service error with back-to-back kills to give BSU a 21-20 lead. MAC All-Freshman team member Camryn Wise followed with a kill of her own, making the score 22-20.
However, Bowling Green would go on a 4-1 run to reach match point at 24-23. Wise and Kennedy would keep the Cardinals alive with a huge block, and following another BGSU kill, Wise and freshman outside Kendall Barnes would combine for another tying the score at 25.
The Falcons would have one more chance to end the match in three, but Barnes added one of her 11 total kills to tie the score once again at 26. This time, fifth-year middle Marie Plitt registered a kill to give BSU set point and a BGSU attack error sent the teams to a fourth frame.
Set four saw the Cardinals jump out to another big lead, as a solo block from Plitt pushed the score to 17-13 and forced BGSU's second timeout in the stanza. Once again, the guests on the scoreboard would rally, eventually reaching another match point at 25-24.
Barnes would come up big again, however, blasting a kill of the block on a play the Falcons' ultimately challenged and lost. Plitt followed with two of her 13 kills over the next three rallies, helping give BSU two set points, while a blast from Kennedy ended the frame at 28-26 once again.
The fifth was another tough battle, fitting of the five-set tournament championship matches played between the two teams the past two seasons. BSU held a two-point edge at the court switch, thanks to a kill from junior setter Megan Wielonski.
Unfortunately, Bowling Green would battle back to take the lead at 11-9 and hold another match point at 14-13. Plitt would keep the Cardinals alive one more time, before BGSU capitalized on back-to-back attack errors to advance to Sunday's semifinal versus No. 2 seed Buffalo.
Kennedy would lead the Ball State offense with 22 kills, her seventh match with 20-or-more kills this season, while sophomore opposite Madison Buckley followed with 15, one shy of her career high. Buckley scored nine of her kills on 12 swings with no over the first two sets.
Wise would finish the night with six kills, to go along with a match-high six total blocks.
Wielonski would lead the Ball State offense to a .253 (70-25-178) hitting percentage, dishing out a season-high 58 assists and adding eight digs. The 58 assists raised her career total to 3919, while the eight digs left her one shy of 1,000 over her Ball State career.
Overall, fifth-year libero Havyn Gates led all players with 32 digs and boasted a .962 (25-for-26) reception percentage.
Lauryn Hovey led the Bowling Green attack with 28 kills, while Mia Tyler scored 20 and Kat Mandly collected 19. BGSU also hit .320 (77-22-172) as a team and held a 10 to 2 edge in service aces.
While Ball State saw its chances at an NCAA Tournament berth dashed with the loss, the Cardinals are still alive for a potential bid into the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC).
"I couldn't be prouder of the freshman and our entire squad tonight," head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said. "We fought hard and played with heart until the end. It's great to see the young guns stepping up, playing with toughness and not backing down at all. We played Ball State volleyball tonight, and I couldn't be prouder of our fight and toughness."
After dropping the opening two sets to the Falcons (18-12) by scores of 25-21 and 25-13, the Cardinals jumped out to a 16-12 lead in the third. While Bowling Green made a run of its own, battling back to take a 20-18 edge, Ball State would not back down.
MAC Freshman of the Year Aniya Kennedy would be the first to take charge, following a BGSU service error with back-to-back kills to give BSU a 21-20 lead. MAC All-Freshman team member Camryn Wise followed with a kill of her own, making the score 22-20.
However, Bowling Green would go on a 4-1 run to reach match point at 24-23. Wise and Kennedy would keep the Cardinals alive with a huge block, and following another BGSU kill, Wise and freshman outside Kendall Barnes would combine for another tying the score at 25.
The Falcons would have one more chance to end the match in three, but Barnes added one of her 11 total kills to tie the score once again at 26. This time, fifth-year middle Marie Plitt registered a kill to give BSU set point and a BGSU attack error sent the teams to a fourth frame.
Set four saw the Cardinals jump out to another big lead, as a solo block from Plitt pushed the score to 17-13 and forced BGSU's second timeout in the stanza. Once again, the guests on the scoreboard would rally, eventually reaching another match point at 25-24.
Barnes would come up big again, however, blasting a kill of the block on a play the Falcons' ultimately challenged and lost. Plitt followed with two of her 13 kills over the next three rallies, helping give BSU two set points, while a blast from Kennedy ended the frame at 28-26 once again.
The fifth was another tough battle, fitting of the five-set tournament championship matches played between the two teams the past two seasons. BSU held a two-point edge at the court switch, thanks to a kill from junior setter Megan Wielonski.
Unfortunately, Bowling Green would battle back to take the lead at 11-9 and hold another match point at 14-13. Plitt would keep the Cardinals alive one more time, before BGSU capitalized on back-to-back attack errors to advance to Sunday's semifinal versus No. 2 seed Buffalo.
Kennedy would lead the Ball State offense with 22 kills, her seventh match with 20-or-more kills this season, while sophomore opposite Madison Buckley followed with 15, one shy of her career high. Buckley scored nine of her kills on 12 swings with no over the first two sets.
Wise would finish the night with six kills, to go along with a match-high six total blocks.
Wielonski would lead the Ball State offense to a .253 (70-25-178) hitting percentage, dishing out a season-high 58 assists and adding eight digs. The 58 assists raised her career total to 3919, while the eight digs left her one shy of 1,000 over her Ball State career.
Overall, fifth-year libero Havyn Gates led all players with 32 digs and boasted a .962 (25-for-26) reception percentage.
Lauryn Hovey led the Bowling Green attack with 28 kills, while Mia Tyler scored 20 and Kat Mandly collected 19. BGSU also hit .320 (77-22-172) as a team and held a 10 to 2 edge in service aces.
While Ball State saw its chances at an NCAA Tournament berth dashed with the loss, the Cardinals are still alive for a potential bid into the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC).
Team Stats
BGSU
BSU
Kills
77
70
Errors
22
25
Attempts
172
178
Hitting %
.320
.253
Points
98.0
79.0
Assists
74
66
Aces
10
2
Blocks
11
7
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
22
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
15
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Women's VolleyballOPP
/ Women's Volleyball
DS/L
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's Volleyball
MB
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