Volleyball Drops Thriller Versus Cal Poly

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - - Despite four players with double-digit kills, the Ball State women's volleyball team closed play in the Golden Gopher Invitational with a 3-2 (26-28. 23-25, 27-25, 26-24, 15-11) setback to Cal Poly Sunday afternoon at Maturi Pavilion.

The hotly contested match saw each of the first four sets won by the minimum two-point margin, with three of the frames going extra points. The Cardinals (1-2) securing the first two sets and rallied from down 24-21 in the third to tie the score at 24 and again at 25.

Unfortunately, the Mustangs (2-1) secured the final two points in the third, survived a fourth-set battle which was also tied at 24 late, and scored five of the final seven points in the fifth to take the match.

It was another strong attacking day for Ball State's outsides, as sophomore Carson Tyler and graduate Noelle VanOort tied for match-high honors with 20 kills apiece. It was Tyler's 25 career match with double-digit kills and her seventh with at least 20. For VanOort, she reached double-digit kills for the third time at Ball State and the 100th time in her collegiate career, which included 97 times in her four seasons at Indiana Tech (2021-24). It was also her 11th career match with at least 20 kills.

In addition, Tyler chipped in a career-high 18 digs and VanOort added 15 to each finish with their second double-double of the season. It was the eighth of Tyler's Ball State career and the 70th of VanOort's collegiate career.

Along with the strong play from the outside, the Cardinals started to find a rhythm in the middle with sophomore Tiffany Snook blasting a career-high 16 kills and hitting a team-best .481 (16-3-27) and junior Camryn Wise chipping in a season-high 12 kills and hitting .300 (12-3-30).

Their combined effort helped the Cardinals finish the match with a .234 (77-32-192) rate of success, aided by junior setter Lindsey Green's second double-double of the season with 44 assists and 18 digs. Sophomore libero Sophie Ledbetter also secured her first career double-double with 14 digs and a career-high 10 assists, while freshman setter Reese Axness chipped in 13 helpers.

At the net, Tyler and Wise would tie for team-high honors with three total blocks each, while Snook and freshman opposite Christyn Ashby collected two each.

On the other side of the net, Kendall Beshear led the Mustangs with 20 kills and Emma Fredrick was right behind with 19. Cal Poly connected for a .314 (70-15-175) rate of success as a team and held an 11.0 to 6.0 edge in total blocks. Fredrick would also lead the squad with 13 digs.

The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to action Friday (Sept. 5) when it faces Colgate (10:30 a.m.) and Connecticut (4:30 p.m.) in the UConn Challenge.

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Team Stats

Carson Tyler

Noelle VanOort

Tiffany Snook

Camryn Wise

Players Mentioned

Christyn Ashby

Reese Axness

Lindsey Green

Sophie Ledbetter

Carson Tyler

Noelle VanOort

Camryn Wise