Ball State sports: Feb. 9-11 weekend in review

<p>The student section cheers on the Ball State men's basketball team during the game against Kent State on Feb. 9 at John E. Worthen Arena. Ball State defeated Kent State 87-68. <strong>Stephanie Amador, DN</strong></p>

The student section cheers on the Ball State men's basketball team during the game against Kent State on Feb. 9 at John E. Worthen Arena. Ball State defeated Kent State 87-68. Stephanie Amador, DN

With spring sports starting up and winter sports moving deeper into conference play, it's hard to keep track of everything that's going on in Ball State athletics.

Here's everything that happened the weekend of Feb. 9-11 for Ball State's athletic teams.

Women's basketball

Midway through her junior season, Carmen Grande became the programs all-time leader in assists after his six against Western Michigan. The 81-71 win not only gave Ball State its 20th win of the season, but its propelled the Cardinals to third place – cushioned by a two game lead – in the Mid-American Conference with a 9-4 league record.

READ: Ball State secures 20th win of season after holding off Western Michigan

Men's basketball

Another home game, another victory for Ball State men's basketball. Ball State's dominating 87-68 victory over Kent State makes the Cardinals record within Worthen Arena 12-1 this season. Behind a strong offensive performance, the win keeps Ball State in solid contention for a top-four seed in the MAC Tournament.

READ, GALLERY: Unstoppable offense leads to Ball State's wire-to-wire win over Kent State

Men's volleyball

The men's volleyball team had a rough start to Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association play, dropping two matches to No. 5 Ohio State and McKendree. Ball State had two match-point opportunities against the two-time defending National Championship winning Ohio State Buckeyes but were unable to close the door. After a strong start to McKendree, Ball State dropped three straight sets in the 3-1 loss.

READ: Ball State falls 3-2 at No. 5 Ohio State in hard-fought battle

READ: Ball State starts hot, finishes cold in 3-1 loss at McKendree

Gymnastics

Going into the final event, floor, Ball State was trailing conference opponent Bowling Green 146.300-145.925. After falling on two separate routines on the uneven bars, the Cardinals found themselves down, but were able to complete a comeback with solid performances from freshman Tia Kiaku and junior Syndey Finke who scored 9.875 and 9.850 on the floor, respectively.

READ: Ball State gymnastics completes comeback against Bowling Green

Softball

Opening up its season in at the FGCU Kickoff Classic, Ball State returns with a trio of wins to show for it. Ball State's sandwich weekend included losses in the first and last games of the five-game invitational, losing to Memphis 5-1 and host school FGCU 4-1. The Cardinals did, however, pick up three wins against LIU-Brooklyn, NC State and Georgetown to move to 3-2 early on in the season.

READ: Ball State softball finishes FGCU Kickoff Classic with 3-2 record

Women's Golf

The Cardinals opened up the spring schedule on the right foot, winning the Ball State Sunshine Invitational in Florida. A strong 10 point start gave Ball State a 1.5 point lead over the remainder of the competition, but Xavier wouldn't go out without a fight. In the final match, tied 14-14 for first place, sophomore Manon Tounalom sealed the deal with a victory.

READ: Cardinals take home hardware after winning first tournament of season 

Track & Field

Ball State had four top 10 finishes at the Music City Challenge at Vanderbilt, finishing fourth with a pair of career-best performances as well. Junior Jazmin Smith's 8.41 time in the 60m hurdles was just .01 seconds off her conference best mark of 8.40. She finished fourth in the event, junior Regan Lewis finished second in the high jump (1.76m), junior Peyton Stewart took seventh in the 60m dash (7.53) and the 4x400m relay team of MaQuila Norma, Smith, Bryeana Byrdsong and Amber Jones took second with a time of 3:47.19.

READ: Ball State finishes with 4 top 10 performances in Music City Challenge

Men's swimming & diving

Ball State held its senior meet against Miami on Feb. 10. In the last meet for the team's three seniors, the Cardinals fell 81-217. 

GALLERY: Men's swimming and diving senior meet vs. Miami 2018

Women's tennis

Ball State moved to 4-2 on the season after defeating Valparaiso 6-1 on Saturday. On top of five of the six singles wins, the Cardinals also took all three doubles matches in the dominating performance. 

Men's tennis

Behind junior Conner Anderson's match-sealing victory, Ball State beat Cleveland State 4-3. The win puts the Cardinals at 6-1 on the season while the Vikings drop to 5-3.

Contact the sports section with comments at sports@bsudailynews.com or on Twitter at @dn_sports.

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