With a pair of wins this weekend and the loss of former Mid-American Conference leading Akron, the Ball State women's volleyball team finds itself in control of its own destiny.
The Cardinals traveled to Western and Eastern Michigan this weekend tied with Akron for the lead in the MAC with one loss apiece. Akron beat Ball State this year in the two teams' only meeting, so the Zips held the tiebreaker. Akron fell Friday night to Marshall. That gave the Zips two losses and left the Cards as the lone MAC team with only one defeat.
The series of events provides a great relief to the Cardinals and head coach Randy Litchfield.
"We've been having to play and watch the scoreboard at the same time," Litchfield said. "We were not in control of our own situation. Now, with Akron losing their second match, we feel like we can just go play and that is a much better way to go about playing."
The action started on Friday night when the Cardinals squared off against the Broncos of Western Michigan. While Ball State came out with the 3-1 (30-21, 30-27, 27-30, 30-26) victory, their performance was not their best, according to Litchfield.
"I felt that our performance was a little uninspired," Litchfield said. "We only played well enough to win the match."
Helping the Cardinals win the match was a solid performance from their middle attackers. Senior Nikki Allen and freshmen Melissa Oliver and Kristin Westhof combined for 27 of Ball State's 70 kills on the night.
"I think our freshmen, Melissa and Kristin, have been on the court so much that now they are not really freshmen anymore and Nikki just keeps gaining more confidence in her game," Litchfield said.
By attacking the middle, Ball State's outside attackers drew few blockers and were able to utilize a more open court.
"A lot of teams don't respect our middle game and we took advantage of that," Allen said.
Saturday, Ball State faced the Eagles of Eastern Michigan. Against a tough opponent, the Cardinals played what Litchfield considers their most competitive match of the season to win 3-0 (30-28, 30-24, 30-22).
"It is the sign I've been waiting for from this team," Litchfield said.
Due to Akron's loss on Friday night, the match carried even more importance than before as the Cards needed to win to hold on to sole possession of first in the MAC.
"This was a major obstacle," Litchfield said. "And we passed it with flying colors."
The key to the victory was emotion according to freshman outside attacker Sarah Obras.
"That's something we've been working on in our past games," Obras said. "We need our emotion level higher and higher, and I think it was at its peak. If we do that every game, we'll be unstoppable."
Obras and senior outside attacker Katie Butts both notched double doubles against the Eagles.
Butts' numbers are especially significant because, with her performance on Saturday, she became only the third player in Ball State history to reach both the 1,000 kill and the 1,000 digs mark in her career. The achievement came as a surprise to Butts.
"I don't know what to say about that," Butts said. "I just like to contribute to my team."
Litchfield was not nearly as startled by his senior's accomplishment.
"You have to have the total volleyball package to pull that one off," Litchfield said. "She's obviously a great outside hitter and a phenomenal blocker from the outside position, but the fact that she can go into the backcourt and be a playmaker too is a pretty rare feat in volleyball."
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