The Ball State women's volleyball team (7-9 overall, 2-2 Mid-American Conference) fell twice this past weekend to fall back below .500 on the season.
After a five-game loss to Eastern Michigan on Friday, the Cardinals lost 3-0 to Ohio on Sunday. The loss to the Bobcats broke the Cardinals' home-court winning streak against MAC opponents that dated back to 1997.
Head coach Randy Litchfield said he was very disappointed with the performance of the team.
"Our play this weekend, as a whole, was an embarrassment to the program," he said. "We are outmanned and outgunned, which to me means you better bring a lot more fight with you. What you don't have physically, you better come up with on the mental side, on the passion side and on the energy side. This team had none of that this weekend."
At Eastern Michigan, Ball State won game one of a match for the third-consecutive time, but the Cards dropped the next two and couldn't come back after losing games two and three.
Going to five games in a match is a challenge Litchfield does not want to become habit, he said.
"This team may have a false sense of how good it is from how we performed in five-game matches last year," Litchfield said. "I sense we are very comfortable going five, and that is playing with fire. This team doesn't have the firepower that last year's team had and to go five very often will be dangerous. "
On a bright note, junior libero Stephanie Keller set a new school record and tied a conference record for digs in a single match by tallying 46 against the Eagles.
After resting up on Saturday, Ball State dove back into action Sunday against Ohio at home. The Bobcats came with claws, though, and easily handled the Cards in three-straight games.
Ohio's performance left a big impression, Litchfield said.
"Ohio is a great volleyball team and one of the most physical teams I can recall in the MAC in a long time," he said.
Once again, Keller served as one of few positives on an otherwise bleak day. She tallied 13 digs to break the BSU all-time career digs record with 1,252 career digs. Jennifer Schilling (1995-1998) set the previous mark at 1,250.
While she was pleased with her individual accomplishments, Keller said she was not satisfied with the weekend.
"It's nice to have the records," she said. "I'm excited about it, but it is unfortunate that we lost this weekend."
Litchfield said he does not believe the pair of losses necessarily puts Ball State out of contention for the MAC title, but that is not his main goal for the team right now, he said.
"It would be unfair to ask this team to win a championship right now," he said. "We need to learn to get better, and that is where all of our focus will be."
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