With a 3-0 win Tuesday night, the Ball State women's volleyballteam (16-14) dismissed Miami (10-22) from the Mid-AmericanConference Tournament in stellar fashion.
The win was even more impressive considering redshirt sophomoremiddle attacker Melissa Oliver was out of the lineup because of anailing shoulder. The injury forced Ball State to use only eightplayers.
"Her shoulder is affecting her entire upper-body, from her neckall the way down to her hips," head coach Randy Litchfield said."Late this afternoon, we talked, and we decided it was not worthit."
Stepping up in Oliver's place were a number of Cards, includingfreshman Heather Burleson, who recorded seven kills, one solo blockand one block assist in her first-ever MAC Tournament match.
"I thought Heather Burleson's game one was the exact medicinethat we needed to get over the shock of not having Mel in thelineup," Litchfield said. "We all felt a lot better after Heathershowed us that she could do it consistently."
Sophomore Kristin Westhof also made her presence known. Themiddle attacker tied for a match-high in kills with 13 and led BallState in points with 16. Westhof said she was excited to contributemore.
"It is nice to play more," she said, "but hopefully she'll(Oliver) be ready to go on Friday because we need her."
The victory is a nice boost of confidence for the Cards, butthey know they are still far from their ultimate goal.
"I will be a lot more relieved when we go in there and win achampionship," freshman outside attacker Kelly Cochran said.
Ball State will now face Eastern Michigan in the second round ofthe tournament at 7 p.m. Friday.
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