The Ball State Cardinals seem to have everything going for them heading into their Mid-American Conference opener.
The team won its third straight match Tuesday against the IUPUI Jaguars in straight sets and now travels to defending MAC champion Ohio on Friday.
Going into the match head coach Randy Litchfield was a little worried about how the team would compete, but it got off to a great start and never looked back.
"This is probably a better-than-expected performance; I was expecting a little lull," Litchfield said. "I thought we came out and played great and established ourselves in game one.
"Game one is always a key in this kind of match where you might be looking ahead."
Ball State got out early in the game and went on a 12-1 run to take a commanding lead. IUPUI failed to get anything going, eventually losing 30-11.
The Cardinals limited the Jaguars to five kills and a hitting percentage of -.143 in game one, while getting 14 kills themselves with a .308 percentage.
"Game one I thought we knocked them back on their heels to such a degree it made the rest of the match a lot easier," Litchfield said.
Junior Rachel Refenes and Kristin Westhof teamed together and got back-to-back blocks in game two to give the Cardinals an 8-3 advantage. IUPUI fought off two game-points but were only delaying the inevitable as Ball State won, 30-22.
During the third game the Cardinals appeared to let up a little, allowing IUPUI to stay within four points until late in the match, when they closed it on an 8-2 run to win, 30-22.
Westhof set two career highs in the contest. Her nine block assists topped her previous high of six, while her .643 hitting percentage was far better then her previous .550.
"She's gaining more and more confidence in her play," Litchfield said of Westhof. "We love her quick hitting in front of the setter."
The team continued to have strong blocking performances, finishing with 13 total blocks compared to IUPUI's three.
"We've gotten so much better at blocking," Refenes said. "We keep on improving every game."
Refenes led the way with 14 kills, while junior Sarah Obras pitched in 13. Senior Stephanie Keller had a match-high 20 digs to help the Cardinals defense.
The win will definitely help the team's confidence heading into a weekend in which they will travel to Ohio and Toledo.
"It's huge, especially the scores of the games," Westhof said. "We definitely need momentum going over there playing away at Ohio."
Litchfield said the team needed to go into the weekend on a good note and win like this does that.
"What we got out of this match is better then we could have gotten in practice," he said. "We're on a little mini-roll and it sure makes a tough weekend ahead a lot easier to prepare for."
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