Faced with the loss of junior Sarah Obras, who is out with a knee injury, Ball State looked adversity straight in the eyes and played with some heart. The team got two wins over the weekend, earning the No. 2 seed in the Mid-American Conference Tournament and winning the MAC West Division Championship
"It's a huge turn around and it's a huge accomplishment," senior Stacie Baldwin said. "It's a huge victory because we really accomplished something when people thought we couldn't."
Head coach Randy Litchfield said that he knew something had to change to break the three-match losing streak.
"It was either time for a gut check or time to check out," Litchfield said after Friday's match. "I think we gave one of the gutsiest performances of any team that I've ever coached."
DIGGING TO NO. 2
On Friday the Cardinals used senior Stephanie Keller's career high, Worthen arena record and MAC record 49 digs to help defeat the Eastern Michigan Eagles 3-2 and give them the No. 2 seed in the upcoming MAC Tournament.
"I would say she did about as much form the libero position in terms of carrying a team that physically, mentally and emotionally is possible," Litchfield said.
Keller previously held a career high, and MAC record of 46 digs in a match. During the fifth game Keller, notched her 47th dig with a one-handed dive to keep the ball and Cardinals alive.
"I'm definitely excited, I had no idea I had that many digs and I kind of want to go out hoping no one else is going to beat my record," Keller said. "It's always fun to beat your own record."
While Keller's performance highlighted the night, the Cardinals got great performances from many players. That was most evident in game one when Ball State scored six straight points to start the match.
The Cardinals had it all in those six points: kills from sophomore Kirby Gibson, junior Rachel Refenes and senior Stacie Baldwin, a service ace from sophomore Kelly Cochran and a block from Refenes and Gibson.
"We'll never know what this match would have looked like had we struggled out of the gate cause we could have went down quickly," Litchfield said. "We were probably that fragile at the start of the match, but a nice game one lead sure gets you feeling better."
Eastern never recovered during the first game and Ball State went on to win 30-22, however the Eagles did rebound to take game two 30-22. The two teams once again split games three and four, with Ball State winning 30-24 in the third and Eastern winning 30-28 in the fourth.
The deciding fifth game remained close until the Cardinals scored six straight, which included three straight kills by Refenes. The Eagles then went on a 6-0 run to take an 12-11 lead, but Ball State scored four of the final five points to get the 15-13 win. Junior Kristin Westhof tallied the final two kills of the match.
Refenes, Westhof, Gibson and Cochran all finished with double-figure kills totals. Refenes, normally a middle played in the outside position to help fill the loss of Obras, led the team with 18 kills. Her 74 attempts was also the most she's ever taken in her career.
"I was glad that my teammates backed me up and were confident in me," Refenes said about playing out of position.
Gibson's 16 kills, which was a season high and fell one short of her career high, gave the Cardinals another much needed scoring threat.
"That's the other big thing we needed, was a player who's not normally in the spotlight to jump up and have a big night," Litchfield said. "That was big, we're forced to play Rachel out of position, and she's really taking one for the team, and Kirby stepped into that position."
MAC WEST CHAMPS
Saturday's game against Toledo, didn't carry near as much weight, but it was still senior night and after Ball State fell down two games to one against the Rockets, Litchfield said he started to panic.
"I'm sure as heck not very happy with the way how a good chunk of this team played for their seniors tonight but when it came time in the match we sure did it," Litchfield said. "I'm just elated that we could win for the seniors."
The Cardinals used a 5-0 run in game four to help them get a 30-22 win and force game five. Ball State once again got off to a good start and used it to help them get the 15-8 win.
Refenes returned to her middle position on Saturday and once again led the Cardinals with 16 kills.
"I probably threw her game off a little bit because she had a slow start tonight but as this match evolved she really came to life and was just awesome in games four and five," Litchfield said.
One advantage the Cardinals got from playing two five-game matches over the weekend was that sophomore Heather Burleson, who will be expected to help replace Obras, got a lot more time on the court.
"The disadvantage is that my brain has imploded in on itself," Litchfield said. "The advantage is that Heather Burleson got to play a lot this weekend.
"She is going to feel a lot better now then she did a week ago, and if that took a couple five-game matches then so be it, my brain will recover."
THREE SENIORS HONORED
Senior Melissa Oliver, Baldwin and Keller were all honored before the match on Saturday. While the season isn't over, the team will not play in Worthen Arena again.
"Senior night was big just because it's the last time that I was going to play with Stephanie and Stacie," Oliver said.
For Keller and Baldwin is was a culmination of 12 years of playing together, Baldwin said.
"It's just special to go out here play in front of our family and all of our friends for the last time," Baldwin said.
Even though the Cardinals won't be at home again, Keller said they can't forget what remains.
"It's definitely sad to think that it's over here but I think the most important thing is thinking about the MAC tournament and what's ahead," Keller said. "We were kind of emotional just thinking that this is it but this isn't it, until it's really over."
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