FORT WAYNE - Fifteen straight IPFW points and a 17-1 run to close game four secured Ball State's first loss to the Mastodons since IPFW moved up to Division I. A rowdy crowd of 914 and a bad mental attitude is what coach Randy Litchfield said caused the 3-1 loss.
"We definitely don't have the personality to deal with that kind of an environment," Litchfield said. "I think the crowd, the band, the hecklers, they beat us. If you look at the stat sheet, Fort Wayne did not play that unbelievable of a match."
Litchfield said he had never seen a team drop 15 straight points in his career.
"Not in rally scoring," he said. "The whole environment broke us, and when we finally broke we snapped right in two."
IPFW was led by a 20 kill performance from Nicole Howell. Fabrina Souza and Cynara Martina added 12 and 11, respectively.
With a 14-13 lead IPFW (10-1) went on a 9-1 run in the first game, caused mostly by the Cardinals (6-4) sloppy play.
Ball State lost the first game 30-21, had eight errors and only seven kills to give the team a negative hitting percentage.
The Cardinals lead most of the first half of game two until an attack BSU believed went off an IPFW player was awarded to the Mastodons tying the score at 16. After Angie Parrell came back with a quick kill, the Mastodons nailed three straight and prevented the Cardinals from taking the lead the rest of the game, winning 30-28.
After the ten minute break following game two, the Cardinals came out with more resolution. With a tie score at 7, the Cardinals ripped off six straight points and never let the Mastodons back in the game, winning 30-19.
"After game three I said they still have a lead and we still have to fight," he said. "We got to work on toughing up some of our individuals."
The fourth game saw lots of back and forth play until another questionable call tied the score 14-14 and was the second in the 15 straight IPFW points. The call and ensuing argument also ignited an already loud crowd.
"You don't see the mistakes we made without some sort of external factor," Litchfield said.
The Cardinals have three days off before playing host to conference foe Miami, the first Mid-American Conference match for the Cards. Litchfield said he will keep his team busy in practice. "We have some choices," he said. "We can choose to ignore what happened and let it happen again, or address our weaknesses. I choose to address our weaknesses."
The meeting was the fifth between the two I-69 schools in the Litchfield era and the first loss. The last time Ball State lost to IPFW was a 3-2 match in 1987. It is the second loss to an Indiana school the Cardinals have had this season.
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