It's always nice to end the regular season with a win, as Ball State University accomplished Saturday. Senior Sarah Obras, however, will remember the game for much more than that.
The Ball State women's volleyball team closed out the regular season by defeating Central Michigan three games to one (30-25, 30-20, 31-33, 30-21) on Saturday. The victory was special for Obras, who recorded 15 kills and set the Mid-American Conference record for kills in a career.
"It was definitely a team record, Obras said. "It was by no means an individual record. I'm definitely lucky, and it's a neat thing to have when, down the road, I'm 50 years old, and hopefully I'll still have it by then. It's an exciting ride."
Obras now has 1,911 kills for her career, which is four better than the old mark of 1,907 set in 2004 by Tera Lobdell of Northern Illinois.
Head Coach Randy Litchfield couldn't be happier for Obras.
"Her accomplishment tonight is just so big," Litchfield said. "It's the marquee record in the league. I am elated she was able to get it tonight. I was worried it would be a distraction the longer it went on, but it's nice to have it under her belt, and now we can move on to the tournament."
The victory enabled the Cardinals to clinch the third seed in the upcoming MAC Tournament, which is very important, Litchfield said.
"I thought the second and third seed were the place to be in the opposite bracket of Ohio," Litchfield said. "That's the team we really would want to meet in the final game instead of earlier." The Bobcats defeated Ball State in Athens 3-0 Oct. 7.
"I though Central Michigan played real well, Litchfield said. "For a winless volleyball team, they sure played hard," he said.
Friday's match against Eastern Michigan did not go as well. The Eagles dropped the Cardinals 3-0 (28-30, 29-31, 21-30), and ended Ball State's seven-game winning streak.
"It was a really hard fought match," Litchfield said. "They were going to do their best to celebrate a West division championship, and that was the edge that carried them in those close games."
Obras said that Cardinals just weren't focused.
"It was definitely close, and it's a hard thing to take. They were ready to play, and they came out firing away. I don't think we were completely prepared for that, and we should've been."
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