It took a full five games for the Ball State University women's volleyball team to beat the University at Buffalo last night. The teams faced off in Worthen Arena in the first round of the Mid-American Conference tournament. Coach Randy Litchfield was happy with the final outcome but felt the team's defense still played without passion.
"Our defense was apathetic," Litchfield said. "We are going to have to take better defense with us to Toledo if we want to do anything at all."
Litchfield added that the team only has a few days until they play Bowling Green University, which may not be enough time for the defense to make changes and allow the team to continue on in the tournament.
"They are going to have to understand where they fell short, and they are going to have to make the adjustment in two days," Litchfield said. "It's a matter of heart and compassion."
Ball State played Buffalo earlier in the season, and the Cardinals swept the match in three straight sets.
This time, the Cardinals were still able to win even though a more competitive Buffalo team kept the matches closer. The Bulls took the first game by a score of 30-26, but Ball State answered back, winning the next two sets 30-27 and 30-28.
"Lots of credit to Buffalo," Litchfield said. "I thought they sure presented a challenge for us. We did not play with the intensity to win until we had to, and that makes things a little too risky for my liking."
The risks continued into the fourth match as Buffalo won the set by a score of 30-25. The pressure seemed to wear Litchfield down as he uncharacteristically received his second yellow card of the night for complaining to the officials about what he thought was illegal play by Buffalo. However, that did not seem to distract the team as they rallied to win the final set 15-9 and won the ability to play in the next round of the MAC tournament.
Brittany May and Julie Breivogel led the team with 19 kills each. May made points in situations when they were greatly needed in all five games, Litchfield said. The junior has stepped it up over the past few matches and showed her ability to be a team player.
"Brittany May was our hero tonight," Litchfield said. "[She had a] monster night."
As a freshman, Breivogel said she did not feel nervous going into her first tournament game of her college career, but she felt a need to win and stay focused for her senior teammates.
"I [just keep thinking that I] have to go out and do this for them, and I know that I have three more seasons, but this is their last season," Breivogel said.
May also had similar feelings has Breivogel. She said that the current seniors are valuable leaders and doesn't want to see them leave, but she also realizes that when they do, it will be up to her and the other upperclassmen on the team to fill the void.
"Now that it is MAC [tournament] time for seniors, we don't want them to lose," May said. "I love all of them so much, and I don't want this to be the last game that I play with them."
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