The Ball State University women's volleyball team lost two matches this weekend and in the process tied a school record.
Having lost its last seven matches the Cardinals tied the school's longest losing streak and are now off to their worst start, 1-7, in the program's 35-year history.
The Cardinals lost to Eastern Illinois University 3-2 (29-31, 30-15, 30-32, 30-28, 15-11) Friday followed by a loss to Illinois State University Saturday 3-0 (30-17, 30-24, 30-16). With the losses Ball State finished last in Ball State Classic.
In both matches the Cardinals' opponents made big runs. In the Illinois State match the Redbirds used a 9-1 run in game one, a 11-4 run to start game two and a 12-3 run in game three to sweep the Cardinals. The biggest run of the weekend came in the Eastern Illinois match. The Panthers used a 19-3 run to break away from a 11-11 tie to win the game. Coach Dave Boos said in order to start winning the team must become more consistent.
"It was a young group plus the ball control was causing inconsistency," Boos said. "You can see moments of brilliance out there but we follow it up will another stint of not so brilliant. It's a matter of making those stints shorter."
Boos said he is trying everything to fix the lulls the team is falling into.
"We are making lots of lineup changes and trying to find out who can do it that day, that time, that moment," Boos said. "At a certain point its just a matter of getting it done and that's what we work on in practice."
In the Illinois State match Ball State had 36 kills in the match to go with 29 errors. The highest attacking percentage for the Cardinals came in game two at .109 and for the match had a .048, their lowest of the season. Boos blamed the Cardinals' ball control for the errors and low attacking percentage.
"We got in situations where we aren't going to kill the ball well," Boos said. "When we don't pass the ball well we have to lineup people who normally don't have to the kill the ball. That's what happened [Saturday]."
Coming off the bench senior Brittany May led the Cardinals in kills against Illinois State despite playing in two of three games.
"We needed a little spark and a little enjoyment out of what we were doing so that we could show that volleyball can be a good time," May said. "We were tight in that first game so I knew I just needed to go in and bang balls."
Although the team is in a seven game losing streak, May said she is still positive and upbeat about the Cardinals' season.
"Right now we have such a young team, so it is common for them to make mistakes but there is no need to get down on anybody," May said. "I'm just like 'come on guys, you can do this, because you are good.' They are talented and within time, by the end of the season they will be good. I got so much faith in all of them."
Being better at the end of the season is the mantra Boos has been preaching to the team.
"We've been talking all year about being great at the end," Boos said. "We just have to keep our eye on the prize, which is being great at the end."
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