Clinching a first round home match in the Mid-American Conference Tournament is the goal for the Ball State University women's volleyball team this weekend.
The way the MAC Tournament works is the top four seeds get first round byes while seeds five through eight host seeds nine through 12. Heading into this weekend the Cardinals know who their opponent will be in the first round, Northern Illinois University, what needs sorted out is whether the game is going to be played in Muncie, or DeKalb, Ill.
"It's huge, it would definitely help our team's confidence going into the MAC Tournament," junior Christine Kennedy said. "We'd love to host."
The Cardinals are currently ninth in the MAC at 4-10, placing them as the top team not to get to play host to a game. However, they still have control of their own destiny. This is because today's opponent is Northern Illinois, currently 5-9 in the MAC. If the Cardinals beat the Huskies they will be in place to play host to them Tuesday in the conference tournament.
Ball State and Northern Illinois have played one other time this season. The Cardinals lost in Worthen Arena to the Huskies 3-2 on Oct. 6.
The Cardinals could have been eliminated from hosting a MAC Tournament match last weekend but the Cardinals were able to beat the University of Toledo and the University of Akron.
Kennedy led the team in kills in both matches smashing a total of 34 in the victories. Kennedy said the reason for the victories and her high kill totals was ball control.
"It's really that our ball control has gotten a lot better," Kennedy said. "That's the only way I will get set that many times."
The day after the Cardinals play Northern Illinois they will be at Kalmazoo, Mich. to finish their regular season against Western Michigan University.
The Cardinals must win both matches for a chance to host in the opening round and Kennedy said the team will do just that.
"I definitely think we will be able to come back and win both games this weekend," Kennedy said. "The team has a different confidence that we haven't had all season."
The new confidence and swagger the team possesses has them doing what coach Dave Boos has preached to them all season.
"We want us to play our best volleyball here at the end especially with a conference tournament game coming up this Tuesday," Boos said. "We have to go into that match being comfortable, confident and play our best volleyball."
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