It was the tale of two matches this weekend for the Ball State University women's volleyball team.
Friday's battle against Kent State University featured 29 tie scores and 13 lead changes in a 3-2 Ball State loss, while Saturday's 3-0 loss to Ohio University saw seven ties and two lead changes total.
Coach Dave Boos said he was satisfied with his team's fight against Kent State but thought it was unable to find the same zone against Ohio.
"I thought [Friday] we played a real competitive match," Boos said. "We played really hard and pushed there at the end and obviously just came up short there in the fifth set." [Saturday] wasn't quite that same performance. We came out and we didn't look comfortable. We never really got into a groove, which is hard to see after Friday's great performance."
In Friday's 3-2 (23-25, 25-19, 21-25, 25-16, 20-18) loss to Kent State, the Cardinals found themselves battling in a decisive fifth set for a second-straight weekend.
Last weekend, Ball State was able to defeat Northern Illinois University 15-13 in the fifth set to win the match and was in a similar position against the Golden Flashes.
A kill from junior middle blocker Alisha Green gave the Cardinals a match point at 17-16, but Kent State coach Glen Conley's decision to call a time out paid off when the Golden Flashes went on to tie the score at 17 and ultimately win 20-18.
Despite having three players with double-digit kills, Boos said, he thought his offense wasn't clicking against Kent State (13-8, 3-5 Mid-American Conference).
"We were right there defensively," Boos said. "We just did not hit the ball well enough throughout the night to win."
Sophomore libero Alyssa Rio tied a season high with 29 digs against Kent State, while junior outside hitter Julie Breivogel recorded her ninth double-double of the season with a team-high 16 kills and 11 digs.
"If you're in the right position against [Kent State], you're going to dig a lot of balls. If you're out of position, they score every time, and I thought Rio did a nice job - especially in the latter part of the match - being in the right spots at the right time," Boos said. "I thought that Julie came out and was a little tentative to start, but as the match wore on, she got more and more aggressive. The more aggressive Julie is, the better player she is."
Freshman defensive specialist Christie Waters added 11 digs for the Cardinals, while Green totaled 14 kills with a .367 attack percentage and junior opposite side attacker Elaina Kakatolis had 13 kills.
Sophomore outside hitter Lauren Jones had a match-high 21 kills to go along with 17 kills for Kent State, which lost 3-1 to the University of Toledo on Saturday.
Saturday's 3-0 (25-13, 25-19, 25-19) sweep against Ohio turned into the Ellen Herman show.
Herman, a 2006 and 2007 First Team All-MAC selection, set the Bobcat pace with nine kills and a .643 attack percentage in the first set and finished with a match-high 19 kills at a .417 rate.
"Ellen Herman is a very special player - she's got a lot of accolades behind her name for a reason and was as good as advertised," Boos said. "That first set, she really set the tone that she was not going to go quietly in this match."
Freshman setter Brittany McGinnis earned her 11th career double-double with 29 assists and a match-high 15 digs, with Rio adding 12 digs of her own.
Breivogel, freshman middle blocker Jennifer Boyd and sophomore outside hitter Hannah Sullivan all tied for team-highs with seven kills against the Bobcats.
For the match, Ohio (13-6, 6-2 MAC) hit .356 compared to the Cardinals' .146 percentage.
"I think that [Saturday] we ran into a team that played at a very high level," Boos said. "Ohio has been the team of this conference the past few years, and they played like it."
The Cardinals (8-14, 4-4 MAC) get a break from MAC play Tuesday when they play host to IPFW (11-10).
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