Ball State University women's volleyball coach Dave Boos usually cringes when the words "five-sets" are brought up.
In volleyball, when teams are tied at two sets a piece, the fifth set is a race to the finish line and the first team to reach 15 points, winning by two, then wins the match.
The Cardinals are 2-7 in five-setters this season, and their seven losses are tied for the most nationally with Cleveland State University.
Boos said his team is feeling the effects.
"It's basically like playing an overtime game nine times in any other sport," he said. "At this point of time, we're not playing with a ton of confidence in that fifth set - when something goes wrong, we don't respond all that well."
Ball State's nine total five-set matches this season is tied for fourth nationally with 10 other schools, while four schools have played 10 five-setters and one school has played in 11.
And one school - the University of North Carolina Asheville - has played in 12 five-set matches this season.
The Bulldogs are 7-5 in those matches. Coach Julie Torbett said quality conditioning has played a key role in surviving so many five-setters.
"I think a lot of it is the mental aspect of it because it is a shorter set, so there are fewer points to be scored and you can't make so many errors, but it also has to do with conditioning and having that better-conditioned team," said Torbett, whose team is 15-11 this season.
Boos said his team's inconsistencies when playing deep into a match have been troublesome.
The Cardinals defeated the 2007 Mid-American Conference Tournament and East Division Champion Miami University 3-2 on Oct. 25, but lost to the University of Toledo 3-2 on Nov. 6 - the same Toledo team Ball State swept 3-0 on Oct. 2 and hadn't lost a match to since 1986.
"I think how our team is, after seeing all of these five-set matches, is we're good enough to beat anybody in our conference - but we're inconsistent enough to lose to anybody right now," Boos said.
Torbett said she is encouraged when her team enters the fifth set because her players become fired up.
"We have actually gotten to the point where we feel like we have the most experience, so when we go five we think we're winning - we think we're better in that situation than the other team," Torbett said. "You can see a confidence switch when we win that fourth game, there's just such a switch in confidence and aggressiveness."
A second-year coach, Boos is trying to instill that same aggressiveness into his players.
"[The coaches] are going to help, we're going to do everything we can, but when push comes to shove, individually we have to make a play," Boos said. "We have to stay within the process of what we do every single day in practice and pick the right shots - make the right plays. Right now, when we get down to the end of the fifth set, we tend to kind of go back to old habits and old shots."
And as the Cardinals hit the home stretch with two final regular season matches this weekend before beginning the MAC Tournament on Nov. 18, Boos said he ultimately hopes his team will be ready for anything, including some more five-set matches.
"For us to achieve our goals, we have got to find a way to kill the ball when we need it the most, Boos said. "When it gets down to it, you have to continue to make shots that are not the ones you're used to, but the ones you need to make."
Ball State in five set matchesAug. 29, Lost to DrakeSept. 6, Lost to Tennessee TechSept. 12, Lost to DenverOct. 10, Beat Northern IllinoisOct. 17, Lost to Kent StateOct. 24, Lost to Bowling GreenOct. 25, Beat MiamiNov. 6, Lost to ToledoNov. 9, Lost to Akron
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
