For the first time in 2010, and the first time in first-year coach Steve Shondell's collegiate coaching career, Ball State was swept.
A night after rallying to defeat Northern Illinois in five sets, Ball State and Shondell had no magic left. Western Michigan (11-4, 2-0) swept Ball State (11-3, 1-1) 25-22, 30-28, 25-18 in an early battle for Mid-American Conference West supremacy. The loss knocks Ball State from a tie atop the standings in the opening weekend of MAC play.
"The first two games we were right there, and we played them even all the way," Shondell said. "We had a couple game points. We even thought we had won the second game. They had a four-hit violation, but we got into the net.
"It was a controversial play. Western Michigan got the point and eventually won the game."
Junior middle blocker Kelsey Brandl continued to play at a high level. After 19 kills against Northern Illinois on Friday, Brandl had 16 against Western Michigan to lead all players. Freshmen outside hitters Kylee Baker and Whitney Heeres added nine and eight kills.
"We proved ourselves Friday night against Northern Illinois. We proved to ourselves and the MAC that we can play on the road with a lot of loud people there," Brandl said. "It would have been great if we could have learned from the past and won."
Ball State had a tough time offensively. The Broncos held the Cardinals to a below-average .157 hitting percentage.
Senior libero Alyssa Rio continued her tremendous play in the Ball State backcourt. Rio finished with 27 digs. She entered the weekend ranked in the top 20 nationally in digs.
Jessica Brown led Western Michigan with 15 kills.
"We weren't able to use opportunities to our advantage," Rio said. "We can stay with them and play with them point for point. I think we showed in the first two games we can beat Western Michigan. We just have to do it."
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