A crowd of at least 50 people sat in anticipation for senior middle blocker Jennifer Boyd to emerge from the locker room.
Boyd, after playing through an ankle injury for the past two weeks, was instrumental in pushing Ball State past Central Michigan for a 3-1 win Saturday night.
Her friends and family certainly noticed. On Senior Night, the crowd awaiting Boyd gave her a thunderous reception as soon as she stepped back onto the court after the match.
The smile that spread across Boyd's face wouldn't leave anytime soon.
"I have such great friends here," Boyd said. "Just for them to come out for Senior Night made it extra special for me. I was really touched."
Boyd did more than just guide Ball State to a win its final Mid-American Conference regular season match. She, along with her 17 other teammates, excised any demons that were hovering over the team after three straight losses.
The demoralizing and dejected atmosphere after Ball State's loss to Eastern Michigan on Thursday had lifted. Confidence and a sense of accomplishment replaced it.
"I think the girls realized again what they're capable of doing," coach Steve Shondell said. "Once you lose a few matches, it begins to shake your confidence a bit. I think they found out they can be a good team again."
Senior Night brought out the best in Ball State's four seniors. Senior setter Brittany McGinnis now has a place in the record books to prove it.
McGinnis finished on an especially memorable night, breaking a Ball State record and tying a Worthen Arena record with seven aces in one match.
While the Cardinals still have one match to play at Worthen Arena when Ball State takes on St. Louis on Nov. 26, McGinnis said winning was the proper way to give back to the team's supporters.
"Just for the team, for everything we put in this year, for the crowd and all our parents and everybody that comes to support us – I think this was a special night," McGinnis said. "We knew we had to take care of business."
Fellow seniors Kelsey Brandl and Kaylee Schembra made the most of their recognition as well. Brandl finished with 10 kills while Schembra earned four digs.
However, the celebration on the careers of all four seniors can only last so long. Ball State (23-6, 12-3 MAC) now is locked into the fourth seed in the MAC Tournament, setting them up to play Eastern Michigan in the first round.
Even with two losses in two matches to the Eagles this season, one of which came on Thursday in devastating fashion, McGinnis wouldn't want it any other way.
"I wouldn't want to start out with anyone else but Eastern," McGinnis said. "We know that we didn't give them our best game, and when we do, we're going to show them who's going to win the tournament. We're going to show the conference that we're here to win it this year."
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