Women's Volleyball: Cardinals keep pace in MAC race against Rockets

With Ball State’s postseason chances possibly on the line, someone had to jump start the Cardinals after the team faced match point in the fifth set 14-12 against Toledo.

Who better than true freshman Jenna Spadafora?
After a kill by senior outside hitter Kara Bates, Spadafora blasted a kill to guarantee overtime in the final set for the Cardinals. She eventually closed the match out with another kill as Ball State (12-12, 5-6) took the fifth set and the match (25-23, 25-18, 13-25, 21-25, 17-15). Spadafora finished the match with 10 kills and added two service aces.

But that wasn’t all she contributed in the final moments through three Toledo match points to keep the Cardinals on pace with the rest of the Mid-American Conference teams holding a tournament berth.

“It was all Jenna putting the team on her back there at the end when really the match was on the line,” coach Steve Shondell said. “And for a freshman, I give her a tremendous amount of credit for how she played, with really our season on the line. If we lose that match, we’re in a world of hurt trying to qualify for the conference tournament.”

Shondell said Toledo (8-16, 2-9) made a point to take senior middle blocker Lisa Scott out of the offense by moving blockers over and Spadafora, along with junior Mindy Marx, picked up the slack.

Toledo entered the match one game back in the conference standings from Ball State, who holds the eighth and final spot to qualify for the MAC tournament.

But it could have been a quick win for Ball State.

The Cardinals opened the match with the first two sets, controlling the match before the Rockets ran away with the third set. Shondell said his team fell apart offensively and defensively after Toledo adjusted its rotation, electing to play Meghan Smyth in the back row.

“It just seemed like when [Toledo] brought her in the match, its chemistry just got better,” Shondell said. “Sometimes just changing the court chemistry can make a difference.”

Ball State struggled to put the ball away against Toledo, despite focusing on hitting connections in practice this week, Shondell said. Bates led the Cardinals with 16 kills but struggled with errors, only hitting .132 for the match. Overall, Ball State was out-hit by Toledo .255 to .188.

“[Setter-hitter connections] was an issue,” Shondell said. “We really regressed tonight. We didn’t have consistent connections tonight, and we definitely took a step back.”

Ball State will use a travel day as it heads to New York to face Buffalo at 7 p.m. Saturday.