Snyder has career night as Cardinals beat Bulls

The Ball State women’s volleyball team is huddles together after receiving a kill in the second set from their opponent Eastern Michigan on Sep. 30 at Worthen Arena in Muncie, Indiana. Eve Green, DN
The Ball State women’s volleyball team is huddles together after receiving a kill in the second set from their opponent Eastern Michigan on Sep. 30 at Worthen Arena in Muncie, Indiana. Eve Green, DN

Stays the course, never complains, coachable. 

“[She] does whatever you ask and is just really locked into getting better,” head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said. “She just kind of ignores the noise and [thinks] ‘how do I get better,’ and good things happen when you put in a concentrated effort.”

Third-year outside hitter Cait Snyder smashed a career-high 18 kills as Ball State Women’s Volleyball defeated Buffalo in four sets Oct. 8, the accolade just a testament to her development as a Cardinal according to Phillips. 

“I’m so proud of her,” second-year setter Megan Wielonski said. “She’s just been killing it recently. She’s really someone I can rely on and I really trust now. It’s just awesome to see her development and our connection grow.”

Along with a block assist and four digs, Snyder’s kill total topped her previous career high of 15 which she set 24 hours before facing off against Buffalo

“It really just takes a lot of game experiences to know when to make those shots, when to take a little bit off, when to go for it, I think that’s what really helps a lot,” Snyder said. 

Despite ending the evening on a high note, the Cardinals wavered in the first two frames. After scraping a first-set win 26-24, Buffalo took set two 25-19 before Ball State was able to get into a groove and finish out the match.

“I felt like for the first set and a half, their middle, number 12… we struggled to contain her and she’s super physical,” Phillips said. “I mean she’s hitting high, was getting good shots and I felt like we were a little bit scattered chasing them from a blocking standpoint. Then I feel like we settled down, executed our game plan a little bit better which slowed her down and enabled us to dig a few more balls from other attackers.”

Wielonski dished out 54 assists as fourth-year middle blocker Marie Plitt and fourth-year outside hitter Natalie Risi also hit double-digit kills with 13 and 12 respectively. 

“Me, Marie and Natalie [sic] are all roommates so it’s been really cool to see our connection grow off the court this year,” Wielonski said. “But again, I think that’s also just something that our team is really good at just having everyone be so consistent and every one of our players can be in double-figure kills every night.”

Wielonski and Risi combined for 37 digs while fourth-year defensive specialist Maggie Huber added 15 to the defensive effort as the Cardinals won sets three and four 25-11 and 25-21 respectively to win their fourth straight match.

Ball State heads out on the road next for two matches against Northern Illinois Oct. 14 at 6 p.m. and Oct. 15 at 2 p.m.

Contact Daniel Kehn with comments at daniel.kehn@bsu.edu or on Twitter @daniel_kehn.

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