Ball State lost a heartbreaker Saturday evening at Buffalo. After forcing a fifth set for the fourth time in 2010, the women's volleyball team was upended by Buffalo 26-28, 25-20, 19-25, 25-19, 13-15.
If Ball State was given all it could handle Thursday night at Toledo, Buffalo could up the ante.
Ball State defeated Toledo 3-2 Thursday night.
Ball State didn't just post two wins in Mid-American Conference play this weekend, libero Allyssa Rio won MAC West Division Defensive Player of the Week for the second straight week.
Ball State was just looking to defend its home floor during the weekend. Instead the Cardinals turned the weekend into a statement.
Ball State (12-3, 2-1) came out of the locker room all business and dismantled Central Michigan (6-9, 0-3) after a dismal showing in the second set.
Last season, the Cardinals went 1-5 against the three Michigan-based Mid-American Conference schools.
Growing a program can be difficult. Some nights a team looks brilliant. Other nights, a team will show its flaws. Ball State experienced both in the opening weekend of Mid-American Conference action.
Mid-American Conference action begins today when the Ball State women's volleyball team (10-2) travels to Northern Illinois (13-1).
The present and the future have collided, and the result has been nothing but beneficial for the Ball State women's volleyball team.
It may not have been the signature win coach Steve Shondell was looking for, but a hard-fought and impressive 22-25, 12-25, 25-17, 25-22, 15-9 victory over Appalachian State will do.
The win clinched a second-place finish in the Tar Heel Classic, behind host North Carolina.
On the eve of a North Carolina football game and with a surplus of Tar Heel fans on campus, Ball State will be in Chapel Hill looking to make a statement.
Ball State defeated IPFW 3-2 Tuesday night.
First-year women's volleyball coach Steve Shondell faces a difficult question after a rough loss on the road over the weekend: How does a team rebound from a poor performance and get back on track before facing another road test at IPFW?
The sky isn't falling, but Ball State turned in its worst effort of the season in a loss Saturday at Wright State.
Committing 27 errors on the road at Wright State (4-6) snapped Ball State's seven-game winning streak and 21-set winning streak as they lost 25-16, 23-25, 25-23, 25-20.
With the success of another 3-0 weekend and a victory over IUPUI on Tuesday night, Ball State holds a 7-0 record heading into what could prove to be the critical part of their schedule.
Ball State took another step in returning the women's volleyball program to prominence by winning the Active Ankle Challenge at Worthen Arena this and setting an attendance record this weekend.
A movement to return the once proud women's volleyball program to glory is underway. While the status of the effort under first-year Ball State coach Steve Shondell is unknown, Friday night provided a glimpse of what could be.
