Volleyball Ends Post Season Run

Volleyball Ends Post Season Run

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Ball State 0, No. 5 Nebraska 3
Box Score
LINCOLN, Neb. -- The Ball State volleyball team struck first in each set.
 
Unfortunately, the Cardinals (20-12) could not hold off the fifth seed in the 2019 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship, suffering a 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-10) setback at Nebraska Friday evening at the Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln, Nebraska.
 
"All the props in the world to Nebraska," head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said after the match. "I was really proud of my team for battling hard in what an amazing environment that they have here. I just thought Nebraska played well. They were blocking unbelievably. We were really having trouble getting the ball to the floor. I thought defensively we were able to make some plays and just fought with all our hearts. But ultimately just couldn't beat a really, really good Huskers team tonight."
 
Freshman opposite Natalie Mitchem opened the match with her first of five kills against the Huskers (26-4). She also got the Cardinals on the board first in the second set and finished the contest with a .308 (5-1-13) attack percentage.
 
Ball State would go on to build a 7-5 lead in the second set following a service ace from freshman defensive specialist Maggie Huber, one of the Cardinals three service aces on the night. Senior setter Amber Seaman also played a big part in the early run, with a pair of dump kills.
 
The third set saw senior middle Sydnee VanBeek post the first point, part of her team-high eight kills. VanBeek also led the Ball State attack with a .400 (8-2-15) hitting percentage.
 
"Going into the game, I kind of knew my specialty was hitting down the line and I was just going to start there and see how Nebraska worked around it," VanBeek said. "Once I started going, I started gaining confidence and Amber (Seaman) gained confidence in me too. She kept finding me and getting me the ball in the right situations and it was working for us. I was glad I could help my team in that way."
 
Defensively, senior libero Kate Avila led the Cardinals and was one of only two players with double-figure digs, as she collected 10 on the night. With the 10 digs, Avila finished her career with 2,260 to rank second in program history.
 
"It was awesome," Avila said about the environment and playing in her first NCAA Tournament match. "It was really fun. We just came out knowing that and we had nothing to lose. We were going to leave it all on the court. To play in that kind of environment was a once in a lifetime experience, and we knew we were just going to take in every moment."
 
While the Cardinals fought hard and battled for every point, they were up against a Nebraska squad which ranked 25th nationally in attack percentage and was even better on defense, limiting opponents to the nation's eighth-lowest attack percentage.
 
The Huskers finished the match hitting .425 (45-8-87) and held the Cardinals to a .010 (23-22-96) rate of success. The Cardinals were able to hold even from the service line, with both teams recording three aces.
 
On defense, Nebraska finished the night with a 44-to-29 advantage in digs and an 8.5-to-0 lead in total blocks.
 
Friday's match was the last for Ball State's four seniors; Avila, defensive specialist Anna Jensen, Seaman and VanBeek, who all saw action in the contest.
 
"The seniors have played such an important role for our program," Phillips said. "They've had a large on-court presence, played a lot of volleyball and scored a lot of points for us."
 
Combined, the four seniors led the program to three consecutive Mid-American Conference West Division titles, the program's first NCAA Tournament berth since 2011 and BSU's first MAC Tournament championship since 2002. They also led the Cardinals to a 74-51 record over their careers.
 
"But the more important things I feel like they have done are the behind-the-scenes things; off-court leadership, being great teammates and setting the tone for what it means to play in our program," Phillips continued. "With nine new players, they had a huge role in getting everyone on the same page, getting everybody to work hard and believe in the process. Those are the things behind-the-scenes that don't count for points in the stat book, but absolutely got us to where we are in playing in the NCAA Tournament today. I can't say enough about their progression on the court as players, but also off the court as leaders, people and great teammates."

Bowling Green 0, TCU 3
Box Score
Bowling Green, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University volleyball program fell to TCU in three sets Friday night (Dec. 6) at the Stroh Center. The loss pushes the Falcons out of postseason play, concluding the 2019 campaign with a 20-13 record, marking the first 20-win season for the Falcons since 2016. The season comes to a close with multiple Falcons etching their names in the record book for both single season and career records. 

Set Scores
Set 1 - TCU 26, Bowling Green 24
Set 2 - TCU 25, Bowling Green 21
Set 3 - TCU 25, Bowling Green 13

Play-By-Play Notes
  • The first set was back-and-forth early, leading into a 15-14 TCU lead at the first stoppage, coming via media timeout.
  • Play continued in the set until back-to-back points from the Falcons that prompted the Horned Frogs to call a timeout with the score at 21-20 Bowling Green. 
  • With TCU closing in to tie the set, the Orange and Brown called a timeout of their own with the score knotted, 23-23. 
  • The Falcons called their second timeout with the score favoring the Horned Frogs, 25-24 in the first set after TCU captured back-to-back points. 
  • TCU came out of the timeout firing, taking the next point to claim a 1-0 set advantage. 
  • The momentum for the Horned Frogs rolled into the second set, jumping to an 8-4 lead before the Falcons called a timeout. 
  • Bowling Green battled back, seeing a 4-0 run give them a 15-14 lead and force Texas Christian to burn a timeout. 
  • The set would swing back to the Horned Frogs, taking a 21-17 lead before the next pause in the action, being a timeout from the Falcon bench. 
  • From there, TCU closed down the set with a 25-21 win to take a 2-0 advantage. 
  • The third set began with TCU out in front 10-6 before the Falcons called a timeout. 
  • The next stoppage came from another BGSU timeout with TCU leading 18-11. 
  • The Horned Frogs were able to close out the set with a 25-13 win to take the match. 
Strong Individual Performances 
  • Isabelle Marciniak led the Falcons, tallying 26 assists on the night. For her career, Marciniak will finish second all-time in career assists, while also having the highest total during the rally era, logging 3,916 assists over her four years. 
  • On the attack, Katelyn Meyer landed a team-high 11 kills while increasing her season total for attack attempts to 1,374, moving her up to third all-time for attack attempts in a single season. 
  • Julia Walz was atop of the digs column on the stat sheet with 13 on the night, upping her season total to 677, the fourth highest single season total in program history. 
  • Also on the defense, Katie Kidwell registered three block assists, now with 351 over her career at Bowling Green, the fifth highest total in program history. Kidwell will enter next season needing 93 block assists to overtake the program record. Over her three seasons, Kidwell has never had less than 100 block assists in a single season.