Thursday, Sept. 3 Volleyball Scores
Marshall 3, Akron 0
Ball State 3, Western Kentucky 1
IU Indy 3, Ohio 0
Western Michigan 3, Omaha 2
Recaps courtesy of Athletic Communications Departments
Ball State | Box Score
FAIRBORN, Ohio - - After dropping the opening set, the Ball State women's volleyball team found its rhythm Thursday night, rallying to earn a 3-1 (20-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-21) victory over Conference USA preseason favorite Western Kentucky in its opening match of the Tru by Hilton Beavercreek Invitational hosted by Wright State.
"I'm very proud of our group for just staying the course," head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said. "No matter the score, we just kept plugging away, playing hard and good things started to happen. That was another great show of toughness from the whole group!"
Already down one set and trailing 4-1 in the second, the Cardinals (3-0) rattled off six straight points to gain some much-needed momentum. That was just one of several big point runs for Ball State over the final three frames, including 7-0 start in the fourth, as they handed the Hilltoppers (2-2) its second loss of the season.
Leading the way for the BSU offense against a WKU squad which received votes in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25 Coaches Poll was junior outside
Ava Smith with a career-high 19 kills. She also added 11 digs for her second double-double of the season.
Also coming up huge on the offensive front for the Cardinals were junior outside
Audrey Geer and junior opposition
Tiffany Snook with 15 and 10 kills, respectively. Geer's 15 kills and 15 digs, for her second double-double of the year, were season highs, as was Snook's .304 (10-3-23) attack percentage.
Overall, the Cardinals finished the night with a season-best .301 (55-14-136) hitting mark, led by a .444 (19-3-36) effort from Smith and a .400 (8-2-15) rate of success from fifth-year senior middle
Madison Buckley.
"Our setters did a great job of spreading the offense, getting multiple everyone involved and making big time sets when we needed it," Phillips added.
Leading the offense was the setting duo of senior
Lindsey Green and sophomore
Reese Axness with 24 and 20 assists, respectively. Green would also tally 13 digs for her second double-double of the season, while Axness added a pair.
Rounding out Ball State's key contributors was junior libero
Sophie Ledbetter who tied for match-high honors with 18 digs. The effort raised her career total to 969, leaving her 31 digs shy of becoming the 22nd player in program history to reach 1,000 career digs.
Another key in the victory for the Cardinals was limiting service miscues while capitalizing on the Hilltoppers' errors. While WKU was able to serve up 11 aces, it also registered 15 service errors to help Ball State maintain its pressure down the stretch.
"WKU had some big-time servers that brought heat, and our passers really had to battle all night," Phillips said. "I do believe our servers rose to the challenge though and kept the pressure on them consistently, which was a big reason for our win tonight."
Conversely, BSU would serve up a season-high five aces, led by three from Geer, and commit just four service errors.
Overall, the Cardinals' defense limited Western Kentucky to a .223 (54-19-157) attack percentage, with Eliza McKnight leading the squad with 13 kills and a .545 (13-1-22) rate of success. Tayler Baron led the WKU defense with 18 digs.
The Ball State women's volleyball team continues play in the Tru by Hilton Beavercreek Invitational Friday with a 3 p.m. first serve versus Dayton.
Western Michigan | Box Score
OMAHA, Neb. – Western Michigan senior middle blocker
Gabby Weihe tallied a career-high 19 kills on a blistering .531 hitting percentage to help the Broncos take down Omaha in five sets (25-14, 25-20, 19-25, 23-25, 15-12) on Thursday night.
Of Weihe's career-high 19 kills, 11 came in the final two frames. The senior also led Western Michigan in blocks with eight, tying her career high for the second consecutive contest.
Three Broncos recorded double-doubles, led by
Leah Richmond's 46 assists and 16 digs.
Annalise Patchett totaled 11 kills and a career-high 14 digs, while
Carley Piercefield notched a career-high 11 assists and 10 digs for her first collegiate double-double.
Izzy Swiercz put down a season-high 15 kills in the victory.
Western Michigan continues play at the Omaha Tournament on Friday afternoon against Chicago State. First serve is slated for 3 pm.
