Ball State's women's volleyball team (10-10, 5-3 Mid-American Conference) went into the weekend knowing its road trip to Kent State (9-8, 5-3 MAC) and Buffalo (8-13, 2-5 MAC) was an excellent opportunity to gain ground in the MAC. With that in mind, the Cardinals took to the court twice and came away both times with 3-0 victories.
The pair of wins moved Ball State back to .500 on the season and gave the Cardinals sole possession of first place in the MAC West Division.
It all started Saturday night when the Cardinals rolled into Kent, Ohio to take on the Golden Flashes.
After falling behind 7-2 early in game one, Ball State put together a 14-6 run to take a 16-13 lead. The two teams fought from there with Kent State tying the score twice but never again taking the lead in the game. The Cardinals eventually took the first set 30-27.
In the second game, Ball State came out on fire to jump to a 16-7 lead. KSU slowly chipped away and tied the game at 26 all. That was as high as the Golden Flashes would climb though as the Cards got the last four points to win 30-26.
The third game proved to be the best of the three with Kent State holding the lead at 17-14 at one point. After fighting back to tie the game at 20-20, Ball State went on an 8-3 run to make the score 28-23. KSU's sophomore outside attacker Danielle Holt refused to go quietly though and tied the game with four-straight kills and a block assist. After the two teams switched between Ball State match-points and ties twice, the Cards were able to put two consecutive points together to take the match.
Sophomore outside attacker Sarah Obras registered 21 kills and 11 digs while hitting a season-high .378 on the night. Junior setter Stacie Baldwin captained the team to a season-best .311 hitting percentage as she passed out 46 assists.
On Sunday, the Cardinals continued to shine in Buffalo.
Game one was a display of control by Ball State which took a 15-10 lead and never looked back. The Cards eventually won the opening set 30-27.
After going ahead 10-5 in the second stanza, the Cardinals saw the Bulls fight back to take the advantage at 15-14. Ball State pulled itself together quickly, though, and the game stayed tight up until a 27-all tie. The Cards tallied the next three points though to put the second game away.
In what would prove to be the final frame, Ball State fought back from a 4-3 hole to take a convincing 30-22 victory in the game and 3-0 win in the match.
Obras' 17 kills and 22 digs led all players in the contest. It was her 17th double-double of the year.
The team will remain on the road next weekend against Northern Illinois and Western Michigan.
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