The Mid-American Conference better be on alert. The planets arealigning for the Ball State women's volleyball team to make a runat the West Division crown.
With the top of the MAC West log-jammed, Ball State(14-13, 8-6MAC) did its job this weekend by picking up a pair of victoriesover Toledo (10-19, 5-10 MAC) and Bowling Green (12-15, 4-9 MAC).The Cardinals then received some help from a duo of WesternMichigan defeats.
This all means that if Ball State wins its final two conferencematches next weekend, then the division title belongs to the Cards.Head coach Randy Litchfield is excited by the possibility.
"Things could not be shaping up better," he said.
While in the past a division championship at Ball State has notbeen much to brag, this year it would be a majoraccomplishment.
"We're obviously used to being more successful than this, but noteam has had the challenges week in and week out that this team hashad," Litchfield said. "To sit with a divisional championship, thiswould be one of the few years that I'd be really happy withthat."
One of the main players who helped the Cardinals get past Toledoand Bowling Green to this point was junior libero Stephanie Keller.With 41 digs on Friday and another 19 Saturday, Keller became thefirst player in MAC history to record over 600 digs in a singleseason. She currently has 613 digs this year.
The record is a testament to Keller's evolution as a player,Litchfield said.
"We all know what an aggressive defensive player she is, but sheis also starting to play with a lot of intelligence," he said.
Also playing big roles in the team's weekend success werefreshmen attackers Kelly Cochran and Kirby Gibson, who haveimpressed Litchfield with their rapid improvement.
"A lot of freshmen go the other direction because they aren'tused to such a long season," he said. "These two are playing likesophomores now and are probably the biggest key to what we're doingnow."
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