The championship match of the Active Ankle Challenge pitted the Cardinals against each other. On one side was Big East power Louisville (4-2) and the other, the Ball State University women's volleyball squad (2-4).
Louisville took the Active Ankle Challenge championship in four sets 25-16, 25-13, 23-25, 25-16.
"Louisville is a very good team. They're very similar to Purdue and Dayton, who we saw last week," coach Dave Boos said. "Playing physical teams like this is great preparation for Western Michigan."
The high octane, power attack of Louisville started fast and quickly silenced the home crowd of Ball State. Louisville hit an outstanding .444 clip and .565 clip en route to 25-16, 25-13 set wins before the break.
"We want to beat everyone we play," senior Julie Breivogel said. "I can't describe how bad we wanted to beat them."
Ball State refused to back down, however. Falling behind early in the second set, Ball State rallied and tied the set at six behind a couple emphatic kills by sophomore middle hitter Jennifer Boyd and outside hitter Breivogel, who notched eleven kills on the night.
"We saw right away what kind of challenge Louisville was," Kaylee Schembra said. "After their fast start, we just settled in and got after it."
Unfortunately, the effort to come from behind wasn't enough. Louisville strung together another potent run, delivering the knockout punch midway through the second set.
After the break, Louisville once again took command of the third set with yet another big run. Playing like there was no tomorrow, Ball State rallied to pull within one at 15-14 with Schembra taking over libero duties for Christie Waters.
"This team has so much desire and heart and fight in it," Breivogel said. "We just have to keep doing what we've been doing and we'll be alright."
A couple plays later Boyd struck again with a solo block and kill to stay within striking range. Boyd finished the night with eight kills.
"We showed tonight we've progressed a great deal since last weekend," Boos said. "Their outsides really hurt us and challenged us."
Refusing to go away, Ball State hung close and took their first lead of the match, 19-18, on a Brittany McGinnis cross-court tip. An illegal hit created some breathing room for Ball State.
Then a Schembra service ace sent Louisville reeling. Momentum in Ball State's corner, a net violation forced Louisville to take their second timeout of the set and gave Ball State a 23-19 lead. With the home court advantage and crowd behind them, Ball State held off a late Louisville rally to take the third set 25-23 on a Louisville service error.
"It feels really good going out and contributing. This is the only position I play and the only way I can contribute to the team," Schembra said. "Finishing out the third set was awesome. The intensity really showed."
With the set win, the crowd was firmly behind Ball State and may have shook Louisville a little. Early in the fourth set Louisville made several errors.
"The crowd really helped us tonight, especially in the third set and early in the fourth set," Boos said. "I hope they saw what a fun team we have and we gave them something to be proud of."
A long, impressive rally in which both teams made diving saves and McGinnis and Schembra found the floor saw Alisha Green notch a kill with authority to pull Ball State within three at 14-11.
After dropping a couple points, McGinnis came up big with solo block, keeping Ball State close midway through and keeping the crowd in the match.
Louisville would eventually pull away for the 25-16 win to take the Active Ankle Challenge Championship.
Green and Charde' Phillips, who tallied fourteen more kills and hit a .500 clip after hitting .619 the previous night, took home All-Tournament Team honors for Ball State.
"Charde' turned in the best individual player performance since I came here," Boos said. "I think she's capable of playing like that every night and she showed she could this weekend."
Louisville's Lola Arslanbekova was named the Tournament MVP after turning in nineteen kills against Ball State.
The Cardinals are back in action again in Terre Haute as participants in the Best Western ISU Classic. Their first match of the weekend will be Friday at 4 p.m. against Chicago State.
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