The Ball State University women's volleyball team found their groove Friday night at Worthen Arena against IPFW in their first home match of the season, as host of the Active Ankle Challenge.The Cardinals (1-3) sweeped by the Mastadons (3-3) behind a stout front-line attack and solid defensive effort in the back row en route to a 26-24, 25-18, 25-19 win."I can't tell you how proud I am of this effort," coach Boos said. "I'm very pleased with the way we performed tonight."Leading the charge for Ball State were Alisha Green with 17 kills, Charde' Phillips with 16 kills and Elaina Kakatolis with 9 kills and no errors."Everyone played so confident and did some amazing things," Boos said. "Alisha, Charde' and Elaina are going to get the attention, but Christie, Kaylee and Karin were big factors tonight."IPFW took the early advantage, but Ball State recovered quickly to take a 16-13 lead midway through the first set. The Mastadons returned the favor, going on a big run to tie the match at 23.What appeared to be an untimely attack error by senior Julie Breivogel ultimately proved to be the spark to propel the Cardinals to victory. Breivogel sent a power tip over the net, but wide, giving IPFW a set point. Green and Phillips followed that up with a pair of powerful kills to wrestle the set away from the Mastadons suddenly."It was really intense down the stretch in the first set. Those are the moments that make volleyball. You live for those moments and for ending it," Green said. "No one was really worried in our huddle. We just felt there was no sense of keep going and that we were going to terminate it."The second set took on a similar appearance to the first set early on. Both squads traded blows and timeouts before either side reached 10 points. Once Ball State tied the score at 10, they rode the potent front line all the way to a convincing 25-18."We weren't feeling any pressure at all. We just tried to go out, have fun, be competitive and do what we do," Phillips said. "It's great knowing people are here to cheer us on and have that support."Ball State jumped out to a 8-3 lead in the third set and appeared to be on cruise control. The Mastadons rallied and took a two point advantage 13-11 part-way through the set, but then the Cardinals found their groove."Just being confident was my focus," Green said. "It feels great to see all the hard work we put in pay off."The combination of Phillips and Green began to take a toll as they pounded kill after kill to the ground. Sophomore Jennifer Boyd got in the act by posting consecutive service aces extending the Cardinal flurry."I think we gelled as well as we possibly could. This lineup was one we worked on all week in practice," Boos said. "I couldn't be more pleased. I would have taken a loss tonight because of how confidently the team played. It was that confidence that got us through the first set, something we would have struggled with last season."Sophomore Kaylee Schembra put the match away with an emphatic service ace. She also contributed eight digs. McGinnis finished the match with 35 assists and 15 digs for a double-double.Mayara Schlindwein led IPFW offensively with 11 kills on 34 swings while Tessa McGill notched 12 digs defensively.Ball State returns to the court at 12:30 p.m. Saturday against SIU-Edwardsville (0-5).
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