Jennifer Boyd struggled to answer the question, weighing both options in her head.
What was more satisfying for her, a late comeback to beat Northern Illinois 3-2 on Friday or a 3-1 victory over Western Michigan on Saturday?
"I think...I don't know." she said. "I've never lost to Northern Illinois since I've been here, so it's great to come out and beat them. I love those really tight games when we're going neck and neck. But we really wanted to get Western [Michigan]. We've only beaten them once since I've been here, so I just desire to beat them and also to play for our seniors last year.
"I just love to win."
Boyd's best choice may be to embrace both victories. By knocking off two of the best teams in the Mid-American Conference West Division, Ball State (15-2) has taken an early two-match lead for first in the MAC West with a perfect 4-0 conference record, while Western Michigan sits at 3-1 and Northern Illinois stays even at 2-2.
And in one week's time, Ball State has made improvements all across the team. It showed against its top competition.
"The difference between how we played at Akron [last Saturday], our defense, our energy, just how we played as a team has gotten so much better," Boyd said. "That drive that we had this week, we didn't have that last week."
Any strides made in the overall quality of the team's play can be attributed to almost 11 different players and how they played against Northern Illinois and Western Michigan.
Sophomore libero Catie Fredrich continued to break free from student assistant coach and former libero Alyssa Rio's shadow with a career high 30 digs against Western Michigan.
Sophomore setter Jacqui Seidel also earned her second career start Saturday after she steered Ball State's offense during the fourth and fifth frames of the Northern Illinois match. Her quality play continued against Western Michigan with a double-double of 33 assists and 13 digs.
"She had a great weekend," coach Steve Shondell said. "She works hard in practice to prepare herself for these situations, and I've always told her that I have full confidence in her,"
When junior outside hitter Kara Bates had a more limited role on offense in Ball State's two matches, sophomore outside hitter Kylee Baker stepped up in her place. Baker totaled 38 digs and 23 kills combined in both matches, with many of her kills coming in clutch moments of Ball State's comeback against Northern Illinois.
"She's really come into her own. I think the fact that when she was playing the role of a backcourt specialist, she really had to focus on passing defense. That's where she's really come along lately, and in the past, that was her struggle. She's really put emphasis on that in practice, and she's really evolving into a complete player." Shondell said.
One of Ball State's biggest weaknesses this season has been its blocking, but it didn't show against either team with a combined 33 blocks in both matches. Sophomore middle blocker Mindy Marx thrived defensively at the net against Western Michigan, totaling 7 blocks to lead the team.
Taking the same level of play the Cardinals had in their two wins on the road is the next step for Ball State. It starts this weekend away matches against Central Michigan on Friday and Eastern Michigan on Saturday.
"If you can get road wins in this conference, then you're going to win," Seidel said. "Last year, that was something that we did that helped us win conference. If we come out with that same attitude, then there's no reason that we can't."
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