Ball State already had a mountain of a physical obstacle to conquer this weekend in playing two powerhouse Mid-American Conference teams.
But adding in an emotional obstacle in losing a teammate to a significant injury was just too much for the Cardinals to overcome.
Western Michigan University pulled off a thrilling five-game win to defeat Ball State on Friday, rallying to win the final three games after Ball State won the first two. The following night, Northern Illinois University pounded Ball State for a 3-0 sweep.
Even with record of 22-5 and 11-3 in the MAC, the losses leave the Cardinals looking for answers to a drop in play near the end of the regular season.
A hit to the team's depth at setter and middle blocker could be one as the team confirmed sophomore setter Jacqui Seidel is out for the season after injuring her knee in practice Wednesday night.
Senior middle blocker Jennifer Boyd also injured her ankle against Toledo on Oct. 27 and played in only four of eight possible games this weekend.
The toll left the team with two unfamiliar results, especially in losing to Western Michigan. Prior to this weekend, Ball State was 18-1 after winning the first game and 19-0 after winning the second.
In the midst of the two losses, a few players managed to stand out with encouraging play.
Junior outside hitter Kara Bates tied her career-high of 20 kills against Western Michigan. She had previously set the mark in her collegiate debut with Maryland as a freshman in 2009.
Sophomore right-side hitter Lauren Grant also set a career-high with 15 kills in the same match.
A third career-high mark came from junior defensive specialist Lauren Schlaker, who collected 13 digs in Friday's match. Schlaker earned a place in the starting lineup against Western Michigan in the wake of Seidel's injury.
Coach Steve Shondell was unavailable to comment Sunday.
Ball State now falls a match behind both Northern Illinois and Western Michigan in the conference standings, which both own 12-2 MAC records. Ohio is also tied with Ball State at 11-3 in the conference, but the Cardinals own the tiebreaker with a 3-1 win on Oct. 14.
With two remaining matches in the MAC regular season schedule, Ball State will have to rely on losses from either team above them in order to move up from a third seed in the MAC Tournament.
Ball State's attempt to improve its postseason seeding will begin with Eastern Michigan University on Thursday and Central Michigan University on Saturday. Both matches are at home and start at 7 p.m.
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