WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - After Ball State dropped the first set to Louisville in its first-round match in the NCAA Tournament, an immediate turnaround in play was needed in order for Ball State to stay alive.
Through cleaner ball control, dominant hitting from senior middle blocker Kelsey Brandl and better defensive adjustments, Ball State quickly looked like an improved volleyball team in the second set. The match seemed to be going their way.
That lasted until Brandl ever looked at the scoreboard. No matter when she got a glance in during the set, Ball State was behind by at least few points.
For her, it seemed like much more.
"I thought we were fighting really hard, but you look at the score and you feel like you're down by a bazillion points," Brandl said. "It was just frustrating at times, because you know you're playing well."
Although Ball State came within making a run on Louisville's lead several times throughout the match, it never was enough and ultimately led to Louisville winning the match with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-20) sweep.
Ball State's 2011 season, which saw a NCAA Tournament berth for the first time since 2002, is now over.
Following the match, coach Steve Shondell said Louisville's defense was the deciding factor.
"I really thought their defense was the difference in the match," he said. "When you're cracking that ball and the ball just keeps coming up, it can be frustrating. I thought our defense was solid, but it wasn't as good as Louisville's tonight."
After Louisville took control of the match early with a 25-22 first set win, its star outside hitter Lola Arslanbekova kept its momentum going in the second set.
She hit eight kills on 11 attempts for a .636 attack percentage in that set, leading Louisville to a combined attack percentage of .417 in the second frame alone.
"We had trouble stopping her tonight," Shondell said of Arslanbekova. "She's played a lot of volleyball, you can tell that. She's just a really savvy player."
Brandl said playing against Louisville's tempo of volleyball disrupted Ball State's attempts to create scoring runs, which led to Ball State hitting .116 in the match and .000 in the third set alone.
"They play very European, so I think it was a little different for us," she said. "We're used to a faster offense to go against. So I think making a small adjustment on the block to wait longer can screw your timing up at times. Dealing with a couple bigger hitters that are really crafty with the ball was just tough for us to defend."
The loss may put end of Ball State's season, but a feeling of optimism came from Shondell is the post-game press conference.
After considering the overall success of the season, Shondell said he knows the program will continue to improve going into the next year.
"I think the girls believe in themselves now, and that's half the battle," he said. "I think the program's back to where it was many, many years ago, and that's nice."
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