The frustration culminated for Ball State in a Friday night loss in three sets (25-22, 25-14, 25-21) to Creighton.
It was another flat performance for Ball State and one that made coach Steve Shondell question the type of leadership that was shown by his players.
Falling under .500 for the first time since 2009-2010 was not what senior outside hitter Kara Bates expected.
"It's definitely frustrating," Bates said. "Losing is contagious and so is winning. We can't keep going down this road. I think that last year, and probably the year before, they expected to win."
So Shondell decided to have a one on one with Bates, a player he praised for her leadership earlier in the season.
It only lasted an hour, but it accomplished something - for Bates at least.
"Steve [Shondell] just wants me to make sure that since I am one of the leaders on the floor; he wants me to be an extension of him," Bates said. "He's just very calm and collected and very positive, so he wants to make sure that I'm reflecting that."
Following the conversation, it was a career day for Bates. Despite losing both matches to Northern Colorado and Tulsa, Bates amassed 24 and 19 kills respectively. Her 24 kills were a career-best.
Ball State dropped its early match against Northern Colorado in four sets (25-20, 25-23, 21-25, 25-22). Tulsa and All-American Tyler Henderson topped Ball State in four sets in the nightcap (25-23, 25-19, 21-25, 27-25).
Henderson was instrumental in Tulsa's comeback in the fourth set with Ball State at set point. Her cross court shot tied the set at 24-24 until Tulsa cruised to the match win.
Shondell said an 0-3 record isn't pretty, but the level of competition was a big factor. Ball State's two Saturday matches were the best they've played this season, he said.
"Friday night was probably a night where we didn't really have the kind of leadership that we needed," Shondell said. "But today we did. We played well. We played two of our best matches, and we don't have a win to show for it."
Shondell said he is hoping the talk with Bates fixed any leadership problems with the team, and maybe with leadership the Cardinals will be able to close out sets better.
"We're going to put ourselves in the game situations with the score 23-all, and then try to finish the game," Shondell said. "Just the end of the game situations that we really haven't had time to work on."
He blamed the team's struggles with finishing on a lack of situation preparation.
"We got to find a way to keep the ball in play in crunch time when we don't have a perfect set," he said. "We can't just try and swing away and hope the ball lands [in bounds] because that really came back and hurt us."
It wasn't enough, and Bates said it's important to not let the losing get to her.
"I hate losing," Bates said. "Everyone hates losing, but we have to get over it and figure out what we need to work on."
Whatever Shondell wanted to accomplish with talking to Bates it worked. Now he just hopes to see that type of performance more often.
"She's really stepping into a leadership role on the team," Shondell said. "She realizes she's our go-to player, and she rose to the challenges [Saturday] and she had two outstanding matches."
Read More
‘One percent better’: Through injury and other challenges, Ball State’s Ethan Brittain-Watts fights through the adversity
By Zach Carter / 11 hours agoIn his six years in college basketball, Ethan Brittain-Watts has fought against challenges to get to today.
Ball State women’s volleyball shows even a loss can have a positive impact
By Jalen Mckissic / YesterdayThe Ball State Women’s Volleyball team held their Senior Night, on Saturday as they celebrated players for their achievements on the court and in the classroom.
Former Cardinal returns with newfound experience
By Jake Garcia / YesterdaySenior Payton Sparks returns to Ball State after one year at Indiana.
