Trailing 12-10 in the third set of a 1-1 match, junior Jenna Spadafora earned two consecutive kills to pull the Ball State women's volleyball team into a tie with Toledo.
From that point on Ball State dominated the match, going on a ten-point scoring run, taking the set 25-17 and the match 3-1.
“I’m really proud of the way our group stepped up when a couple of those games were on the line,” head coach Steve Shondell said. “Toledo’s breathing down our necks, we stopped the bleeding and really pushed on.”
Junior Hayley Benson carried Ball State on the offense side, leading the team with 16 kills and a .536 attack percentage. She only recorded one attack error in the match.
As a team, the Cardinals totaled 53 kills.
Seven other players recorded a kill for Ball State. Spadafora was second with eight, while transfer Jill Hopper added seven.
Spadafora said it's valuable to have players on the bench that can come in and change a game like Hopper did.
“If someone or the team isn’t playing well, you just need that one spark,” Spadafora said.
Ball State continued its spark defensively, holding Toledo to a .106 attack percentage.
Junior libero Kati Vasalakis topped Ball State with 16 digs to stop the Toledo offensive attack.
With the victory, the Cardinals are now 10-8 overall on the season and 4-1 in the Mid-American Conference.
Ball State returns to action Oct. 11, in a road match up against Buffalo. The match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
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