Ball State women's volleyball finished off its weekend tournament at Colorado State with a win against Idaho State, but fell short to bid No. 25 Colorado State and bid No. 16 Michigan (1-3).
Opening the tournament at 2 p.m. with a rally against Colorado State, the team started off strong to win its first set (25-21), with key plays from sophomore defensive specialist Kate Avila, who had a pair of aces along with four kills from redshirt junior middle hitter Meg Starling.
Head coach Kelli Miller thought Avila played well this past weekend, saying “she really got into a good defensive rhythm and passed well against tough servers all weekend.”
Ball State (6-4) had 57 total kills in the match, compared to Colorado State’s 59. Leading in kills for the Cardinals was junior outside hitter Ellie Dunn with 16.
The Cardinals won the first set (25-21), before the Rams came back to take the win in three consecutive sets (27-25, 25-22, 25-22).
“For the majority of the time I thought we maintained a high level of play,” Miller said. “We stayed true to what we do, which is serving, passing and defense.”
Later that evening Ball State rallied against Idaho State, to take a four-set victory (25-23, 27-29, 25-21, 25-21).
While the Cardinals had secured the first set, the Bengals seized the second and Ball State was limited to a .171 (48-24-140) attack percentage. However, senior outside hitter Jessica Lindsey and freshman Kia Holder were able to change the momentum in the two remaining sets.
Lindsey blasted seven kills, secured two blocks and hit .312 (7-2-16) in the final two sets, while Holder recorded a career-high nine kills and hit .300 (9-3-20) in three sets.
On the court, junior redshirt middle hitter Meg Starling reached 10 total blocks (two solo and eight assists), to become the first Ball State player to reach double digits blocks in 119 matches.
Ball State finished off the Colorado State University Tournament on Sunday when they challenged No. 16 Michigan, ultimately losing in four sets (25-17, 20-25, 11-25, 18-25).
The Cardinals started off strong in the first set, with a solo block set point finish from junior outside hitter Ellie Dunn. Redshirt junior middle hitter/opposite Avery Devoe led with four kills in the first set, totaling for eight with a .467 (8-1-15) attack percentage.
Leading in kills for the Cardinals were junior middle hitter Emily Holland with 10, and junior outside hitter/opposite Brooklyn Goodsel with nine.
“The matches and sets that we were successful we were doing those at a high level, and the sets that we weren’t as successful I think our passing kind of broke down and that led to our offense not hitting at a high percentage,” Miller said.
The Cardinals will return home to play the University of Evansville at 7 p.m. Thursday in Worthen Arena.
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