Coming off consecutive losses, Ball State Women’s Volleyball will finish the road portion of its regular season in Toledo against the Rockets Thursday before returning home Saturday to complete the season against Akron.
“There’s a lot to learn from this past weekend,” head coach Kelli Miller said. “In terms of preparation, we have to make sure we’re going into each match with the same focus and the same mentality, regardless of who is on the other side of the net.”
The Cardinals fell at the hands of Central Michigan 3-0 last week before dropping a hard-fought 3-2 match at Eastern Michigan.
“It doesn’t matter who you’re playing. If you’re going in without that focus, you’re going to get beat, especially on the road,” Miller said. “This past weekend was a good lesson for us that we need high energy every single match.”
To wrap up the weekend, senior Ellie Dunn compiled 26 kills—13 in each match—to up her season total to a team-high 369. Junior Amber Seaman added 65 assists and leads the team with 1,005 on the year.
“It can be hard to come out and play at this level consistently every day, and I think our team has done a pretty good job of that,” Dunn said. “We put in the effort every single day to get to where we’re at, and I feel like it definitely shows.”
Freshman Reece Kral led the Cardinals Saturday against the Eagles with 14 kills, grabbing a new career-high. Although the Cardinal attack percentage was in the .200 range both times they played Eastern Michigan, the Eagles increased their own percentage from their first meeting, going from .155 to .331.
Not only will Saturday’s match see the Cardinals’ last home game of the 2018 season, but they will also celebrate senior night, where seven seniors will be recognized following the match.
“This senior class has had a major impact on the program,” Dunn said. “Any time you have a big class, there’s going to be a bigger impression. A lot of us have been playing here for four or five years, and we’ve had a good amount of time to leave a mark on the program.”
Toledo is next on the Cardinals’ schedule and has lost three consecutive matches. The Rockets are 1-9 on the road this season. Their match with the Cardinals this time around will be at home where they are 5-4. The Rockets have lost two in a row in three sets each to Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan. Game time is set for 7 p.m. Thursday.
Contact Gabi Glass with comments at grglass@bsu.edu or on Twitter @GabiGlass.
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