26-24 set win.
25-23 set loss.
25-20 set win.
25-14 set loss.
15-8 set — and match — win.
You can’t get much closer to the definition of a rollercoaster than Ball State (7-4) did against Wright State (7-3) at Worthen Arena tonight.
“I knew it was going to be a battle,” head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said. “Watching Wright State, they have a great ball control team, very fundamental [and] big, physical attackers in a lot of different positions, so [it was] no surprise in tonight’s match.
I felt like we started out feeling pretty hot and we just kind of coasted there in the middle [and] Wright State took advantage of that.”
Sets one and two were close, with just two points separating each side, but the Cardinals won by five in set three and the Raiders took set four by 11 points.
“We kind of just threw that one out the window,” Phillips said. “Nothing was going right. Sometimes you have those matchups, you have those games. We just had to reset, put Carson [Tyler] in the front row to begin [and] we had a couple things clicking.”
Set five started as close as the first two sets did, but Phillip challenged a call that would tilt the matchup in favor of the Cardinals.
When the officiating crew reviewed the call and sided with Wright State, boos rang out in Worthen Arena as the video was played back on the jumbotron. Disgruntlement, and some words from Phillips, twisted the fourth official’s arm enough to take a second look, this time turning the call over in Ball State’s favor.
“When I talked to the down ref, it sounded like, when he was describing back to me what he saw, he looked at the wrong play,” Phillips said. “So when I was describing back to him, that was not the play that I was challenging. So, that’s what he went back and looked at.”
The extended review took about eight minutes, enough for both sides to be a little cold. Coming out of the break, the Cardinals took full advantage, getting hot quickly and closing the match out as “B-S-U” chants rang in succession with each hit.
“It was a really great turnout tonight and it was really great to be able to play in front of our home crowd again,” senior setter Megan Wielonski said. “We’ve been on the road forever, it feels like, so it’s been so good to come back and be on our home court and playing in front of our fans. Being in Worthen Arena is just awesome, so it’s been great to be back.”
The win was highlighted by Tyler’s 25 kills, a career night for the freshman outside hitter out of Pavilion, New York.
“She’s done a great job, it doesn’t surprise me,” Phillips said. “She works really hard, she’s consistent all the time and so she gets served a ton, she has great composure [and] she’s a competitor. We needed every single one of those kills tonight, that’s for sure.”
Tyler has settled into the squad well, appearing in every match for Ball State this season, averaging 3.1 kills per set and registering a .272 hitting percentage.
“I think I just go in every day with an open mind and figure out one thing that I want to get better at that day and I focus on that one thing,” Tyler said. “If I walk out of practice one percent better at something, that makes me happy.”
Elsewhere in the attack, Kendall Barnes logged double-digit kills for the second time this season with 11 while senior setter Megan Wielonksi dished out a team-high 50 assists and recorded 19 digs.
Freshman defensive specialist Sophie Ledbetter nabbed 12 digs, taking her season total to a team-high 152 while graduate middle blocker Aayinde Smith had a team-leading seven total blocks to secure the defensive side of the net.
A notable absence on the night was redshirt sophomore Aniya Kennedy, who was also absent in Thursday night’s victory over Butler (2-8).
The reigning Mid-American Conference (MAC) Freshman of the Year has 90 kills in nine matches this season and a team-leading 3.63 kills-per-set. Phillips said Kennedy was out with a knee issue and should be back ahead of the Cardinals’ MAC season opener against Bowling Green Sept. 27.
The match against Bowling Green isn’t just the start of conference play, but a rematch of last season’s MAC Tournament Quarterfinal match where Ball State lost to the Falcons.
“Definitely still stings,” Wielonski said. “We talk about [how] we were sitting on the couch watching the championship game and that’s not what we’re going to be doing this year. Definitely is stinging in my mind and I know the whole team as well.”
While the magnitude of the game is apparent among the locker room, Phillips said she is focusing on keeping the team “enjoying the moment.”
“I think that’s where we’re at right now, just getting a little bit better every week and I think we’ve done that throughout the preseason,” Phillips said. “It’s not about being our best next week, it’s about being our best at the end of the season, but we’ve got to be good enough to win next week.”
Contact Daniel Kehn via email at daniel.kehn@bsu.edu or on X@daniel_kehn.
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