For the second consecutive Friday it was the Cait Snyder show in Worthen Arena, as the junior outside blasted a career-high 15 kills to lead the Ball State women's volleyball team to a 3-1 (25-14, 24-26, 25-9, 25-11) victory over Akron.
"One thing we've been talking a lot about is consistency, specifically out of our pin hitters," head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said. "That's what I felt most confident in Cait tonight. She was consistent every set, had smart shots, and hit the right shots in the right moments. It was a solid effort from Cait all around."
After smashing 13 kills in last Friday's 3-1 win over Eastern Michigan, Snyder turned in an even better performance for the Cardinals (11-6; 3-2 Mid-American Conference) tonight with her career-high 15 markers. She would also finish the match with a .289 (15-2-45) attack percentage and throw in a season-high tying three total blocks for good measure.
While Ball State dominated the opening set, winning by 11 points, the Zips (4-13; 1-5 MAC) made a strong push to win the second. They even overcame a Ball State set-point, at 24-23, and rallied off the final three points of the frame.
However, the Cardinals scored 12 of the first 14 points in the third set and never looked back to pick up their third straight conference victory.
"After the second set, I told the team we have to be in control," Phillips said. "I felt like we were very reactive to what Akron was doing in the first two sets and I told them we needed to come out and take control. I also thought their middles were scoring consistently, so I told the team we needed to do a much better job of blocking and defending their middles. We were able to come out in the final two sets and do both of those things; play with confidence and step up on the block, which was the big difference in the end."
Moving back to the Ball State offense, senior opposite Natalie Mitchem was second on the squad with 10 kills, while senior middle Marie Plitt was right behind with nine. Both finished the match with .500 attack percentages, with neither committing an attack error.
Sophomore setter Megan Wielonski helped run the offense at a .326 (51-6-138) clip, handing out 35 assists and adding 16 digs for her 11th double-double of the season. She also secured four total blocks.
As a team, BSU tallied its second-largest blocking total of the season with 12.0, led by six from Plitt and four each from Wielonski and senior middle Lauren Gilliland.
In the backcourt, the Cardinals were led by a season-high 24 digs from senior libero Maggie Huber. Senior outside Natalie Risi added 10 digs, giving Ball State three players in double figures in the category.
Another key performance off the bench for Ball State came from freshman defensive specialist Paige Busick, who secured a career-high five digs and put together several solid service runs over the final two sets. She also served up her first career ace and earned a perfect reception percentage in eight attempts.
"Paige has been making plays like that in practice for a really long time," Phillips added. "She is one of those players that is so quick to the ball and can pick up those off-speed shots. One of the things that really helped us in set three was her service pressure. While she is a freshman, she doesn't play like one. She comes in, she's aggressive and just makes plays. She just gave us another dimension and another spark tonight."
On the visiting side of the net, Karleighana Jones led the Zips with 12 kills, while Lauren Latka paced a quartet of players in double figures with 15 digs. Overall, BSU's defense limited Akron to a .085 attack percentage, including a -.143 (6-11-35) mark in the match-turning third set.
The Ball State women's volleyball team will have another quick turnaround, as it welcomes Buffalo to Worthen Arena for another 6 p.m. first serve on Saturday for Dig Pink Night.
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