MATCH STATS
- No. 17 Michigan def. Ball State, 3-1 (17-25, 25-20, 25-11, 25-18)
- Michigan moves to 7-2; Ball State drops to 6-4
- Fort Collins, Colorado
- Attendance: 278
- Box score
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – For the second straight day, Ball State won the first set with flawless volleyball against a top 20 opponent. And for the second straight day, the Cardinals could not seal the deal, losing 3-1 to Michigan in their final match of the Colorado State Tournament.
In set one, Ball State had a side-out percentage of 83%, nearly perfect in volleyball terms and their best percentage in nearly five seasons. Avery Devoe had four kills on four swings in that set alone. Unfortunately, the attack went from .423 in the first set (11-0-26) to .120 (28-16-100) the rest of the way. The Cardinals were led by Emily Holland with 10 kills and three blocks while hitting .500 in the match. Amber Seaman ran the offense with 31 assists and 12 digs. Libero Kate Avila had 24 digs to lead Ball State.
Michigan showed their experience and poise on the night, leading the Cardinals in every statistical category. They won the battle in kills (60-39), blocks (9-8), aces (7-2) and digs (64-47). Individually, the Wolverines were led by Sydney Wetterstrom with a career high of 13 kills. Outside hitter Carly Skojdt (13 k, 13 d) and setter MacKenzie Welsh (41 a, 12 d) both finished with double doubles.
PRESS RELEASE, Courtesy of Michigan Athletics
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — After dropping the first set of the day by a 25-17 score, the No. 16-ranked University of Michigan volleyball team rallied to win three straight sets and take a 3-1 victory (17-25, 25-20, 25-11, 25-18) over the Ball State Cardinals and wrap up the CSU Tournament on Sunday (Sept. 10) inside Colorado State’s Moby Arena.
Michigan (7-2) took the first point of the match on a kill by sophomore Cori Crocker, but the Cardinals (6-4) went on a 3-0 run to take the lead before a kill by senior Katherine Mahlke and a Ball State ball-handling error tied the set at 3-3. The set was played closely from there, until Ball State pulled away at 14-10 and forced a Michigan timeout. Following the stoppage in play, junior Carly Skjodt picked up a kill and a service ace to bring the Wolverines back within two, but Michigan never regained the lead as the Cardinals took set one, 25-17.
Ball State’s momentum continued into set two, as the Cardinals jumped out to a 4-0 lead before a BSU service error put Michigan on the board. The Wolverines rallied from there, however, and tied the score at 5-5 and again at 6-6 before a service ace by Skjodt gave Michigan a one-point edge. A back-and-forth affair followed, but three consecutive kills by sophomore Sydney Wetterstrom gave Michigan a lead at 14-11, forcing a Ball State timeout. The Cardinals came from behind to go up, 18-17, before a kill by Skjodt and two by senior Adeja Lambert helped the Wolverines regain control and go on to take the set by a 25-20 score.
Three kills by Skjodt and a Cardinal ball-handling error gave Michigan a quick 4-0 lead in set three, and the Wolverines jumped ahead 6-0 before Ball State got on the scoreboard. From there, Michigan dominated the third set of the day, as a .464 team attacking average and five kills by Skjodt along with a first career kill by freshman Kiara Shannon gave Michigan the offense needed to clinch the third set, 25-11.
A kill by Wetterstrom put the Wolverines on the board first in the fourth and final set, and Michigan jumped out to a 10-5 lead before Ball State took a timeout. Though the Wolverines never led by more than seven, it was Michigan’s set as the Wolverines hit for a .361 attack average. Two kills by senior Claire Kieffer-Wright and one by Wetterstrom propelled the Wolverines to a 25-18 set victory to take the match.
Lambert, Skjodt and Wetterstrom led the Wolverine offense with 13 kills apiece. Wetterstrom’s 13 kills at a .435 clip also marked a career high.
Defensively, Michigan had three players finish with double-digit digs, and junior libero Jenna Lerg led the charge with 18. Skjodt added 13 digs for a kill-dig double-double, and Welsh finished the day with 12 for her second assist-dig double-double of the season.
Crocker led the blocking effort with five, and Welsh totaled four while Kieffer-Wright added three.
PRESS RELEASE, Courtesy of Ball State Athletics
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – – Despite a dominating 25-17 opening set victory, the Ball State women’s volleyball team closed play in the Colorado State University Tournament with a 3-1 (17-25, 25-20, 25-11, 25-18) loss to No. 16 Michigan Sunday morning at Moby Arena.
The Cardinals (6-4) could do nothing wrong in the opening set, out-hitting the Wolverines (7-2) by a .423 (11-0-26) to .051 (13-11-39) margin. Redshirt junior middle Avery Devoe (Canton, Mass./Canton) led the Ball State charge in the opening set, blasting four kills on four swings. Devoe went on to finish the match with eight kills and a .467 (8-1-15) attack percentage. She also scored a pair of digs and a pair of block assists.
Unfortunately, 16th-ranked Michigan came to life and limited the Ball State attack to a .120 (28-16-100) rate of success over the final three sets. Meanwhile, the Wolverines connected at a .320 (47-15-100) clip over the final three frames to claim the victory.
Junior opposite Emily Holland (Madison, Ind./Madison) led Ball State with 10 kills and a .500 (10-1-18) attack percentage Sunday, while junior outside attacker Brooklyn Goodsel (Corry, Pa./Corry Area) scored nine markers. Holland added three block assists and a pair of digs to her stat line, while Goodsel added nine digs and a service ace to hers.
Junior middle Meg Starling (Hopkinsville, Ky./University Heights) paced the Ball State block with four total blocks, to go along with three kills and her second career service ace.
On defense, sophomore libero Kate Avila (Yorktown, Ind./Yorktown) and sophomore setter Amber Seaman (Carmel, Ind./Brebeuf) tied for team-high honors with 12 digs. Seaman also dished out 31 assists for her seventh double-double in 10 matches this season.
Three Wolverines finished tied for match-high honors with 13 kills, while Jenna Lerg collected a match-high 18 digs. Overall, Michigan held a .245 (60-26-139) to .183 (39-16-126) attacking advantage in the contest, while out-digging the Ball State defense 64 to 47.
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