By: Tristan Fluhr
Ball State Sports Link
It was senior night at Worthen Arena as Ball State women’s volleyball took a 3-1 win over Central Michigan Friday night. The victory extended the Cardinals’ win streak to 14 straight matches, a tie for the fifth-longest win streak in program history. Ball State finishes the home schedule of the season with a perfect 11-0 record and improves their overall record to 24-3, the most wins in Division I Volleyball this year.
Ball State was led by strong performances from their front line, with Jaclyn Bulmahn, Marie Plitt, and Natalie Risi all having strong matches. On senior night, the graduate transfer Bulmahn led the match overall in kills with 16 and added three blocks to her stat line. Plitt had five rejections to pair with her 13 kills on the night. Natalie Risi had 14 kills to add to a lethal Ball State offensive attack. Megan Wielonski led the Cardinals with 56 assists and on the defensive end, Maggie Huber collected 22 digs.
“We had another unbelievable atmosphere tonight,” head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said after the win. “The crowd was phenomenal. They were really behind us tonight and pulling for us. They were completely the seventh man tonight and it was a huge advantage.”
For Central Michigan, senior Lisbeth Rosario-Martinez led the way offensively with 14 kills and threw in four blocks to her stat sheet. Anna Erickson had 13 kills and Savannah Thompson had nine kills. Grace Butler and Kendall Braate set up the Chippewa offense with 21 and 20 assists respectively. Freshman Libero Aly Gurtiza was the lifeblood of the Central Michigan defense with 20 digs.
Ball State finishes the regular season on the road as they look to continue their win streak. The Cardinals travel to Ypsilanti to take on the Eastern Michigan Eagles for two matches on November 12 and 13 and end the season against Toledo as they look to continue their momentum into the MAC Tournament.
