Despite a tough, gritty performance, the Ball State women's volleyball team saw its 2022 season come to an end Thursday night with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-17) setback to No. 16 Marquette at the Al McGuire Center.
"It was a tough match," head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said. "Marquette is a really good team and plays such clean volleyball. I felt like we had the best game plan we could have coming into the match, and just got beat by a really good volleyball program. I am proud of my group, and how they hung in there and battled."
The Cardinals (24-9) gave the Golden Eagles (28-3) all they could handle in the opening set, playing the bracket's fourth seed within two at the 20-18 mark. Unfortunately, the hosts ended the frame at 25-20 with a 5-2 run.
A pair of highlights also occurred in the first set, starting at the 6-5 mark when senior middle Marie Plitt smashed her 1,000th career kill to keep the Cardinals within one early. Moments later, with MU leading 14-10, a service error and back-to-back aces from senior libero Maggie Huber brought the Cardinals back within one at 14-13.
The second set saw Marquette jump out to a 7-3 edge, while the third had the hosts pull ahead 7-1. Ball State battled back both times but could not overcome the early holes and suffered a pair of 25-17 setbacks.
In addition to her 1,000th, Plitt would finish the night tied for the team lead with 10 kills. She also hit .286 (10-4-21) for the night and secured her place in the Ball State record book as the first player in program history to hit over .400 for a season at .404 (337-48-716).
Junior outside Cait Snyder tied Plitt for team-high honor with 10 kills and hit an impressive .350 (10-3-20) from the left side against a tough Marquette defense.
Overall, the Cardinals finished the match hitting .221 (33-12-95) as a team, with sophomore setter Megan Wielonski registering her 21st double-double of the season with 28 assists and 14 digs.
In the backcourt, Huber led all players with 14 digs to finished her career ranked sixth in program history with 1,630 digs.
Also playing in their final matches for the Cardinals were senior outside Natalie Risi and senior opposite Natalie Mitchem. Risi finished the contest with two kills, four digs and a pair of aces, while Mitchem added five kills and a solo block.
Risi finished her career ranked ninth in program history with 1,293 digs and 18th with 914 kills. Mitchem ranked 12th on BSU's all-time list with 1,054 kills.
On the other side of the net, Marquette's Carsen Murray led all players with 12 kills, while Carly Skarbak collected a team-high 13 digs. MU hit .369 (47-9-103) as a squad and kept the pressure on from the service line with nine total aces.
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