Record-breaking Ball State women's volleyball season ends with NCAA Tournament loss to Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Ball State women's volleyball saw its record-breaking season come to an end Saturday night in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament against the No. 1-ranked team in the country.

Ball State (30-4) fell to host Louisville (30-0) in straight sets (29-27, 25-11, 25-19). While it was just the fourth loss of the season for Ball State, and only the second that came in straight sets, it showed that Ball State can compete with the nation's best.

And for Kelli Miller Phillips, who wrapped up her sixth season as the Cardinals' head coach, she can walk away satisfied knowing that's exactly what her team showed.

“The message is how proud I am of every single one of these girls," Miller Phillips said. "They have just been such a pleasure, so — just such a joy to coach this whole year. Their personalities, their work ethic, their buy-in to what we’re doing. I just couldn’t ask for a better group of people. I know the outcome is not what we wanted tonight but I thought we fought and fought and fought until that final point was scored and that’s all I can ever ask from my team.”

►From Friday: For the 1st time since 1995, Ball State women's volleyball advances to Round 2 of the NCAA Tournament

Coming into the match, only eight teams have won a set against Louisville this season. Ball State came close to being the ninth, having chances to pull ahead 1-0. Only three other teams — two of which were ranked — led Louisville at any point this season.

Down 24-21 in the first set, Ball State fought three-straight set points to tie it up, 24-24. Louisville had another chance to put Ball State away before Ball State scored a pair of points on a kill from graduate outside hitter Jaclyn Bulmahn and a Louisville attack error. Louisville fought back, however, surviving a challenge from Miller Phillips on set point to take the first set 29-27.

Ball State didn't go down quietly.

Louisville controlled the second set, winning 25-11, as it dominated the attack percentage .385-.000.

In the third set, Louisville pulled ahead 11-4 thanks to a 7-0 run. Ball State responded with a 5-0 run of its own to pull within three (15-12), but that would be as close as Ball State would get the remainder of the final set as Louisville won 25-19 to complete the sweep.

“I mean, we’re tough," Bulmahn said. "We were a tough team all year and it just means we’re going to come out strong, we’re going to come out fighting. They’re going to have to earn those points, earn every point. Going back-and-forth, we’re fearless, relentless and we’re going to make you earn every point.”

For just the second time this season, Ball State finished with a sub-.200 attack percentage. The Cardinals from Muncie hit .057 as a team while the Cardinals from Louisville hit .240.

Ball State was led by junior middle blocker Marie Plitt (seven kills), junior opposite Natalie Mitchem (six kills), sophomore middle blocker Lauren Gilliland (six kills) and Bulmahn (four kills). Freshman setter Megan Wielonski had a team-high 26 assists and three aces while junior defensive specialist Maggie Huber and junior outside hitter Natalie Risi led the way with 10 and eight digs, respectively.

Despite the substandard offensive performance, Ball State still finished the season with a program-record .265 attack percentage. The Cardinals also set a program record with an .882 winning percentage and tied a program record with 20-straight wins. Ball State became just the fourth team in program history to win 30 matches and third to win an NCAA Tournament game when it beat Michigan Friday night.

"I just think the reason we had so much success is just because of how tight we are," senior defensive specialist Cathryn Starck said. "We’re like a family and I think it really showed whenever we got in those close calls because we trusted each other and we knew each other’s strengths so well and it was grind time and we knew that each other was going to be able to get the job done.”

Coming into the tournament, Louisville boasted the nation's fourth-best hitting percentage (.305). Ball State limited it to .240 for the match and .128 in the first set, well below Louisville's season average.

Still, Ball State wasn't able to defeat the top-ranked team, which moved on to the Third Round where it will take on No. 16 Florida. Only two teams ranked in the top-16 — No. 7 Kentucky and No. 14 Creighton — lost Saturday.

While Ball State graduates Starck, Bulmahn and graduate outside hitter Emily Hollowell, who played in her first action Saturday since Oct. 9, it returns a plethora of talent from this year's team, including Wielonski, MAC Freshman of the Year, Plitt and Mitchem, All-MAC First Team selections and Risi, the MAC Tournament MVP. Miller Phillips also won MAC Coach of the Year.

Two of Ball State's 10 NCAA Tournament appearances have come in the past three years. A good chunk of the 1,055 fans in attendance at L&N Federal Credit Union Arena traveled from Muncie. And while, after the match, it was hard for Miller Phillips to reflect on the somewhat unprecedented success this team has had, she doesn't plan on the Cardinals' winning ways to stop now.

"I think since I've been here at Ball State it's just been a process and it's been a continuation of that and I think it's just showing and we're building confidence and the hard work we've been doing has been paying off," Miller Phillips said. "We want to continue doing that and not just be satisfied with the results of this year, but just kind of getting a taste of what could be and getting excited to build on the tradition at Ball State."

Robby General covers Ball State and East Central Indiana high school athletics for The Star Press. Contact him via email at rgeneral@gannett.com, on Twitter @rgeneraljr or phone at 765-283-8864.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Ball State women's volleyball loses to Louisville in NCAA Tournament