Get Er Done'

On August 28, 2011 the Ball State Cardinals went head to head with the IPWF Mastodons. The Cardinals came out confident leading the first game almost the whole way. The Mastodons did not roll over though. The Cardinals became complacent and let up a little while IPFW worked their way within one point, 16-17. Shondell called a time out to get his girls minds back in gear. Ball State came out strong and ended up finishing game one 25-20 with a kill by Kelsey. In between game one and two break, some of the fans were on the floor playing musical chairs.

The second game was a landslide for the Cardinals. IPFW struggled the whole game and had quite a low intensity. They particularly struggled in serve receive getting the ball to target. Kelsey Brandyl’s tricky jump, top-spin serve challenged the Mastodons. BSU let up a little bit towards the end making a lot of mental errors making Shondell call a time out at 21-18. IPFW came out of the time out with a strong rhythm to tie the game up at 21. The Mastodons finally took the lead for one of the first times in the match and now there was a ball game. They battled back and forth causing tension between both teams. There was a good representation of the fan section cheering loudly on every pass, set, hit for the Cardinals yelling B-S-U! Coming out from a time out the score was 25-24 with IPFW in the lead! All the Mastodons had to do was score one point to close out game two when IPFW choked under pressure and missed the serve to tie the game. With Ball State in relief, #15, Kelsey Brandyl finished off game two with back to back kills to bring the game score 2-0. In between the break of game two and three, some of the past alumni over the years were announced and how many years they each lettered. One of the alumni was my Net and Walls teacher.

Game three was a tight knit game. IPFW came out strong with a lead of 3-1. The game went by slowly point-by-point tying the game up multiple times throughout the game. It was tied at 17 all when IPFW called a timeout. The Mastodons were fired up bringing the score to 19-17 in their favor. From then on out BSU couldn’t get their heads back in the game as IPFW kept gaining almost closing the game out at 24-19 for the Mastodons. Kelsey Brandyl went up for the kill to get the ball back but she missed it just a little bit deep. IPFW ended up getting game 3 25-19. Ball State still remains in the lead with the game-to-game ratio of 2-1 Ball State. The break between game 3 and 4, a couple people played the pants game. This is where someone gets the ball and underhand serves it over the net and the person wearing the pants has to try and catch it in their pants.

Ball State decided to switch some things up going into game 4. Coach Shondell switched the setters and the original setter played as a DS (defensive specialist). IPFW had no energy throughout the fourth game and looked as if they were ready to be done and go home. They missed a lot of serves, had no intensity, and looked like they didn’t even care. The Lady Cards kept a distinct lead, with leads at 10-5, 13-7, 17-19, and 21-10. The Ball State Cardinals easily coasted to the end of game four finishing it out with a blow out score of 25-13. GO CARDS!