Buffalo's physicality proves too much for Ball State
ByThis is what head coach James Whitford and senior Ishmael El-Amin said was one of the deciding factors in Ball State Men’s Basketball 78-58 loss to Buffalo.
This is what head coach James Whitford and senior Ishmael El-Amin said was one of the deciding factors in Ball State Men’s Basketball 78-58 loss to Buffalo.
The Cardinals improved their record to 2-0 on the season with a 194.425-187.975 win over Illinois State. Despite the large margin of victory, head coach Joanna Saleem focused more on team improvement than the final score.
Ball State Women's Tennis (1-2) defeated Valparaiso (0-1) with a final score of 6-1. Across the board, the Cardinals found success early and often in both singles and doubles. In singles, the Cardinals took home five of the six sets.
With the victories, the Cardinals improve to 3-1 — their best start since 2018.
Losing their third consecutive game, Whitford said the Cardinals’ struggles against the Zips all came down to a lack of one element: chemistry.
Ball State Men’s Basketball Head Coach James Whitford alluded the Cardinals’ (6-8, 4-5 MAC) 74-42 loss against Akron (10-3, 8-2 MAC) to a possession in football where the start of the play appears to go well but can’t quite get finished off.
Obtaining their fourth consecutive win Saturday afternoon, the Cardinals showed one important trait key to a team’s success: toughness.
"Nerve-wracking" was the feeling going through sophomore outside attacker Bryce Behrendt’s head when he made his Ball State home debut in the first match of a back-to-back home series against Lincoln Memorial (1-4, 0-0 IVA) Jan. 28.
More than a year since winning the 2019 Mid-American Conference Title, Ball State Women’s Volleyball (4-0 MAC) hasn’t missed a beat through its first four games of its delayed 2021 season.
Coming off an injury two years ago, redshirt sophomore guard Anna Clephane’s consistency and toughness help Ball State in the tightest of games.
Ball State (7-5, 5-3 MAC) defeated Miami (Ohio) (1-13, 0-10 MAC) 85-82. The Cardinals led by as many as 18 points in the first quarter. Their lead quickly evaporated when Miami stepped up its offense and challenged the Cardinals defensively. That would continue the rest of the game.
Despite lockdowns, canceled flights and travel bans, Wietske Overdijkink still found time to get up and go to work.
Despite returning all of its players and adding four freshmen, Ball State struggled in every match against Louisville, getting swept 7-0 and failing to win a single set for the first time since April 22, 2018, in a conference matchup against Buffalo.
Taking the floor Sunday afternoon for its season opener, Ball State defeated Central Michigan 193.50-192.375 in its first competition since March 8, 2020, after COVID-19 canceled its final three meets last season.
13 months later and Ball State Women’s Volleyball (2-0, 2-0 MAC) looks to defend its 2019 Mid-American Conference championship. They are off to a successful start, as they defeated Akron (0-2, 0-2 MAC) in the first two matches of the season.
Whenever the Cardinals tried to catch up with the Bobcats, they couldn’t.
It had been exactly 321 days since Ball State last stepped on the court against an opponent that was not its own players.
Ball State Women’s basketball (6-5, 4-3 MAC) returned to the court after its string of cancellations and captured a 68-64 road victory against Eastern Michigan (8-6, 5-4 MAC).
After a 12-6 2020 campaign cut short by nine matches dashed hopes of a potential NCAA Tournament bid due to COVID-19, Ball State Men’s Volleyball is entering 2021 with the same aspirations it had a year ago.
It had been nearly 10 months since Ball State Men’s Tennis stepped onto the court against an opponent, so it was to be expected the Cardinals would look a little rusty going into their doubleheader against Notre Dame — a team that already had two games under its belt.