Oct. 14, 2003

Box Score

MUNCIE, Ind.-In the first of three Mid-American Conference road contest this week, Miami University's volleyball squad (7-15; 1-6 MAC) suffered a three-game loss at Ball State (8-11; 3-3 MAC), 23-30, 23-30 and 12-30.

Off a pair of kills from senior outside hitter Amy Pfohl and senior middle hitter Susan Poll and a block by redshirt freshman middle hitter Lauren Slusser and sophomore setter Megan Clark, Miami opened up an 11-5 edge in the first game. Ball State crept back to knot the game 14-14 and 15-15 before taking a 20-16 lead off a 5-1 run. The Cardinals extended their lead to six, 24-18, but a kill by Poll and a block by the trio of Poll, Pfohl and freshman outside hitter Jordan Centers helped pull the RedHawks within three, 21-24. Ball State, however, went on a 6-2 run to round out the game, 30-23.

Ball State quickly jumped out to a 7-2 edge in the second game with the help of several RedHawk miscues. Eventually, the Cardinals built their lead to 11, 19-8. Miami dug deep and went on a 10-1 run to shrink the gap to two, 18-20. Junior outside hitter Tara Buroker knocked down a block and two kills, while Poll added a service ace during the run. The RedHawks would trail by two one more time off a Buroker kill, 19-21, but Ball State ended the second game on a 9-4 run to capture the set, 30-23.

Kills by Pfohl, Centers and Buroker helped Miami attain an early 3-1 edge. A Ball State block handed the Cardinals a 5-4 edge and a lead they would not relinquish. The Cardinals went on a 13-1 run to build a 21-8 lead. From there BSU rolled to a 30-12 Game Three win.

For the RedHawks, Pfohl and Poll collected nine kills. Pfohl also tallied 12 digs, while sophomore libero Suzy Wolford added a match-best 16 digs.

Miami travels to Kent State and Akron on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Both matches are set for 7 p.m.