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Opposite Raje Alleyne simply took over the match.
Alleyne led all players with a season-high 25 kills on a .467 attack percentage as No. 11 Ball State defeated Lindenwood 25-18, 25-20, 19-25, 28-26 on Saturday in Muncie, Indiana.
The All-MIVA senior had kills on four consecutive Lindenwood game-point opportunities in the fourth game to prevent a decisive fifth game. In addition, Alleyne had a game-high nine kills in the final game with two of those kills coming in overtime.
Alleyne was one of three players to finish with at least both five kills and a .400 attack percentage.
Outside attacker Wil Basilio had 10 kills and hit .400, including a team-high five kills in the third. Basilio started in place of All-MIVA outside attacker Tinaishe Ndavazocheva who missed his fifth consecutive match with an injury.
Middle attacker Braydon Savitski-Lynde added eight kills and one error on a .538 attack percentage against Lindenwood.
Setter Griffin Satterfield starting for the second straight match guided the Ball State offense to out-hit Lindenwood .351 to .288. The Cardinals opened the match hitting .418 in the first two games and did not commit more than three errors in either of those games.
Along with the offensive performance, Alleyne and Basilio each had a match-high eight digs.
Both Lindenwood pin-hitters Carter Stemark and Brendan Louthain in the loss finished with a team-high 13 kills. Middle attacker Cole Schuler also contributed seven kills on a team-best .545 attack percentage against Ball State.
Ball State with this victory moves into a tie for second place in the MIVA and is one-match behind first-place No. 13 McKendree.