Ball State Edges MAC Rival Buffalo With Narrow 155-145 Win

Ball State vs Buffalo

• October 28, 2023
• Buffalo, N.Y.
• SCY (25 yards)
• Results

Courtesy: Ball State Sports

BUFFALO – – It was a solid morning for the Ball State women’s swimming & diving program which picked up a 155-145 victory over Mid-American Conference rival Buffalo in its first dual of the 2023-24 campaign Saturday at Alumni Arena Natatorium & Dorsi Raynolds Pool.

The Cardinals (1-0; 1-0 MAC) opened the meet by taking top honors in the 200 medley relay, with Lilia Newkirk, Laura Wright, Hannah Jones and Payton Kelly combining for a time of 1:44.60. It was the first of 11 total event wins on the day for Ball State.

Kayla Newman and Kiran Stauffer followed with a 1-2 finish in the 1000 freestyle, clocking in at 10:20.96 and 10:35.33, respectively. Newman’s winning time was also the sixth-fastest individual effort in program history.

After a pair of event wins by the Bulls (0-1; 0-1 MAC), Wright picked up her first individual win of the day by earning top billing in the 100 breaststroke at 1:04.68. The Cardinals closed out the first half of the meet with wins by Alexa Von Holtz in the 200 butterfly (2:02.98) and Kelly in the 50 freestyle (23.05). Von Holtz effort in the 200 butterfly help her etch her name in the BSU record book as the ninth-fastest individual time in program history.

After the diving break, Kelly collected her second individual win of the afternoon by touching the wall in 50.58 in the 100 freestyle. Two events later, Wright collected her second win, taking top billing in the 200 breaststroke at 2:19.98.

Newman would go on to complete her sweep of the distance freestyle events with a 5:04.58 in the 500 free, while Von Holtz closed the individual swimming events with wins in the 100 butterfly (56.42) and the 200 UM (2:07.44).

The Cardinals ended the day with a first-place showing in the 400 freestyle relay to seal the meet victory, as Marcella Ribeiro, Stauffer, Haley Sakbun and Kelly produced a final wall touch of 3:26.82.

Up next, the Ball State women’s swimming & diving team will return home for a pair of meets starting Friday for Senior Night at the Lewellen Aquatic Center versus IUPUI. The meet, which also features the men in action, will start at 5 p.m.

Ball State Individual Results at Buffalo

200 Medley Relay
1st – Lilia Newkirk, Laura Wright, Hannah Jones, Payton Kelly – 1:44.60
5th – Alyssa Messenger, Julia Ofmann, Eliza Bader, Natalie Marshall – 1:49.44
6th – Sophia Kuehn, Neely Agnew, Alexa Von Holtz, Angelina Eliacin – 1:51.96

1000 Freestyle
1st – Kayla Newman – 10:20.96
2nd – Kiran Stauffer – 10:35.33
6th – Callie Tuma – 11:01.32

200 Freestyle
2nd – Marcella Ribeiro – 1:53.46
4th – Haley Sakbun – 1:57.04
6th – Elizabeth King – 1:59.05
8th – Emma Horton – 2:04.96

100 Backstroke
2nd – Hannah Jones – 56.88
3rd – Lilia Newkirk – 58.13
5th – Alyssa Messenger – 59.58

100 Breaststroke
1st – Laura Wright – 1:04.68
5th – Julia Ofman – 1:09.29
6th – Neely Agnew – 1:12.03

200 Butterfly
1st – Alexa Von Holtz – 2:02.98
6th – Mary Kate Phillips – 2:11.45
7th – Sophia Kuehn – 2:13.30

50 Freestyle
1st – Payton Kelly – 23.05
2nd – Natalie Marshall – 24.63
6th – Eliza Bader – 25.09
8th – Angelina Eliacin – 26.15

3M Diving
5th – Grace Walker – 277.20
9th – Leelah Fettig – 197.25
10th – Ella Penny – 170.85

100 Freestyle
1st – Payton Kelly – 50.58
3rd – Haley Sakbun – 53.67
4th – Natalie Marshall – 53.83
6th – Elizabeth King – 54.36
11th – Emma Horton – 56.93
12th – Angelina Eliacin – 1:00.23

200 Backstroke
2nd – Alyssa Messenger – 2:06.65
5th – Lilia Newkirk – 2:10.45
6th – Sophia Kuehn – 2:11.44

200 Breaststroke
1st – Laura Wright – 2:19.98
5th – Julia Ofman – 2:30.08
6th – Neely Agnew – 2:37.65

500 Freestyle
1st – Kayla Newman – 5:04.58
2nd – Kiran Stauffer – 5:07.70
4th – Marcella Ribeiro – 5:11.36
5th – Mary Kate Phillips – 5:12.41

100 Butterfly
1st – Alexa Von Holtz – 56.42
5th – Hannah Jones – 57.80
7th – Eliza Bader – 1:01.95

1M Diving
5th – Grace Walker – 243.84
9th – Leelah Fettig – 198.83
10th – Ella Penny – 178.05
11th – Ava Pavich – 155.70

200 IM
1st – Alexa Von Holtz – 2:07.44
3rd – Sophia Kuehn – 2:10.51
7th – Callie Tuma – 2:17.57

400 Freestyle Relay
1st – Marcella Ribeiro, Kiran Stauffer, Haley Sakbun, Payton Kelly – 3:26.82
3rd – Elizabeth King, Eliza Bader, Hannah Jones, Natalie Marshall – 3:36.46
5th – Kayla Newman, Emma Horton, Mary Kate Phillips, Angelina Eliacin – 3:41.71

Courtesy: Buffalo Athletics

BUFFALO, N.Y. – In a back-and-forth meet that came down to the final event, the Buffalo swimming and diving team fell to Ball State, 155-145.

THE POOL
The Cardinals got the early jump on the Bulls, taking the first two events. Buffalo responded in the 200 yard freestyle, taking 13 of the 19 points, with Sawyer Bosley finishing first (1:52.08), Elise McCaul placing third (154.66) and Grace Wood finishing fifth (1:58.4).

The momentum carried into the fourth event for the Bulls, with Mia Naccarella placing first (56.15) in the 100 yard backstroke, and Abigail Malmstrom finishing fourth (59.27) to give the Bulls 11 of the 19 points.

In a back-and forth meet, Naccarella notched a second first-place finish for Buffalo in the 200 yard backstroke (2:02.95), followed by Malmstrom finishing third (2:07.1) and Vivian Roy in fourth (2:08.30) to outscore the Cardinals 14-5.

The Bulls had just three first place finishes throughout the swim portion of the meet, with Ball State placing first in 13 of the 16 events. Strong team performances from the Bulls kept the meet close to the end, with Buffalo taking second, third and fourth consecutively in four events.

With it all coming down to the final event of the meet, the 400 yard freestyle relay, the Cardinals just edged out the Bulls by a second to take the win.

“We competed well,” said Head Coach Andy Bashor. “We had a good week of training, just sometimes you don’t get the results you want. It’s the end of October and we have a clear picture of what we need to work on. I’m looking forward to how we respond this season.”

THE DIVING WELL
The Bulls continue to dominate the diving well.

In 3M diving, the Bulls had seven of the top eight finishers, taking 13 of the 16 points available. Graduate student Victoria Franz placed first with a score of 310.65, followed by Marialis Kwak who placed second with a score of 306.90 and Kaylee Donovan took third with 295.13.

The domination continued into 1M diving, where the Bulls had seven of the top eight finishers again. Franz (1^st, 302.7) and Kwak (2^nd, 289.85) led the way for the Bulls again, with Presley Dorsett (3^rd, 249.15) and Sophie Meuwissen (4^th, 246.45) also finishing inside the top five.

UP NEXT
The Bulls are back in action when they travel to Miami of Ohio on November 11^th to take on the RedHawks. The action begins at 11am in the Corwin M. Nixon Aquatic Center.