Courtesy: Jeff Harwell-Zips Sports Photography Senior Brionna Patterson posted a double-double in the Zips heartbreaking regular-season finale against Ball State Saturday.

AKRON, Ohio – In a night that marked the accomplishments’ of Akron’s four outstanding seniors, the Zips volleyball team (14-17, 5-11 MAC) lost a heartbreaking five-set loss to the Ball State Cardinals (14-15, 7-9 MAC) Saturday in the regular-season finale at James A. Rhodes Arena.

With the loss, Akron is slated to travel to Ball State on Tuesday, Nov. 17 for the opening round of the Mid-American Conference tournament. In 2008, Akron picked up its first-ever win at BSU claiming a 3-2 victory.

The contest started out close on the night as both teams went point for point in the first set until Akron grabbed a 13-11 lead. A kill and a service ace pushed the Cardinals to tie the frame at 13 and they would never relinquish the lead claiming a 25-21 win. Despite the loss, both teams posted stellar swinging averages as Ball State struck a .406 hitting percentage while UA grabbed a .364.

Heading to set two, Akron took a quick 5-0 lead to get things started pushing ahead to a eight-point advantage at the 20-12 mark. Maintaining a solid lead throughout, the Cardinals closest mark came at the 24-20 point but a kill by UA’s Jackie Goleman secured the 25-20 win. Unlike the first set, both squads strugged with errors and Akron posted a .078 hitting average while BSU was held to a .000 mark.

It was Ball State that came out with the big lead to begin the third set as they went up 19-7 for the eventual 25-14 victory striking 18 kills committing only two errors in the win.

The fourth set was a thriller for UA as up 12-9, a determined BSU team would tie it at 12 and the two squads would battle back and forth until UA regained the 16-14 lead. Continuing to fight, the Cardinals tied it at the 16th and 19th point and would post a lead following the 19th point going up 23-21. Sophomore Courtney Jarvis would prove to be the difference maker as back-to-back kills tied the contest at 23. After a BSU timeout, a Cardinal error and another kill by Jarvis gave UA the 25-23 win and pushed the Zips to their 11th fifth-set contest.

In the deciding set, Akron took a 4-1 lead but two BSU kills and a UA attack error tied the contest at four. The teams would battle to a 5-5 tie, which was ensued by a BSU 5-1 run for the 10-6 lead. Posting a .409 hitting mark in the set, Ball State held UA to three points the rest of the frame for the 15-9 win.

In the loss, four Zips notched double-figure digs led by freshman Chelsea Harvey who posted a career-high 34 digs in the backcourt. Sophomore Courtney Jarvis and senior Megan Rodriguez followed with 14 while senior Brionna Patterson added 11. Patterson led UA offensively posting 20 kills. Rounding out the senior class performances was setter Kara Smith and outside hitter Liz Martin. Smith posted 53 assists, six digs, two service aces and two kills while Martin added 10 kills, one dig and one block assist.

When available complete information regarding the 2009 MAC tournament will be made available on www.GoZips.com.