Ball State University
Eastern Michigan
Volleyball Travels to EMU & CMU This Weekend
October 26, 2016 | Women's Volleyball
MATCH 25 • Ball State at Eastern Michigan
Friday, Oct. 28 • Noon • Ypsilanti, Mich.
ESPN3 Live Video | Live Stats
MATCH 26 • Ball State at Central Michigan
Saturday, Oct. 29 • 7 p.m. • Mount Pleasant, Mich.
Live Video (PPV) | Live Stats
• The Ball State women's volleyball team begins its second tour through the Mid-American Conference West Division Friday when it travels to Eastern Michigan for a Noon first serve at EMU's Convocation Center ... The Cardinals close the weekend Saturday with a 7 p.m. first serve at Central Michigan.
• Ball State finished its first tour through the MAC West Division with a 3-2 record ... The Cardinals scored home wins over Central Michigan (3-2) and Eastern Michigan (3-2), while picking up a road win at Western Michigan (3-1) ... Ball State's losses came at home to Toledo (1-3) and on the road at Northern Illinois (0-3).
• With six matches remaining in the 2016 MAC regular season, the Cardinals enter the week as the projected seventh seed in the eight-team MAC Tournament which will be hosted by Northern Illinois Nov. 17-20 ... Ball State enters the week with a 5-5 MAC record and could go a long way in securing its berth in the event with at least one win this weekend ... Since the tournament moved to an eight-team format in 2011, 40 of the 42 teams which have won at least six MAC matches have qualified for the event ... The lone exceptions were Eastern Michigan in 2013 and Central Michigan in 2015, who both lost three-way tiebreakers at 6-10.
• Since starting the season 0-9, Ball State has been one of the hottest teams in the MAC, going 9-6 over its last 15 matches ... Only three league teams have a better record over that span; MAC East Division leader Miami which has won 17 straight matches, MAC West Division leader Northern Illinois which is 13-2 and Bowling Green which is 11-4.
• Ball State enters the week ranked second in the league with a 354-183 (.659) all-time MAC record ... Friday's opponent Eastern Michigan is eighth at 239-298 (.445), while Saturday's opponent Central Michigan is seventh at 269-268 (.501) ... Western Michigan is the all-time leader in MAC wins at 367-170 (.683).
• Ball State maintains a 51-26 lead in the all-time series versus Eastern Michigan after snapping a three-match losing streak to the Eagles with a hard-fought 3-2 (25-20, 14-25, 25-15, 20-25, 15-11) victory in the first meeting this season played Sept. 24 ... While the Cardinals hold an 18-16 edge in matches played in Ypsilanti, EMU has won the last two meetings at the Convocation Center ... Ball State's last road win in the series was a 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-23) victory Sept. 27, 2013.
• Ball State is 10-2 all-time in matches played on Oct. 28, including five straight wins ... The Cardinals last played on the date in 2006, earning a 3-2 (32-30,30-27,18-30,24-30,15-12) win at Western Michigan ... The Cardinals and Eagles will be meeting for the first time on the date Friday.
• The Cardinals hold a 44-31 lead in the all-time series versus Central Michigan after earning a 3-2 (28-26, 25-21, 23-25, 21-25, 15-11) win in the first meeting this season played Sept. 23 in Worthen Arena ... Ball State has won the last two matches in the series, with the Chippewas' last win coming on its home court by a score of 3-1 (25-13, 25-21, 23-25, 25-11) on Oct. 9, 2015 ... Ball State is 18-14 all-time in Mount Pleasant, with its last road win coming by a score of 3-1 (25-23, 25-17, 21-25, 25-20) on Nov. 7, 2014.
• Ball State is 15-4 all-time in matches played on Oct. 29, including six straight wins ... Last season, the Cardinals scored a 3-0 (26-24,25-13,25-14) win over Toledo on the date ... Ball State will be facing Central Michigan for the first time on the date Saturday.
• There will be a familiar face on Friday's ESPN3 broadcast at Eastern Michigan, as Ball State play-by-play announcer Joel Godett will be covering the match on the platform for the Eagles ... He will be joined on the broadcast by EMU volleyball alum Dori Harrison who played three seasons at Eastern Michigan from 2013-15 ... Harrison started her playing career at South Florida in 2012, where Godett was the Creative and Multimedia Coordinator for BullsVision from 2009-10.
• Getting off to a strong start has been a key to the Cardinals' success this season as the team owns an 8-2 record in matches it wins the opening set ... In contrast, Ball State is 1-13 in matches in which it loses the opening set.
• In last Friday's win at Bowling Green (Oct. 21), junior setter McCallen Kennedy led the Cardinals to a .282 (41-12-103) attack percentage and kept the Falcons off balance on defense all night ... Ball State's .282 team attack percentage was its second-best effort of the season and four different Cardinals finished the match hitting .381-or-better … On her way to running one of Ball State's most efficient offensive efforts of the season, Kennedy dished out a career-high 35 assists and ranked second in the match with 12 digs for her first career double-double … She also tied her career-high with two service aces.
• Ball State turned in a solid all-around effort on defense at Bowling Green (Oct. 21), out-digging the league's top defensive squad 52 to 47 … The Cardinals' play at the net was just as strong, as freshman middle Sydnee VanBeek recorded a career-high six total blocks to help limit the MAC's top attacking team to a season-low .060 (31-24-117) attack percentage … Prior to Friday, BGSU's worst attacking effort of the season was a .128 (45-27-141) mark in a three set loss to MAC West Division leader Northern Illinois (Sept. 24).
• Sophomore right side Brooklyn Goodsel continued her strong play last weekend, leading the Ball State offense with a 21 kills and a .378 (21-4-45) attack percentage ... She scored double-digit kills in both matches to bring her season total to a team-high 17 matches with 10-or-more kills ... She also tallied a match-best 13 digs against Bowling Green (Oct. 21) for her seventh double-double of the season.
• Brooklyn Goodsel has been a key component to the Cardinals' offense in MAC play, ranking first on the team and fourth in the league with a 3.70 kills-per-set average in conference play ... Goodsel has smashed double figure kills in nine of Ball State's 10 league matches and has also played a key role on defense, collecting five of her seven double-doubles this season against MAC foes.
• With her 22 kills in the Oct. 14 match versus Kent State, Ellie Dunn became the third different Ball State player to score 20-or-more kills in a match this season … She joins redshirt junior outside hitter Sabrina Mangapora who has tallied 20-or-more kills in three matches and sophomore right side Brooklyn Goodsel who has accomplished the task twice … It's the first time since the 2009 season Ball State has had three different players log 20-or-more kills in a match in the same season.
• Freshman libero Kate Avila has been a key defensive asset for the Cardinals over the last 15 matches, collecting 284 digs for a team-best 4.66 digs-per-set average ... She recorded a career-high 36 digs in Ball State's win over Appalachian State (Sept. 10) which ties as the 19th-best single match total in program history ... It was the best individual effort in a match for a Ball State player since Oct. 29, 2010 when then-senior Alyssa Rio collected a career-high 44 digs versus Western Michigan.
• Kate Avila continues to be one of the top defenders in the MAC, ranking sixth in the conference with a 4.13 digs-per-set average this season ... Avila's 401 total digs rank fifth in the conference, while her 36 dig effort versus Appalachian State (Sept. 10) ranks as the fourth-best single match performance in the MAC this season ... Her 32 digs versus Valparaiso (Sept. 16) rank as the ninth-best single match performance and makes her one of only two MAC players to collect 30-or-more digs in multiple matches this season.
• Ball State freshman setter Amber Seaman opened her collegiate career with three consecutive assist/dig double-doubles at the Fort Wayne Invitational ... Her best match came versus host Fort Wayne (Aug. 27), when she logged 45 assists and career-highs of 22 digs and four service aces ... The last time a Ball State setter opened the season with three consecutive double-doubles was the 2013 season when Jackie Seidel (2010-13) accomplished the task versus Gardner Webb (Aug. 24), VCU (Aug. 25) and Illinois State (Aug. 25) ... Seaman currently has 12 assist/dig double-doubles on the season.
• Amber Seaman's 22 digs at Fort Wayne (Aug. 27) are the most for a Ball State setter in a match in the rally scoring era (2001-present) ... The previous mark was 21 set by Jackie Seidel (2010-13) versus Toledo on Oct. 3, 2013 ... In addition, the 22 digs are the most for a Ball State setter since Emily Sallee (1997-2000) recorded 26 at Bowling Green on Sept. 22, 2000, which is tied as the program record for digs by a setter ... Wendy Carter (1993-96) also tallied 26 digs versus Bowling Green on Nov. 18, 1994.
• Ball State picked up its first ESPN3 victory of the season when it downed in-state rival Valparaiso 3-1 (25-23, 25-9, 21-25, 25-17) in its second match of the Ball State Active Ankle Challenge on Sept. 16 ... The 25-9 second set victory ties as the seventh-largest set victory for the Cardinals in the 25-point rally scoring era (2008-present) ... Ball State has won six sets by a score of 25-8 since 2008, with three coming in MAC play.
