Women's Volleyball Travels to Toledo Thursday, Hosts Akron Sunday

MATCH 27 • Ball State at Toledo
Thursday, Nov. 3  • 7 p.m. • Toledo, Ohio
  ESPN3 Live Video | Live Stats

MATCH 28 • Ball State hosts Akron
Sunday, Nov. 6  • 1 p.m. • Muncie, Ind.
  ESPN3 Live Video |  Live Stats

• The Ball State women's volleyball team closes the road portion of its 2016 regular season slate Thursday, when it travels to Toledo for a 7 p.m. first serve versus the Rockets ... The Cardinals then open a three-match homestand Sunday with a 1 p.m. contest versus Akron ... Both matches will be broadcast live on ESPN3.

• With wins at both Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan last weekend, the Ball State women's volleyball team improved to 5-2 versus teams in the MAC West Division ... The Cardinals swept the regular season series versus both EMU and CMU, and also owns a road win at Western Michigan ... Ball State's losses came at home to Toledo and on the road at Northern Illinois.

• Thanks to last Saturday's win at Central Michigan, the Cardinals (7-5 MAC) officially punched their ticket to the eight-team 2016 MAC Tournament hosted by Northern Illinois Nov. 17-20 ... With four league matches remaining, Akron (2-10 MAC) and Buffalo (2-10 MAC) cannot catch Ball State ... In addition, only one team between Central Michigan (3-9 MAC), Eastern Michigan (3-9 MAC) and Western Michigan (3-9 MAC) can reach seven wins as CMU and EMU play each other and also have a match versus WMU.

• Ball State enters the week as the projected fourth seed in the MAC Tournament which would mean a first-round bye if the standings hold ... Ball State, Bowling Green and Toledo all hold 7-5 MAC records and are battling for the fourth seed ... The Cardinals currently hold the edge based on MAC tiebreaker procedures ... All three teams hold 1-1 records in head-to-head matches for the first tiebreaker ... Ball State holds the edge in the second tiebreaker with a 5-2 division record, while Toledo is 4-3 and BGSU is 3-3.

• Since starting the season 0-9, Ball State has been one of the hottest teams in the MAC, going 11-6 over its last 17 matches ... Only three league teams have a better record over that span; MAC East Division leader Miami which has won 19 straight matches, MAC West Division leader Northern Illinois which is 14-3 and Bowling Green which is 12-5.

• Ball State enters the week ranked second in the league with a 356-183 (.660) all-time MAC record ... Thursday's opponent Toledo is 11th at 163-376 (.302), while Sunday's opponent Akron is ninth at 165-248 (.400) ... Western Michigan is the all-time leader in MAC wins at 367-172 (.681).

• Despite suffering a 3-1 (17-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-23) setback to Toledo in the first meeting this season, played Sept. 29 in Worthen Arena, the Cardinals hold a commanding 63-8 lead in the all-time series ... Ball State strung together a 42-match winning streak over the Rockets from Nov. 13, 1987 - Oct. 2, 2008 ... Since then, the Cardinals have won 12 of the last 17 matches in the series ... Ball State is 27-3 all-time in matches played in Toledo, including two consecutive wins ... Toledo's last win on its home court came Oct. 3, 2013 by a score of 3-1 (29-27, 25-21, 20-25, 25-19)

• Ball State is 9-2 all-time in matches played on Nov. 3, including five straight wins ... The Cardinals last played on the date in 2007, earning a 3-2 (25-30,30-27,23-30,30-25,16-14) victory at Akron ... Ball State and Toledo will be playing for the first time on this date Thursday.

• The Cardinals hold a 32-4 lead in the all-time series versus Akron, including two straight wins ... Last season, the Cardinals earned a hard-fought 3-2 (19-25, 25-22, 17-25, 25-22, 15-9) victory at Akron ... The Zips' last win in the series came Nov. 9, 2013 by a score of 3-1 (25-17, 25-19, 9-25, 26-24) ... Ball State holds a 15-1 lead in matches played in Muncie, with all 16 matches being played in Worthen Arena ... Akron's lone win in Muncie was a 3-2 (25-21, 19-25, 25-21, 21-25, 15-13) victory Nov. 9, 2008.

• Ball State is 12-8 all-time in matches played on Nov. 6, with its last being a 3-2 (27-25, 25-18, 17-25, 21-25, 15-9) loss at Western Michigan in 2015 ... Ball State and Akron will be meeting for the first time on this date Sunday.

• Ball State enters the week with a 246-77 (.762) all-time record in matches played in Worthen Arena, including a 4-6 mark this season ... In 2015, the Cardinals went 10-2 in home matches, including a 6-2 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... Ball State is 180-45 (.800) all-time versus MAC teams in Worthen Arena, with no MAC foe holding a winning record on the Cardinals' court.

• Ball State entered last week with a 1-13 record in matches in which it lost the opening set, but threw that statistic out the window Friday by rallying for a 3-1 victory at Eastern Michigan (Oct. 28) ... The Cardinals took it one step further Saturday, dropping the first two sets for the eighth time this season at Central Michigan (Oct. 29) ... Ball State was winless in such matches until pulling out the final three sets versus the Chippewas.

• With 433 digs so far this season, freshman libero Kate Avila enters the week ranked 15th on Ball State's single-season charts ... She needs two digs to pass Jennifer Schilling's total of 434 in 1997 for 14th on the list ...With 99 more digs, Avila would pass the total set by last year's senior libero Kati Vasalakis at 531 for 13th ... Overall, Avila is just the ninth player in program history to record at least 400 digs in a single season.

• Kate Avila continues to be one of the top defenders in the MAC, ranking sixth in the conference with a 4.08 digs-per-set average this season ... Avila's 433 total digs rank fourth 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) tie as the 10th-best single match performance and makes her one of only three MAC players to collect 30-or-more digs in multiple matches this season.

• Last Saturday's come-from-behind victory at Central Michigan (Oct. 29) was truly a team effort, as all 16 players dressed for the match saw action ... It's the first time this season all 16 dressed players have seen action in a match ... Previously, Ball State had played 15 players in a match three times this season; at Omaha (Sept. 2), vs. Eastern Michigan (Sept. 24) and at Miami (Oct. 22).

• One of the biggest contributions in last Saturday's win over Central Michigan (Oct. 29) came from redshirt senior outside hitter Mackenzie Kitchel who came off the bench to start the final three sets and scored nine kills and hit a team-best .500 (9-0-18).

• With her team-high 29 kills last weekend, redshirt junior outside hitter Sabrina Mangapora became Ball State's active career kills leader at 596, passing Mackenzie Kitchel's career total of 595 ... Including both matches last weekend, Mangapora has blasted double-digit kills in 10 of Ball State's 11 wins this season ... She currently leads the Ball State offense with 167 kills and a 3.55 kills-per-set average in the team's victories this season.

• Ball State turned in a dominating effort at the net in last Friday's win at Eastern Michigan (Oct. 28), recording 13.0 team blocks in the come-from-behind win over the Eagles ... The effort tied as the Cardinals' second-best blocking performance of the season, with only the 15.0 total blocks at Morehead State (Sept. 9) passing the total ... It was also Ball State's best blocking performance in league play this season, with the previous best being eight on four occasions.

• Redshirt sophomore middle Avery Devoe played a big role in the Cardinals' win at Eastern Michigan, leading all players with six total blocks, while depositing 10 kills ... It marks just the second time Devoe has scored double-digit kills in her career, with the other coming in a career-high 11 kill outburst versus Ohio (Oct. 15) ... Devoe also led the Cardinals for the first time in her career with 14.0 total points at EMU.

• Brooklyn Goodsel has been a key component to the Cardinals' offense in MAC play, ranking first on the team and fifth in the league with a 3.47 kills-per-set average in conference play ... Goodsel has smashed double figure kills in 10 of Ball State's 12 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 versus Kent State (Oct. 14), 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.

• 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 13 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.

Women's Volleyball Travels to Toledo Thursday, Hosts Akron Sunday

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Players Mentioned

Kate Avila

Avery Devoe

Ellie Dunn

Brooklyn Goodsel

Mackenzie Kitchel

Sabrina Mangapora

Amber Seaman

Kati Vasalakis