Ball State University Athletics
Women's Volleyball Opens Season-Long Road Swing at Lady Topper Invitational
September 12, 2006 | Women's Volleyball
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Ball State Women's Volleyball Lady Topper Invitational Notes in PDF Format
The Week Ahead: The Ball State women's volleyball team opens its season-long seven-match road stint Friday afternoon when it plays Tennessee Tech at 4 p.m. in the Lady Topper Invitational hosted by Western Kentucky . . . BSU will continue play in the two-day, four-team tournament Saturday with an 11:30 a.m. contest versus Appalachian State and a 4:30 p.m. showdown with the host Lady Toppers.
Last Week: Ball State improved to 2-2 at home and 2-5 on the year with a 3-2 (30-23, 28-30, 26-30, 30-22, 16-14) victory over IUPUI last Wednesday.
Ball State vs. Tennessee Tech:Ball State holds a 1-0 advantage over the Golden Eagles, scoring a 3-0 (15-8, 15-13, 15-3) victory in the only meeting between the two teams on Sept. 3, 1999.
Ball State vs. Appalachian State:The Cardinals have never faced the Mountanieers.
Ball State vs. Western Kentucky:Ball State holds a 1-0 advantage over the Lady Toppers, scoring a 3-1 (13-15, 15-8, 15-2, 15-2) victory in the only meeting between the two teams on Sept. 18, 1999.
About the Cardinals:Ball State enters the Lady Topper Invitational with a 2-5 record after posting a 3-2 victory over IUPUI in its lone match last week . . . Freshman Julie Breivogel currently paces the Cardinals with a 3.27 kills-per-game average, while junior Brittany May is second at 2.54 . . . Senior Amanda McCormick anchors the BSU defense, averaging a league-best 6.35 digs per game . . . Christine Kennedy is Ball State's top blocker, averaging 1.19 blocks per game, while Angie Parrell is the team's main setter, averaging 9.77 assists per game . . . Cassie Conner also sees time at setter, averaging 7.60 assists per game . . . As a team, the Cardinals average 13.31 kpg, 11.69 apg, 16.35 dpg and 2.29 bpg . . . BSU's opponents are averaging 15.88 kpg, 14.88 apg, 18.50 dpg and 2.13 bpg.
About the Golden Eagles:Tennessee Tech enters the week with a 1-7 record after going 0-2 last week in the Sports Imports Classic hosted by Ohio State . . . TTU opened the tournament with a 0-3 (14-30, 22-30, 22-30) loss to then-No. 19 Ohio State before falling 0-3 (16-30, 20-30, 21-30) to Michigan State . . . Amanda Lindgren currently paces Tennessee Tech with a 2.68 kills-per-game average, while Erin Lynn is second at 2.08 . . . Katie Kenline anchors the Golden Eagles defense with a 4.31 digs-per-game average . . . Caitlin Bullock is TTU's top blocker, averaging 0.62 blocks per game, while Kappy Lang is the team's main setter averaging 9.88 assists per game . . . As a team, the Golden Eagles average 11.46 kpg, 10.92 apg, 15.38 dpg and 1.44 bpg . . . TTU's opponents average 16.42 kpg, 14.88 apg, 17.35 dpg and 2.52 bpg.
About the Mountaineers:Appalachian State enters the week with a 5-4 record after going 2-1 at last weekend's Hokie Invite hosted by Virginia Tech . . . ASU posted wins over Liberty (3-0; 30-15, 30-18, 30-24) and George Washington (3-0; 32-30, 30-17, 30-27) before falling to the host Hokies 2-3 (30-28, 28-30, 35-33, 21-30, 10-15) . . . Prior to participating in the Lady Topper Invitational, Appalachian State will play at Chattanooga Wednesday . . . Brittany Zahn currently paces ASU with a 4.09 kills-per-game average, while Chrissy Finch is second at 2.86 . . . Cassie Engelgau anchors the Appalachian State defense with a 4.46 digs-per-game average . . . Carla Durham is ASU's top blocker, averaging 1.40 blocks per game, while Lorelle Rau is the team's main setter averaging 12.24 assists per game . . . As a team, the Mountaineers average 15.15 kpg, 13.71 apg, 16.35 dpg and 2.32 bpg . . . ASU's opponents average 13.12 kpg, 11.47 apg, 15.56 dpg and 2.06 bpg.
About the Lady Toppers:Western Kentucky enters the week with an 8-4 record after going 2-2 at last weekend's Sacramento State Invitational . . . WKU posted victories over UC Riverside (3-0; 30-16, 30-28, 30-23) and Syracuse (3-0; 31-29, 30-22, 30-23), while losing to Sacramento State (0-3; 25-30, 30-32, 25-30) and San Francisco (1-3; 20-30, 18-30, 30-27, 15-30) . . . Prior to hosting the Lady Topper Invitational, Western Kentucky will host Evansville Tuesday . . . Megan Argabright currently paces WKU with a 4.46 kills-per-game average, while Jenna Gideon is second at 3.23 . . . Ashley Deignan anchors the Western Kentucky defense with a 4.24 digs-per-game average . . . Argabright is WKU's top blocker, averaging 0.74 blocks per game, while Julia Noe is the team's main setter averaging 12.26 assists per game . . . As a team, the Lady Toppers average 15.13 kpg, 14.41 apg, 16.13 dpg and 1.72 bpg . . .WKU's opponents average 13.18 kpg, 11.95 apg, 14.74 dpg and 2.12 bpg.
Ball State on Television: The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to the Ball State Sports Network (Muncie Cable Channel 2) Thursday, Sept. 28 when it opens Mid-American Conference home play versus Toledo at 7 p.m. . . . In addition, the broadcast will once again be streamed over the internet, with a link to be provided closer to the match date . . . Chris Taylor will provide the play-by-play action, while former four-year letterwinners Rhonda (Gardemann) Murr (1991-94) and Sarah Obras (2002-05) will provide the color commentary.
Cardinals on the Radio:WCRD 91.3 FM will carry all of Ball State's home matches live throughout the 2006 season . . . In addition, the station will cover several of the team's away matches - - Sept. 19 at Wright State, Sept. 22 at Miami and Sept. 26 at Butler . . . Fans not in the Muncie area can still listen to the match by visiting the WCRD (www.wcrd.net) web site and clicking on the LISTEN NOW!!! button . . . Eric Ryan will serve as the play-by-play analyst for the season, while Lauren Bielenberg and Kelly Schroeing will provide the color commentary.
Digging It Up:Senior libero Amanda McCormick continues to climb up the BSU digs chart, adding 31 digs in the victory over IUPUI to bring her career total at Ball State to 892, which ranks 14th in BSU annals . . . She needs 108 more digs to become just the 11th player in program history to record 1,000 career digs with the Cardinals. . . . Overall, McCormick has recorded 1,610 digs over her career . . . In addition, McCormick has a league-best 6.35 digs-per-game average this season, along with the two highest match dig totals in the league to date this season with 41 versus IPFW (Aug. 26) and 37 versus Mercer (Sept. 2).
The Block Goes To...:Sophomore middle attacker Christine Kennedy tallied a career-high 14 blocks (12 assists and 2 solo) in last Wednesday's win over IUPUI . . . The 14 blocks tie as the fifth-most in a single match in school annals . . . Kennedy is one of only seven players in school history to record 14-or-more blocks in a match . . . The school record for blocks in a match is currently held by April Hoeltke at 16, which she accomplished twice versus Bowling Green in 1992 (Oct. 3 and Nov. 7).
More News from the Net:The Cardinals' 18.5 blocks in the victory over IUPUI last Wednesday night were the most in a match for BSU since the team logged 23.5 at Toledo on Sept. 25, 2004 - - 54 matches ago.
Kakatolis Shines vs. IUPUI: Freshman Elaina Kakatolis collected career-highs of eight block assists and seven kills in the Cardinals' victory over IUPUI . . . She also tied a career-high with a pair of digs.
May Scores 20-Plus vs. IUPUI:Junior Brittany Maybecame the first BSU player to record 20-plus kills in a match this season, with a career-high 24 in the victory over IUPUI . . . The 24 kills also tie as the second-most in a match in the league this season.
Doubling Up:In addition to her career-high 14 total blocks versus IUPUI, Christine Kennedy tallied a career-best 15 digs for her first career double-double . . . Freshman Julie Breivogeladded her third career double-double in the match with 14 kills and 12 digs.
Conner Earns First Career Start:Freshman Cassie Conner earned her first career start at setter for the Cardinals in Wednesday's victory over IUPUI . . . In the match, Conner tallied career-highs of 29 assists, four kills, six digs and a service ace . . . Conner's start marks the first time in 37 matches that someone other than junior Angie Parrell has started as the team's setter.
The Youth Factor:Of the 14 players to see action for the Cardinals this season, nine are either freshmen or transfers in their first year with the program . . . Freshman Julie Breivogel and sophomore transfer Christine Kennedy have made the biggest impact, ranking first (3.27) and third (2.50), respectively, on the team in kills per game . . . Redshirt freshmen Rachel Alcorn, Elaina Kakatolis, Caitlin Morency and Madison Monk; true freshmen Cassie Conner, and Ana Gabriela Pedrosa as well as redshirt freshman transfer Brittany Warnke have also spent time on the court for BSU this season.
Cochran Moves Closer to Elite Company:After posting 13 kills at the "Bama Bash", senior Kelly Cochran moved her career total to 972, which leaves her 28 shy of becoming the ninth player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills . . . Earlier this season, Cochran became only the 10th player in program history to record 1,000 career digs . . . When Cochran breaks the 1,000 kills mark, she will be just the fifth player in program history to reach 1,000 in both categories, joining Sarah Obras (1,975 kills/1,652 digs), Megan Hammons (1,827 kills/1,204 digs), Lindsay Follin (1,495 kills/1,067 digs) and Katie Butts(1,362 kills/1,109 digs).
The Worthen Arena Advantage:Since Worthen Arena became the home of the Ball State women's volleyball team in 1992, the Cardinals have posted a 168-26 (.866) record in the building, including a 127-9 (.934) mark against teams from the Mid-American Conference . . . From Sept. 27, 1999 to Nov. 20, 2001, the BSU put together one of the most impressive home-court winning streaks in NCAA history, logging 42-straight match wins at Worthen Arena . . . The total ties as the 16th-best in NCAA annals . . . In addition, from Nov. 18, 1997 to Sept. 27, 2003, the Cardinals tallied 57-straight wins over MAC foes in Worthen Arena, including winning the 1999 and 2002 MAC Tournaments on its home court.
What to Watch for This Weekend:Kelly Cochran enters the Lady Topper Invitational 28 kills shy of 1,000 for her career . . . Amanda McCormick needs 108 digs to become just the 11th player in program history to record 1,000 career digs . . . Kirby Gibson needs one blocks to bring her career total to 200 . . . Angie Parrell needs 91 assists to reach 2,000 in her career . . . Julie Breivogel is 15 kills shy of 100 for the season.
