Ball State University Athletics
Women's Volleyball Travels to Wright State Tuesday
September 18, 2006 | Women's Volleyball
Ball State Women's Volleyball Notes in PDF Format
The Week Ahead: The Ball State women's volleyball team will play three more road matches this week, starting Tuesday with a 7 p.m. first serve at Wright State . . . BSU will then open its 2006 Mid-American Conference schedule Friday with a 7 p.m. match at Miami . . . The Cardinals will close the week Saturday with a 4 p.m. start at Bowling Green.
Last Week: The Cardinals fell to 2-8 overall after dropping all three matches at the Lady Topper Invitational hosted by Western Kentucky . . . BSU opened the tournament with a 2-3 (29-31, 30-23, 30-17, 29-31, 8-15) loss to Tennessee Tech Friday, before falling to Appalachian State (1-3; 30-23, 22-30, 18-30, 28-30) and WKU (0-3; 24-30, 24-30, 28-30) Saturday.
Ball State vs. Wright State:Ball State holds a 12-5 advantage over the Raiders, including a 3-0 (30-20, 30-21, 30-10) victory last season (Sept. 27) . . . The Cardinals have won three-straight over WSU and hold a 3-3 mark in matches played in Dayton.
Ball State vs. Miami:Ball State holds a 37-29 edge in the all-time series with the RedHawks, including wins in both matches the two teams played last season - - 3-2 (25-30, 30-24, 19-30, 30-26, 15-10) on Sept. 23 and 3-0 (30-27, 30-23, 30-27) on Nov. 18 . . . The Cardinals also hold a 14-12 advantage in matches played in Oxford despite losing 1-3 (30-26, 18-30, 24-30, 17-30) on Nov. 10, 2004 in its most recent trip to Miami.
Ball State vs. Bowling Green:Ball State holds a 34-11-1 advantage over the Falcons despite suffering a 0-3 (25-30, 22-30, 28-30) loss to BGSU on Sept. 24 of last season . . . Prior to the loss, the Cardinals had won the previous 24 matches between the two clubs . . . Overall, BSU has tallied a 13-5 record at Bowling Green.
About the Cardinals:Ball State enters the week with a 2-8 overall record after dropping all three matches at the Lady Topper Invitational last weekend . . . Freshman Julie Breivogel currently paces the Cardinals with a 3.21 kills-per-game average, while senior Kelly Cochran is second at 2.39 . . . Senior Amanda McCormick anchors the BSU defense, averaging a league-best 6.76 digs per game . . . Christine Kennedy is Ball State's top blocker, averaging 1.29 blocks per game, while Angie Parrell and Cassie Connersplit time as the team's setter, averaging 9.74 and 5.13 assists per game, respectively . . . As a team, the Cardinals average 13.42 kpg, 11.97 apg, 17.63 dpg and 2.43 bpg . . . BSU's opponents are averaging 15.26 kpg, 14.26 apg, 19.03 dpg and 2.41 bpg.
About the Raiders:Wright State enters the week with a 5-8 record after going 2-1 last week in the Raiders Challenge . . . WSU opened the tournament with wins over West Virginia (3-0; 30-26, 30-24, 30-28) and Akron (3-0; 30-23, 30-25, 30-22) before falling to Denver (2-3; 30-26, 30-21, 22-30, 28-30, 18-20) . . . Tara Geegan currently paces Wright State with a 2.78 kills-per-game average, while Jenny Schultz is second at 2.71 . . . Sarah Poling anchors the Raiders defense with a 3.90 digs-per-game average . . . Lizzy Gunn is WSU's top blocker, averaging 1.17 blocks per game, while Lindsey Frank is the team's main setter averaging 11.08 assists per game . . . As a team, the Raiders average 13.68 kpg, 12.74 apg, 16.38 dpg and 2.26 bpg . . . WSU's opponents average 14.86 kpg, 13.86 apg, 17.64 dpg and 2.06 bpg.
About the RedHawks:Miami enters the week with a 4-9 record after going 1-2 at last weekend's Penn State Classic . . . Miami opened the tournament with a 3-0 (30-13, 30-20, 30-19) victory over Lehigh, before falling to Tennessee State (2-3; 30-13, 33-31, 26-30, 29-31, 12-15) and No. 2 Penn State (0-3; 21-30, 17-30, 12-30) . . . Emily Schroeder currently paces the RedHawks with a 3.74 kills-per-game average, while Carli Reihman is second at 3.32 . . . Melissa Zenz anchors the Miami defense with a 4.46 digs-per-game average . . . Megan Griffin is Miami's top blocker, averaging 0.77 blocks per game, while Andrea Atteberry and Ashley Davis split time as the team's setter, averaging 9.42 and 4.44 assists per game, respectively . . . As a team, the RedHawks average 14.06 kpg, 12.88 apg, 14.38 dpg and 1.88 bpg . . . Miami's opponents average 14.86 kpg, 13.34 apg, 15.00 dpg and 2.13 bpg.
About the Falcons:Bowling Green enters the week with a 10-2 record after going 4-0 to win last weekend's Country Inn & Suites Classic hosted by Youngstown State . . . BGSU earned the title by scoring wins over Duquesne (3-2; 30-17, 30-26, 18-30, 26-30, 15-5), Youngstown State (3-0 (30-18, 30-28, 31-29), Morehead State (3-1; 32-30, 28-30, 30-24, 30-20) and St. Francis (Pa.) (3-0; 30-22, 30-5, 50-25) . . . Corey Domek currently paces BGSU with a 4.00 kills-per-game average, while Kendra Halm is second at 3.41 . . . Chelsey Meek anchors the Bowling Green defense with a 5.23 digs-per-game average . . . Stephanie Swiger is BGSU's top blocker, averaging 1.39 blocks per game, while Chrissy Gothke is the team's main setter averaging 12.69 assists per game . . . As a team, the Falcons average 16.76 kpg, 15.40 apg, 18.07 dpg and 2.77 bpg . . . BGSU's opponents average 13.67 kpg, 12.57 apg, 15.12 dpg and 2.24 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.
Cochran Joins the Club:With her ninth kill versus Appalachian State, senior Kelly Cochran became just the fifth player in program history to record 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs at BSU . . . Cochran finished the Lady Topper Invitational with 37 kills and 46 digs to move her career totals to 1,009 kills and 1,083 digs . . . She joins 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) in the BSU 1,000/1,000 Club.
Digging It Up:Senior libero Amanda McCormick earned recognition on the Lady Topper Invitational All-Tournament team after posting a tournament-best 92 digs over the three matches . . . McCormick tallied 40 digs versus Tennessee Tech, 29 digs versus Appalachian State and 23 digs against Western Kentucky . . . McCormick is currently 16 digs shy of becoming just the 11th player in program history to record 1,000 career digs with the Cardinals. . . . Overall, McCormick has recorded 1,702 digs over her career, including 718 in her two seasons at Nebraska . . . In addition, McCormick has a league-best 6.76 digs-per-game average this season, along with the three highest match dig totals in the league to date this season with 41 versus IPFW (Aug. 26), 40 versus Tennessee Tech (Sept. 15) and 37 versus Mercer (Sept. 2).
The Foreign Connection:BSU's Brazilian freshman Ana Gabriela Pedrosa turned in a strong outing vs. Appalachian State, recording her first career kill late in the second game and following with six more for a career-high of seven . . . She also added eight digs, an ace and a block assists in her first career start . . . One night earlier versus Tennessee Tech, the 6-0 outside attacker recorded career-highs of 14 digs and three service aces . . . She finished the Lady Topper Invitational with 31 digs (2.58 dpg), seven kills, four aces, two assists and one block.
Guess Who's Back:In an effort to improve the team's backcourt play, senior Stephanie Bacan has elected to use her final year of eligibility and return to the program . . . Bacan - - who recieved a medical redshirt for the 2002 season after suffering a season-ending knee injury in the first match of the year - - had originally elected to go out with her graduating class last season, but decided to return to the team earlier this month . . . Over her career, Bacan has played in 66 matches and 234 games, recording 472 career digs after transitioning to a defensive specialist due to injury . . . Bacan is expected to travel with the team to Wright State Tuesday.
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.
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, 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:Amanda McCormick needs 16 digs to become just the 11th player in program history to record 1,000 career digs . . . Angie Parrell needs four assists to reach 2,000 in her career . . . BSU is 14-3 in Mid-American Conference openers under Randy Litchfield.
