Ball State University Athletics
Women's Volleyball Hosts Toledo Thursday
September 25, 2006 | Women's Volleyball
Ball State Weekly Release in PDF Format
The Week Ahead: The Ball State women's volleyball team opens its 2006 Mid-American Conference home schedule Thursday with a 7 p.m. televised match versus Toledo . . . After hosting the Rockets, the Cardinals close the week Saturday with a 7 p.m. contest at Buffalo.
Ball State on Television: The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to the Ball State Sports Network (Muncie Cable Channel 2) Thursday when it opens MAC home play versus Toledo at 7 p.m. . . . In addition, the broadcast will be streamed over the internet at the following link - - http://dvisweb1.bsu.edu/streaming/stream.asp?id=23 - - which will be activated 15 minutes prior to the match . . . Award-winning sports journalist and Muncie native Wil Hampton from RTV6 in Indianapolis 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.
Earlier This Week: Ball State ended its 2006 non-conference slate with a 3-0 (30-16, 30-20, 30-18) victory at Butler's Hinkle Fieldhouse Tuesday evening . . . With the win, BSU finished its non-conference slate with a 3-9 record, with all three victories coming against in-state opponents - - IPFW, IUPUI and Butler.
Ball State vs. Toledo: The Cardinals own a 46-3 all-time record versus the Rockets, including 37-straight victories . . . Last season, BSU tallied a 3-1 (30-27, 25-30, 30-28, 30-27) win at Worthen Arena (Sept. 29) and a 3-0 (35-33, 30-27, 30-16) victory at Toledo (Nov. 5) . . . BSU is 22-1 all-time vs. Toledo in Muncie, including a perfect 13-0 record at Worthen Arena.
Ball State vs. Buffalo: Ball State has won all nine previous meetings with the Bulls . . . In fact, Buffalo has only won one game (27-1) versus the Cardinals, which came in last season's 3-1 (30-27, 25-30, 30-28, 30-27) BSU win Oct. 1 . . . Ball State is 3-0 all-time at Buffalo.
About the Cardinals: Ball State enters Thursday's contest with a 4-10 (1-1 MAC) record after posting a 3-0 victory at Butler Tuesday . . . Freshman Julie Breivogel currently paces the Cardinals with a 3.13 kills-per-game average, while senior Kelly Cochran is second at 2.89 . . . Senior Amanda McCormick anchors the BSU defense, averaging a league-best 6.79 digs per game . . . Christine Kennedy is Ball State's top blocker, averaging 1.35 blocks per game, while Angie Parrell and Cassie Connersplit time as the team's setter, averaging 9.80 and 4.79 assists per game, respectively . . . As a team, the Cardinals average 13.63 kpg, 12.27 apg, 17.88 dpg and 2.38 bpg . . . BSU's opponents are averaging 15.13 kpg, 14.15 apg, 18.63 dpg and 2.26 bpg.
About the Rockets: Toledo entered the week with a 4-11 (1-1 MAC) record after falling at Bowling Green (0-3; 23-30, 25-30, 25-30) and defeating Miami (3-0; 30-21, 30-24, 30-23) to open MAC play last week . . . Kate Bean currently paces the Rockets with a 4.48 kills-per-game average, while TaNeisha Winters is second at 3.83 . . . Lora Sarich anchors the Toledo defense with a 4.39 digs-per-game average . . . Brittany Alaburda is UT's top blocker, averaging 0.71 blocks per game, while Emi Holsclaw is the team's main setter, averaging 11.10 assists per game . . . Mallory Ladd started the season as UT's setter, averaging 10.48 apg while Holsclaw recovered from an injury . . . As a team, the Rockets average 14.54 kpg, 13.46 apg, 17.92 dpg and 1.52 bpg . . . Toledo's opponents average 14.88 kpg, 13.62 apg, 17.00 dpg and 2.72 bpg.
About the Bulls: Buffalo entered the week with an 11-7 (0-2 MAC) record after going 1-2 last week . . . The Bulls opened the week with a 3-0 (30-26, 30-22, 30-26) non-conference victory at Niagara Tuesday, before dropping a pair of MAC matches to Kent State (0-3; 27-30, 22-30, 19-30) Friday and No. 20 Ohio (18-30, 12-30, 30-24, 15-30) Saturday . . . Jenna Mape currently paces Buffalo with a 3.38 kills-per-game average, while Nikki Morzenti is second at 3.35 . . . Lizaiha Garcia anchors the UB defense with a 4.89 digs-per-game average . . . Kelsey Lueders is the Bulls' top blocker, averaging 1.32 blocks per game, while Brandie Clark is the team's main setter averaging 10.37 assists per game . . . As a team, the Bulls average 13.76 kpg, 12.32 apg, 15.13 dpg and 2.76 bpg . . . Buffalo's opponents average 13.49 kpg, 12.29 apg, 15.11 dpg and 1.89 bpg.
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 has covered several of the team's away contests and will once again carry all of BSU's MAC Tournament action . . . Fans not in the Muncie area can still listen to the match by visiting the WCRD web site (www.wcrd.net) 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: With her first dig in the Cardinals' 3-2 victory over Miami last Friday, senior libero Amanda McCormickbecome just the 11th player in program history to record 1,000 career digs with the Cardinals . . . McCormick finished last week with 71 digs and added 25 at Butler Tuesday to bring her BSU total to 1,080 . . . Over her career, which including two seasons and 718 digs at Nebraska, McCormick has recorded 1,798 career digs . . . McCormick has a league-best 6.79 digs-per-game average this season and entered the week ranked third in the nation in the category . . . In addition, she has the three highest single-match dig totals in the league to date in 2006, with 41 versus IPFW (Aug. 26), 40 versus Tennessee Tech (Sept. 15) and 37 versus Mercer (Sept. 2).
Speaking of Digging Milestones: Fifth-year senior defensive specialist Stephanie Bacancollected four digs in the Cardinals' victory at Butler Tuesday night to bring her career total to an even 500 . . . Bacan - - who received 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 . . . In her first match of the season at Wright State, Bacan tallied seven digs, an ace and a kill . . . She followed the performance with eight digs and a career-high four aces at Miami, while adding nine digs and one ace at Bowling Green.
Cardinals Offense and Defense Shine at Butler: In Tuesday's victory at Butler, the Cardinals offense hit a season-best .278 (53-18-126) while the Ball State defense limited Butler to a .025 (23-20-118) rate of success, which was a season-low for a BSU opponent.
Aces Wild: Junior outside attacker Brittany May turned in one of the best serving performances in school history in the win over Miami, tagging a career-best six service aces . . . The six aces are two shy of the school record and tie as the 15th-best total in a match in school history . . . Five players have smashed eight aces in a match for BSU, while eight players - - including one twice - - have pounded seven aces.
Block Party: Sophomore transfer Christine Kennedy continued her solid play at the net last week, pacing the Cardinals with 17 total blocks over BSU's three matches for a 1.55 blocks-per-game average . . . Included in that total were a career-high four solo stuffs against Wright State last Tuesday . . . For the year, Kennedy ranks second in the league with a 1.35 bpg average.
Breivogel Finding the Floor: With the Cardinals trailing 10-9 in the fifth game at Miami last Friday, freshman outside attacker Julie Breivogel ignited for five-straight kills to help guide the Cardinals its first road and MAC win of the season. . . Breivogel finished the contest with a team-high 19 kills, including six in the final frame.
The Youth Factor: Of the 15 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 (3.06) and third (2.41), 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 Week: Amanda McCormick needs 92 digs to break into the top 25 in career digs in NCAA Division I history . . . BSU is a perfect 17-0 in Mid-American Conference home openers under Randy Litchfield . . . Christine Kennedy is 11 blocks shy of 100 for her career.
