Ball State University Athletics
Women's Volleyball Ends Regular Season This Weekend
November 12, 2008 | Women's Volleyball
► VOLLEYBALL ENDS REGULAR SEASON THIS WEEKEND: The Ball State women's volleyball team will play its final two matches of the 2008 regular season this weekend when it hosts Western Michigan (Friday @ 7 p.m.) and Northern Illinois (Saturday @ 7 p.m.) at Worthen Arena.
► VOLLEYBALL ON THE WEB: Both of this weekend's matches will be webcasted live and free of charge on www.ballstatesports.com . . . Friday's match will be covered by Ball State Sports Link, while the Ball State Sports Network will broadcast Saturday's match on WIPB (Muncie Cable Channel 2).
► FOURTH IN THE WEST: After dropping a pair of five-set matches last week, the Cardinals enter the final week of Mid-American Conference play with a 6-8 league mark, which puts them fourth in the MAC's West Division . . . Friday's opponent Western Michigan leads the West and the entire league with a 12-2 MAC record, while Saturday's opponent Northern Illinois is third in the division at 7-7.
► ALMOST TOURNAMENT TIME: Despite dropping a pair of league matches last week, the Cardinals (6-8 MAC) can still secure a first round home match in the upcoming MAC Tournament with two wins or a win and either an Akron (5-9 MAC) or Toledo (5-9 MAC) loss . . . Akron travels to Miami (Friday) and Bowling Green (Saturday), while Toledo hosts Northern Illinois (Friday) and Western Michigan (Saturday) . . . If all three teams end the regular season with either 7-9 or 6-10 MAC marks, the Cardinals lose the three-way tie-breaker will have to travel to Akron . . . BSU will also host if all three teams lose both matches this weekend.
► BSU IN THE MAC: Ball State enters the final weekend of Mid-American Conference play with the second-best all-time league record and league winning percentage at 273-132 (.674) . . . Western Michigan holds the top spot with a 278-127 (.686) record . . . Miami is third at 257-148 (.635), while Northern Illinois is fourth at 155-99 (.610) based on winning percentage.
► MORE ABOUT THE WINS: After improving to 21-4 with a pair of league wins last weekend, Western Michigan currently leads the league in 20-win seasons since MAC play began in 1983 at 14 . . . Ball State, which is 11-18 this year is second at 13 . . . Overall, the Cardinals have broken the 20-win plateau a total of 22 times in the 36-year history of the program.
► WMU TAKE TWO: After suffering a 3-0 (25-22, 25-11, 25-21) loss to Western Michigan in Kalamazoo on Oct. 11, the Cardinals lead in the all-time series slipped to two matches at 36-34 . . . WMU has won the last three meetings with BSU and seven of the last 10 contests . . . Overall, the Cardinals hold a 19-11 advantage in matches played in Muncie, including a 14-3 edge in Worthen Arena, despite two-straight home losses to the Broncos.
► NIU TAKE TWO: With a thrilling 3-2 (17-25, 30-28, 21-25, 25-19, 15-13) win over Northern Illinois on Oct. 10, the Cardinals drew within two matches of tying the all-time series at 22-24 . . . Prior to the win in DeKalb, the Cardinals had lost five-straight matches to NIU . . . In matches played in Muncie, the Cardinals hold a 11-5 edge, including a 9-2 advantage in Worthen Arena . . . Like WMU, the Huskies have scored wins in their last two visits to Worthen Arena.
► ABOUT THE CARDINALS: Ball State enters Friday's match versus Western Michigan with an 11-18 (6-8 MAC) record after going 0-2 last week . . . BSU suffered five-set losses to Toledo (25-21, 18-25, 23-25, 25-20, 18-16) and Akron (25-21, 19-25, 25-21, 21-25, 15-13) . . . Among BSU's starters, Alisha Green paces the Cardinals with a 2.62 kills-per-set average, while Elaina Kakatolis is second at 2.36 . . . Julie Breivogel provides a team-best 2.67 kills-per-set coming off the bench . . . Brittany McGinnis sets the BSU attack, handing out 9.57 assists-per-set . . . Defensively, Alyssa Rio leads the squad with a 4.29 digs-per-set average, while Green is also BSU's top overall blocker with 86 total blocks and a 0.78 blocks-per-set average . . . As a team, BSU averages 12.17 KPS, 11.31 APS, 15.11 DPS and 1.95 BPS . . . Cardinals' opponents average 12.33 KPS, 11.27 APS, 14.23 DPS and 1.88 BPS.
► ABOUT THE BRONCOS: Western Michigan enters the week with an 21-4 (12-2 MAC) record after scoring home sweeps over Central Michigan (25-23, 25-15, 36-34) and Eastern Michigan (28-26, 27-25, 25-20) last week . . . Michelle Moore paces the Broncos with a 4.01 kills-per-set average, while Katie Eberling is second at 2.70 . . . Jillian Mitchell sets the WMU attack, handing out 11.33 assists-per-set . . . Defensively, Caitlin Strimel leads the squad with a 5.27 digs-per-set average, while Jaime Gotham is the team's top blocker with a 1.04 blocks-per-set average . . . As a team, Western Michigan averages 14.37 KPS, 13.20 APS, 17.01 DPS and 1.94 BPS . . . Broncos' opponents average 11.82 KPS, 11.20 APS, 16.67 DPS and 1.78 BPS.
► ABOUT THE HUSKIES: Northern Illinois enters the week with a 15-13 (7-7 MAC) record after splitting a pair of home matches last week . . . The Huskies picked up a 3-2 (22-25, 20-25, 25-16, 25-14, 19-17) win over Eastern Michigan, before falling to Central Michigan 3-0 (31-29, 25-13, 25-22) . . . Meagan Schoenrock paces the Huskies with a 4.52 kills-per-set average, while Allison McGlaughlin is second at 3.15 . . . Amanda Tadla and Kristin Hoffman split time as NIU's setter, averaging 9.75 and 9.48 assists per set, respectively . . . Defensively, Maddie Hughes leads the squad with a 4.40 digs-per-set average, while Cassie Yates is the team's top blocker with a 0.65 blocks-per-set average . . . As a team, NIU averages 13.04 KPS, 12.01 APS, 14.55 DPS and 1.61 BPS . . . Huskies' opponents average 13.66 KPS, 12.57 APS, 14.58 DPS and 2.07 BPS.
► BOYD HITTING THE MARK: After hitting .338 (29-7-65) in BSU's two matches last weekend, freshman Jennifer Boyd continues to be BSU's top attacker based on hitting percentage . . . Boyd is currently hitting .305, which ranks sixth among all league players . . . In MAC-only matches, Boyd is hitting .344, which ranks her fourth in the conference . . . Boyd also ranks second on the team in total blocks (69).
► MORE ON BOYD: In addition to her strong hitting performance last weekend, Jennifer Boyd collected a career-high 17 kills in BSU's loss to Toledo (Nov. 6) . . . She added 12 kill versus Akron (Nov. 9) to mark the fifth time this season the freshman has collected double-digit kills in a match . . . Boyd also hit .389 (17-3-36) against the Rockets, while posting a .276 (12-4-29) rate of success against the Zips . . . For the year, Boyd has hit .300-or-better in 12 of the 28 matches she has played.
► DEFENSE DOES IT AGAIN: Four Cardinals collected double-figure digs versus Akron, while five BSU players achieved the task against Akron . . . For the year, the Cardinals are 4-4 in matches with four-or-more players logging double-digit digs, including wins at EMU (Oct. 31), at Miami (Oct. 25), at Northern Illinois (Oct. 10) and versus DePaul (Sept. 13) . . . Ball State losses came at Bowling Green (Oct. 24), versus Denver (Sept. 12), versus Toledo (Nov. 6) and versus Akron (Nov. 9).
► GOING FIVE: With both of its matches going five sets last week, the Cardinals are currently 2-7 in five-set matches this season . . . BSU's nine five-set matches currently rank as the seventh-highest total in the NCAA this season . . . UNC-Asheville leads the nation with 12 five-set matches, while Central Florida is second at 11 . . . Bowling Green, which owns one five-set win over BSU this season, leads the nation with a 9-1 mark in five-set matches and is tied with Fairfield, Penn and UNC-Greensboro for the third spot at 10 . . . No. 1 Penn State, which has not lost a set this season, is one of seven teams to not play a five-set match this season.
► DOUBLE TROUBLE: Sophomore outside attacker Hannah Sullivan and freshman setter Brittany McGinnis each collected a pair of double-doubles last weekend . . . Overall, Sullivan has turned in a double-double in five of BSU's last six matches, while McGinnis had accomplished the task 16 times this season and in eight of the last 11 contests.
► BREIVOGEL CLOSING IN ON 1,000: With seven kills at Central Michigan (Nov. 1), junior Julie Breivogel broke into the top 10 in program history in career kills . . . Breivogel, who scored 20 kills last week to up her career total to 952, leads the Cardinals with a 2.67 kills-per-set average, while ranking second with 278 total kills . . . She has collected eight kill/dig double-doubles this season, with her most recent coming versus Kent State (Oct. 17) when she smashed 16 kills to go along with 11 digs.
► RIO ALSO BREAKS INTO TOP 10: After collecting 27 digs versus Akron (Nov. 9), sophomore libero Alyssa Rio broke into the top 10 in program history with 1,097 career digs . . . Rio, who collected her 1,000th career dig in BSU's victory over Miami (Oct. 25), passed Tiffany Stevens' (1992-95) career dig total of 1087 for the 10th spot.
► WHEN AT HOME: Ball State enters Friday's match versus Western Michigan with a 2-9 Worthen Arena record . . . In 16-plus years of play in the building, BSU has amassed a 178-49 (.784) record, including a 135-24 (.849) mark against MAC teams . . . Among league schools, Miami has the most wins in the arena with five (5-11), followed by Ohio (4-8), Central Michigan (3-12), Western Michigan (3-14), Northern Illinois (2-9), Kent State (2-10), Bowling Green (2-12), Akron (1-11), Toledo (1-15) and Eastern Michigan (1-18) . . . Buffalo (0-8) has never won in Worthen Arena, while Marshall was 0-7 at Worthen Arena when it was a member of the conference from 1997 to 2004 . . . Akron and Toledo picked up their first-ever wins in Worthen Arena last week.
► THE MEDIA: The Ball State women's volleyball team has the most comprehensive radio package in the MAC, as WCRD 91.3 FM will once again be the radio home of the Cardinals for the 2008 season . . . The station is slated to cover 12 of the Cardinals' 13 home matches, as well as all of BSU's 2008 MAC Tournament action . . . In addition, the state-of-the-art WCRD studio will be the home of "Serving It Up" with Dave Boos, a weekly volleyball report which airs Monday nights from 6 to 7 p.m. beginning Sept. 1 . . . Fans can follow all of the action for FREE on the official home of Ball State Athletics, www.ballstatesports.com.
► MORE ABOUT THE MEDIA: The Ball State Sports Network is slated to broadcast a pair of women's volleyball home matches this season . . . The network will televise the Sept. 9 match versus IUPUI and the Nov. 15 contest against Northern Illinois . . . In addition, Sports Link will webcast the Nov. 6 match versus Toledo and the Nov. 14 contest versus Western Michigan . . . BSU head coach Dave Boos will also be a regular on Cardinal Talk, which is a hour-long weekly Ball State sports report which airs Thursdays from 4 to 5 p.m. on ESPN Radio AM 1340.
