Ball State University Athletics
Volleyball Hosts EMU In MAC Tournament Play Tuesday
November 17, 2008 | Women's Volleyball
► ITS TOURNAMENT TIME: The Ball State women's volleyball team enters the 2008 Mid-American Conference Tournament as the No. 7 seed and will host No. 10 seed Eastern Michigan Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. inside Worthen Arena . . . The match will mark the third meeting between the two teams this season, with the Cardinals winning both of the previous contests.
► BSU EARNS SEVENTH SEED: After finishing the regular season with a pair of home losses last weekend, Ball State enters the 2008 Mid-American Conference Tournament with an 11-20 (6-10 MAC) record . . . With its 6-10 league mark, the Cardinals earned the seventh seed in the MAC Tournament and will face 10th seed Eastern Michigan who finished the regular season with a 10-21 (4-12 MAC) record . . . A complete tournament bracket can be found at the end of this release.
► 18 AND COUNTING: Ball State will be appearing in its 18th-straight Mid-American Conference Tournament when it hosts Eastern Michigan in first round action Tuesday . . . Last season, the Cardinals went 0-1 in MAC Tournament play, suffering a 3-1 (30-20, 27-30, 30-19, 30-28) setback to Northern Illinois on the road . . . Ball State is 2-0 in first round matches played in Worthen Arena since 2003, when the league allowed all teams to play in the tournament . . . From 1987-1996, only the top four league teams participated in the tournament, while the field expanded to eight teams in 1997.
► AT HOME IN THE TOURNAMENT: Ball State is 15-1 all-time in MAC Tournament matches played in Worthen Arena, with its only loss coming in the 2003 semifinals versus eventual tournament champion Ohio . . . BSU has never lost a tournament-opening match at Worthen Arena, going 2-0 in first round matches, 6-0 in quarterfinal play and 1-0 in semifinal action . . . BSU claimed three MAC Tournament titles on the Worthen Arena hardwood floor (1994, 1999 and 2002), before the final three rounds were moved to a neutral site for the 2005 event.
► ALL-TIME IN THE TOURNAMENT: After going 0-1 in the 2007 event, Ball State is a combined 26-13 (.667) all-time in MAC Tournament matches . . . Both BSU's 26 wins and 39 matches played are league records . . . Overall, Ball State is 2-1 in first round matches, 9-1 in quarterfinal matches, 9-8 in semifinal matches and 6-3 in championship matches . . . Ball State has more tournament wins (26) than eight other MAC schools have matches played . . . Miami (34), Western Michigan (33) and Bowling Green (28) are the only schools to play in more tournament matches than BSU has wins.
► ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Prior to the last two seasons, the Cardinals had placed at least one player on the MAC All-Tournament squad every year since 1991, 15-straight years . . . Since the inception of the all-tournament team in 1989, BSU has received the most selections, being honored 24 times among 16 players . . . In addition, Ball State holds the edge in tournament Most Valuable Players with six.
► EMU TAKE THREE: Tuesday's MAC Tournament match marks the third meeting between the Cardinals and Eagles this season . . . BSU posted a pair of victories in the first two meetings, topping EMU 3-1 (25-20, 25-12, 23-25, 25-13) at Worthen Arena Sept. 27 for its only MAC home win this season, while posting a 3-1 (28-26, 20-25, 25-20, 25-17) victory in Ypsilanti Oct. 31 for its final regular season victory . . . Overall, the Cardinals maintain a 42-18 advantage in the all-time series with Eastern Michigan, including a 23-7 advantage in Muncie, an 18-1 edge in Worthen Arena and a 4-0 lead in MAC Tournament play . . . The two teams last MAC Tournament meeting came in 2005, when the Cardinals scored a 3-2 (32-30, 29-31, 11-30, 30-28, 15-7) semifinal victory to advance to their latest MAC Tournament Championship match . . . BSU trailed 28-24 in the fourth set of that match, before rallying off the final six points of the frame . . . Complete Statistics and Box Scores from the first two matches this season can be found at the end of this release.
► ABOUT THE CARDINALS: Ball State enters Tuesday's match versus Eastern Michigan with an 11-20 (6-10 MAC) record after losing its last five matches . . . Last week, BSU suffered home losses to Western Michigan (3-0; 25-21, 26-24, 25-17) and Northern Illinois (3-1; 25-22, 25-27, 25-20, 25-18) . . . Julie Breivogel paces the Cardinals with a 2.76 kills-per-set average, while Alisha Green is second at 2.67 . . . Brittany McGinnis sets the BSU attack, handing out 9.71 assists-per-set . . . Defensively, Alyssa Rio leads the squad with a 4.47 digs-per-set average, while Green is also BSU's top overall blocker with 89 total blocks and a 0.76 blocks-per-set average . . . As a team, BSU averages 12.29 KPS, 11.44 APS, 15.41 DPS and 1.95 BPS . . . Cardinals' opponents average 12.40 KPS, 11.35 APS, 14.39 DPS and 1.82 BPS.
► ABOUT THE EAGLES: Eastern Michigan enters the week with a 10-21 (4-12 MAC) record after splitting a pair of league matches last weekend . . . After suffering a 3-0 (25-14, 25-22, 25-14) setback to Central Michigan, EMU snapped a five-match losing streak with a 3-2 (25-17, 25-17, 20-25, 23-25, 15-10) victory over Kent State . . . Victoria Randolph paces the Eagles with a 2.80 kills-per-set average, while Hayvolla Leite is second at 2.65 . . . Ashley Mason sets the EMU attack, handing out 8.98 assists-per-set . . . Defensively, Kim Jarzynka leads the squad with a 4.83 digs-per-set average, while Emily Good is the team's top blocker with a 0.89 blocks-per-set average . . . As a team, EMU averages 11.64 KPS, 10.60 APS, 16.04 DPS and 1.88 BPS . . . Eagles' opponents average 13.30 KPS, 12.43 APS, 18.29 DPS and 1.95 BPS.
► RIO DIGGING UP THE CHARTS: With 52 total digs in Ball State's two matches last week, sophomore libero Alyssa Rio climbed from 10th to seventh on BSU's all-time career digs chart . . . Rio enters the week with 1,149 career digs, surpassing Katie Butts (1999-2002; 1109 digs), Emily Sallee (1997-2000; 1120 digs) and Stacy Jordan (1982-85; 1126 digs) on the list . . . After collecting 27 digs versus Akron (Nov. 9), Rio broke into the top 10 in program history . . . Rio collected her 1,000th career dig in BSU's victory over Miami (Oct. 25).
► 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 a team-best 28 kills last week to up her career total to 980, leads the Cardinals with a 2.76 kills-per-set average, while ranking second with 306 total kills . . . She has collected nine kill/dig double-doubles this season, including 15 kills and a career-high 18 digs in Saturday's loss to Northern Illinois.
► MORE ON BREIVOGEL: With her career-high 18 digs versus the Huskies, Juile Breivogel upped her career dig total to 513 . . . She has tallied 224 digs for a 2.02 digs-per-set average this season, while ranking second on the team with nine double-doubles . . . Breivogel also owns 51 career service aces, with her last two aces coming in BSU's match at Western Michigan (Oct. 11).
► KAKATOLIS EYING TOP 20: Junior Elaina Kakatolis is moving closer to the top 20 in career blocks at Ball State, collecting seven block assists last weekend (one vs. CMU and six vs. NIU) to raise her career blocking total to 208 . . . Over her career, Kakatolis had tallied 189 block assists and 19 solo blocks . . . She needs 13 more block assists to pass Katie Butts (201) for 20th on BSU's all-time list . . . She is also 29 total blocks shy of passing Karen Gladish (1984-87; 236 total blocks) for 20th on that list.
► BOYD HITTING THE MARK: After hitting .318 (17-3-44) 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 .307, which ranks sixth among all league players . . . In MAC-only matches, Boyd is hitting .340, which ranks her fourth in the conference . . . Boyd also ranks second on the team in total blocks (72) . . . For the year, Boyd has hit .300-or-better in 13 of the 30 matches she has played, including a .435 (11-1-23) rate of success Saturday vs. Northern Illinois.
► DOUBLE TROUBLE: Freshman setter Brittany McGinnis racked up her team-leading 17th double-double of the season with 36 assists and 11 digs in Friday's loss to Western Michigan . . . She fell one dig shy of her 18th double-double, tallying 48 assists and nine digs in the regular season finale versus Northern Illinois.
► HOME WOES: Ball State will look to put an end to its home woes Tuesday evening when it hosts Eastern Michigan . . . The Cardinals are 2-11 in Worthen Arena this season, with its only MAC home win coming versus the Eagles on Sept. 27 . . . BSU's only other home victory was a sweep of IPFW on Oct. 21 . . . Ball State has lost its last four home matches, with Toledo (Nov. 6) and Akron (Nov. 9) both picking up their first wins in Worthen Arena during the span . . . In contrast, the Cardinals are 7-4 in road matches and 2-5 in neutral site contests.
► WHEN AT HOME: In 16-plus years of play in Worthen Arena, BSU has amassed a 178-51 (.777) record, including a 135-26 (.839) mark against MAC teams . . . Among league schools, Miami has the most wins in the arena with five (5-11), followed by Ohio (4-8), Western Michigan (4-14), Northern Illinois (4-9), Central Michigan (3-12), 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 in the gym when it was a member of the league from 1997 to 2004 . . . BSU is 5-21 (3-13 MAC) in its last two seasons at Worthen Arena, its only two losing seasons in the building.
► 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.
