Ball State University Athletics
WVB Visits Bloomington For TIS Bookstore IU Invitational
September 16, 2008 | Women's Volleyball
Gametracker will be available for all matches at www.iuhoosiers.com
► BALL STATE VERSUS THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: The Cardinals are a combined 28-29 versus teams in the TIS Bookstore IU Invitational . . . BSU holds a 7-6 edge over Cincinnati despite a 3-0 setback in the most recent meeting (Nov. 28, 2003) . . . Indiana holds a 23-20 edge in the series versus BSU including wins in nine of the last 10 meetings, however, the Cardinals posted a 3-1 win in the last contest (Sept. 17, 1996) . . . Ball State swept George Mason in the only meeting between the two teams (Sept. 2, 1995).
► ABOUT THE CARDINALS: The Cardinals enter Friday's match versus Denver with a 3-8 record after going 1-3 last week . . . After suffering a 1-3 (25-23, 19-25, 19-25, 20-25) home loss to IUPUI last Tuesday, BSU traveled to Chicago, Ill., where it went 1-2 in the DePaul Invitational . . . Ball State opened the two-day event with a 2-3 (22-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-23, 10-15) setback to Denver, before scoring a 3-1 (25-23, 25-20, 24-26, 25-22) victory over host DePaul and dropping a 1-3 (25-23, 22-25, 15-25, 21-25) decision to Texas-San Antonio.
► GREEN EARNS ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS: Junior Alisha Green became the third different BSU player to earn all-tournament accolades this season, when she was named to the DePaul Invitational All-Tournament Team . . . Elaina Kakatolis was named to the Comfort Suites Sam Houston Invitational All-Tournament Team, while Julie Breivogel earned recognition on the Ball State Active Ankle Challenge All-Tournament Team.
► MORE ON GREEN: Junior Alisha Green finished the week as BSU's top attacker, recording 54 kills for a 3.18 kills-per-set average in the team's four matches . . . Green smashed double-digit kills in all four outings, including a team-best 16 at DePaul . . . She also added a 1.24 blocks-per-game average for the week, tallying four solo stuffs and 17 block assists . . . For the year, Green averages 2.50 kills and 0.95 blocks per set.
► GREEN BACK AT HOME: After starting the first five matches of the season as an emergency outside hitter , Alisha Green has found her home back in the middle of the court, leading the team with a 3.08 kills-per-set average, a 1.24 blocks-per-set average and a .287 attack percentage over the last six matches . . . In the first five matches, Green averaged just 1.74 kps and 0.58 bps, while hitting .014 as an outside . . . In her first match as a middle blocker for the Cardinals, Green smashed a season-high 17 kills versus Tennessee Tech . . . She has tallied double-figure kills in five of the last six matches, while posting at least four total blocks five times.
► HANNAH HEATING UP: Sophomore transfer Hannah Sullivan is beginning to heat up on the outside, posting her first double-digit kill total in a Cardinals' uniform in Saturday's win over DePaul . . . Sullivan, who transferred to BSU from the University of Houston, finished the contest with 13 kills, while adding three digs and hitting .333 . . . She followed with nine kills and a .409 attack percentage versus Texas-San Antonio, while recording no attack errors on 22 swings.
► SCHEMBRA DIGGING IT UP: Freshman defensive specialist Kaylee Schembra became the second BSU player to break the 20-dig plateau this season, when she dug up a match-high 22 balls versus IUPUI . . . She followed the performance with a career-high 25 digs in BSU's five-set loss to Denver . . . Overall, Schembra has tallied double-figure digs in four of Ball State's last six matches.
► McGINNIS CONTINUES STRONG PLAY: Freshman setter Brittany McGinnis continued her strong play in Ball State's four matches last week, logging double-doubles in each contest . . . In BSU's victory over DePaul, McGinnis collected a career-high 17 digs while dishing out 46 assists and guiding BSU to a .274 attack percentage . . . With McGinnis quarterbacking the club, Ball State has hit over .200 in four matches already this season, as compared to once in all of last season . . . McGinnis, who is averaging 9.43 assists-per-set in 2008, also leads the team with 14 service aces this season, while ranking second on the team with 21 total blocks.
► CARDINALS SHOWING IMPROVEMENT: Despite its 3-8 record, the Cardinals are showing signs of improvement over the 2007 season, which saw BSU go 5-25 . . . Through its first 11 matches last season, BSU was 1-10, had only won eight sets, had been swept seven times and was hitting .100 as a team . . . This season, the Cardinals are 3-8, have won 18 sets, have only been swept twice, recorded a sweep of their own and are hitting .162 as a team.
► HIGH MARKS: Ball State finished its Aug. 30 match versus Centenary with a .304 (39-11-92) hitting percentage, which is the best attacking performance for the team in the 41-match tenure of head coach Dave Boos . . . In addition, BSU limited the Ladies' offense to a -.053 (19-24-95) rate of success, which is the best defensive effort for the squad under Boos . . . The previous marks were a .211 (40-17-109) hitting performance in a three-game win over Buffalo on Sept. 29, 2007 and a -.017 (28-30-116) defensive lock down of Toledo in another three-game victory Nov. 1, 2007.
► FANS FLOCK TO WORTHEN: The 1,535 fans in attendance for the Ball State versus No. 18 Purdue match (Sept. 6) was the fifth-largest attendance for a Ball State women's volleyball match in Worthen Arena . . . As of Sept. 15, the crowd was the 57th-largest to watch a women's volleyball match in the 2008 season . . . The Worthen Arena attendance record for women's volleyball is 1,711 set in a 1-3 loss to Pittsburgh on Sept. 2, 2002.
► NOT SO SWEET HOME: The Cardinals home woes continued last Tuesday with a 3-1 setback to IUPUI, which dropped BSU's record to 0-4 at Worthen Arena this season . . . Overall, BSU is 3-14 at home the last two seasons, after having never suffered a losing home season since Worthen Arena was built in 1992 . . . In 16-plus years of play in the building, the Cardinals have amassed a 176-44 (.800) record, including a 134-19 (.876) mark against MAC teams . . . Among league schools, Miami has the most wins in the arena with five (5-11), followed by Ohio (3-8), Western Michigan (3-14), Northern Illinois (2-9), Bowling Green (2-12), Central Michigan (2-12), Eastern Michigan (1-17) and Kent State (1-10) . . . Akron (0-11), Buffalo (0-8) and Toledo (0-15) have never won in Worthen Arena . . . Marshall was 0-7 at Worthen Arena when it was a member of the conference from 1997 to 2004.
► ABOUT THE PROGRAM: Ball State entered the 2008 season as the Mid-American Conference's all-time leader in league wins and league winning percentage at 267-124 (.683) . . . Western Michigan is a close second at 266-125 (.680), followed by Miami at 247-144 (.632) and Northern Illinois at 148-92 (.600) based on winning percentage.
► MORE ABOUT THE WINS: Ball State and Western Michigan are currently tied for the league lead in 20-win seasons since MAC play began in 1983 with 13 apiece . . . Overall, the Cardinals have broken the 20-win plateau a total of 22 times in the 36-year history of the program.
► LEADERS IN THE MAC: Ball State is the home of the Mid-American Conference's all-time career statistical leaders in assists, kills and digs . . . Emily Sallee finished her career with 6,408 assists from 1997-2000 . . . Stephanie Keller collected 2,273 digs from 2001-04 . . . Sarah Obras smashed 1,975 kills in her career, which spanned from 2002-05 . . . Sallee's assist total and Keller's dig total still rank in the top 10 in NCAA history.
► ACADEMIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Since 1975, Ball State players have earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors a total of eight times . . . The total currently ranks eighth in the nation, with BSU being the only Mid-American Conference school in the top 10.
► THE MEDIA: The Ball State women's volleyball team has the most comprehensive radio package in the Mid-American Conference, 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 . . . 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.
► BSU PICKED THIRD: BSU was selected to finish third in the MAC West Division in the league's annual preseason poll, which was voted on by the conference's 12 head coaches . . . Western Michigan was picked to win the division for a second-straight year, followed by Central Michigan and BSU . . . Behind the Cardinals were Northern Illinois, Eastern Michigan and Toledo.
