Ball State University Athletics
Volleyball Opens MAC Play Friday Versus CMU
September 24, 2008 | Women's Volleyball
► VOLLEYBALL OPENS MAC PLAY: After going 4-10 in non-conference action, the Ball State women's volleyball team opens Mid-American Conference play Friday with a 7 p.m. home match versus Central Michigan . . . Saturday, the squad will cap BSU's homecoming festivities with a 7 p.m. showdown versus Eastern Michigan at Worthen Arena.
► FRIDAY'S PROMOTIONS: Friday will be beach volleyball night for the Ball State women's volleyball team . . . Fans are encouraged to wear their favorite beach or Hawaiian attire to the match, while the first 300 fans will also receive a free Hawaiian lei . . . In addition, the team will hold a free autograph session after the match.
► BALL STATE VERSUS THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: The Cardinals hold a combined 73-43 advantage in the all-time series versus this week's opponents . . . Ball State is 33-25 all-time versus Central Michigan, despite being swept by the Chippewas last season . . . The Cardinals hold a 40-18 lead in the all-time series versus Eastern Michigan, despite being swept by the Eagles last season.
► ABOUT THE CARDINALS: Ball State enters Friday's match versus Central Michigan with a 4-10 record after going 1-2 last week . . . Ball State was swept by both Cincinnati (25-16, 25-20, 25-14) and Indiana (25-17, 25-18, 25-16) before scoring a sweep of their own over George Mason (25-23, 25-23, 25-10) . . . Julie Breivogel currently paces the Cardinals with a 2.91 kills-per-set average, while Alisha Green is second at 2.45 . . . Brittany McGinnis sets the BSU attack, handing out 9.09 assists-per-set . . . Defensively, Kaylee Schembra has earned the team's starting libero role and is averaging 3.04 digs-per-set, while Alyssa Rio leads the squad with a 4.04 average as a defensive specialist . . . Green is BSU's top blocker with a 0.91 blocks-per-set average . . . As a team, BSU averages 11.43 KPS, 10.68 APS, 14.53 DPS and 1.79 BPS . . . Cardinals' opponents average 12.55 KPS, 11.53 APS, 14.43 DPS and 1.83 BPS.
► ABOUT THE CHIPPEWAS: Central Michigan enters Friday's match versus Ball State with a 6-6 record after going 0-2 in its last two matches . . . CMU suffered a 3-1 (27-25, 25-15, 20-25, 26-24) setback to Michigan State last Saturday, before dropping a 3-2 (19-25, 25-22, 25-22, 24-26, 15-13) decision to Illinois-Chicago Tuesday . . . Whitney Evers paces the Chippewas with a 3.16 kills-per-set average, while Kate Fissel is second at 3.11 . . . Stephanie Budde and Catherine Ludwig split time as CMU's setter, handing out 10.00 and 8.20 assists-per-set, respectively . . . Defensively, Alexis Lonneman leads the squad with a 3.93 digs-per-set average, while Kaitlyn Schultz is the team's top blocker with a 0.84 blocks-per-set average . . . As a team, CMU averages 12.68 KPS, 11.73 APS, 13.25 DPS and 1.74 BPS . . . Chippewas' opponents average 11.18 KPS, 10.20 APS, 12.66 DPS and 1.81 BPS.
► ABOUT THE EAGLES: Eastern Michigan enters the week with a 5-9 record after going 0-4 last week . . . EMU suffered setbacks to IPFW (3-0; 26-24, 25-22, 25-19), Virginia Commonwealth (3-1; 25-15, 25-23, 21-25, 25-14), Pittsburgh (3-2; 19-25, 25-19, 25-19, 24-26, 15-12) and Gonzaga (3-0; 25-15, 25-23, 25-17) . . . Victoria Randolph paces the Eagles with a 2.77 kills-per-set average, while Hayvolla Leite is second at 2.60 . . . Ashley Mason sets the EMU attack, handing out 9.06 assists-per-set . . . Defensively, Kim Jarzynka leads the squad with a 4.65 digs-per-set average, while Emily Good is the team's top blocker with a 0.86 blocks-per-set average . . . As a team, EMU averages 11.65 KPS, 10.59 APS, 16.39 DPS and 1.87 BPS . . . Eagles' opponents average 12.15 KPS, 11.39 APS, 18.52 DPS and 1.80 BPS.
► SCHEMBRA EARNS ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS: Freshman Kaylee Schembra became the fourth different Ball State player to earn all-tournament accolades this season when she was named to the TIS Bookstore IU Invitational All-Tournament Team last weekend . . . Joining her on all-tournament lists this season are Alisha Green (DePaul Invitational), Julie Breivogel (Ball State Active Ankle Challenge) and Elaina Kakatolis (Comfort Suites Sam Houston Invitational).
► MORE ON SCHEMBRA: After recording a match-high 22 digs versus IUPUI (Sept. 9), Kaylee Schembra was moved to the starting libero position versus Denver (Sept. 12) . . . In her first match as the team's libero, Schembra collected a career-high 25 digs and she currently leads the team with 79 digs and a 3.59 digs-per-set average over the past six matches . . . Her 17 assists are second on the team during the same span, while she has also collected a pair of kills, including the second set winner in BSU's most recent victory over George Mason (Sept. 20) . . . She also has a pair of service aces over the last six contests.
► 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 2.85 kills-per-set average, a 1.09 blocks-per-set average and a .263 attack percentage over the last nine 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 (Sept. 6) . . . She has tallied double-figure kills in five of the last nine matches, while posting at least four total blocks five times.
► CARDINALS SHOWING IMPROVEMENT: Despite its 4-10 record, the Cardinals are showing signs of improvement over the 2007 season, which saw BSU go 5-25 . . . Through its first 14 matches last season, BSU was 1-13, had only won 10 sets, had been swept nine times and was hitting .093 as a team . . . This season, the Cardinals are 4-10, have won 21 sets, have only been swept four times, have posted two sweeps of their own and are hitting .159 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 44-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. 22, the crowd was the 83rd-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: Including a 0-4 mark this season, BSU is 3-14 at home over the last two years, 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: BSU 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 (266-125/.680), followed by Miami (247-144/.632) and Northern Illinois (148-92/.600) based on winning percentage.
► MORE ABOUT THE WINS: Ball State and Western Michigan are tied for the league lead in 20-win seasons since MAC play began in 1983 with 13 each . . . 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 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 . . . 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.
