Ball State University Athletics
Next Up For Volleyball; Toledo & Buffalo
September 30, 2008 | Women's Volleyball
► VOLLEYBALL LOOKS TO BUILD STREAK: The Ball State women's volleyball team will look to build upon last Saturday's win over Eastern Michigan when it travels to Toledo and Buffalo this week in Mid-American Conference action . . . The Cardinals and Rockets square off at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in a match at St. Ursula Academy . . . On Saturday, BSU and UB will play at 7 p.m. in Alumni Arena.
► KEEPING THE STREAK ALIVE: Ball State enters Thursday's contest versus Toledo with a 41-match winning streak over the Rockets . . . During the streak, BSU has tallied 20 sweeps, 13 four-set victories and eight 3-2 wins . . . Ball State head coach Dave Boos is 2-0 all-time versus the Rockets, while Toledo coach Kent Miller is 0-21 all-time versus the Cardinals . . . Overall, BSU holds a 50-3 advantage in the series, with UT's last win coming in the form of a 3-0 (15-13, 15-11, 15-11) victory in Toledo on Nov. 21, 1986 . . . The Cardinals are 20-2 all-time in Toledo, while the Rockets are 1-24 all-time in Muncie, including a 0-15 mark in Worthen Arena . . . BSU has won all six neutral court meetings.
► SPEAKING OF STREAKS: Ball State has won all 12 previous meetings with the Bulls, including a 3-0 (30-17, 30-17, 30-25) home court win last season . . . In fact, Buffalo has only won three games (3-36, .077) versus the Cardinals . . . Ball State is 4-0 all-time at Buffalo, while holding an 8-0 lead in matches played in Muncie.
► ABOUT THE CARDINALS: Ball State enters Thursday's match at Toledo with a 5-11 (1-1 MAC) record after going 1-1 last week . . . BSU opened league play with a 3-1 (24-26, 26-24, 25-19, 25-21) loss to Central Michigan, before scoring a 3-1 (25-20, 25-12, 23-25, 25-13) victory over Eastern Michigan . . . Julie Breivogel currently paces the Cardinals with a 2.95 kills-per-set average, while Alisha Green is second at 2.44 . . . Brittany McGinnis sets the BSU attack, handing out 9.13 assists-per-set . . . Defensively Alyssa Rio and Kaylee Schembra are in a battle for the team's libero position, averaging 4.07 and 3.04 digs per set, respectively . . . Charde' Phillips is BSU's top blocker with a 0.89 blocks-per-set average . . . As a team, BSU averages 11.62 KPS, 10.89 APS, 14.85 DPS and 1.87 BPS . . . Cardinals' opponents average 12.28 KPS, 11.21 APS, 14.28 DPS and 1.79 BPS.
► ABOUT THE ROCKETS: Toledo enters Thursday's match versus Ball State with an 8-7 (0-2 MAC) record and on a three-match losing streak . . . The Rockets were swept by both Eastern Michigan (3-0; 25-22, 30-28, 34-32) and Central Michigan (3-0; 28-26, 25-22, 25-17) last week to open league play . . . Amber DeWeerdt paces UT with a 3.56 kills-per-set average, while Shannon Strachan is second at 3.32 . . . Kassie Kadera sets the Toledo attack, handing out 10.85 assists-per-set . . . Defensively, Lori Ruth leads the squad with a 3.51 digs-per-set average, while Sarah Wilson is the team's top blocker with 25 total blocks and a 0.51 blocks-per-set average . . . As a team, UT averages 13.00 KPS, 12.04 APS, 15.18 DPS and 1.19 BPS . . . Rockets' opponents average 11.64 KPS, 10.56 APS, 15.51 DPS and 2.33 BPS.
► ABOUT THE BULLS: Buffalo enters the week with a 5-11 (0-2 MAC) record after dropping a pair of MAC matches last week . . . UB was swept by Kent State (3-0; 25-17, 25-14, 25-19) and topped by Ohio (3-1; 28-30, 25-13, 25-13, 25-11) . . . Kristin Bignell paces the Bulls with a 2.46 kills-per-set average, while Richelle Bigelow is second among the team's regulars at 2.15 . . . Lindsey Schlegel sets the UB attack, handing out 8.61 assists-per-set . . . Defensively, Lauren Fensten leads the squad with a 2.86 digs-per-ser average, while Bignell is also the team's top blocker with a 0.93 blocks-per-set average . . . As a team, Buffalo averages 11.33 KPS, 10.30 APS, 10.72 DPS and 1.68 BPS . . . Bulls' opponents average 11.91 KPS, 10.95 APS, 11.46 DPS and 1.75 BPS.
► BREIVOGEL STEPS UP: Julie Breivogel tallied double-doubles in each of BSU's matches last week to help guide the Cardinals to a 1-1 mark in MAC play . . . In Friday's loss to Central Michigan, Breivogel racked up a match-best 14 kills, while connecting for a .310 (14-5-29) rate of success . . . In addition, she tallied 14 digs, a service ace and a block assists . . . In Saturday's win over Eastern Michigan, Breivogel smashed 12 kills, while tallying 10 digs, four service aces and a pair of block assists . . . Breivogel enters the week with six double-doubles on the year.
► DOUBLING UP: Freshman setter Brittany McGinnis nearly became the first BSU player to record a triple double since November of 2004, when she logged 37 assists, nine digs and a career-high seven kills versus Central Michigan . . . She followed that performance with her team-leading eighth double-double of the season, handing out 38 assists while collecting 15 digs versus Eastern Michigan . . . At the service line, McGinnis recorded three aces in the two matches to climb to 10th on the league's serving rankings at 0.34 aces per set.
► WELCOME HOME: With Savage Hall undergoing renovation and Toledo playing their home matches at St. Ursula Academy, Thursday's match versus the Rockets will be a homecoming for Ball State sophomore Ashley Heyman who was a three-year letterwinner for the Arrows . . . As a senior, Heyman helped guide St. Ursula Academy to a 23-4 overall record, a No. 2 ranking in the final Ohio High School Volleyball Coaches Association Poll, the Toledo City League title, a district championship and a regional runner-up finish . . . A team captain in her final season, Heyman recorded a school-record 542 career blocks, including a St. Ursula single-season record 234 blocks as a senior . . . Both her career and single-season block totals ranked in the top five in Ohio High School history at the end of her career . . . Overall, Heyman helped guide the Arrows to an 80-5 record, including a 29-0 league ledger over her career.
► KAKATOLIS BREAKS 500: With her season-high 15 kills versus Eastern Michigan, junior Elaina Kakatolis broke the 500 kill plateau for her career . . . In 74 career matches, Kakatolis has tallied 503 kills for the Cardinals, while adding 173 total blocks . . . Kakatolis enters the week ranked third on the team in kills (146) and second in total blocks (34).
► GOING FOR 1,000: With double-digit kill totals in 11 matches so far this season, junior Julie Breivogel is quickly approaching the 1,000 career kills mark . . . Breivogel enters the week with 854 career kills, and is on pace to eclipse the 1,000 mark in BSU's second match versus Toledo (Nov. 6) . . . Of her 854 career kills, 55 have come in four matches versus Toledo, while 40 have come in three matches versus Buffalo.
► CARDINALS SHOWING IMPROVEMENT: Despite its 5-11 record, the Cardinals are showing signs of improvement over the 2007 season, which saw BSU go 5-25 . . . Through its first 16 matches last season, BSU was 3-13, had only won 16 sets, had been swept nine times and was hitting .106 as a team . . . This season, the Cardinals are 5-11, have won 25 sets, have only been swept four times, have posted two sweeps of their own and are hitting .165 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 46-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 BSU women's volleyball match in Worthen Arena . . . As of Sept. 29, the crowd was the 101st-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.
► WHEN AT HOME: With a 3-1 victory over Eastern Michigan (Sept. 27), the Cardinals picked up their first home win of the season, moving their Worthen Arena mark to 1-5 this season . . . BSU is 4-15 at home over the last two years, after never suffering a losing home season in Worthen Arena prior to last season . . . In 16-plus years of play in the building, the Cardinals have amassed a 177-45 (.797) record, including a 135-20 (.871) mark against MAC teams . . . Among league schools, Miami has the most wins in the arena with five (5-11), followed by Ohio (3-8), Central Michigan (3-12), Western Michigan (3-14), Northern Illinois (2-9), Bowling Green (2-12), Eastern Michigan (1-18) 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 enters the second week of the MAC season tied with Western Michigan as the all-time leader in league wins and league winning percentage at 268-125 (.682) . . . Miami is third at 248-145 (.631), while Northern Illinois is fourth at 149-93 (.616) 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.
