Ball State University Athletics
Men's Volleyball Hosts Lewis Friday
January 30, 2009 | Men's Volleyball
BSU OPENS FOUR MATCH HOME STAND FRIDAY: The Ball State men's volleyball team returns to Worthen Arena Friday (Jan. 30), when it opens Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association play with a 7:30 p.m. match versus MIVA preseason favorite No. 11 Lewis . . . The contest also marks the start of a four match home stand which sees George Mason (Feb. 5), Rutgers-Newark (Feb. 6) and the Milwaukee School of Engineering (Feb. 13) visit Worthen Arena.
ROUGH START: For the second straight season the Ball State men's volleyball team is off to an 0-3 start . . . Last season, the Cardinals opened the year with a 1-5 record before winning 15 of their next 16 matches on the way to a 21-10 overall record . . . During the winning streak, the Cardinals climbed as high as sixth in the nation.
BALL STATE VS. LEWIS: Ball State holds a 24-14 advantage in the all-time series versus the Flyers, including victories in the last nine meetings . . . Last season, the teams battled three times, with BSU scoring a 3-2 (17-30, 27-30, 30-28, 30-25, 15-13) home win Jan. 25, a 3-1 (30-24, 30-23, 27-30, 30-24) road victory April 12 and a 3-1 (30-28, 30-26, 27-30, 31-29) neutral court win in an April 24 semifinal match of the 2008 MIVA Tournament hosted by Ohio State . . . Lewis' last victory in the series came Jan. 18, 2005 in a three-game (30-25, 30-23, 34-32) home win.
SCOUTING BALL STATE: The Cardinals enter the week with a 0-3 record after suffering road losses to No. 1 Penn State and St. Francis last weekend . . . Todd Chamberlain paces the Ball State attack with a 4.10 kills-per-game average, while J.D. Gasparovic leads the BSU offense with a .550 (25-3-40) attack percentage . . . At the net, Andy Nelson owns a team-best 1.45 blocks-per-game average, while Gasparovic is second at 1.27 . . . Ethan Pheister has set the BSU offense to a .234 rate of success this season, while adding a team-best five aces and a 1.00 blocks-per-game average . . . Billy Ebel holds down the BSU backcourt with a team-best 40 digs for a 3.64 digs-per-game average.
SCOUTING LEWIS: The Flyers enter the week ranked 11th in the nation with a 3-1 overall record after posting wins over Carthage (3-0; 30-20, 30-19, 30-18) and Lindenwood (3-2; 30-20, 24-30, 30-24, 23-30, 15-7) last week . . . Nathan Klaas paces the Lewis attack with a 3.93 kills-per-game average, while Alex Vigansky leads the Flyers' offense with a .556 (38-3-63) attack percentage . . . At the net, Vigansky also owns a team-best 1.21 blocks-per-game average . . . Mike Iandolo has set the LU offense to a .314 rate of success this season, while adding a team-best three aces and a 1.13 digs-per-game average . . . Nick Perakes holds down the Lewis backcourt with a team-best 33 digs for a 2.20 digs-per-game average.
CARDINALS IN THE POLLS: After being ranked 13th for the last two weeks, the Cardinals dropped out of the latest Bison/AVCA Division I-II Men's Coaches Top 15 Poll after a pair of losses last week and earning just 10 votes . . . BSU was ranked 12th in the preseason poll . . . The Cardinals finished the 2008 season ranked 10th, after climbing as high as sixth in the final March poll.
GOING FOR 1,000: The Ball State men's volleyball team enters the week with an all-time record of 997-392-8 . . . The Cardinals are three wins shy of becoming just the third athletic team in school history to eclipse the 1,000 win mark, joining baseball (1,353-1,264-14 in 88 years) and men's basketball (1,074-971-1 in 87+ years as of Jan. 25) . . . In addition, only one other NCAA Division I/II men's volleyball program has eclipsed 1,000 wins, with UCLA entering the week with a 1,174-241 record over 46+ years (as of Jan. 23).
WALTON NEARING 200 WINS: BSU head coach Joel Walton enters the week with a 193-107 (.643) career coaching record . . . Walton picked up his first career head coaching victory versus Mercyhurst Jan. 17, 1999 . . . His 100th win came versus Springfield College Feb. 1, 2004 . . . In league action, Walton owns a 103-41 MIVA ledger after picking up his 100th career victory at Mercyhurst last season (March 8).
CHAMBERLAIN OPENS SEASON STRONG: Preseason All-MIVA selection Todd Chamberlain turned in one of the top performances of his career versus No. 4 Stanford (Jan. 17), racking up a career-high tying 20 kills, while hitting .410 (20-4-39) . . . The 20 kills tie as the sixth-best effort for a three-game match in BSU annals during the rally scoring era . . . He followed with 17 kills at St. Francis (Jan. 24) and leads the team with a 4.10 kills-per-game average this season.
CHAMBERLAIN GOING FOR TOP 20: After collecting 21 kills last weekend, senior Todd Chamberlain raised his career kill total to 651 . . . Chamberlain, who now ranks 16th in program annals with a 2.86 career kills-per-game average, needs 194 more kills to pass Lee Killian's (1980-83) career total of 844 kills for 20th on BSU's career list.
NELSON MAKING HIS MARK: After playing two seasons of club volleyball at Minnesota, sophomore transfer Andy Nelson has started the first three matches of his Division I career at Ball State . . . Nelson currently leads the Cardinals and ranks second in the MIVA with a 1.45 blocks-per-game average . . . In his first career match versus No. 4 Stanford (Jan. 17), Nelson recorded a career-high seven total blocks, while he smashed a career-best 10 kills at St. Francis (Jan. 24).
PHEISTER DISHING IT OUT: After handing out 97 assists last weekend, junior setter Ethan Pheister enters the week ranked seventh in program history with 1,789 career assists . . . Pheister, who became the 13th player in program history to log over 1,000 career assists in BSU's win over Mercyhurst (Feb. 16, 2008), passed both John Badami (1985-86) and Mitch Sadowsky (1995-98) on BSU's career list with his 97 assists last week . . . Dave Carlson (2005-06) is sixth on BSU's all-time career assists list with 2,153 helpers.
THE BIG BLOCK: The Ball State defense has recorded double-figure team blocks in all three matches so far this season, and currently ranks first in the MIVA with a 3.27 blocks-per-game average . . . Andy Nelson paces the squad and ranks second in the MIVA with 1.45 blocks per game, while J.D. Gasparovic is second on the team and fourth in the league with a 1.27 average . . . Ethan Pheister's 1.00 average also ranks eighth in the MIVA.
MCCARTHY HITTING THE MARK: Matt McCarthy, who has missed the first three matches this season due to injury, entered his senior season ranked third in program history with a .414 career hitting percentage . . . In addition, his .448 hitting mark his sophomore season was the second-best single-season effort in program history . . . McCarthy currently trails 2007 Ball State Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Phil Eatherton's (1994-97) mark of .422 for second on BSU's career list . . . Paul Fasshauer (1999-2002) is first at .431.
MCCARTHY CAN BLOCK TOO: Senior Matt McCarthy also ranks 11th in the Ball State career record books with a 1.11 blocks-per-game average . . . His 269 career block assists rank 15th in BSU history, while his 321 career total blocks are 19th . . . In the Cardinals' March 1, 2008 win over No. 3 UCLA, McCarthy tallied a career-best 13 total blocks, while adding 10 total blocks in the win at Pacific (Feb. 11, 2008).
EBEL DIGGING IT UP: Junior libero Billy Ebel posted his third straight match with double-figure digs when he recorded a career-high 16 at St. Francis (Jan. 24) . . . Ebel started the 2009 season with 10 digs versus No. 4 Stanford (Jan. 17) and followed with 14 digs at No. 1 Penn State (Jan. 23), both of which were then-career-highs . . . Ebel currently leads the squad and the MIVA with a 3.64 digs-per-game average . . . Entering the season, Ebel had only collected 74 digs in his previous 56 matches for a 0.47 digs-per-game average.
THE ATTENDANCE: The BSU men's volleyball team opened the 2009 season with a Worthen Arena record 3,729 fans at the Jan. 17 match versus No. 4 Stanford . . . The previous record was 3,572 set versus No. 3 UCLA on March 1, 2008 . . . Since Worthen Arena began hosting BSU men's volleyball in 1992, the Cardinals have cracked the 1,000 mark in attendance a total of 16 times, with 14 of the crowds coming in the last four seasons . . . The largest crowds to watch volleyball in Worthen Arena came when BSU hosted the 1992 NCAA Men's Volleyball Championships with 7,391 in attendance for the championship match which saw Pepperdine sweep Stanford April 25, 1992 . . . 5,711 fans attended the April 24, 1992 semifinal matches.
BALL STATE ON THE RADIO: WCRD 91.3 FM will once again serve as the radio home for the Cardinals during the 2009 season . . . The student-run station is slated to broadcast all 12 Ball State men's volleyball home matches in 2009, as well as selected road matches and the entire MIVA Tournament . . . James Rider will provide the play-by-play action this season, while Nick Golden provides the color commentary and Adam Lickliter brings the sideline reports . . . In addition, the station will serve as the home for "The Joel Walton Show", a weekly BSU men's volleyball report which airs Tuesdays from 6-7 p.m. . . . All WCRD broadcasts will be streamed live and FREE of charge at www.ballstatesports.com.
