Ball State University Athletics
Women's Volleyball Travels To Toledo Thursday
October 06, 2009 | Women's Volleyball
► TWO MORE FOR VOLLEYBALL THIS WEEK: The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to action Thursday, when it travels to Toledo for a 7 p.m. Mid-American Conference West Division showdown with the Rockets at the newly renovated Savage Arena . . . Saturday, the Cardinals host Buffalo at 7 p.m. in its first cross-division battle of the season . . . WCRD 91.3 FM will carry both matches live, while the BSCN in Ohio will webcast Thursday's match at Toledo.
► WHAT'S IN A NAME?: After opening league play with a 3-0 sweep of Northern Illinois (Sept. 25), the Cardinals suffered three straight losses to MAC schools whose name ends in Michigan; Western Michigan (Sept. 26), Central Michigan (Oct. 2) and Eastern Michigan (Oct. 3) . . . BSU will look to snap its three-match league losing streak Thursday, when it battles Toledo . . . It is the first of six straight matches against non-Michigan programs.
► BIG OPENING SET: In last Friday's loss at Central Michigan, the Cardinals limited the Chippewas to nine points in the opening set . . . The nine points tied CMU's lowest set output of the season . . . BSU dominated the set offensively, posting a .560 (15-1-25) attack percentage, while limiting CMU to a -.030 (7-8-33) rate of success . . . Alisha Green and Jennifer Boyd each posted four kills in the frame, while Alyssa Rio collected four of the team's 14 digs . . . The 25-9 victory was BSU's second-best set win of the season, behind its 25-8 opening set triumph over Chicago State (Sept. 11).
► BALL STATE IN MAC PLAY: Ball State enters the week with a 274-137 (.667) all-time record in league play, which ranks the Cardinals second in both wins and winning percentage . . . Western Michigan is the all-time leader in both categories with a 284-127 (.691) all-time MAC mark . . . In contrast, Toledo is 120-291 (.292) all-time in MAC action, while Buffalo is 21-169 (.111), ranking them 11th and 12th, respectively.
► SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: Ball State enters the week with an 8-9 (1-3 MAC) record after dropping road matches at Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan last weekend . . . Senior Alisha Green enters the week as BSU's top attacker with a 3.35 kills-per-set average, while sophomore Kelsey Brandl leads the team and ranks third in the league with a .339 attack percentage . . . Sophomore Brittany McGinnis has set the Ball State offense to a .204 rate of success this season, while producing a 9.11 assists-per-set average . . . Junior Alyssa Rio leads the Cardinals' backcourt with a 3.18 digs-per-set average, while Brandl is the team's top blocker averaging 0.98 blocks per set . . . As a team, BSU is averaging 12.66 kills, 14.33 digs and 1.83 blocks per set . . . The Cardinals' opponents are hitting .187, while averaging 11.64 kills, 12.98 digs and 1.77 blocks per set.
► SCOUTING TOLEDO: The Rockets enter the week with a 10-6 (1-3 MAC) record after falling at Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan last weekend . . . Toledo opened the season with nine straight wins, including a victory at Louisville, before dropping six of its last seven contests . . . Amber DeWeerdt is UT's top attacker with a 3.62 kills-per-set average, while Sarah Wilson leads the team with a .264 attack percentage . . . Kassie Kadera has set the Rockets offense to a .203 attack percentage this season, while handing out 11.08 assists per set . . . DeWeerdt also leads the team with a 3.43 digs-per-set average, while Liz Sundberg is the program's top blocker averaging 0.77 blocks per set . . . As a team, Toledo is averaging 13.11 kills, 16.30 digs and 1.52 blocks per set . . . The Rockets' opponents are hitting .203, while averaging 12.34 kills, 15.66 digs and 1.90 blocks per set.
► BSU VS. TOLEDO: Ball State holds a commanding 51-4 advantage in the all-time series versus Toledo, despite seeing its 42-match winning streak over the Rockets come to an end last season . . . Both programs earned road wins in 2008, with Ball State posting a 3-0 (27-25, 25-19, 25-14) win at St. Ursula Academy (Oct. 2), while Toledo snapped its losing streak to BSU and claimed its first ever win in Worthen Arena with a 3-2 (25-21, 18-25, 23-25, 25-20, 18-16) victory Nov. 6 . . . UT has only won back-to-back matches in the all-time series once, scoring wins Sept. 24 and Oct. 29, 1983 . . . Ball State is 20-2 all-time versus the Rockets in Toledo.
► SCOUTING BUFFALO: The Bulls enter the week with an 11-6 (2-2 MAC) record after topping Kent State and falling to Ohio in league play last weekend . . . Buffalo, which is 5-2 in its last seven outings, hosts Akron Thursday before traveling to Ball State . . . Dani Silvers is UB's top attacker with a 3.75 kills-per-set average, while Kelsey Lueders paces the team with a .319 attack percentage . . . Lindsey Schlegel has set the Bulls offense to a .214 attack percentage this season, while dishing out 9.90 assists per set . . . Tori Beckman leads the UB backcourt with a 4.33 digs-per-set average, while Kristin Bignell has a team-best 1.07 blocks-per-set average . . . As a team, Buffalo is averaging 12.60 kills, 13.72 digs and 1.90 blocks per set . . . The Bulls' opponents are hitting .178, while averaging 11.70 kills, 13.25 digs and 2.39 blocks per set.
► BSU VS. BUFFALO: Ball State has won all 13 previous meetings with Buffalo . . . Last season, BSU scored a 3-1 (25-21, 26-28, 25-23, 25-20) win at Buffalo Oct. 4 . . . The Bulls are 0-8 all-time in Muncie.
► BRANDL FINDING A HOME: Sophomore middle blocker Kelsey Brandl is starting to find her home in the Ball State lineup, finishing last week with career-high for kills (13 at EMU) and total blocks (seven at CMU) . . . In addition, Brandl paced the team with a .488 attack percentage in the two matches, recording just three attack errors on 41 swings, while posting 23 kills.
► MORE FROM THE MIDDLE: After finishing the week with a .488 attack percentage, Kelsey Brandl now leads the team and ranks third in the MAC with a .339 attack percentage . . . Brandl, who has recorded double-digit kills in three of the last five matches, also ranks first on the team with a 0.98 blocks-per-set average.
► RIO DIGS 20: In Saturday's match at Eastern Michigan, junior Alyssa Rio returned to the starting libero role for the first time since suffering an injury in the first match of the season . . . Rio went on to collect a season-high 20 digs versus the Eagles, marking the 29th time in her career Rio has collected 20-or-more digs in a match . . . One night earlier at Central Michigan, Rio posted 18 digs.
► GREEN SLAMS 500TH BSU KILL: In last Friday's match at Central Michigan, senior outside attacker Alisha Green smashed a season-high 19 kills giving her an even 500 for her Ball State career . . . With 14 more markers last Saturday at Eastern Michigan, Green currently has 514 career kills for the Cardinals . . . Factoring in her 764 career kills in her two seasons at the University of Tampa, Green has amassed 1,278 kills over her collegiate career.
► MCGINNIS BEHIND THE LINE: Not only has sophomore setter Brittany McGinnis led the Cardinals to a .204 team hitting percentage this season, but she has also played a big role in leading BSU to the third-best serving average, 1.43 aces per set, in the league . . . McGinnis, who ties for eighth in the MAC with a 0.29 aces-per-set average, has recorded at least one ace in eight of BSU's last nine matches, including a career-high four versus Penn (Sept. 18.) . . . She has also collected two aces in three of the last nine outings . . . McGinnis currently leads the Cardinals with 16 aces.
► KAKATOLIS BREAKS INTO TOP 20: After being credited with one block assist last weekend, senior opposite attacker Elaina Kakatolis continues to rank 19th in program history with 211 career block assists . . . In addition, her 232 career blocks are four shy of the top 20 in BSU annals, while her 722 career kills leave her 49 markers away from the top 20.
► BREIVOGEL EYES EIGHTH: Senior outside attacker Julie Breivogel, who recorded her 1,000th career kill versus Dayton (Aug. 29), enters the week with 1,137 career kills after smashing 13 in BSU's two matches last week . . . The 13 kills moved Breivogel past Mindy Stanley's (1993-96) total of 1,135 kills for ninth on BSU's all-time list . . . Next on the list is Julie Zylka (1998-2001) who posted 1,199 kills over her BSU career.
►OVER THE AIR WAVES: 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 2009 season . . . The station is slated to cover all 11 of the Cardinals home matches this season, as well as select road contests, including Thursday's match at Toledo, and all of BSU's 2009 MAC Tournament action . . . 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 7 to 8 p.m. beginning Aug. 31.
►ON THE TUBE: The Ball State Sports Network will televise a pair of BSU matches (Oct. 24 versus Miami and Nov. 12 versus Toledo) . . . In addition, Ball State Sports Link will webcast the Oct. 23 match versus Bowling Green . . . The Oct. 23 match will be streamed for FREE on www.ballstatesports.com, while fans will need a Ball State All-Access account to watch the other two contests.
