Ball State University Athletics
WVB Hosts Akron In MAC Tournament Play Tuesday
November 16, 2009 | Women's Volleyball
► LET THE TOURNAMENT BEGIN: The Ball State women's volleyball team opens play in the 2009 Mid-American Conference Tournament as the No. 8 seed Tuesday, when it hosts No. 9 seed Akron at 7 p.m. inside Worthen Arena . . . The Cardinals secured the No. 8 seed and hosting rights with a 3-2 (25-21, 20-25, 25-14, 23-25, 15-9) victory at Akron last Saturday.
► MORE ON THE SEED: After finishing the regular season with wins in four of its last five matches, Ball State enters the 2009 Mid-American Conference Tournament with a 14-15 (7-9 MAC) record . . . With its 7-9 league mark, the Cardinals earned the eighth seed in the MAC Tournament and will face ninth seed Akron who finished the regular season with a 14-17 (5-11 MAC) record . . . A complete tournament bracket can be found at the end of this release.
► 19 AND COUNTING: Ball State will be appearing in its 19th-straight Mid-American Conference Tournament when it hosts Akron in first-round action Tuesday . . . Last season, the seventh-seeded Cardinals went 1-1 in MAC Tournament play, posting a 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-19) sweep of No. 11 Eastern Michigan, before being swept by No. 2 Ohio by a score of 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-18) at the SeaGate Centre in Toledo . . . Ball State is 3-0 in first round matches played in Worthen Arena since 2003, when the league allowed all teams to play in the tournament . . . From 1987-1996, only the top four league teams participated in the tournament, while the field expanded to eight teams in 1997.
► ALL-TIME IN THE TOURNAMENT: After topping Eastern Michigan and falling to Ohio in the 2008 Mid-American Conference Tournament, Ball State is a combined 27-14 (.658) all-time in MAC Tournament matches . . . Both BSU's 27 wins and 41 matches played are league records . . . Overall, Ball State is 3-1 in first round matches, 9-2 in quarterfinal matches, 9-8 in semifinal matches and 6-3 in championship matches . . . Ball State has more tournament wins (27) than eight other MAC schools have matches played . . . Miami (34), Western Michigan (33) and Bowling Green (29) are the only schools to play in more tournament matches than BSU has wins.
► AT HOME IN THE TOURNAMENT: Including a 3-0 first-round sweep of Eastern Michigan last season, Ball State is 16-1 all-time in MAC Tournament matches played in Worthen Arena, with its only loss coming in the 2003 semifinals versus eventual tournament champion Ohio . . . BSU has never lost a tournament-opening match at Worthen Arena, going 3-0 in first round matches, 6-0 in quarterfinal play and 1-0 in semifinal action . . . BSU claimed three MAC Tournament titles on the Worthen Arena hardwood floor (1994, 1999 and 2002), before the final three rounds were moved to a neutral site for the 2005 event.
► BALL STATE IN MAC PLAY: Ball State ended the 2009 regular season with a 280-143 (.662) 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 at 293-130 (.693) . . . Akron ended the season with a 140-165 (.459) all-time MAC record.
► SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: Ball State enters MAC Tournament play with a 14-15 (7-9 MAC) record after posting wins over Toledo and Akron last week . . . Senior Alisha Green enters the week as BSU's top attacker with a 2.85 kills-per-set average, while sophomore Kelsey Brandl leads the team and ranks second in the league with a .349 attack percentage . . . Sophomore Brittany McGinnis has set the Ball State offense to a .200 rate of success this season, while producing a 9.43 assists-per-set average . . . Junior Alyssa Rio leads the Cardinals backcourt with a 3.81 digs-per-set average, while Brandl is the team's top blocker averaging 0.95 blocks per set . . . As a team, BSU is averaging 12.51 kills, 14.62 digs and 1.99 blocks per set . . . The Cardinals' opponents are hitting .177, while averaging 11.68 kills, 13.13 digs and 1.77 blocks per set.
► SCOUTING AKRON: The Zips enter the week with a 14-17 (5-11 MAC) record after sweeping Buffalo and losing to Ball State in five last week . . . Akron is 4-8 in true road matches this season, including a 2-6 record against league foes . . . Brionna Patterson is Akron's top attacker with a 3.97 kills-per-set average, while Tina Dimitrijevs paces the team with a .217 attack percentage . . . Kara Smith has set the Zips offense to a .192 attack percentage this season, while dishing out 10.10 assists per set . . . Chelsea Harvey leads the Akron backcourt with a 3.14 digs-per-set average, while Jackie Goleman has a team-best 0.60 blocks-per-set average . . . As a team, Akron is averaging 12.65 kills, 13.33 digs and 1.45 blocks per set . . . The Zips' opponents are hitting .222, while averaging 12.02 kills, 12.72 digs and 2.12 blocks per set.
► BSU VS. AKRON: The Cardinals hold a 26-3 edge in the all-time series versus the Zips including a 3-2 (25-21, 20-25, 25-14, 23-25, 15-9) victory last Saturday in Akron . . . In MAC Tournament action, the Cardinals are 3-0 versus the Zips, including a 3-2 (25-30, 30-21, 33-31, 21-30, 15-9) win in the 2002 championship match . . . BSU also has a quarterfinal and a semifinal round victory over Akron . . . In the latest match at Worthen Arena, Akron handed the Cardinals a 3-2 (25-21, 19-25, 25-21, 21-25, 15-13) setback Nov. 9, 2008 . . . It was the Zips first-ever win in both Worthen Arena and Muncie, Ind. . . . Overall, the Zips are 1-11 (.083) in matches played in Worthen Arena.
► LAST SATURDAY'S SHOWDOWN: In last Saturday's victory over Akron, Ball State was able to spread out its offense, as five different players recorded double-figure kills . . . Kelsey Brandl led the Cardinals with 16 kills, while Hannah Sullivan (14), Charde' Phillips (11), Jennifer Boyd (11) and Alisha Green (10) also scored double-figure kills . . . It was the first time in over a year the Cardinals have had five players score in double-figures in a match . . . The last time BSU had five players post double-digit kills was Nov. 9, 2008 in Akron's last visit to Worthen Arena.
► BRANDL EARNS MAC WEEKLY HONOR: For the second time this season, Kelsey Brandl has been named the MAC Offensive Player of the Week . . . Brandl, who is the only West Division player to earn the award twice this season, averaged team-highs of 3.75 kills and 1.38 blocks per set last week . . . She also finished the week hitting .529 (30-3-51), which was more than double the team's average of .252 for the two matches . . . In last Thursday's win over Toledo, Brandl smashed a match-high 14 kills while hitting .522 (14-2-23) . . . In Saturday's thrilling five-set win at Akron, Brandl blasted a team-best 16 kills while hitting for an impressive .536 (16-1-28) rate of success . . . She also posted a match-high six blocks versus Toledo and a match-best five blocks versus the Zips.
► MORE ON BRANDL: Entering Tuesday's MAC Tournament showdown with Akron, Brandl ranks second in the conference with a .366 attacking percentage in league-only matches . . . Her 3.65 points per set in league play has Brandl ranked ninth in the MAC, with her being the only middle blocker on the list.
► SULLIVAN DOUBLES UP: In last Saturday's match at Akron, junior Hannah Sullivan smashed a 14 kills while adding a season-best 18 digs for her second double-double of the year . . . Sullivan, who also scored 13 kills and five digs in Thursday's win over Toledo, has tallied double-doubles in two of BSU's last four contests.
► RIO PACING THE D: Junior libero Alyssa Rio continued her defensive explosion for the Cardinals last weekend, racking up 49 digs for a 6.12 digs-per-set average . . . In Thursday's win over Toledo, Rio paced all players with 23 digs over three sets . . . Saturday at Akron, Rio added a team-best 26 digs, while recording two service aces and a kill . . . With her solid effort in the BSU backcourt, Rio now ranks sixth in the league with a 3.81 digs-per-set average.
► MORE ON RIO: Alyssa Rio enters the week ranked fourth in program history with 1,314 career digs . . . She needs 166 more digs to pass Amanda McCormick's (2005-06) career total of 1,579 for third on BSU's all-time list . . . Rio also ranks third in program history with 20-or-more digs in 32 matches and in career digs-per-set average (4.73) . . . In addition, her 67 career matches with double-figure digs tie for third in BSU history.
► BSU ON DEFENSE: Ball State enters the week ranked third in the conference with a .176 opponent hitting percentage . . . In league-only matches, BSU has limited its opponents to a .167 rate of success . . . Over the last five matches, in which the Cardinals have won four, Ball State has limited the opposition to a .114 attacking mark while averaging 2.68 blocks per set . . . In the Nov. 8 win over Central Michigan, the Ball State defense limited the Chippewas to a season-low -.133 (21-36-113) attack percentage . . . The mark was the lowest for a BSU opponent in the rally-scoring era, as was CMU's -.412 (2-16-34) hitting mark in the third set.
