Ball State University Athletics
Women's Volleyball Hosts EMU & CMU This Weekend
November 04, 2009 | Women's Volleyball
► BACK HOME AT WORTHEN ARENA: The Ball State women's volleyball team opens its final home stand of the 2009 regular season this weekend with matches versus Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan . . . The Cardinals and Eagles will battle at 7 p.m. Friday, while the Chippewas visit Worthen Arena at 1 p.m. Sunday.
► NO LUCK AGAINST MICHIGAN SCHOOLS: After suffering a 3-0 setback at Western Michigan last Friday, the Cardinals are 0-4 versus teams from the state of Michigan this season . . . WMU swept the season series versus BSU, while Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan posted wins in their first meeting with Ball State.
► HOW ABOUT TEAMS FROM ILLINOIS: In contrast, with a 3-0 sweep of Northern Illinois last Saturday, the Cardinals are 5-0 versus teams from the state of Illinois . . . BSU has posted a pair of wins over the Huskies, while earning non-conference victories against SIU-Edwardsville, Chicago State and Eastern Illinois.
► LOOKING AHEAD: After splitting a pair of league matches last weekend, the Cardinals enter Friday's showdown versus Eastern Michigan with a 4-8 Mid-American Conference record . . . If the regular season ended today, Ball State would be on the road for its first round MAC Tournament contest as the No. 10 seed at No. 7 Toledo (5-7 MAC).
► BALL STATE IN MAC PLAY: Ball State enters the week with a 277-142 (.661) 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 290-129 (.692) all-time MAC mark . . . Eastern Michigan is 185-234 (.442) all-time in MAC play, while Central Michigan is 217-202 (.518).
► SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: Ball State enters the week with an 11-14 (4-8 MAC) record after losing at Western Michigan Friday before scoring a sweep at Northern Illinois Saturday . . . Senior Alisha Green enters the week as BSU's top attacker with a 2.99 kills-per-set average, while junior Charde' Phillips leads the team and ranks third 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 9.34 assists-per-set average . . . Sophomore Kaylee Schembra leads the Cardinals backcourt with a 3.08 digs-per-set average, while Kelsey Brandl is the team's top blocker averaging 0.94 blocks per set . . . As a team, BSU is averaging 12.45 kills, 14.09 digs and 1.89 blocks per set . . . The Cardinals' opponents are hitting .193, while averaging 11.82 kills, 12.89 digs and 1.78 blocks per set.
► SCOUTING EASTERN MICHIGAN: The Eagles enter the week with a 4-24 (3-9 MAC) record after scoring a road sweep at Central Michigan last Friday before losing a 3-1 home contest to Ohio Saturday . . . The win at CMU was the Eagles first true road win of the season, as they are 1-11 in away contests . . . EMU is also 1-7 in neutral site matches . . . Rachel Iaquaniello is Eastern Michigan's top attacker with a 3.22 kills-per-set average, while Jennifer Swartz has a team-leading .233 attack percentage . . . Ashley Mason has set the Eagles offense to a .154 attack percentage this season, while dishing out 8.64 assists per set . . . Haley Stein leads the team with a 4.40 digs-per-set average, while Swartz is the program's top blocker averaging 0.82 blocks per set . . . As a team, Eastern Michigan is averaging 11.44 kills, 15.54 digs and 1.77 blocks per set . . . The Eagles' opponents are hitting .228, while averaging 14.08 kills, 17.33 digs and 1.79 blocks per set.
► BSU VS. EMU: Ball State owns a 43-19 lead in the all-time series versus Eastern Michigan . . . Earlier this year, EMU scored a 3-1 (23-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-23) home victory on Oct. 3 to snap a three-match losing streak in the series . . . EMU is 6-25 all-time in Muncie, Ind., including a 1-19 mark in Worthen Arena . . . The Eagles only win in Worthen was a 3-0 (30-15, 30-14, 30-19) victory Oct. 27, 2007.
► SCOUTING CENTRAL MICHIGAN: The Chippewas enter the week with a 14-8 (7-5 MAC) record after falling to EMU last Friday and sweeping Kent State Saturday . . . CMU has lost four of its last five road matches entering the week . . . Lauren Krupsky is Central Michigan's top attacker with a 3.75 kills-per-set average, while Kaitlyn Schultz paces the team with a .305 attack percentage . . . Stephanie Budde has set the Chippewas offense to a .217 attack percentage this season, while dishing out 9.81 assists per set . . . Alexis Lonneman leads the CMU backcourt with a 4.66 digs-per-set average, while Schultz has a team-best 0.85 blocks-per-set average . . . As a team, Central Michigan is averaging 13.18 kills, 15.52 digs and 1.80 blocks per set . . . The Chippewas' opponents are hitting .178, while averaging 11.30 kills, 14.35 digs and 1.90 blocks per set.
► BSU VS. CMU: Despite five straight losses to Central Michigan, including a 3-2 (9-25, 25-27, 25-21, 25-23, 15-12) setback in the first meeting Oct. 2, the Cardinals own a 33-28 lead in the all-time series . . . Overall, the Chippewas are 11-16 all-time in Muncie, including a 3-12 mark in Worthen Arena.
► RIO UP TO FOURTH: After coming away with a match-best 15 digs in last Saturday's win at Northern Illinois, BSU junior libero/defensive specialist Alyssa Rio climbed to fourth in program history with 1,312 career digs . . . Despite missing 12 matches due to injury, Rio has racked up 138 digs this season for a 2.94 digs-per-set average . . . Rio needs 267 more digs to pass Amanda McCormick (2005-06), who tallied 1,579 digs over her career, for third on BSU's all-time digs list.
► MORE ON RIO: Alyssa Rio recorded double-digit digs in both of the Cardinals' matches last week, upping her season total to seven, and her career total to 63 . . . The 63 matches with double-figure digs ranks fourth in BSU annals . . . Rio, who posted a season-high 20 digs at Eastern Michigan (Oct. 3), is also third in program history with 29 matches with 20-or-more digs.
► UP THE MIDDLE: Ball State's middle attackers Kelsey Brandl and Charde' Phillips are two of the top hitters in the league entering the week . . . Phillips currently ranks third in the conference with a .349 attack percentage, while Brandl is fifth at .334 . . . In league-only matches, Brandl is third in the MAC with a .352 rate of success . . . Phillips, who has been hampered by injury during league play, is hitting .279 in a limited number of league sets.
► SCHEMBRA DIGS IT: Kaylee Schembra has posted double-figure digs in a team-high 15 matches this season and 27 times over her career . . . After posting eight digs in BSU's two matches last week, Kaylee Schembra upped her career digs total to 566 . . . Schembra is one of only three active Cardinals to have at least 500 career digs, joining junior Alyssa Rio (1,312) and senior Julie Breivogel (688).
► KAKATOLIS MOVES UP BLOCKING CHARTS: With five total blocks last weekend, senior Elaina Kakatolis is tied with Katie Butts (1999-2002) for 19th on BSU's all-time total blocks chart with 241 . . . She entered the week tied for 20th at 236 . . . Kakatolis also moved up one spot to 18th in program history with 219 career block assists . . . In addition, her 738 career kills leave her 33 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 ranked ninth in program history with 1,196 career kills after smashing 23 last week . . . She needs four more kills to pass Julie Zylka's (1998-2001) career total of 1,199 for eighth on BSU's all-time list.
► BREIVOGEL STRONG AT NIU: In last Saturday's sweep of Northern Illinois, Julie Breivogel smashed a match-best 18 kills . . . The 18 kills are a three-set career-high for the senior, topping her previous best of 15 which she accomplished two times her freshman year . . . Breivogel's .378 (18-4-37) hitting mark versus the Huskies was also a season-high.
►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 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.
►ON THE TUBE: The Ball State Sports Network will televise a pair of BSU matches (Oct. 24 vs. Miami and Nov. 12 vs. Toledo) . . . In addition, Ball State Sports Link webcasted the Oct. 23 match vs. Bowling Green . . . The Oct. 23 match was streamed for FREE on www.ballstatesports.com, while fans need a Ball State All-Access account to watch the other two contests.
