Ball State University Athletics
Men's Volleyball Goes For 1,000th Win Friday vs. MSOE
February 12, 2009 | Men's Volleyball
GOING FOR 1,000: The Ball State men's volleyball program will be going for its 1,000th all-time win when it hosts the Milwaukee School of Engineering at 7:30 p.m. Friday (Feb. 13) at Worthen Arena . . . BSU is 3-0 all-time versus MSOE.
999 AND COUNTING: The BSU men's volleyball program picked up its 999th all-time win with a 3-0 (30-23, 30-23, 30-21) sweep of Rutgers-Newark last Friday (Feb. 6) at Worthen Arena . . . The Cardinals, who enter the week with a 999-393-8 all-time record, are one win 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 (1,075-974-1 in 87+ years as of Feb. 7) . . . 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 1,177-242 record over 46+ years (as of Feb. 6).
BALL STATE VS. MSOE: The Cardinals have won all three previous meetings with the Milwaukee School of Engineering, with all three previous matches being played in Muncie . . . In the most recent showdown, BSU scored a 3-0 (30-15, 30-20, 30-16) win over the Raiders Jan. 26, 2007 . . . Ball State also swept MSOE in the two other meetings - - 3-0 (30-19, 30-12, 30-22) March 17, 2006 and 3-0 (30-11, 30-8, 30-21) April 8, 2004 . . . After hosting the Raiders Friday, BSU will make its first trip to Milwaukee the following Friday (Feb. 20).
SCOUTING BALL STATE: The Cardinals enter the week with a 2-4 overall record after losing to George Mason and sweeping Rutgers-Newark last week . . . Todd Chamberlain paces the Ball State attack with a 3.63 kills-per-game average, while J.D. Gasparovic leads the BSU offense and the nation with a .568 (52-6-81) attack percentage . . . At the net, Gasparovic also owns a team-best 1.30 blocks-per-game average . . . Ethan Pheister has set the BSU offense to a .267 rate of success this season, while adding 1.25 digs and 0.95 blocks per game . . . Billy Ebel holds down the BSU back court with a team and league-best 3.55 digs-per-game average.
SCOUTING THE MILWAUKEE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING: The Raiders enter the week with a 2-7 overall record after suffering midweek losses to Carthage and Loyola last week . . . Max Martin paces the MSOE attack with a 2.54 kills-per-game average, while Chris Reininger leads the Raiders' offense with a .311 (51-19-103) attack percentage . . . At the net, Reininger also owns a team-best 0.77 blocks-per-game average . . . Chris Brandt has set the MSOE offense to a .188 rate of success this season, while adding 1.83 digs per game . . . Jon Holzbauer holds down the Milwaukee School of Engineering back court with a 3.30 digs-per-game average.
CARDINALS IN THE POLLS: For the second time this season, the Ball State men's volleyball team finds itself outside of the top 15, pulling in just 17 points in the latest Bison/AVCA Division I-II Men's Coaches Top 15 Poll . . . Lewis holds the No. 15 slot with 30 points . . . BSU was ranked 12th in the preseason poll and 13th for three of the previous four weeks . . . After a 1-5 start in 2008, the Cardinals finished the year ranked 10th, after climbing as high as sixth in the final March poll.
SPEAKING OF WINNING MILESTONES: BSU head coach Joel Walton enters the week with a 195-108 (.644) 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 104-41 MIVA ledger after picking up his 100th career victory at Mercyhurst (March 8, 2008).
IMWALLE WITH THE BIG SWINGS: After seeing limited time in the first five matches of the season, BSU sophomore Marcus Imwalle came to life in last Friday's win over Rutgers-Newark, tying a career-high with 17 kills in the three game victory . . . He also notched eight digs, three block assists, two aces and an assist in the win, while hitting for a .407 (17-6-27) rate of success . . . Imwalle, who did not play one night earlier versus George Mason, had only tallied eight kills in his first four outings this year . . . His 17 kills tied a career-high set in is collegiate debut versus then No. 3 UCLA (Jan. 3, 2008).
TOP DOG: Dubbed "The Bulldog" by public address announcer and BSU men's volleyball alum Steve Shondell, sophomore J.D. Gasparovic currently leads the nation with a .568 hitting percentage . . . Gasparovic has hit .500-or-better in all six matches this season, including a .591 rate of success after smashing a career-high 15 kills on 22 swings with just two errors in Ball State's win over then No. 11 Lewis (Jan. 30) . . . At the net, Gasparovic ranks second in the MIVA and 14th nationally with a 1.57 blocks-per-game average.
CHAMBERLAIN GOING FOR TOP 20: After collecting 19 kills last week, senior Todd Chamberlain raised his career kill total to 679 . . . Chamberlain, who now ranks 16th in program annals with a 2.86 career kills-per-game average, needs 166 more kills to pass Lee Killian's (1980-83) career total of 844 kills for 20th on BSU's career list.
WELCOME BACK MCCARTHY: After missing the first three matches of the season due to injury, BSU fifth-year senior Matt McCarthy returned to the lineup in the Jan. 30 win over then No. 11 Lewis . . . In the victory, McCarthy smashed seven kills while connecting for a .500 hitting mark and adding four block assists . . . He also saw limited action versus George Mason and Rutgers-Newark last week, playing in four of the six games while tallying five blocks and four kills over the two matches . . . McCarthy enters the week ranked third in program history with a .413 career hitting percentage, while his 1.11 blocks-per-game average is 11th on BSU's career list . . . He also places 18th on BSU's career total block chart at 330, while ranking 13th in career block assists at 277.
PHEISTER DISHING IT OUT: After handing out 81 assists last week, junior setter Ethan Pheister enters Friday's match versus the Milwaukee School of Engineering ranked seventh in program history with 1,914 career assists . . . Pheister became the 13th player in program history to log over 1,000 career assists in BSU's win over Mercyhurst (Feb. 16, 2008) . . . Dave Carlson (2005-06) is sixth on BSU's all-time career assists list with 2,153 helpers, while Chris Cooper (1987-90) is the program's all-time leader with 7,281 assists.
EBEL DIGGING IT UP: Junior libero Billy Ebel, who has posted double-figure digs in five of Ball State's six matches this season, enters the week ranked first in the MIVA with a 3.55 digs-per-game average . . . Ebel, who posted a career-high 16 digs at St. Francis (Jan. 24), also ranks third in the nation with his 3.55 average.
SPRAGUE PROVIDES SPARK: Junior Matt Sprague provided a spark for the Cardinals in the third game versus George Mason, coming off the bench to slam four kills while adding two digs and a service ace . . . He followed the effort with seven kills, five digs, an ace and a block assist in the win over Rutgers-Newark . . . Prior to last weekend, Sprague only had four kills and a dig in the first three matches he played this season.
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 and followed with 1,507 fans versus No. 11 Lewis (Jan. 30) . . . Since Worthen Arena began hosting BSU men's volleyball in 1992, the Cardinals have cracked the 1,000 mark in attendance a total of 17 times, with 15 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 serve as the radio home for the Ball State men's volleyball team during the 2009 season . . . The student-run station is slated to broadcast all 12 home matches, as well as selected road matches and the entire MIVA Tournament . . . James Rider will provide the play-by-play action, while Nick Golden provides the color commentary and Adam Lickliter brings the sideline reports . . . The station also serves 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.
