Ball State University Athletics
Men's Volleyball Hosts IPFW Friday, Loyola Saturday
February 26, 2009 | Men's Volleyball
BSU RETURNS TO LEAGUE PLAY: After five-straight non-conference matches, the Ball State men's volleyball team returns to Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association action this weekend with matches against IPFW (Friday) and Loyola (Saturday) . . . Both matches will be played at Worthen Arena and start at 7:30 p.m.
BALL STATE VS. IPFW: Ball State owns a commanding 59-25 advantage in the battle of I-69, including a series sweep last season, with a 3-1 (30-26, 24-30, 30-19, 30-27) road win March 7 and a 3-2 (32-34, 23-30, 30-23, 30-28, 15-11) home victory March 21 . . . Overall, BSU has won 13 of the last 18 matches between the two teams, including two straight home wins.
BALL STATE VS. LOYOLA: The overall series is currently tied at 16-16 . . . Last season, the two teams split the regular season series with Loyola scoring a 3-0 (30-24, 30-26, 30-26) home win Jan. 12 and Ball State posting a 3-1 (31-33, 30-27, 30-19, 34-32) home win Feb. 20 . . . The Cardinals' win on Feb. 20 stopped a four-match losing streak to Loyola.
SCOUTING BALL STATE: The Cardinals enter the week with a 5-4 overall record after sweeping MSOE and Carthage last week . . . Todd Chamberlain paces the Ball State attack with a 3.42 kills-per-game average, while J.D. Gasparovic leads the BSU offense and the nation with a .546 (61-8-97) attack percentage . . . At the net, Gasparovic also owns a team-best 1.31 blocks-per-game average . . . Ethan Pheister has set the BSU offense to a .283 rate of success this season, while adding 1.29 digs and 1.14 blocks per game . . . Billy Ebel holds down the BSU backcourt with a team and league-best 2.89 digs-per-game average.
SCOUTING IPFW: The Mastodons enter the week with a 7-4 overall record after sweeping St. Francis and losing to Penn State last week . . . Darryl Shank paces the IPFW attack with a 4.25 kills-per-game average, while Oliver Kook leads the Mastodons' offense with a .362 (79-24-152) attack percentage . . . At the net, Kook also owns a team-best 1.20 blocks-per-game average . . . Dan Mader and Corey Stewart split time as IPFW's setter and have guided the offense to a .240 rate of success this season . . . Matt Pliske holds down the IPFW backcourt with a 2.14 digs-per-game average.
SCOUTING LOYOLA: The Ramblers enter the week with a 7-3 overall record and ranked 14th in the latest Bison/AVCA Division I-II Men's Coaches Top 15 Poll after toping then-No. 1 Penn State and St. Francis in five games each last weekend . . . Mike Bunting paces the Loyola attack with a 4.13 kills-per-game average, while Michael Morice leads the Ramblers offense with a .445 (73-16-128) attack percentage . . . At the net, Morice also owns a team-best 0.92 blocks-per-game average . . . Michael Hutz has set the Loyola offense to a .298 rate of success this season, while adding 1.55 digs per game . . . Tommy Becker holds down the Ramblers backcourt with a 2.41 digs-per-game average.
CARDINALS IN THE POLLS: For the fourth time this season, the Ball State men's volleyball team finds itself outside of the top 15, pulling in six points in the latest Bison/AVCA Division I-II Men's Coaches Top 15 Poll . . . Ohio State currently holds the No. 15 slot with 28 points . . . Ball State was ranked 12th in the preseason poll and 13th in the Jan. 12, Jan. 19 and Feb. 2 polls . . . After a 1-5 start in 2008, the Cardinals finished the year ranked 10th in the nation after climbing as high as sixth in the final March poll.
TEAM EFFORT LEADS BSU TO 1,000TH WIN: In the Feb. 13 win over MSOE, 14 of BSU's 15 active players helped guide the program to its 1,000th all-time win . . . Redshirt junior Ben Irwin and sophomore James Emming led the BSU offense with seven kills apiece, while sophomore transfer Andy Nelson added six . . . Overall, 11 different Cardinals recorded at least one kill in the contest, with Lee Meyer providing the match winner for one of his five connections with the hardwood floor . . . Overall, over 250 alumni and 18 current student-athletes have helped the Cardinals reach the 1,000 win plateau . . . Eight alumni and program founder Don Shondell have been inducted into the Ball State Athletics Hall of Fame.
1,002 AND COUNTING: With two more wins last weekend, Ball State men's volleyball has amassed an overall program record of 1,002-393-8 in 45-plus years . . . The program joins baseball (1,355-1,266-14 in 88-plus years as of Feb. 22) and men's basketball (1,077-976-1 in 87+ years as of Feb. 21) as the only programs in school history to reach 1,000 wins . . . 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 1,178-245 record over 46-plus years (as of Feb. 20).
MORE WINNING MILESTONES TO COME: BSU head coach Joel Walton enters Friday's match versus IPFW with a 198-108 (.647) career coaching record . . . Walton picked up his first career head coaching victory versus Mercyhurst Jan. 17, 1999, while his 100th win came versus Springfield College Feb. 1, 2004 . . . In league action, Walton owns a 104-41 MIVA ledger with his 100th career victory coming at Mercyhurst (March 8, 2008).
PERFECT SWING: Ball State sophomore transfer Andy Nelson recorded a perfect 1.000 attack percentage in the team's win at Carthage last Saturday (Feb. 22) . . . Nelson smashed seven kills on seven swings with no errors in the contest . . . At MSOE one day earlier, Nelson pounded eight kills on 14 swings with no errors for a .571 hitting mark . . . Nelson finished the week hitting .714 (15-0-21) and added eight total blocks, including a career-high tying seven total blocks at Carthage.
PHEISTER DISHING IT OUT: After handing out 66 assists last week, junior setter Ethan Pheister became just the seventh player in program history to reach 2,000 career assists . . . Pheister, who enters Friday's match versus IPFW with exactly 2,000 assists, 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.
WHEN AT HOME: Playing near his hometown of Shorewood, Wis., last weekend - - which was less than five miles from MSOE and less than 50 miles from Carthage - - junior setter Ethan Pheister turned in a pair of solid performances . . . At Carthage, Pheister recorded a career-best five service aces while guiding the Ball State offense to a .455 attack percentage . . . He also added five digs, four blocks and three kills in the win . . . At MSOE, Pheister tallied five blocks, four digs, an ace and a kill, while leading BSU to a .226 hitting mark.
TOP DOG: Dubbed "The Bulldog" by public address announcer and BSU men's volleyball alum Steve Shondell, sophomore J.D. Gasparovic leads the nation with a .546 hitting percentage . . . Gasparovic has hit .500-or-better in eight of BSU's nine matches this season, including a .591 rate of success after smashing a career-high 15 kills on 22 swings with just two errors in the win over then No. 11 Lewis (Jan. 30) . . . At the net, Gasparovic ranks second in the MIVA and 15th nationally with a 1.31 blocks-per-game average.
CHAMBERLAIN GOING FOR TOP 20: After collecting 17 kills last weekend, senior Todd Chamberlain raised his career kill total to 699 . . . Chamberlain, who ranks 16th in program annals with a 2.86 career kills-per-game average, needs 146 more kills to pass Lee Killian's (1980-83) total of 844 kills for 20th on BSU's career list . . . Chamberlain is also nearing 400 career digs and 150 career blocks, with 380 and 138, respectively entering Friday's contest.
EBEL DIGGING IT UP: Junior libero Billy Ebel, who has posted double-figure digs in five of Ball State's nine matches this season, enters the week ranked first in the MIVA with a 2.89 digs-per-game average . . . Ebel, who posted a career-high 16 digs at St. Francis (Jan. 24), also ranks sixth in the nation with his 2.89 average.
HOW SWEEP IT IS: All five of Ball State's victories this season have come in three-game sweeps . . . Overall, the Cardinals are 5-2 in three-game matches this season, while posting an 0-2 mark in four-game contests . . . BSU is yet to go five games this season . . . Ball State is also 5-1 when it wins the first set, only dropping the match at St. Francis (Jan. 24).
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.
