Ball State University Athletics
WVB Opens Season Friday At No. 19 Purdue
August 26, 2009 | Women's Volleyball
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► VOLLEYBALL OPENS SEASON FRIDAY: The Ball State women's volleyball team opens its 38th season of competition Friday when it travels to West Lafayette, Ind. for the 2009 Mortar Board Premier Tournament hosted by Purdue . . . The Cardinals will battle the 19th-ranked Boilermakers in both team's season openers at 7 p.m. . . . Saturday, the Cardinals will play both Dayton (12 p.m.) and Coastal Carolina (5 p.m.) to round out tournament action.
► CARDINALS ALL-TIME: Ball State enters its 38th season of competition with a 724-473-2 (.605) overall record . . . In Mid-American Conference action, the Cardinals own the second-best all-time league record among the 12 active league schools at 273-134 (.671) . . . Only Western Michigan has a better overall league record at 280-127 (.688) . . . BSU has claimed seven MAC regular season titles and six MAC Tournament titles, while advancing to the NCAA Tournament seven times.
► SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: The Cardinals enter the 2009 season looking to improve upon last season's record of 12-21 (6-10 MAC) . . . The Cardinals will look to do this with a roster which features all six starters and the team's libero from last season . . . Highlighting BSU's roster are a pair of MAC All-Freshman selections from a year ago in Jennifer Boyd and Brittany McGinnis . . . Boyd also earned All-MAC Second Team accolades after ranking fifth in the conference with a .313 attack percentage from the middle blocker position . . . In her first year as the team's setter, McGinnis helped raise the team's hitting percentage almost .100 points from the previous season.
► SERIES VERSUS PURDUE: The Boilermakers own a 22-9 advantage in the all-time series versus Ball State, including 14-straight victories . . . Last season, a then-No. 18 Purdue posted a 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-21) victory over the Cardinals in the Active Ankle Challenge Sept. 6, 2008 . . . Prior to last season, the two teams had not played since a 3-1 (15-6, 6-15, 15-11, 15-13) Boilermaker win Sept. 31, 1996 . . . BSU's last win in the series was a 2-1 (15-8, 10-15, 15-8) victory Nov. 11, 1977 in the IAIAW State Tournament . . . Ball State is 1-5 in West Lafayette, with its last trip to Purdue's home court coming in 1981.
► SERIES VERSUS DAYTON: The Cardinals hold a slim 7-6 advantage in the all-time series with the Flyers . . . Dayton snapped a three-match losing streak versus the Cardinals in the latest meeting (Aug. 13, 2003) with a 3-0 (30-15, 30-23, 30-24) victory in the Pittsburgh Invitational . . . BSU is 0-2 versus UD in neutral court meetings.
► SERIES VERSUS COASTAL CAROLINA: The Cardinals scored a 3-0 (15-6, 15-3, 15-4) victory over the Chanticleers in the only previous meeting between the two clubs, which took place Aug. 12, 1998 in the Duke Tournament.
► THE BALL STATE CONNECTION: Both Purdue and Dayton have Ball State connections on the bench, with BSU graduates leading each squad . . . Purdue head coach Dave Shondell played two seasons for the Ball State men's volleyball team (1978 & 1980) prior to graduating from the university in 1981 . . . In addition, Purdue assistant coach John Shondell was a four-year letterwinner for the BSU men's volleyball program (1989, 1991-93) and graduated from the university in 1993 . . . Dave and John Shondell are the sons of legendary Ball State Men's Volleyball Head Coach and 1996 Volleyball Hall of Fame inductee Dr. Don Shondell . . . Dayton head coach Kelly Sheffield is also a 1997 graduate of Ball State University, as well as a native of Muncie, Ind.
► BREIVOGEL FIVE SHY OF 1,000: Senior outside attacker Julie Breivogel enters the 2009 season ranked 10th in program history with 995 career kills, while ranking seventh with 3,134 career attempts . . . She needs five more kills to become just the 10th player in program history to record 1,000 career kills . . . Breivogel also ranks 10th in program history with double-figure kills in 53 matches, while her 2.99 career kills-per-set average ranks ninth in BSU annals.
► KAKATOLIS CLIMBING THE BLOCKING CHARTS: Senior opposite side attacker Elaina Kakatolis enters her senior season with 209 career blocks, 25 shy of breaking into the top 20 in program history . . . Her 189 career block assists are 12 shy of breaking into the top 20 in BSU annals . . . In addition, her 665 career kills leave her 106 markers away from the top 20 in BSU history.
► RIO DIGGING UP THE CHARTS: With a team-leading 566 digs in 2008, junior libero Alyssa Rio climbed to seventh on BSU's all-time career digs chart with 1,174 . . . She enters the 2009 season ranked second in career digs-per-game average (4.97), third in career matches with 20-or-more digs (28) and sixth in career matches with double-figure digs (56) in Ball State history.
►THE MEDIA: The Ball State women's volleyball team has the most comprehensive radio package in the MAC, 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 6 to 7 p.m. beginning Aug. 31 . . . In addition, the Ball State Sports Network will televise a pair of BSU matches (Oct. 24 versus Miami and Nov. 12 versus Toledo), while Ball State Sports Link is slated to webcast at least one match.
