Ball State University Athletics
Women's Volleyball Opens Play In Towson Invitational Friday
September 16, 2009 | Women's Volleyball
2009 Towson Invitational Tournament Website Link
Webstreaming Link for Ball State vs. Towson Match
► VOLLEYBALL ON ROAD FOR FOUR THIS WEEK: The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to the road this weekend for four matches starting Tuesday at IUPUI . . . The Cardinals and Jaguars will do battle at 7 p.m., with WCRD 91.3 FM covering the match live both over the air and online at the link above . . . BSU will then travel to Towson, Maryland for the Towson Invitational . . . During the tournament, BSU will face Penn (Friday @ Noon), George Washington (Friday @ 4:30 p.m.) and Towson (Saturday @ 10 a.m.).
► TOURNAMENT TITLE: Last weekend, the Cardinals swept their way to the Best Western ISU Classic title with victories over Chicago State (3-0; 25-8, 25-10, 25-12), Eastern Illinois (3-0; 25-14, 25-22, 25-17) and host Indiana State (3-0; 25-19, 25-18, 25-20) . . . BSU's Alisha Green was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player and was joined on the all-tournament team by Charde' Phillips and Kaylee Schembra.
► SWEET SEPTEMBER: Ball State enters Tuesday's match at IUPUI with a 5-1 record in the month of September . . . BSU went 2-1 at the Active Ankle Challenge (Sept. 4-5) while going a perfect 3-0 at the Best Western ISU Classic (Sept. 11-12) to capture its first tournament title since the 2005 Georgetown Hoya Classic.
► OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION: The Cardinals offense exploded for a .325 hitting mark in the Best Western ISU Classic, including a .423 rate of success versus Chicago State . . . BSU's hitting mark versus CSU was the team's best since a .425 showing versus Northern Illinois Oct. 28, 2005.
► SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: Ball State enters the 2009 Towson Invitational with a 5-4 record after winning last weekend's Best Western ISU Classic . . . Senior Alisha Green enters the week as BSU's top attacker with a 2.89 kills-per-set average, while junior Charde' Phillips leads the team with a .421 attack percentage . . . Sophomore Brittany McGinnis has set the Ball State offense to a .231 rate of success this season, while producing two of BSU's three double-doubles to date . . . Christie Waters leads the Cardinals' backcourt with a 3.57 digs-per-set average, while Kelsey Brandl is the team's top blocker averaging 0.64 blocks per set . . . As a team, BSU is averaging 12.67 kills, 13.83 digs and 1.63 blocks per set . . . The Cardinals' opponents are hitting .190, while averaging 11.70 kills, 12.30 digs and 1.67 blocks per set.
► SCOUTING IUPUI: The Jaguars enter the week with an 8-1 overall record . . . Last week, IUPUI topped Butler in five, while sweeping Western Illinois to open The Summit League season . . . Kalyse Reimbold is IUPUI's top attacker, racking up 107 kills for a 3.24 kills-per-set average . . . Danielle Goodnight has set the Jaguars offense to a .205 attack percentage this season, while leading the team with a .329 hitting mark herself . . . Shari Bernhardt leads the team with a 4.45 digs-per-set average, while Ashley Johnson is the program's top blocker averaging 0.68 blocks per set . . . As a team, IUPUI is averaging 13.30 kills, 17.82 digs and 1.39 blocks per set . . . The Jaguars' opponents are hitting .155, while averaging 11.06 kills, 16.70 digs and 2.11 blocks per set.
► SCOUTING PENN: The Quakers enter the week with a 6-1 record after going 3-1 at last weekend's Houston Baptist Tournament, scoring wins over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (3-1), Cal State Bakersfield (3-1) and Houston Baptist (3-0), while being swept by Lamar . . . Elizabeth Semmens is Penn's top attacker, racking up 114 kills for a 4.07 kills-per-set average, while Ashley Hawkins paces the team with a .361 attack percentage . . . Megan Tryon has set the Penn offense to a .212 attack percentage this season, while dishing out 11.18 assists per set . . . Madi Wojciechowski leads the Quakers' backcourt with a 5.54 digs-per-set average, while Ashley Hawkins has a team-best 1.00 blocks-per-set average . . . As a team, Penn is averaging 14.14 kills, 17.14 digs and 2.04 blocks per set . . . The Quakers' opponents are hitting .187, while averaging 12.36 kills, 15.75 digs and 1.71 blocks per set.
► SCOUTING GEORGE WASHINGTON: The Colonials enter the week with a 5-4 record after going 2-1 at the Villanova Classic where they topped Princeton (3-2) and the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (3-1) before falling in the championship match to Villanova (3-1) . . . Leah Hill is George Washington's top attacker, racking up 124 kills for a 3.54 kills-per-set average, while Abby Syverson paces the team with a .318 attack percentage . . . Alyssa Valentine has also set the GW offense to a .186 attack percentage this season, while dishing out 9.97 assists per set . . . Canda Silva-Martin leads the Colonials' backcourt with a 5.29 digs-per-set average, while Katie Zulandt has a team-best 0.82 blocks-per-set average . . . As a team, GW is averaging 12.46 kills, 17.97 digs and 1.80 blocks per set . . . The Colonials' opponents are hitting .208, while averaging 13.77 kills, 16.89 digs and 1.83 blocks per set.
► SCOUTING TOWSON: The Tigers enter the weekend with a 7-4 record after going 1-2 at last weekend's Binghamton Tournament . . . Towson lost to Binghamton (3-0) and Cornell (3-0) before topping Fairleigh-Dickinson (3-0) . . . Britney Loomis is Towson's top attacker, racking up 103 kills for a 2.51 kills-per-set average, while Shelynne Hoyt paces the team with a .259 attack percentage . . . Katee Luecke and Evan Schulz have combined to lead the Tigers to a .166 attack percentage, averaging 7.31 and 5.77 assists per set, respectively . . . Missy Rohrbaugh leads the Towson backcourt with a 3.51 digs-per-set average, while Hoyt has a team-best 0.88 blocks-per-set average . . . As a team, Towson is averaging 11.02 kills, 13.78 digs and 1.91 blocks per set . . . The Tigers' opponents are hitting .141, while averaging 11.20 kills, 13.63 digs and 1.40 blocks per set.
► SERIES VERSUS THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: BSU owns a 9-3 advantage in the all-time series versus IUPUI despite losses in three of the last four meetings . . . Last season, the Jaguars topped the Cardinals 3-1 (23-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-20) Sept. 9 at Worthen Arena . . . Ball State is 2-2 in matches played in Indianapolis, with losses in its last two trips down I-69. . . BSU will be playing all three of its weekend opponents for the first time.
► OFFENSIVE TURNAROUND: After finishing the first weekend of play with a .130 attack percentage, the Cardinals have found their offensive rhythm of late, hitting .282 in September, which has equated to a 5-1 record for the month . . . Junior middle blocker Charde' Phillips leads the offense with a .519 hitting mark during the span.
► PHILLIPS TOPS THE MAC: For the season, Charde' Phillips ranks first in the Mid-American Conference with a .421 attack percentage . . . In the Best Western ISU Classic Championship match, Phillips smashed a career-high 16 kills while hitting a career-best .696 (16-0-23) versus Indiana State . . . Phillips, who did not play versus Chicago State, was named to the all-tournament team after racking up 24 kills and a .590 (24-1-59) attack percentage for the weekend.
► WATERS LEADING THE D: Sophomore defensive specialist/libero Christie Waters continues to pace the club with a 3.57 digs-per-set average which ranks eighth in the league . . . In BSU's three matches last week, Waters tallied 30 digs, including 11 in the win over Eastern Illinois and 10 versus Indiana State.
► KAKATOLIS APPROACHING MILESTONES: Senior opposite attacker Elaina Kakatolis enters the week with 197 career block assists, which is four shy of breaking into the top 20 in BSU annals . . . Her 218 career blocks are 16 shy of breaking into the top 20 in program history . . . In addition, her 708 career kills leave her 63 markers away from the top 20 in BSU history.
► BREIVOGEL GOING FOR NINTH: Senior outside attacker Julie Breivogel, who recorded her 1,000th career kill versus Dayton (Aug. 29), enters the week with 1,075 career kills after smashing 21 in the Best Western ISU Classic . . . Breivogel needs 61 more kills to pass Mindy Stanley's (1993-96) career total of 1,135 kills for ninth on BSU's all-time list.
►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. beginning Aug. 31.
►ON THE TUBE: 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.
