Women's Volleyball Opens MAC Play This Weekend
September 25, 2009 | Women's Volleyball
► VOLLEYBALL OPENS MAC PLAY THIS WEEKEND: The Ball State women's volleyball team opens the 2009 Mid-American Conference season this weekend with home matches versus Northern Illinois (Friday) and Western Michigan (Saturday) . . . Both matches start at 7 p.m.
► END OF PRE-CONFERENCE PLAY: The Ball State women's volleyball team ended the pre-conference portion of the 2009 schedule with a 7-6 overall record, including a 2-2 mark last weekend . . . This marks BSU's first winning pre-conference slate since the 2005 team went 6-4 . . . The Cardinals went on to finish the 2005 season with a 21-10 overall record, including a 10-5 non-conference record with two more out-of-league wins and a 2-1 MAC Tournament record.
► BALL STATE IN MAC PLAY: Ball State enters the 2009 MAC season with a 273-134 (.671) 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 280-127 (.688) all-time MAC mark . . . WMU passed BSU for the all-time league lead in both categories after going 14-2 in MAC play last season, compared to 6-10 for the Cardinals . . . Northern Illinois, which joined the league in volleyball for the 1997 season, ranks seventh in wins and fourth in winning percentage at 157-99 (.613).
► SWEET SEPTEMBER: Ball State enters Friday's match versus Northern Illinois with a 7-3 record in the month of September . . . BSU went 2-1 at the Active Ankle Challenge (Sept. 4-5) and 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 . . . Last week, the Cardinals scored a sweep of IUPUI (Sept. 15), while going 1-2 at the Towson Invitational (Sept. 18-19).
► SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: Ball State enters the week with a 7-6 overall record . . . BSU played four road matches last week, posting a sweep at IUPUI and going 1-2 in the Towson Invitational . . . BSU suffered losses to Penn and George Washington before sweeping the host Tigers . . . Senior Alisha Green enters the week as BSU's top attacker with a 3.15 kills-per-set average, while junior Charde' Phillips leads the team with a .388 attack percentage . . . Sophomore Brittany McGinnis has set the Ball State offense to a .219 rate of success this season, while producing an 8.98 assists-per-set average . . . Christie Waters leads the Cardinals' backcourt with a 3.28 digs-per-set average, while Kelsey Brandl is the team's top blocker averaging 1.00 blocks per set . . . As a team, BSU is averaging 12.88 kills, 14.33 digs and 1.86 blocks per set . . . The Cardinals' opponents are hitting .192, while averaging 11.79 kills, 12.65 digs and 1.57 blocks per set.
► SCOUTING NORTHERN ILLINOIS: The Huskies enter Friday's match with a 6-7 overall record after scoring a 3-1 (25-27,25-16, 25-22, 27-25) victory over DePaul Tuesday . . . Allison McGlaughlin is NIU's top attacker, racking up 172 kills for a 3.82 kills-per-set average . . . Amanda Tadla has set the Huskies offense to a .215 attack percentage this season, while handing out 10.55 assists per set . . . Maddie Hughes leads the team with a 4.60 digs-per-set average, while Cassie Yates is the program's top blocker averaging 0.87 blocks per set . . . As a team, NIU is averaging 13.64 kills, 14.27 digs and 1.82 blocks per set . . . The Huskies' opponents are hitting .238, while averaging 13.36 kills, 13.36 digs and 2.24 blocks per set.
► BSU VS. NIU: Thanks to wins in six of the last seven meetings, Northern Illinois holds a slim 25-22 advantage in the all-time series versus Ball State . . . Last season, each team picked up a road victory as the Cardinals posted a 3-2 (17-25, 30-28, 21-25, 25-19, 15-13) win a Victor E. Court (Oct. 15), while the Huskies earned a 3-1 (25-22, 25-27, 25-20, 25-18) victory at Worthen Arena (Nov. 15) . . . Overall, BSU holds an 11-6 advantage in Muncie, including a 9-3 mark in Worthen Arena.
► SCOUTING WESTERN MICHIGAN: The Broncos enter the weekend with an 8-7 overall record after posting a 3-1 (25-23, 25-20, 20-25, 25-20) victory over Cincinnati in a rare Monday matchup . . . Prior to visiting BSU on Saturday, the Broncos open MAC play Friday at Toledo . . . Michelle Moore is WMU's top attacker, racking up 188 kills for a 3.13 kills-per-set average, while Jessica Brown paces the team with a .315 attack percentage . . . Jillian Mitchell has set the Western Michigan offense to a .207 attack percentage this season, while dishing out 9.68 assists per set . . . Caitlin Strimel leads the WMU backcourt with a 3.34 digs-per-set average, while Ashley Turnage has a team-best 0.83 blocks-per-set average . . . As a team, WMU is averaging 12.42 kills, 14.43 digs and 1.62 blocks per set . . . The Broncos' opponents are hitting .205, while averaging 12.12 kills, 14.80 digs and 2.03 blocks per set.
► BSU VS. WMU: The Cardinals hold a 36-35 edge in the all-time series despite four straight losses to Western Michigan . . . Last season, the Broncos swept the Cardinals in both meetings, posting a 3-0 (25-22, 25-11, 25-21) home win at University Arena (Oct. 11), before topping the Cardinals 3-0 (25-21, 26-24, 25-17) at Worthen Arena (Nov. 14) . . . Overall, the Cardinals hold a 19-12 lead in Muncie, including a 14-4 advantage in Worthen Arena.
► STRONG SERVING: In Saturday's win over Towson, the Cardinals served up a season-high 14 aces on their way to a sweep of the Tigers . . . Kaylee Schembra led the Cardinals with a career-high five service aces, while Julie Breivogel added three . . . The 14 aces are the highest total for the Cardinals since a 16-ace outing against Buffalo in another 3-0 sweep Sept. 29, 2007 . . . Overall, the Cardinals have posted double-digit aces five times in the Dave Boos era, with all five being victories.
► MORE FROM THE LINE: In its four matches last week, Ball State turned in a stellar performance from the serving line, racking up 31 total aces as a team . . . In its first nine matches of the season, BSU only had 37 aces . . . Brittany McGinnis led the team with 10 aces last week, after only collected three entering the week . . . Kaylee Schembra doubled her season total to 14, with seven on the week, which moved her to ninth in the league with a 0.33 aces-per-set average . . . Karin Caudill also had seven aces last week upping her season total to 10 . . . Overall, the Cardinals improved their aces-per-set average from 1.23 (seventh in the MAC) to 1.58 (second in the MAC).
► SCHEMBRA SHINES: Sophomore defensive specialist/libero Kaylee Schembra paced the Ball State backcourt with 51 total digs last week, while collecting double-figure digs in all four matches . . . She led the Cardinals in digs in three matches with 11 at IUPUI, 15 versus Penn and 12 versus Towson, while ranking second on the team with 13 against George Washington . . . She also added seven aces in the four matches, including a career-high five versus Towson . . . For the week, Schembra averaged 3.92 digs per set, raising her season average from 2.57 to 2.98.
► CAUDILL CAN DIG TOO: Junior defensive specialist Karin Caudill also had a solid week in the backcourt for Ball State, racking up the second-highest dig total on the team with 36 . . . A career-high 16 of those digs came versus George Washington, when she led all players in the match.
► OFFENSIVE TURNAROUND: After finishing the first weekend of play with a .130 attack percentage, the Cardinals have found their offensive rhythm of late, hitting .245 in September, which has equated to a 7-3 record for the month . . . Junior middle blocker Charde' Phillips leads the offense with a .438 hitting mark during the span.
► KAKATOLIS BREAKS INTO TOP 20: Senior opposite attacker Elaina Kakatolis posted nine block assists last weekend to raise her career total to 206, which is the 19th-best total in program history . . . In addition, her 227 career blocks are nine shy of the top 20 in BSU annals, while her 711 career kills leave her 60 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 1,115 career kills after smashing 40 in BSU's four matches last week . . . Breivogel needs 21 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.
