Ball State University Athletics
Men's Volleyball Hosts Grand Canyon Thursday
January 21, 2010 | Men's Volleyball
MEN'S VOLLEYBALL MATCH-DAY COVERAGE
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Ball State vs. Grand Canyon (Jan. 21) |
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Ball State vs. Carthage (Jan. 22) |
WELCOME BACK TO WORTHEN ARENA: The Ball State men's volleyball team opens the home portion of its 2010 schedule Thursday, when it hosts Grand Canyon in a 7:30 p.m. first serve at Worthen Arena . . . The Cardinals follow up with a 7:30 p.m. home match versus Carthage Friday.
ABOUT THE HOME OPENER: Thursday's home opener versus Grand Canyon will be the Antelopes first-ever Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association match, as the program joined the league this past summer . . . Last season was the first year for the Grand Canyon University men's volleyball program, which is located in Phoenix, Ariz. . . . The 'Lopes finished their 2009 inaugural season with a 4-25 overall record.
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: The Cardinals enter the week with a 2-1 (0-1 MIVA) record, after opening the season with three road matches last week . . . After suffering a season-opening loss at Loyola, BSU rebounded with wins at Carthage and MSOE . . . Jamion Hartley paces the Ball State attack with a 3.14 kills-per-game average, while Anders Nelson leads the BSU offense with a .422 (26-7-45) attack percentage . . . At the net, J.D. Gasparovic owns a team-best 1.33 blocks-per-game average . . . Ethan Pheister has set the BSU offense to a .231 rate of success this season, while adding 1.30 digs and 0.60 blocks per game . . . Billy Ebel holds down the BSU backcourt with a league-best 3.80 digs-per-game average.
SCOUTING GRAND CANYON: The Antelopes enter the week with a 1-5 overall record after splitting a pair of home matches versus Johnson and Wales last week . . . Brock Hutchins paces the GCU attack with a 4.50 kills-per-game average, while Connor Doughtry leads the 'Lopes regulars with a .424 (18-4-33) attack percentage . . . At the net, Chris Lockwood owns a team-best 1.00 blocks-per-game average . . . Brad Moore has set the Grand Canyon offense to a .217 rate of success this season, while adding 1.06 digs and 0.44 blocks per game . . . Trent Bruns runs the GCU backcourt with a team-high 3.28 digs-per-game average.
SCOUTING CARTHAGE: The Red Men enter the week with a 1-2 overall record after losses to Loyola and Ball State, surrounding a win over D'Youville, last week . . . Tom O'Connell paces the Carthage attack with a 4.88 kills-per-game average, while Matt Yanz leads the Red Men's offense with a .455 (12-2-22) attack percentage . . . At the net, Tyler Frings owns a team-best 1.00 blocks-per-game average . . . John Condon has set the Carthage offense to a .157 rate of success this season, while adding 1.60 digs and 0.20 blocks per game . . . Mike Bynon leads the Carthage backcourt with 23 digs and a 2.30 digs-per-game average.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES: Ball State won the only two previous meetings versus Grand Canyon last season, scoring a 3-1 (30-20, 30-23, 27-30, 30-12) victory March 7 and a 3-0 (30-13, 30-19, 30-18) victory March 8 in Phoenix . . . BSU is 7-0 all-time versus Carthage, including last Saturday's 3-1 victory in Kenosha, Wis.
BSU VS. CC ROUND 1: In last Saturday's showdown with the Red Men, the Cardinals used a potent middle attack to score a 3-1 (22-30, 30-24, 31-29, 30-26) road victory . . . J.D. Gasparovic paced the Cardinals with 16 kills, while Anders Nelson added 13 markers . . . Lee Meyer also blasted 10 kills in the contest . . . Carthage was paced by Tom O'Connell's 20 kills, while Randy Hansen scored 18 . . . Overall, the Cardinals out-hit the Red Men .187 (58-32-139) to .169 (57-33-142), while holding a 47-to-44 advantage in digs and a 13.5-to-7 edge in blocks.
FIRST-EVER AWARD WINNER: After averaging a league-best 3.80 digs per game last weekend, BSU senior libero Billy Ebel was named the league's first-ever MIVA Defensive Player of the Week . . . Ebel collected eight digs at Loyola, and followed with a match-high 15 digs at both Carthage and MSOE . . . Ebel ranked second in the MIVA last season with a 2.81 digs-per-game average.
ANDERS GOES FOR CAREER MARKS: In Friday's match at Loyola, junior middle attacker Anders Nelson finished the match with a career-high .750 attacking mark, blasting nine kills on 12 swings with no errors . . . Saturday at Carthage, Nelson tied a career-high with 13 kills, while hitting for a .550 (13-2-20) rate of success.
SPEAKING OF CAREER-HIGHS: Junior middle attacker J.D. Gasparovic also had a career night versus Carthage, adding a career-high 16 kills . . . He finished the night hitting .500 (16-4-24).
MORE FROM THE MIDDLE: Anders Nelson enters the week ranked third in the MIVA with a .422 attack percentage . . . J.D. Gasparovic is ranked fifth in the league with his .391 hitting mark . . . The pair also rank in the top six in the MIVA in blocking, with Gasparovic tied for fourth (1.33) and Nelson sixth (1.20).
HARTLEY SHINES IN DEBUT: In his first collegiate match and playing in front of his hometown crowd, redshirt freshman Jamion Hartley led the Cardinals with a career-high 14 kills at Loyola . . . After adding eight kills in BSU's final two matches of the weekend, Hartley enters the week ranked first on the team and 11th in the MIVA with a 3.14 kills-per-game average.
WRATHER LIGHTS UP MOSE: After seeing limited swings in Ball State's first two matches, freshman outside attacker Larry Wrather blasted a career-high 13 kills in Sunday's win at MSOE . . . Wrather, who had 13 attempts in the first two matches, took a team-high 27 swings at MSOE and finished the night hitting .333 (13-4-27).
BALL STATE ON THE RADIO: WCRD 91.3 FM will once again be the radio home for the Cardinals during the 2010 season . . . The station is slated to cover all 13 home matches this season, as well as select road contests . . . James Rider will cover the play-by-play action, while Nick Golden provides the color commentary . . . The station also serves as the home for "The Ball State Men's Volleyball Show", a weekly BSU men's volleyball report which airs Mondays from 7-8 p.m. . . . All WCRD broadcasts will be streamed live and FREE of charge at www.ballstatesports.com.
