Ball State University Athletics
Men's Volleyball Hosts Two Matches This Weekend
January 29, 2010 | Men's Volleyball
TWO MORE AT HOME THIS WEEK: The Ball State men's volleyball team continues its current five-match homestand with a pair of non-conference matches this weekend . . . The Cardinals host George Mason Friday and Rutgers-Newark Saturday . . . Both matches start at 7:30 p.m. . . . Admission to all Ball State men's volleyball home matches is free.
THE HOMESTAND: Ball State opened its 2010 home schedule and a season-long five-match homestand last Thursday when it welcomed first-year Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association member Grand Canyon University to Worthen Arena . . . BSU scored a hard-fought 3-1 (30-32, 31-29, 30-23, 30-25) victory over the 'Lopes, and followed with a 3-0 (30-20, 30-22, 30-24) non-conference sweep of Carthage . . . Following this week's home matches, the Cardinals end their five-match homestand with a Feb. 5 showdown versus three-time defending MIVA Regular Season Champion and two-time defending MIVA Tournament Champion Ohio State.
MORE FROM THE NEST: The last time the Cardinals played five straight home matches was in the 2008 season . . . During the homestand, the Cardinals went 5-0 with wins over No. 8 Ohio State (Feb. 15), Mercyhurst (Feb. 16) and No. 11 Loyola (Feb. 20), before topping it off with a two-match sweep of No. 7 UCLA (Feb. 29 & March 1) . . . In 2004, the Cardinals opened the season with six home matches, going a perfect 6-0 in those contests . . . In 2002, the Cardinals won their final two regular season home matches and all three rounds of the MIVA Tournament at Worthen Arena in another perfect 5-0 homestand.
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: The Cardinals enter the week with a 4-1 (1-1 MIVA) record after scoring wins over Grand Canyon and Carthage last week . . . Jamion Hartley paces the Ball State attack with a 3.07 kills-per-game average, while Anders Nelson leads the BSU offense with a .425 (40-9-73) attack percentage . . . At the net, Anders also owns a team-best 1.47 blocks-per-game average . . . Ethan Pheister has set the BSU offense to a .232 rate of success this season, while adding 1.41 digs and 0.71 blocks per game . . . Billy Ebel holds down the BSU backcourt with a league-best 4.00 digs-per-game average.
SCOUTING GEORGE MASON: The Patriots enter tonight's match with a 1-1 record after suffering a 3-0 (30-24, 33-31, 31-29) setback at Ohio State Friday night . . . Eric Lucas paces the GMU attack with a 5.67 kills-per-game average, while Joe Norton leads the Patriots offense with a .463 (23-4-41) attack percentage . . . At the net, Piotr Dabrowski owns a team-best 1.33 blocks-per-game average . . . Javier Perez has set the George Mason offense to a .308 rate of success this season, while adding 1.00 digs and 0.50 blocks per game . . . Luke Maloney holds down the GMU backcourt with a 2.17 digs-per-game average.
SCOUTING RUTGERS-NEWARK: The Scarlet Raiders enter their Friday match at IPFW with a 1-2 overall record after scoring a 3-0 (33-31, 30-24, 30-25) victory over New York University Wednesday night . . . Last week, the team suffered a pair of five-set losses at the hands of Lewis and Saint Francis . . . John Keller paces the Rutgers-Newark attack with a 2.92 kills-per-game average . . . Setter Liran Shapiro owns a team-best a .583 (7-0-12) attack percentage, while guiding the team to a .214 rate of success . . . At the net, Keller also owns a team-best 1.15 blocks-per-game average . . . Dane Mulligan leads the Scarlet Raiders backcourt with 25 digs and a 2.08 digs-per-game average.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES: The Cardinals hold a 36-24 lead in the all-time series versus George Mason . . . Last season, the Patriots scored a 3-0 (30-25, 30-26, 30-24) sweep at Worthen Arena (Feb. 5), while the Cardinals earned a 3-2 (19-30, 32-30, 30-27, 28-30, 15-6) win at George Mason's Field House (March 21) . . . Overall, the home team has lost the last four matches in the series . . . Ball State holds a 40-7 advantage in the all-time series versus Rutgers-Newark, including wins in the last 12 matches . . . Last season, BSU scored a 3-0 (30-23, 30-23, 30-21) home win (Feb. 6) and a 3-1 (30-24, 30-19, 27-30, 30-19) road victory (March 20) . . . Rutgers-Newark's last win in the series was a 3-2 (31-29, 27-30, 19-30, 30-27, 15-8) road victory Jan. 26, 2002.
TWO-TIME AWARD WINNER: Senior libero Billy Ebel picked up his second-straight MIVA Defensive Player of the Week award after collecting a season-high 20 digs versus Grand Canyon and 10 digs versus Carthage last week . . . He was also perfect on 53 serve reception chances . . . So far, Ebel is the only winner of the league's top weekly defensive honor which is in its first year of existence.
SEEING DOUBLE: Junior outside attacker Lee Meyer turned in the best match of his career in last Thursday's win over Grand Canyon, racking up a career-high 19 kills to go along with a career-best 15 digs for his first-ever double-double . . . Meyer followed with a match-high 11 kills in the win over Carthage . . . Meyer enters the week with double-figure kills in three of the last four matches.
NELSON NETS 'LOPES: Junior middle attacker Anders Nelson led the Cardinals at the net in the win over Grand Canyon, tying a career high with nine block assists . . . Nelson, who also scored seven kills versus the 'Lopes, enters the week ranked fourth in the league in both hitting percentage (.425) and blocks-per-set average (1.47).
GREAT GAME: Freshman middle attacker Matt Leske played the third game in Friday's win over Carthage, scoring four kills and hitting .500 (4-0-8).
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.
