Ball State University Athletics
Women's Volleyball Hosts Ohio Friday
October 15, 2010 | Women's Volleyball
►HALFWAY HOME: The Ball State women's volleyball team will host a pair of Mid-American Conference matches this weekend to mark the halfway point of the 2010 league schedule . . . Friday, BSU plays host to Ohio, which has won six of the last seven MAC regular season titles . . . Saturday, Kent State visits Worthen Arena . . . Both matches start at 7 p.m.
►WEEKEND REVIEW: The Cardinals played a pair of hotly contested matches last week, scoring a 3-2 win at Toledo, before suffering a 3-2 setback at Buffalo . . . After the split, the Cardinals are in a three-way tie for second in the MAC West Division with Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan, with all three teams owning a 4-2 league mark . . . Northern Illinois leads the division at 5-1.
►PICKING UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF: Ball State head coach Steve Shondell picked up right where he left off at Burris Laboratory School, winning his first seven matches with the Cardinals and guiding the team to a 14-4 record so far this season . . . As the head coach for Burris, Shondell racked up an 1183-95 record over his 34-year career from 1976-2009 . . . The 2007 American Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee coached the Owls to 21 state championships, including 13 straight Indiana Class 2A titles . . . The Owls won four national championships (1990, 1992, 1997 and 2004), and finished with undefeated records seven times (1985, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1997, 2004 and 2009).
►SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: Ball State (14-4) enters the week in a three-way tie for second in the MAC West Division after winning at Toledo (3-2) and losing at Buffalo (2-3) last week . . . Junior middle blocker Kelsey Brandl leads the team in kills per set (3.25), hitting percentage (.316) and blocks per set (0.90) . . . Freshmen outside hitters Whitney Heeres and Kylee Baker rank second (2.88) and third (2.85), respectively, on the team in kills per set . . . Baker leads the squad in aces (18) and ranks second in digs per set (2.66) . . . In the backcourt, senior libero Alyssa Rio leads the nation with her 5.94 digs-per-set average . . . As a team, the Cardinals are out-hitting their opponents .199 to .154 on the year, while holding a 13.36 to 11.33 advantage in kills per set.
►BALL STATE VS. OHIO: While Ball State holds a 31-13 lead in the all-time series, Ohio has won the last 11 matches between the two teams . . . BSU has only won one set during the streak, with the frame victory coming in the last meeting, a 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-18) OU victory in the quarterfinals of the 2009 MAC Tournament (Nov. 20) . . . Prior to the Bobcats' winning streak, Ball State had won the previous 26 matches in the series . . . Overall, Ohio is 5-15 in matches played in Muncie, including a 4-8 record in Worthen Arena.
►SCOUTING OHIO: The Bobcats enter the weekend with a 12-7 (4-2 MAC) record after winning at Bowling Green (3-1) and losing at Miami (1-3) last week . . . Sue Jacobi leads Ohio with a 4.22 kills-per-set average, while Katie Post (2.74) and Mandy Nichols (2.11) follow . . . Meryl Bender leads the Bobcats backcourt with a 3.16 digs-per-set average . . . As a team, Ohio is out-hitting its opponents .236 to .180, while averaging 13.21 kills per set compared to 11.78 for opposing teams.
►BALL STATE VS. KENT STATE: The Cardinals hold a 34-11 lead in the all-time series versus Kent State despite losses in the last four meetings . . . Prior to KSU's four straight wins, BSU had won the previous four contests . . . Last season, the Golden Flashes scored a 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-16) home victory over the Cardinals . . . KSU is 4-17 all-time in matches played in Muncie, including a 2-10 mark in Worthen Arena.
►SCOUTING KENT STATE: The Golden Flashes enter the weekend with a 10-11 (3-3 MAC) record after securing league road wins at Miami (3-1) and Bowling Green (3-0) last week . . . Kent State travels to Toledo Friday, before playing the Cardinals Saturday . . . Liva Brivule leads KSU with a 3.60 kills-per-set average, while Meredith Paskert (2.68) and Maigan Larsen (2.35) follow . . . Kristen Barr leads the Kent State backcourt with a 3.58 digs-per-set average . . . As a team, KSU is out-hitting its opponents .212 to .179, while the Golden Flashes' opponents hold a 12.99 to 12.06 edge in kills per set.
►LEADING THE NATION: After another solid week in the backcourt, senior libero Alyssa Rio ranks first in the nation with a 5.94 digs-per-set average . . . Rio, who is one of three players to see action in all of BSU's 67 sets this season, has tallied 398 digs this year . . . In MAC play, Rio has collected an astonishing 166 digs in 25 sets for a 6.88 average . . . Rio is not the only BSU libero to flirt with the national lead in digs, as then senior Amanda McCormick (2005-06) finished the 2006 season with a NCAA record 7.68 digs-per-set average, topping the previous mark of 7.02.
►RIO ON BSU'S CAREER CHARTS: Alyssa Rio enters Friday's match versus Ohio ranked second in program history with 1,848 career digs . . . With her 27-dig performance at Buffalo, Rio moved into a tie for second in program history with 20-or-more digs in 44 matches, trailing only Amanda McCormick's 45 matches . . . In addition, Rio's 86 matches with double-figure digs ranks third in program annals, trailing Stephanie Keller's (2001-04) 101 and Sarah Obras' (2002-05) 90.
►DIGGING IT UP: In addition to Alyssa Rio's double digit dig effort at Buffalo, senior outside attacker Hannah Sullivan added a career-best 23 digs in the match . . . Sullivan is the third BSU player to record 20-or-more digs in a match this season, joining Rio (11) and Catie Fredrich (1).
►TEAM DIGGING: As a team, the Cardinals enter the week ranked second in the league and 11th in the nation with a 17.79 digs-per-set average . . . WMU is first in the MAC and fourth nationally at 18.54.
►SPEAKING OF RANKINGS: The Ball State women's volleyball team is ranked 69th among 328 teams in the second 2010 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball RPI which was released Monday . . . Northern Illinois is the top-ranked MAC team at 56, followed by Western Michigan (57) and BSU . . . All six teams in the MAC West Division are ranked in the top 135, led by NIU, WMU, BSU, Eastern Michigan (72), Central Michigan (128) and Toledo (133).
►CAREER-BEST PERFORMANCES: In last Thursday's win at Toledo, junior middle blocker Kelsey Brandl blasted a career-high 25 kills, topping her previous career-best of 20 set on two occasions . . . Saturday at Buffalo, freshman outside hitter Whitney Heeres smashed a career-best 19 kills, topping her previous career-best of 17 set in BSU's second match of the season.
►HEERES COMING ON STRONG: Since MAC play began on Sept. 24, freshman Whitney Heeres has stepped up, ranking second on the team with a 3.20 kills-per-set average . . . Her 80 kills also rank second on the squad over the last six matches, while her 243 attempts lead the team . . . In BSU's first 12 matches, Heeres compiled 113 kills and ranked third on the team with 2.69 kills per set.
►SERVING IT UP: Freshman defensive specialist Catie Fredrich continues to be the Cardinals' most consistent server, ranking first on the team with a .983 serving percentage . . . In 239 attempts (which ranks second on the squad), she has logged just four serving errors while blasting 10 aces . . . In serve receive, Fredrich has also posted solid numbers, with a .960 reception percentage, recording just eight reception errors in 200 attempts.
►MINIMIZING ERRORS: As a team, the Cardinals have been one of the most consistent serving teams in the league this season, ranking second in the MAC with a .939 serving percentage . . . Only WMU's .956 average is higher . . . BSU's 1.39 errors-per-set average is also second only to the Bronco's 1.00 mark . . . Ball State is also one of only two teams with as many aces (93) as errors (93), joining Northern Illinois who has 145 in each category.
►SUCCESSFUL NON-CONFERENCE SLATE: BSU finished its 2010 regular season non-conference schedule with a 10-2 record, which is the best non-conference record for BSU since league play began in 1983 . . . The 10 wins also tie for the most in regular season non-conference action with the 1989 squad which posted a 10-7 non-MAC slate.
