Ball State University Athletics
WVB Returns To The Road This Weekend
October 22, 2010 | Women's Volleyball
►ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to the road this weekend to battle a pair of Mid-American Conference East Division foes . . . Friday, BSU heads to Miami for a 7 p.m. showdown with the RedHawks . . . Saturday, the Cardinals visit Bowling Green for another 7 p.m. first serve versus the Falcons.
►WEEKEND REVIEW: The Cardinals improved to 8-0 at Worthen Arena with a pair of streak-ending victories over MAC East foes . . . Friday, Ball State scored a 3-2 victory over defending MAC regular season and tournament champion Ohio to snap an 11-match losing streak to the Bobcats . . . Saturday, the Cardinals ended a four-match skid versus Kent State with a 3-1 victory over the Golden Flashes . . . With the wins, the Cardinals remain in a three-way tie for second place in the MAC West Division with BSU, Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan all holding 6-2 league records . . . Northern Illinois leads the division at 7-1, with its lone loss coming versus Ball State.
►HOME SWEET HOME: After a rough few seasons at Worthen Arena, with the Cardinals going 21-34 (14-21 vs. MAC opponents) at home from 2006-2009, Ball State has regained its homecourt dominance this season, with a perfect 8-0 record . . . Since Worthen Arena opened for the 1992 season, the Cardinals have compiled a 194-56 (.776) record in the building, including a 145-30 (.829) record against league foes.
►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 16-4 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 (16-4) enters the week in a three-way tie for second in the MAC West Division after scoring home wins over Ohio (3-2) and Kent State (3-1) last week . . . Junior middle blocker Kelsey Brandl leads the team in kills per set (3.21), hitting percentage (.320) and blocks per set (0.88) . . . Freshmen outside hitters Whitney Heeres and Kylee Baker rank second (2.96) and third (2.85), respectively, on the team in kills per set . . . In the backcourt, senior libero Alyssa Rio ranks fourth nationally with her 5.72 digs-per-set average . . . As a team, the Cardinals are out-hitting their opponents .203 to .155 on the year, while holding a 13.41 to 11.20 advantage in kills per set.
►BALL STATE VS. MIAMI: Ball State holds a 39-31 lead in the all-time series versus Miami, despite a 3-1 (21-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-21) setback in the last meeting, Oct. 24, 2009 . . . Overall, the road time as won the last four matches in the series . . . BSU, which has won 14 of the last 17 contests, is 16-12 all-time in Oxford, Ohio.
►SCOUTING MIAMI: The RedHawks enter the week with a 7-14 (2-6 MAC) record after suffering road losses at Eastern Michigan (3-1) and Central Michigan (3-0) last weekend . . . Amy Raseman leads Miami with a 2.63 kills-per-set average, while Michele Metzler (2.46) and Colleen Loftus (2.08) follow . . . Lisa Treadway paces the RedHawks backcourt with a 2.75 digs-per-set average . . . Miami is being out-hit by its opponents .195 to .256, while averaging 12.38 kills per set compared to 12.76 for opposing teams.
►BALL STATE VS. BOWLING GREEN: The Cardinals hold a 34-16-1 advantage in the all-time series versus Bowling Green, despite losses in the last six meetings . . . BSU's last victory in the series was a 3-0 (30-27, 30-24, 30-20) sweep on Oct. 2, 2004 . . . Prior to BGSU's streak, the Cardinals had won the last 24 matches in the series . . . Ball State is 13-7 all-time in matches played in Bowling Green, Ohio.
►SCOUTING BOWLING GREEN: The Falcons enter the weekend with a 7-16 (1-7 MAC) record . . . BGSU ended a six-match losing streak with a non-conference sweep of Cleveland State Tuesday . . . Last weekend, the Falcons were swept at both Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan. . . Bowling Green hosts Toledo Friday, before playing the Cardinals Saturday . . . Paige Penrod leads BGSU with a 3.46 kills-per-set average, while Danielle Tonyan (2.70) and Noelle Spitler (2.09) follow . . . Ashley Dunn leads the Bowling Green backcourt with a 4.37 digs-per-set average . . . As a team, BGSU is being out-hit by its opponents .173 to .242, while averaging 12.44 kills per set compared to 12.89 for opposing teams.
►NEAR THE TOP: After helping hold a pair of potent offenses in check last weekend, senior libero Alyssa Rio ranks fourth in the nation with a 5.72 digs-per-set average . . . Rio, who is one of three players to see action in all of BSU's 76 sets this season, has tallied 435 digs this year . . . In MAC play, Rio has collected 203 digs in 34 sets for a 5.97 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 at Miami ranked second in program history with 1,885 career digs . . . With her 27-dig performance at Buffalo (Oct. 9), 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 88 matches with double-figure digs ranks third in program annals, trailing Stephanie Keller's (2001-04) 101 and Sarah Obras' (2002-05) 90.
►TEAM DIGGING: As a team, the Cardinals enter the week ranked third in the league and 16th in the nation with a 17.41 digs-per-set average . . . Western Michigan is first in the MAC and fourth nationally at 18.54, followed by Eastern Michigan which is 10th in the nation at 17.95.
►SPEAKING OF RANKINGS: The Ball State women's volleyball team is ranked 67th among 328 teams in the third 2010 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball RPI which was released Monday . . . Western Michigan is the top-ranked MAC team at 47, followed by Northern Illinois (51) and BSU . . . All six teams in the MAC West Division are ranked in the top 125, led by WMU, NIU, BSU, Eastern Michigan (71), Toledo (124) and Central Michigan (125).
►HEERES COMING ON STRONG: Since MAC play began on Sept. 24, freshman Whitney Heeres has stepped up, ranking second on the team with 3.29 kills per set . . . Her 112 kills also rank second on the squad over the last eight matches, while her 306 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 continued her solid serving run for the Cardinals last weekend, racking up a team-best four aces in 39 attempts with no errors . . . Fredrich paces the team with a .986 serving percentage, having tallied just four errors in 278 serves . . . She also has 14 aces on the year.
►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 .940 serving percentage . . . Only WMU's .957 average is higher . . . BSU's 1.36 errors-per-set average is also second only to the Bronco's 0.99 mark.
►READY FOR 3,000: Junior setter Brittany McGinnis enters the week 37 assists shy of 3,000 for her career . . . In 84 career matches, McGinnis has set up 2,963 kill shots, which ranks fifth in program history . . . Her 9.71 career assists-per-set average is sixth in BSU annals.
►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.
