Ball State University Athletics
WVB Hosts Toledo Thursday, Akron Saturday
November 11, 2010 | Women's Volleyball
►WRAPPING IT UP: The Ball State women's volleyball team wraps up the 2010 regular season this week with home matches versus Toledo and Akron . . . Thursday, the Cardinals can clinch the 2010 MAC Regular Season Championship outright and the No. 1 seed in the league tournament with a victory over the Rockets in a match which will be televised on the Ball State Sports Network . . . Saturday, the Cardinals celebrate senior day by hosting the Akron Zips . . . Both matches start at 7 p.m.
►WEEKEND REVIEW: With road wins at Eastern Michigan (3-2) and Central Michigan (3-1) last weekend, the Ball State women's volleyball team improved to 22-4 (12-2 MAC) and clinched at least a share of the 2010 Mid-American Conference Regular Season Championship . . . Ball State can clinch the outright title with a win in either of its final two matches . . . BSU will also lock up the No. 1 seed in the MAC Tournament with a win, or an EMU victory over either Western Michigan or Northern Illinois this weekend . . . EMU, WMU and NIU are tied for second in the MAC West Division and regular season races with 10-4 league records.
►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 10-0 record . . . Since Worthen Arena opened for the 1992 season, the Cardinals have compiled a 196-56 (.778) record in the building, including a 151-30 (.834) record against league foes.
►MORE ABOUT THE HOME STREAK: Ball State is one of only 18 Division I programs with a perfect record at home this season according to the NCAA Statistics Database . . . Sacred Heart has the best home record in the nation at 13-0 . . . Three teams have 12-0 records, four teams have 11-0 marks and Ball State is one of four teams with 10-0 home slates . . . Western Michigan is one of six other schools undefeated at home with its 8-0 record at University Arena.
►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 22-4 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).
►THE RECORD: Ball State's 22-4 record gives the Cardinals the 13th-best winning percentage in the nation at .846 . . . No. 3 Hawaii is first at .958 (23-1).
►MORE ON THE RECORD: Ball State's 22-4 record so far this season ties as the best in program history through 26 matches with the 2000 and 1993 squads, both of which advanced to the NCAA Tournament . . . The 1993 team finished the year with a 26-5 overall record, winning the MAC Tournament before losing to Minnesota in the first round of the NCAA Tournament . . . The 2000 squad earned the program's only at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament after posting a 25-7 overall record and losing to Western Michigan in the MAC Tournament championship match . . . The Cardinals lost to then-No. 16 Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament first round, in a match that was later vacated by the Buckeyes for NCAA rules violations.
►SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: Ball State locked up at least a share of the 2010 MAC Regular Season Title and a first-round bye in the upcoming MAC Tournament with a pair of MAC West Division wins at Eastern Michigan (3-2) and at Central Michigan (3-1) last weekend . . . Junior middle blocker Kelsey Brandl leads the team in kills per set (3.24), hitting percentage (.342), blocks per set (0.85) and service aces (25) . . . Freshmen outside hitters Whitney Heeres and Kylee Baker rank second (3.13) and third (2.99), respectively, on the team in kills per set . . . In the backcourt, senior libero Alyssa Rio ranks fourth nationally with her 5.79 digs-per-set average . . . As a team, the Cardinals are out-hitting their opponents .219 to .171 on the year, while holding a 13.68 to 11.60 advantage in kills per set.
►BALL STATE VS. TOLEDO: Ball State owns a commanding 54-4 lead in the all-time series versus Toledo after a thrilling 3-2 come-from-behind road in on Oct. 7 . . . BSU also swept the regular season series in 2009 . . . BSU had won 42-straight matches in the all-time series before the Rockets scored a hard-fought 3-2 (25-21, 18-25, 23-25, 25-20, 18-16) victory Nov. 6, 2008 at Worthen Arena . . . Ball State holds a 25-2 advantage in matches played in Muncie, including 17-1 mark in Worthen Arena.
►SCOUTING TOLEDO: The Rockets enter the week with a 10-15 (5-9 MAC) record after losing road matches at Central Michigan (3-0) and Eastern Michigan (3-0) last week . . . Since league play began, Sondra Parys has led the Toledo attack with a 2.98 kills-per-set average, but saw limited action last weekend, playing in just two sets . . . Lauren Rafdel (2.72) and Cassie Kleespies (2.38) are second and third, respectively, on the Rockets attacking list . . . Katie Westerfeld paces the UT backcourt with her 4.00 digs-per-set average . . . As a team, Toledo is being out-hit by its opponents .191 to .213, while UT's foes have a 12.98 to 13.44 edge in kills per set.
►FIRST TIME OUT VS. TOLEDO: ln the first meeting with Toledo this season, the Cardinals rallied from a 2-1 hole to post a 3-2 (25-23, 16-25, 26-28, 25-21, 15-10) victory Oct. 7 . . . In the match, Kelsey Brandl blasted a career-high and match-best 25 kills and hit .422 (25-6-45) to help rally the Cardinals to victory . . . Freshman Whitney Heeres added 16 kills in the win, while Alyssa Rio racked up 32 digs . . . Brittany McGinnis added 15 digs in the contest to go along with a then-season-best 52 assists for her team-leading fifth double-double of the year . . . Four Toledo attackers ended the night with double-digit kills, led by Becca Reidy's 13 . . . Katie Westerfeld led the UT backcourt with 23 digs, while Amber DeWeerdt (12 kills and 18 digs) and Kassie Kadera (55 assists and 13 digs) each collected double-doubles for the Rockets.
►BALL STATE VS. AKRON: Ball State holds a 27-3 advantage in the all-time series versus Akron, including a pair of wins in back-to-back matches last season . . . BSU earned a hard-fought 3-2 (25-12, 20-25, 25-14, 23-25, 15-9) road victory Nov. 14 to end the regular season, before claiming a 3-0 (27-25, 25-19, 25-20) home sweep in the first round of the MAC Tournament at Worthen Arena . . . Akron's last win in the series was a 3-2 (25-21, 19-25, 25-21, 21-25, 15-13) victory at Worthen Arena Nov. 9, 2008 . . . Ball State holds a 12-1 advantage in matches played in Muncie, with all 13 matches being played in Worthen Arena.
►SCOUTING AKRON: The Zips enter the week with a 15-11 (7-7 MAC) record after topping Kent State (3-2) and losing to Ohio (3-1) at home last weekend . . . Akron hosts Buffalo Thursday, before traveling to play Ball State Saturday . . . Courtney Jarvis leads the Akron attack with a 3.04 kills-per-set average, while Alex Cocklin (2.42) and Tina Dimitrijevs (2.39) follow . . . Chelsea Harvey paces Akron's backcourt with 4.34 digs per set . . . As a team, Akron is out-hitting opponents .202 to .186 on the year, while despite opposing teams holding a 12.11 to 12.68 advantage in kills per set.
►RIO DIGS 2000: Alyssa Rio became just the second player in program history to eclipse the 2,000 dig mark with her third dig in last Saturday's victory at Central Michigan . . . Rio went on to finish with a match-best 26 digs, moving her career total to 2,023 . . . Entering the season, only six other players in MAC history had eclipsed the 2,000 digs mark including BSU's all-time digs leader Stephanie Keller (2001-04) who is second in league history with 2,273 career digs.
►DIGGING 20: After collecting 20-or-more digs in both matches last weekend, Alyssa Rio is now first in program history with 20-or-more digs in 47 career matches . . . In addition, Rio ranks second in program history with double-digit digs in 94 matches, trailing Stephanie Keller's (2001-04) total of 101 . . . Rio also enters the week second in program history with her 5.00 career digs-per-set average.
►DISHING THE ROCK: Junior setter Brittany McGinnis led the Ball State attack to a .231 hitting percentage in a pair of pivotal road matches last week . . . BSU connected for a .243 rate of success in the five-set win at Eastern Michigan, while adding a .218 effort against Central Michigan to collect at least a shareW of the MAC Regular Season title . . . BSU has hit .200-or-better 19 times this season, including six matches above .300.
►IN THE RPI: The Cardinals continued to climb up the NCAA RPI chart, rising to 43rd after last weekend's pair of wins . . . Western Michigan is the highest-ranked league team at 42, while the entire MAC West is in the top 114 among the 328 ranked teams.
►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 .941 serving percentage . . . Only WMU's .960 average is higher . . . BSU's 1.33 errors-per-set average is also second only to the Bronco's 0.91 mark.
►3,000 AND COUNTING: With 99 assists last weekend, junior setter Brittany McGinnis raised her career total to 3,229 which ranks fifth in program history . . . She needs just 307 more assists to pass Angie Parrell's (2004-07) career total of 3,535 for fourth on BSU's all-time list . . . McGinnis' 9.84 career assists-per-set average is sixth in BSU annals . . . This season, McGinnis is averaging a career-best 10.36 assists per set and is on pace for her third-straight 1,000 assist season.
►NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK: After averaging 7.88 digs per set in wins over Western Michigan (Oct. 29) and Northern Illinois (Oct. 30), Alyssa Rio was named the CVU.com National Player of the Week . . . In the win over WMU, Rio collected a career-high 44 digs, and followed with 19 digs in the sweep of NIU . . . She also posted a perfect reception percentage, passing all 24 balls served her way.
►DEFENSE ON DISPLAY: In addition to Alyssa Rio, BSU's defense as a whole turned in a dominating performance versus Northern Illinois (Oct. 29), limiting the league's leading attacking team to a .151 rate of success . . . NIU entered the match hitting .264 as a team.
►LEAGUE AWARDS: The Cardinals swept the MAC West Division weekly awards on Nov. 1, with Alyssa Rio earning defensive player of the week honors for the third time this season and junior middle blocker Kelsey Brandl picking up offensive player of the week accolades for the first time this season . . . Rio is a four-time award winner over her career, while Brandl has collected three career honors.
►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.
