Ball State University Athletics
Men's Volleyball Back On The Road This Weekend
February 17, 2010 | Men's Volleyball
- - Ball State vs. Penn State GameTracker Link (free live stats)
- - Ball State vs. Saint Francis (Pa.) Live Stats (free live stats)
THE ROAD SWING CONTINUES: The Ball State men's volleyball team will conclude its current four-match road swing this weekend with non-conference matches at No. 7 Penn State Friday and Saint Francis (Pa.) Saturday . . . Both contests are slated for 7 p.m. first serves.
VERSUS THE EIVA: The Cardinals will take a weekend off from league play with matches at Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association members No. 7 Penn State and Saint Francis this weekend . . . So far this season, Ball State is 2-0 versus opponents from the EIVA, scoring home wins over George Mason (Jan. 29) and Rutgers-Newark (Jan. 30).
CARDINALS ON THE AIR: Friday's match at Penn State will be webcasted live by the BigTenNetwork.com . . . The Big Ten Network will also re-air the match on television Monday, Feb. 22 at 11:30 a.m. . . . In addition, next Thursday's home match versus MIVA and in-state rival IPFW will be webcasted by Ball State Sports Link on ballstatesports.com.
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: The Cardinals enter the week with a 7-3 (2-3 MIVA) record after splitting a pair of road matches at Quincy last weekend . . . Jamion Hartley paces the Ball State attack with a 3.54 kills-per-game average, while Anders Nelson leads the BSU offense with a .351 (83-23-171) attack percentage . . . Lee Meyer has also performed well from the attack line, leading the team with 127 kills for a 3.43 kills-per-game average . . . At the net, Nelson owns a team-best 1.47 blocks-per-game average . . . Ethan Pheister has set the BSU offense to a .240 rate of success this season, while adding 1.42 digs and 0.76 blocks per game . . . Billy Ebel holds down the backcourt with a 3.19 digs-per-game average.
SCOUTING PENN STATE: The Nittany Lions enter the week with an 8-2 overall record, including a 4-0 EIVA Tait Division mark . . . Penn State's last NCAA match was a 3-1 victory over Springfield College Feb. 6 . . . Last week, PSU played Laval in a pair of exhibition matches, scoring 3-1 wins in both contests . . . Penn State was also ranked seventh in the latest AVCA Division I-II Men's Volleyball Coaches Top 15 Poll . . . Will Price paces the Penn State attack with a 4.57 kills-per-game average, while Max Lipsitz leads the PSU offense with a .479 (118-26-192) attack percentage . . . At the net, Lipsitz owns a team-best 1.58 blocks-per-game average . . . Edgardo Goas has set the Penn State offense to a .322 rate of success this season, while adding 1.73 digs and 0.81 blocks per game . . . Dennis Del Valle is PSU's top defender with a 3.74 digs-per-game average.
SCOUTING SAINT FRANCIS: The Red Flash enter the week with a 7-4 overall record, including an 0-2 EIVA Tait Division mark . . . Last week, Saint Francis suffered a 3-1 setback to George Mason before topping Rutgers-Newark 3-2 . . . Jordan Varee paces the Red Flash attack with a 4.26 kills-per-game average, while Pete Fortney leads the SFU offense with a .462 (90-18-156) attack percentage . . . At the net, Fortney owns a team-best 1.19 blocks-per-game average . . . Ryan Williams has set the Saint Francis offense to a .248 rate of success this season, while adding 0.95 digs and 0.43 blocks per game . . . John Wappler holds down the SFU backcourt with a 2.14 digs-per-game average.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES: Penn State holds a 59-20 lead in the all-time series versus Ball State, including eight straight wins . . . BSU's last victory in the series was a 3-0 (32-30, 30-28, 30-28) road win Jan. 14, 2006 . . . The Cardinals hold a 6-3 lead in the all-time series against Saint Francis after the teams split the regular season series last year . . .The Red Flash scored a 3-1 (29-31, 30-25, 32-30, 30-28) homecourt win Jan. 24, while BSU earned a 3-1 (30-25, 50-18, 23-30, 30-26) home win April 18.
BREAKING 20: Ball State junior outside attacker Lee Meyer became the first BSU player this season to record over 20 kills in a match when he blasted a career-high 27 in Friday's win at Quincy . . . Entering the week, Meyer has the three highest kill totals in a match for the Cardinals this season, with his 27 at Quincy (Feb. 12), 19 versus Grand Canyon (Jan. 21) and 18 at Quincy (Feb. 13) . . . Prior to Meyer, Dominic Spadavecchio was the last BSU player to post 20-or-more kills in a match with 20 at IPFW April 11, 2009.
SEEING DOUBLE: In addition to scoring 27 kills in Friday's win at Quincy, Lee Meyer added 11 digs for his team-leading fourth kill/dig double-double of the season . . . Overall, Meyer has recorded double-doubles in four of Ball State's last seven matches and holds the team lead with double-figure kills seven times this season . . . Prior to this year, Meyer had only recorded double-figure kills in three career matches and had never posted a double-double . . . Last season, BSU players tallied just six kill/dig double-doubles with Dominic Spadavecchio leading the team with three.
THROWING UP THE BLOCK: Junior middle attacker Anders Nelson, who posted a career-high 11 total blocks (two solo, nine assists) in the Jan. 29 win over George Mason, enters the week ranked third in the MIVA and fifth nationally with a 1.47 blocks-per-game average . . . Nelson has led the Cardinals in blocks seven times this season, including six of the last seven contests . . . In addition to his solid blocking numbers, Nelson leads the team and ranks eighth in the MIVA with a .351 hitting percentage.
MORE FROM THE MIDDLE: Junior middle attacker J.D. Gasparovic is also making life tough for BSU opponents at the net, as he ranks 11th in the league and 28th nationally with a 1.11 blocks-per-game average . . . After collecting a match-best nine total blocks (one solo and nine assists) at Quincy last Saturday, Gasparovic enters the week ranked 17th in program history with 263 career block assists, while his 1.34 blocking average is seventh in school annals.
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.
