Ball State University Athletics
Men's Volleyball Battles IPFW Tonight In Rivalry Match
February 25, 2010 | Men's Volleyball
HOME FOR THE WEEK: The Ball State men's volleyball team returns to Worthen Arena this week for a brief homestand with league matches versus IPFW and Lewis . . . Thursday, the Cardinals host the Mastodons in a 7:30 p.m. match that will be webcasted live and free of charge by Ball State Sports Link . . . Friday, the Cardinals host the 15th-ranked Flyers in another 7:30 p.m. first serve.
PIT STOP AT WORTHEN: The Cardinals two-match homestand this week marks a brief stop at home for the BSU men's volleyball team, which just ended a four-match road swing . . . After Friday's match versus No. 15 Lewis, the Cardinals travel coast-to-coast with matches at Grand Canyon, UCLA and Pepperdine (March 9-11) followed by a trip to George Mason and Rutgers-Newark (March 19-20).
CARDINALS ON THE AIR: Thursday's home match versus Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association and in-state rival IPFW will be webcasted live and free of charge by Ball State Sports Link on ballstatesports.com . . . In addition, Sports Link will webcast the March 27 match between Ball State and Cal-State Northridge.
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: The Cardinals enter the week with an 8-4 (2-3 MIVA) record after suffering an 0-3 (18-30, 15-30, 22-30) loss at No. 7 Penn State Friday and scoring a 3-1 (29-31, 30-27, 30-28, 30-21) victory at Saint Francis (Pa.) Saturday . . . Jamion Hartley paces the Ball State attack with a 3.25 kills-per-game average, while J.D. Gasparovic leads the BSU offense with a .400 (99-27-180) attack percentage . . . Lee Meyer has also performed well from the attack line, leading the team with 133 kills for a 3.24 kills-per-game average . . . At the net, Anders Nelson owns a team-best 1.36 blocks-per-game average . . . Ethan Pheister has set the BSU offense to a .227 rate of success this season, while adding 1.51 digs, 0.42 aces and 0.78 blocks per game . . . Billy Ebel holds down the backcourt with a 3.07 digs-per-game average.
SCOUTING IPFW: Coached by Ball State alumnus Arnie Ball (1967 & 71), the Mastodons enter the week with a 6-6 (2-3 MIVA) record after scoring a 3-2 (27-30, 30-26, 26-30, 30-23, 21-19) win at Saint Francis (Pa.) Friday, before being swept 0-3 (21-03, 22-30, 20-30) at No. 7 Penn State Saturday . . . Darryl Shank paces the IPFW attack with a 4.98 kills-per-game average, while Oliver Kook leads the Mastodon's offense with a .342 (117-39-228) attack percentage . . . At the net, Corey Frain owns a team-best 1.14 blocks-per-game average . . . Dan Mader has set the IPFW offense to a .260 rate of success this season, while adding 1.52 digs and 0.43 blocks per game . . . Shaun Dryden is IPFW's top defender with a 3.16 digs-per-game average.
SCOUTING LEWIS: The Flyers enter the week with a 9-2 (2-1 MIVA) record after scoring a 3-0 (30-21, 30-21, 30-28) win at George Mason Friday and a 3-2 (25-30, 28-30, 30-25, 30-24, 15-11) victory at Juniata Saturday . . . Lewis is also ranked 15th in the latest AVCA Division I-II Men's Volleyball Coaches Top 15 Poll . . . Nathan Klass paces the Lewis attack with a 4.05 kills-per-game average, while Aaron Flick leads the Lewis regulars with a .387 (86-16-181) attack percentage . . . At the net, Flick owns a team-best 1.42 blocks-per-game average among Flyers who have seen action in more than half the team's games . . . Mike Iandolo has set the Lewis offense to a .274 rate of success this season, while adding 1.44 digs and 1.23 blocks per game . . . Rikki Garma is the Flyers' top defender with a 2.53 digs-per-game average.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES: BSU owns a 61-25 lead in the all-time series versus IPFW, including series sweeps in each of the last two seasons . . . The Cardinals are 27-11 all-time versus the Mastodons in Muncie, including a 13-7 record in Worthen Arena . . . Ball State is 26-15 all-time versus Lewis, including wins in 11 of the last 12 meetings . . . Last season, the squads split the regular season series with each team winning on their home court, while the Cardinals added a neutral site win in the MIVA Tournament semifinals . . . The Cardinals hold a 14-6 edge in home matches versus Lewis, with all matches being played in Worthen Arena.
BREAKING 20: Junior middle attacker J.D. Gasparovic became the second BSU player to record 20-or-more kills in a match this season when he blasted a career-high 20 kills in last Saturday's win at Saint Francis . . . Gasparovic also finished the match with a season-high .760 (20-1-25) attack percentage and a team-best five total blocks (three solo and two assists) . . . Junior outside attacker Lee Meyer was the first BSU player to record 20-or-more kills in a match this season when he blasted a career-high 27 in the Feb. 12 win at Quincy.
MORE FROM THE MIDDLE: After collecting 10 total blocks (three solo and seven assists) last weekend, J.D. Gasparovic enters the week ranked 16th in program history with 270 career block assists, while his 1.34 blocking average is seventh in school annals.
PHEISTER POSTS PAIR OF HIGHS: Senior setter Ethan Pheister had a solid outing at Saint Francis, recording a career-high 12 digs to go along with 45 assists for his first assist/dig double-double of the season . . . Pheister also tied a career-high with five aces in the match.
SERVING IT UP: With his five aces in Saturday's win at Saint Francis, Ethan Pheister climbed from 13th to 10th in program history with 87 career service aces . . . Pheister, who also ranks fifth in program history with 3,336 career assists, is on pace to become one of only eight players in school annals to serve up more than 100 aces.
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.
