Ball State University Athletics
Men's Volleyball Travels To East Coast This Weekend
March 17, 2010 | Men's Volleyball
Ball State vs. George Mason GameTracker Link
Ball State vs. Rutgers-Newark Live Stats Link
CARDINALS HEAD EAST: After playing three matches on the Pacific coast last week, the Ball State men's volleyball team will visit the Atlantic coast this weekend when it travels to George Mason and Rutgers-Newark . . . The Cardinals battle the Patriots Friday and the Scarlet Raiders Saturday, with both contests set for 7 p.m. first serves.
FOLLOW THE ACTION: Ball State men's volleyball fans can follow the action this weekend through live stats courtesy of both George Mason and Rutgers-Newark.
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: The Cardinals enter the week with a 10-7 (4-4 MIVA) record after posting a 1-2 record during last week's west coast trip . . . BSU opened the road swing with a 3-2 (30-18, 24-30, 28-30, 30-19, 15-13) victory at league foe Grand Canyon, before being swept by both No. 8 UCLA (26-30, 18-30, 27-30) and No. 2 Pepperdine (25-30, 29-31, 18-30) . . . Jamion Hartley paces the Ball State attack with a 3.33 kills-per-game average, while J.D. Gasparovic leads the BSU offense with a .382 (120-36-226) attack percentage . . . Lee Meyer has also performed well from the attack line, tying for team-high honors with 170 kills for a 2.83 kills-per-game average . . . At the net, Gasparovic leads the team with a 1.31 blocks-per-game average . . . Ethan Pheister has set the BSU offense to a .216 rate of success this season, while adding 1.61 digs, 0.32 aces and 0.79 blocks per game . . . Billy Ebel holds down the backcourt with a 3.02 digs-per-game average.
SCOUTING GEORGE MASON: The Patriots enter the week with a 4-10 overall record, including four straight losses . . . GMU has been idle since being swept (30-24, 30-22, 30-16) by then-No. 9 Penn State March 6 . . . Andrew Dentler paces the George Mason attack and ranks sixth nationally with a 4.82 kills-per-game average, while setter Javier Perez leads the Patriots offense with a .490 (31-7-49) attack percentage . . . At the net, Piotr Dabrowski owns a team-best 1.25 blocks-per-game average . . . Perez has set the George Mason offense to a .208 rate of success this season, while adding 1.62 digs per game . . . Luke Maloney is GMU's top defender with a 2.12 digs-per-game average.
SCOUTING RUTGERS-NEWARK: The Scarlet Raiders enter the week with a 6-9 overall record after scoring a 3-0 (30-18, 30-22, 30-21) victory over New York University last Tuesday (March 9) . . . Rutgers-Newark will battle IPFW Friday, before hosting the Cardinals Saturday . . . Marcin Midura paces the Scarlet Raiders attack with a 3.41 kills-per-game average, while Jon Keller leads the team with a .439 (139-31-246) attack percentage . . . At the net, Keller owns a team-best 1.44 blocks-per-game average . . . Jeff Zoring and Liran Shapiro have combined to set the Rutgers-Newark offense to a .274 rate of success this season, averaging 10.15 and 10.74 assists per game, respectively . . . Dane Mulligan is the Scarlet Raiders' top defender with a 1.71 digs-per-game average.
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS GEORGE MASON: Ball State owns a 37-24 advantage in the all-time series versus George Mason, including a 3-1 (30-23, 31-33, 30-19, 31-29) victory at Worthen Arena in the first meeting this season (Jan. 29) . . . Ball State has also won its last two matches at George Mason's Field House, including a 3-2 (19-30, 32-30, 30-27, 28-30, 15-6) victory last season (March 21).
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS RUTGERS-NEWARK: Ball State holds a 41-7 lead in the all-time series versus Rutgers-Newark, including a thrilling 3-2 (30-26, 29-31, 30-21, 25-30, 15-8) home win in the first meeting this season (Jan. 30) . . . Overall, the Cardinals have won the last 13 matches between the two clubs . . . The Scarlet Raiders' last win in the series was a 3-2 (31-29, 27-30, 19-30, 30-27, 15-8) victory at The Golden Dome Jan. 26, 2002.
FIRST TIME OUT VERSUS GEORGE MASON In the Jan. 29 showdown with the Patriots, Jamion Hartley led the Cardinals attack with 17 kills, while Lee Meyer collected his second career double-double with 13 kills and a team-high 12 digs . . . At the net, BSU's Anders Nelson collected a career-high 11 blocks . . . Andrew Dentler was GMU's top attacker with 22 kills . . . Ball State finished the match hitting .215, while limiting the George Mason attack to a .099 rate of success.
FIRST TIME OUT VERSUS RUTGERS-NEWARK In the Jan. 30 showdown with the Scarlet Raiders, four Cardinals posted double-digit kills led by 16 each from Jamion Hartley and Lee Meyer . . . Meyer also tied for match-high honors with 13 digs for his second consecutive double-double . . . Marcin Midura was Rutgers-Newark's top attacker with 19 kills . . . Ball State finished the match hitting .273, while limiting the Rutgers-Newark attack to a .212 rate of success.
BSU WITH THE BLOCK: The Ball State men's volleyball team enters the week ranked second in the MIVA and sixth nationally with a 2.98 blocks-per-game average . . . Junior middle attacker J.D. Gasparovic is the top Cardinal at the net, ranking 10th in the nation with his 1.31 blocking average . . . Junior middle attacker Anders Nelson is 16th nationally with his 1.20 average.
BSU DOUBLES UP GRAND CANYON: In its five-game thriller at Grand Canyon, a pair of BSU players logged their first double-double of the season . . . Senior outside attacker Matt Sprague smashed a season-high 13 kills and added 10 digs for his second career double-double . . . Redshirt freshman outside attacker Jamion Hartley added 12 kills and a career-high 12 digs for his first career double-double.
WRATHER SHINES AT NO. 2 PEPPERDINE: Freshman outside attacker Larry Wrather turned in an inspired performance at No.2 Pepperdine (March 11), blasting a team-high 10 kills, while adding a team-best six digs . . . Wrather also tied for team-high honors with two total blocks . . . Wrather is the first player to lead BSU in kills, digs and blocks in a single match this season.
GASPAROVIC HEATING UP THE MIDDLE: Junior middle attacker J.D. Gasparovic has either led or tied for the team lead in blocks in each of the last eight matches, including a career-high 14 total blocks (one solo & 13 assists) versus IPFW (Feb. 25) . . . During that span, he has averaged 1.66 blocks per game . . . Over BSU's first nine matches, Gasparovic led the team in blocks just once and averaged 0.97 blocks per game.
MORE FROM THE MIDDLE: After collecting 15 total blocks (three solo & 12 assists) in BSU's three matches last week, J.D. Gasparovic enters Friday's match at George Mason ranked 13th in program history with 299 career block assists . . . In addition, his 1.37 blocking average is seventh in school annals, while his 339 total blocks tie Chris Beerman (1987-90) for 17th.
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.
