Ball State University Athletics
Men's Volleyball Heads To The West Coast This Week
March 08, 2010 | Men's Volleyball
OFF TO THE WEST COAST: After a 10-day break, the Ball State men's volleyball team returns to action Tuesday, when it visits Phoenix, Ariz., for a 7 p.m. (MST) showdown with first-year Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association member Grand Canyon . . . On Wednesday, the Cardinals visit No. 5 UCLA and Thursday, BSU will battle No. 1 Pepperdine . . . Both of those matches are scheduled for 7 p.m. (PT) starts.
COAST-TO-COAST: After visiting the west coast this week, the Ball State men's volleyball team will head to the east coast for matches at George Mason and Rutgers-Newark (March 19-20).
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: The Cardinals enter the week with a 9-5 (3-4 MIVA) record after a 10-day break . . . On Feb. 25, the Cardinals posted a 3-2 (28-30, 30-32, 30-22, 30-20, 15-6) come-from-behind victory over MIVA rival IPFW . . . However, No. 15 Lewis scored 3-2 (30-23, 27-30, 34-32, 26-30, 15-13) league win over BSU the following night . . . Jamion Hartley paces the Ball State attack with a 3.52 kills-per-game average, while J.D. Gasparovic leads the BSU offense with a .372 (120-36-226) attack percentage . . . Lee Meyer has also performed well from the attack line, leading the team with 161 kills for a 3.16 kills-per-game average . . . At the net, Anders Nelson and Gasparovic tie for team-high honors with 1.30 blocks-per-game averages . . . Ethan Pheister has set the BSU offense to a .228 rate of success this season, while adding 1.62 digs, 0.35 aces and 0.82 blocks per game . . . Billy Ebel holds down the backcourt with a 3.11 digs-per-game average.
SCOUTING GRAND CANYON: The Antelopes enter the week with an 11-16 (0-5 MIVA) record . . . Last week, GCU posted wins over Park (3-0), Sienna Heights (3-1) and Moody Bible (3-0), while suffering losses to Lindenwood (0-3) and St. Ambrose (1-3) in a two-day tournament hosted by St. Ambrose . . . Base on stats for 23 matches, Brock Hutchins paces the Grand Canyon attack with a 4.55 kills-per-game average, while Chris Lockwood leads the 'Lopes offense with a .368 (169-42-345) attack percentage . . . At the net, Lockwood also owns a team-best 1.10 blocks-per-game average . . . Brad Moore has set the Grand Canyon offense to a .214 rate of success this season, while adding 1.71 digs per game . . . Trent Bruns is GCU's top defender with a 3.75 digs-per-game average.
SCOUTING UCLA: The Bruins enter the week with a 10-9 overall record after sweeping Lewis 3-0 (30-22, 30-27, 30-25) and falling to No. 3 UC Irvine 1-3 (34-32, 23-30, 28-30, 28-30) last week . . . UCLA was ranked fifth in last week's AVCA Division I-II Men's Volleyball Coaches Top 15 Poll . . . Garrett Muagututia paces the Bruins attack with a 3.99 kills-per-game average, while Thomas Amberg leads the UCLA regulars with a .376 (128-31-258) attack percentage . . . At the net, Amberg owns a team-best 1.10 blocks-per-game average . . . Kevin Ker and Kyle Caldwell have combined to set the UCLA offense to a .288 rate of success this season, averaging 8.81 and 7.30 assists per game, respectively . . . Tom Hastings is the Bruins' top defender with a 2.53 digs-per-game average.
SCOUTING PEPPERDINE: The Waves enter the week with a 10-5 overall record after splitting a weekend series at No. 4 Brigham Young . . . BYU scored a 3-1 (30-28, 25-30, 30-27, 30-18) win March 5, while Pepperdine earned a 3-0 (30-26, 30-22, 30-23) victory the following night . . . Pepperdine was ranked No. 1 in last week's AVCA Division I-II Men's Volleyball Coaches Top 15 Poll . . . Torres Maurice paces the Waves attack with a 4.33 kills-per-game average, while Tyler Jaynes leads the Pepperdine offense with a .478 (117-17-209) attack percentage . . . At the net, Jaynes owns a team-best 1.38 blocks-per-game average . . . Kasey Crider has set the Pepperdine offense to a .340 rate of success this season, while adding 1.79 digs per game . . . Sean Grubbs is the Waves' top defender with a 2.20 digs-per-game average.
BALL STATE VS. GRAND CANYON: Ball State owns a 3-0 advantage in the all-time series versus Grand Canyon, including a 3-1 (30-32, 31-29, 30-23, 30-25) home victory on Jan. 21 . . . In the match, Lee Meyer led the BSU attack with 19 kills, while J.D. Gasparovic, Jamion Hartley and Larry Wrather each tallied 10 . . . Brock Hutchins was the 'Lopes top attacker with 17 kills.
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS UCLA: While the Bruins hold a 21-3 advantage in the all-time series, the Cardinals own a two-match winning streak over UCLA entering Wednesday's match . . . During the 2008 season, Ball State posted back-to-back wins over the Bruins in a pair of matches played in Worthen Arena . . . BSU scored a 3-1 (23-30, 30-24, 30-19, 30-24) win Feb. 29, before earning a 3-0 (30-21, 30-26, 30-24) victory the following night (March 1) . . . However, BSU is 0-9 all-time in matches played in Pauley Pavilion.
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS PEPPERDINE: The Waves hold a 6-1 lead in the all-time series versus Ball State, including a 3-0 edge in matches played in Malibu . . . The Cardinals lone win in the series was a 3-1 (8-15, 15-12, 15-13, 15-12) neutral site victory March 21, 1997 in a match played in the IPFW Spring Fling.
THROWING UP THE BLOCK: Junior middle blocker J.D. Gasparovic led the Cardinals in a defensive clampdown of the IPFW attack in the final three games of the Feb. 25 come-from-behind victory . . . In the match, Gasparovic tallied a career-high and Ball State rally-scoring record 14 total blocks (one solo, 13 assists) and helped limit the Mastodon's attack to a -.050 (26-31-100) attack percentage in the final three games, including negative hitting marks in all three frames . . . Nine of his blocks came in the final three games as BSU rallied from a 0-2 hole, including three in the pivotal fifth set.
MORE FROM THE MIDDLE: After collecting 19 total blocks (two solo and 17 assists) in BSU's last two matches, J.D. Gasparovic enters the week ranked 14th in program history with 287 career block assists . . . In addition, his 1.37 blocking average is seventh in school annals, while his 324 total blocks rank 19th.
HARTLEY BLASTS NO. 15 LEWIS: Redshirt freshman outside attacker Jamion Hartley had a career-night Feb. 26 versus No. 15 Lewis, recording a career-high 30 kills . . . Hartley is one of only seven players in the country to record 30-or-more kills in a match this season . . . Hartley's 30 kills also tie as the second-most for a Ball State player in the rally scoring era . . . In the final game alone, Hartley accounted for seven of the Cardinals' nine kills, nearly helping BSU overtake the 15th-ranked Flyers . . . To go along with his impressive kill total, Hartley finished the contest with a .389 (30-9-54) attack percentage, while adding six digs and four total blocks . . . One night earlier, Hartley collected a career-high eight digs versus IPFW.
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.
