Ball State University Athletics
MVB Hosts No. 9 Penn State Thursday, Visits IPFW Saturday
April 01, 2010 | Men's Volleyball
MEN'S VOLLEYBALL SET FOR PAIR OF MATCHES THIS WEEK: The Ball State men's volleyball team will look to take down its second-straight top 10 opponent Thursday, when it hosts No. 9 Penn State at 7:30 p.m. inside Worthen Arena . . . Saturday, the Cardinals return to the road and league play with a 7 p.m. first serve at IPFW.
BACK IN THE POLLS: After scoring a sweep of third-ranked Cal State Northridge last Saturday, Ball State earned the No. 15 slot in the latest AVCA Division I-II Mens Coaches Top 15 Poll . . . The Cardinals started the season ranked 11th (preseason) and fell to 13th on Jan. 11, before dropping out for 10 weeks . . . BSU did receive votes in six of the 10 polls it was not ranked.
THE BIG WIN: Ball State's victory over No. 3 Cal State Northridge marks the highest-ranked NCAA Division I-II opponent a team from the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association has defeated this season . . . The previous best was Loyola's 3-2 win over a fifth-ranked Penn State squad Jan. 30 . . . In addition, it was the highest-ranked foe the Cardinals have defeated since March 1, 1996, when BSU scored a 3-1 (40-30, 41-28, 39-42, 40-31) victory over No. 2 Long Beach State in the semifinals of the Hall of Fame Classic in Springfield, Mass.
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: The Cardinals enter the week with a 13-8 (4-4 MIVA) record after going 1-1 against No. 3 Cal State Northridge in the Don Shondell/Active Ankle Challenge . . . After being swept by the Matadors Friday, BSU returned the favor Saturday with a sweep of its own . . . Jamion Hartley paces the Ball State attack with a 3.19 kills-per-game average, while J.D. Gasparovic leads the BSU offense with a .394 (172-47-317) attack percentage . . . Lee Meyer has also performed well from the attack line, leading the team with 214 kills for a 2.97 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 .225 rate of success this season, while adding 1.65 digs, 0.33 aces and 0.75 blocks per game . . . Billy Ebel holds down the backcourt with a 3.04 digs-per-game average.
SCOUTING PENN STATE: The Nittany Lions enter the week with an 18-5 (9-0 EIVA TAIT) record going 2-1 last week . . . PSU scored EIVA Tait Division sweeps over Juniata (30-18, 30-22, 30-26) and Princeton (30-20, 30-24, 30-24) before losing 1-3 (28-30, 28-30, 30-24, 28-30) at EIVA Hay Division member Rutgers-Newark . . . Penn State enters the week ranked ninth in the nation in the latest AVCA Division I-II Men's Volleyball Coaches Top 15 poll . . . Will Price paces the Nittany Lions attack with a 4.46 kills-per-game average, while Max Lipsitz leads the nation with a .529 (281-50-437) attack percentage . . . At the net, Lipsitz also ranks sixth in the country with a 1.44 blocks-per-game average . . . Edgardo Goas has set the PSU offense to the nation's second-best rate of success this season at .346, while adding 1.81 digs per game . . . Dennis Del Valle is Penn State's top defender with a 3.53 digs-per-game average.
SCOUTING IPFW: Coached by Ball State alumnus Arnie Ball (1967 & 71), the Mastodons enter the week with a 9-12 (2-6 MIVA) record after splitting a pair of road matches last week . . . IPFW scored a 3-0 (30-28, 30-25, 30-22) win at Carthage, before falling to league rival and 12th-ranked Loyola 1-3 (24-30, 30-27, 12-30, 24-30) . . . Darryl Shank paces the IPFW attack with a 4.66 kills-per-game average, while Oliver Kook leads the Mastodon's offense with a .332 (197-67-391) attack percentage . . . At the net, Corey Frain owns a team-best 1.25 blocks-per-game average . . . Dan Mader has set the IPFW offense to a .235 rate of success this season, while adding 1.47 digs per game . . . Shaun Dryden is IPFW's top defender with a 2.82 digs-per-game average.
AGAINST PENN STATE: The Nittany Lions hold a 60-20 lead in the all-time series versus Ball State, including nine straight wins . . . Earlier this season, BSU suffered an 0-3 (18-30, 15-30, 22-30) setback to then-No. 7 Penn State Feb. 19 . . . In the loss, Eric Schulte led Ball State with eight kills and a .636 (8-1-11) attack percentage . . . Three Nittany Lions recorded double-figure kills in the contest, paced by Will Price's 15, as PSU limited the Cardinals to a season-low 12 digs for the match . . . BSU's last win in the series was a 3-0 (32-30, 30-28, 30-28) road win Jan. 14, 2006.
AGAINST IPFW: Ball State owns a 62-25 lead in the all-time series versus IPFW, including a thrilling 3-2 (28-30, 30-32, 30-22, 30-20, 15-6) come-from-behind victory in the season series opener between the two clubs Feb. 25 . . . In the match, junior J.D. Gasparovic led the Cardinals with 18 kills, while adding a Ball State rally-scoring era record 14 total blocks (one solo, 13 assists) . . . Darryl Shank led the Mastodons with 20 kills . . . Overall, BSU has won the last five meetings between the two clubs, with IPFW's last win in the series coming in the form of a 3-0 (30-24, 30-25, 30-20) sweep April 7, 2007 in Fort Wayne.
OFFENSE STARTING TO ROLL: Ball State's offense has started to find its grove in the last two weeks, with its two highest hitting efforts of the season . . . BSU connected for a season-high .340 mark at George Mason (March 19) and followed with a .305 efforts in Saturday's upset over No. 3 Cal State Northridge . . . Prior to the GMU match, BSU's best effort was a .294 mark in the come-from-behind win over IPFW (Feb. 25).
DEFENSE REMAINS SOLID: While its offense has struggled, the Cardinals defense currently ranks first in the league in opponent hitting percentage at .200 . . . In Saturday's win, BSU held No. 3 Cal State Northridge to is second-lowest hitting mark of the season at .140 . . . Overall, the Cardinals have limited their opponents to below .200 hitting marks in 11 matches, including a season-low .076 rate of success for IPFW (Feb. 25) . . The Cardinals also rank first in the MIVA in digs per game (11.10) and second in blocks per game (3.06).
WRATHER PACKS A PUNCH: Freshman Larry Wrather has found a home in the BSU starting lineup over the last five matches . . . Since getting the start at No. 2 Pepperdine (March 11), Wrather has collected a team-high 47 kills and a 2.94 kills-per-game average . . . He has led the team in kills twice, while recording his first career double-double at George Mason (March 19) . . . The shortest active player on the BSU roster, Wrather has also accounted for a team-high five solo blocks during the span, including the match-winning block versus No. 3 Cal State Northridge (March 27).
MEYER HITS FOR A CAREER-HIGH: One night after being limited to a season-low -.067 (4-5-15) attack percentage by No. 3 Cal State Northridge, junior outside attacker Lee Meyer responded with a season-best .421 (12-4-19) hitting mark and a team-high 12 kills to help guide BSU to a thrilling sweep of the third-ranked Matadors . . . In addition, Meyer finished the match with a career-high six block assists.
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.
