Ball State University Athletics
No. 15 Men's Volleyball Travels To Lewis Tuesday
April 06, 2010 | Men's Volleyball
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MEN'S VOLLEYBALL TRAVELS TO LEWIS TUESDAY: After securing a quarterfinal home match in the upcoming Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tournament with a win last Saturday, the No. 15 Ball State men's volleyball team will look to improve its seeding when it travels to Lewis Tuesday for a 7 p.m. (CT) first serve at Neil Carey Arena.
MORE ON THE MATCH UP: Lewis currently holds a half game lead over the Cardinals for the third seed in the 2010 MIVA Tournament with a 5-3 league record . . . BSU enters the week with a 5-4 MIVA mark . . . In the first meeting this season, Lewis escaped Worthen Arena with a 3-2 (30-23, 27-30, 34-32, 26-30, 15-13) victory on Feb. 26 . . . In addition to the Flyers, Ball State still has a road match at No. 13 Ohio State (April 16) and a home match versus No. 11 Loyola (April 17) in league action . . . Lewis travels to No. 13 Ohio State Saturday, before ending the season with a pair of home matches versus Grand Canyon (April 16-17).
IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY: The Cardinals will conclude the non-conference portion of its 2010 schedule this weekend with home matches versus King College (Friday) and St. Francis (Saturday) . . . King College, which is located in Bristol, Tenn., enters the week with a 13-5 overall record, including 11-straight wins . . . St. Francis enters the week with a 10-11 overall record, including a 1-3 (31-29, 27-30, 28-30, 21-30) home loss to the Cardinals Feb. 20.
IN THE POLLS: After going 1-1 last week, the Ball State men's volleyball team remained 15th 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 . . . The Cardinals re-entered the rankings March 29 after scoring a 3-0 sweep of then-No. 3 Cal State Northridge March 27 . . . BSU did receive votes in six of the 10 polls it was not ranked.
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: The Cardinals enter the week with a 14-9 (5-4 MIVA) record after going 1-1 last week . . . BSU suffered a 2-3 (30-20, 28-30, 23-30, 30-26, 10-15) home loss to No. 9 Penn State Thursday, before posting a 3-0 (30-24, 30-26, 30-24) sweep at MIVA rival IPFW Saturday . . . Jamion Hartley paces the Ball State attack with a 3.15 kills-per-game average, while J.D. Gasparovic leads the BSU offense with a .398 (193-51-357) attack percentage . . . Lee Meyer has also performed well from the attack line, leading the team with 224 kills for a 2.84 kills-per-game average . . . At the net, Gasparovic leads the team with a 1.35 blocks-per-game average . . . Ethan Pheister has set the BSU offense to a .228 rate of success this season, while adding 1.64 digs, 0.34 aces and 0.70 blocks per game . . . Four-time MIVA Defensive Player of the Week Billy Ebel holds down the backcourt with a 3.07 digs-per-game average.
SCOUTING LEWIS: The Flyers enter the week with a 16-7 (5-3 MIVA) record after scoring a 3-0 (31-29, 30-24, 31-29) sweep of IPFW Tuesday . . . Nathan Klass paces the Lewis attack with a 3.55 kills-per-game average, while Matt Gallik leads the Flyers with a .404 (127-35-228) attack percentage . . . At the net, Gallik owns a team-best 1.38 blocks-per-game average . . . Mike Iandolo has set the Lewis offense to a .261 rate of success this season, while adding 1.34 digs and 1.14 blocks per game . . . Rikki Garma is the Flyers' top defender with a 2.59 digs-per-game average.
AGAINST LEWIS: Ball State owns a 26-16 advantage in the all-time series versus the Flyers, despite the five game setback in the series opener Feb. 26 . . . The Cardinals are 9-7 all-time in matches played in Romeoville, Ill., including wins in three of its last four trips . . . However, in BSU's last trip to Lewis, the Flyers handed the Cardinals a 2-3 (23-30, 30-26, 30-28, 25-30, 17-19) setback March 13, 2009.
OFFENSE STARTING TO ROLL: Ball State's offense has started to find its grove in the last three weeks, with its three highest hitting efforts of the season . . . BSU connected for a season-high .340 mark at George Mason (March 19) and followed with .305 efforts versus No. 3 Cal State Northridge (March 27) and against No. 9 Penn State (April 1) . . . 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: The Cardinals defense currently ranks first in the league in opponent hitting percentage at .200 . . . Last Thursday, the Cardinals limited the nation's then-second-ranked offense in No. 9 Penn State to a .240 rate of success, well below their season mark of .346 entering the match . . . Overall, the Cardinals have limited their opponents to below .200 hitting marks in 12 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 (11.07) and second in blocks per game (3.06).
FOURTH TIME IS THE CHARM: Senior libero Billy Ebel was named the MIVA Defensive Player of the Week for the fourth time this season after posting a perfect reception percentage and a 3.38 digs-per-game average last week . . . This is the first year for the league's weekly defensive award and Ebel leads all league players with four selections . . . IPFW's Shaun Dryden and Ohio State's Mik Berzins are tied for second with two awards each.
WRATHER PACKS A PUNCH: Freshman outside attacker Larry Wrather has found a home in the BSU starting lineup over the last seven matches . . . Since getting the start at No. 2 Pepperdine (March 11), Wrather has collected a team-high 68 kills and a 2.96 kills-per-game average . . . He has led the team in kills three times, while recording his first career double-double at George Mason (March 19) . . . The shortest active player on the BSU roster, Wrather added a career-high 19 kills in the April 1 showdown versus No. 9 Penn State.
PHEISTER CONTINUES TO SERVE IT UP: Including three aces at IPFW last Saturday, senior setter Ethan Pheister enters the week with a team-high 30 aces . . . Pheister's 98 career aces rank eighth in program history . . . Pheister also enters the week ranked fifth in program history with 3,805 career assists . . . He needs 36 more to pass John Shondell's (1989, 1991-93) career total of 3,840 for fourth on BSU's all-time list.
SCHULTE SHINES VERSUS PENN STATE: Senior outside attacker Eric Schulte posted a season-high 13 kills last Thursday versus No. 9 Penn State . . . In the Cardinals two matches versus the Nittany Lions this season, Schulte averaged 3.00 kills per game, while hitting for a .351 (21-8-37) rate of success . . . On the year, Schulte averages 1.58 kills per game and is hitting .120 . . . Schulte also turned in a solid performance at IPFW last Saturday, racking up a career-high seven total blocks.
GASPAROVIC BREAKS INTO TOP 10: After posting 13 block assists last week junior middle attacker J.D. Gasparovic climbed to ninth in program history with 325 career block assists . . . Additionally, his 370 total blocks rank 13th in BSU annals, while his 1.38 career blocks-per-game average is seventh.
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.
