Ball State University Athletics
No. 15 Men's Volleyball Hosts King & St. Francis This Weekend
April 07, 2010 | Men's Volleyball
MEN'S VOLLEYBALL ENDS NON-CONFERENCE SLATE THIS WEEKEND: The Ball State men's volleyball team ends the non-conference portion of its 2010 schedule this weekend with matches versus King College (Friday) and Saint Francis (Saturday) . . . First serve for both contests is set for 7:30 p.m. at Worthen Arena . . . Live stats and live streaming audio will be available for both matches through ballstatesports.com.
EARLIER THIS WEEK: The Cardinals opened the week with a 3-2 (30-24, 31-29, 28-30, 23-30, 15-13) victory at Lewis Tuesday evening . . . The win helped BSU take an early edge in the battle for the No. 3 seed in the upcoming MIVA Tournament and kept the Cardinals' chance of earning the No. 2 seed alive.
SETTING UP THE TOURNAMENT: With two conference matches remaining for Ball State (6-4 MIVA), the Cardinals hold a half-match lead over Lewis (5-4 MIVA) for the No. 3 seed in the MIVA Tournament . . . Loyola has secured one of the first two seeds entering the week with a 10-0 league ledger, while Ohio State is currently second at 8-1 . . . Ball State and Lewis both have matches at Ohio State remaining on their schedule, with the Buckeyes also hosting Loyola this Friday . . . BSU closes the regular season with a home match versus Loyola . . . Lewis hosts Grand Canyon (1-9 MIVA) in a two-match series next weekend to end its regular season . . . Quincy (2-8 MIVA) will host IPFW (2-8 MIVA) in a battle for the No. 5 seed next weekend to end both teams regular seasons.
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 Friday's match with a 15-9 (6-4 MIVA) record after earning a hard-fought 3-2 (30-24, 31-29, 28-30, 23-30, 15-13) win at Lewis Tuesday . . . Jamion Hartley paces the Ball State attack with a 3.03 kills-per-game average, while J.D. Gasparovic leads the BSU offense with a .386 (206-58-383) attack percentage . . . Lee Meyer has also performed well from the attack line, leading the team with 232 kills for a 2.76 kills-per-game average . . . At the net, Gasparovic leads the team with a 1.33 blocks-per-game average . . . Ethan Pheister has set the BSU offense to a .224 rate of success this season, while adding 1.60 digs, 0.33 aces and 0.68 blocks per game . . . Four-time MIVA Defensive Player of the Week Billy Ebel holds down the backcourt with a 3.05 digs-per-game average.
SCOUTING KING COLLEGE: The Tornado enter the week with a 13-5 overall record, including a 4-4 mark in Conference Carolinas play . . . Located in Bristol, Tenn., King College has won its last 11 matches . . . Last week, KC scored a 3-1 (27-30, 30-26, 33-31, 31-29) conference win over Mt. Olive and a 3-0 (30-19, 30-19, 31-29) non-conference victory over Mt. St. Joseph . . . Ariel Apolinario paces the King attack with a 3.19 kills-per-game average, while Alex Oliveira leads the Tornado with a .384 (59-16-112) attack percentage . . . At the net, Eric Gleen owns a team-best 1.26 blocks-per-game average . . . Joel Salva has set the KC offense to a .260 rate of success this season, while adding 1.48 digs and 0.41 blocks per game . . . Morris Cephas is the Tornado's top defender with a 2.76 digs-per-game average.
SCOUTING SAINT FRANCIS: The Red Flash enter the week with a 10-11 overall record, including a 3-5 EIVA Tait Division mark . . . In its lone match last week, Saint Francis scored a 3-1 (30-27, 30-27, 24-30, 30-28) victory at Juniata . . . Jordan Varee paces the Red Flash attack with a 4.95 kills-per-game average, while Pete Freyer leads the SFU offense with a .432 (187-45-329) attack percentage . . . At the net, Patrick McManamon owns a team-best 1.18 blocks-per-game average . . . Ryan Williams has set the Saint Francis offense to a .260 rate of success this season, while adding 1.18 digs and 0.51 blocks per game . . . John Wappler holds down the SFU backcourt with a 2.52 digs-per-game average.
ALL-TIME SERIES: Friday's match versus King College marks the first meeting between the Cardinals and the Tornado . . . Ball State holds a 7-3 advantage in the all-time series versus Saint Francis, including a 3-1 (29-31, 30-27, 30-28, 30-21) road win in the first meeting between the two clubs this season on Feb. 20 . . . BSU is 3-1 against the Red Flash in Worthen Arena.
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 No. 9 Penn State (April 1).
DEFENSE REMAINS SOLID: The Cardinals defense currently ranks first in the league in opponent hitting percentage at .199 . . . The BSU defense limited Lewis to a .161 attack percentage in Tuesday's win, marking the 13th time this season the Cardinals have limited their opponents to below .200 hitting marks . . . The Cardinals also rank first in the MIVA in digs per game (11.00) and second in blocks per game (3.01).
PHEISTER CLIMBS TO FOURTH: With 59 assists in Tuesday's win at Lewis, senior setter Ethan Pheister climbed to fourth in program history with 3,864 career assists . . . He passed John Shondell's (1989, 1991-93) career total of 3,840 . . . Pheister also enters the weekend ranked eighth in program history with 98 career service aces.
ANDERS SCORES BIG: Junior middle attacker Anders Nelson blasted a career-high 18 kills in Tuesday's five-set win at Lewis . . . The effort marked the seventh time this season, and 11th over his career, that Nelson has posted double-figure kills in a match . . . His previous career-best was 13 kills on two occasions, including the Jan. 16 win at Carthage.
WRATHER PACKS A PUNCH: Freshman outside attacker Larry Wrather has found a home in the BSU starting lineup over the last eight matches . . . Since getting the start at No. 2 Pepperdine (March 11), Wrather has collected a team-high 82 kills and a 2.93 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.
GASPAROVIC BREAKS INTO TOP 10: After posting five block assists at Lewis Tuesday, junior middle attacker J.D. Gasparovic climbed to seventh in BSU annals with 330 career block assists . . . In addition, his 375 total blocks rank 13th in program history, while his 1.37 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.
