Ball State University Athletics
WVB Opens 2010 Season At SIUE Cougar Classic Friday
August 26, 2010 | Women's Volleyball
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BSU vs. The Citadel - - Live Stats
BSU vs. Indiana State - - Live Stats
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►CARDINALS OPEN SEASON FRIDAY: The Ball State women's volleyball team opens its 39th season of play Friday, when it travels to Edwardsville, Ill., for the SIUE Cougar Classic . . . The Cardinals open the tournament with a 4 p.m. (CT) showdown with Southern Conference member The Citadel . . . Saturday, BSU battles Missouri Valley Conference member Indiana State at 10 a.m. (CT), before playing host school and future Ohio Valley Conference member SIU-Edwardsville at 7 p.m. (CT).
►CARDINALS ALL-TIME: Ball State enters its 39th season of competition with a 739-489-2 (.602) overall record . . . The Cardinals are 17-21 all-time in season-opening matches, including a 4-7 record in neutral site contests . . . Last season, BSU suffered a 3-0 setback at then-No. 19 Purdue in its season-opener.
►BALL STATE VS. TOURNAMENT FIELD: Ball State is a combined 41-5-1 versus the SIUE Cougar Classic field, with all but one of those matches coming versus Indiana State . . . Friday's match will be BSU's first-ever versus The Citadel, while the Cardinals posted a 3-1 (25-21, 20-25, 25-21, 25-20) win over SIUE last season (Sept. 5) in the Active Ankle Challenge . . . Ball State is 40-5-1 all-time versus Indiana State, including a 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-20) victory last year (Sept. 12) on its way to the Best Western ISU Classic title
►NEW FACES: A new-look Ball State women's volleyball team will take the court Friday versus The Citadel, starting at the top with first-year head coach Steve Shondell . . . Also new to the coaching staff are assistant coaches Corey Carlin and Kelli Miller, along with volunteer assistant coach Jim Palilonis . . . On the roster, the Cardinals welcome in six freshmen (Kylee Baker, Claire Farkas, Mindy Marx, Jacqui Seidel, Whitney Heeres and Catie Fredrich), along with redshirt junior Alexis Shonkwiler who was a 2007 letterwinner for the Cardinals before leaving the team for the 2008 & 2009 seasons.
►WELCOME BACK: In addition to the 11 new faces, the Cardinals return nine letterwinners from the 2009 season . . . Leading the way are a trio of juniors in 2009 First Team All-Mid-American Conference selection middle blocker Kelsey Brandl, two-year starting setter Brittany McGinnis and 2008 Second Team All-MAC honoree middle blocker Jennifer Boyd . . . BSU's four-member senior class includes starting libero Alyssa Rio, right side hitter Charde' Phillips, outside hitter Hannah Sullivan and defensive specialist Karin Caudill . . . Junior defensive specialist Kaylee Schembra and sophomore defensive specialist Lauren Schlaker round out BSU roster.
►SCOUTING THE CITADEL: The Citadel returns 13 letterwinners, including five starters and its libero, from its team which posted an 8-25 overall record last season . . . All three of the Bulldogs' top attackers return for the 2010 season, paced by senior outside hitter Tatum Jestila at 2.91 kills-per-set . . . The only hole to fill in The Citadel's starting lineup looks to be at setter, where the team graduated Alyssa Holum.
►SCOUTING INDIANA STATE: Indiana State returns just one starter and the libero from its 2009 squad which posted a 7-25 overall record . . . Junior middle blocker Stacy Qualizza led the Sycamores with a .238 hitting percentage last season, while racking up 233 kills as the team's lone returning starter . . . Junior Kiya James collected 527 digs as ISU's libero last season.
►SCOUTING SIU-EDWARDSVILLE: The Cougars return five starters and the libero from a team which posted a 2-27 overall record in its second season reclassifying from Division II to Division I . . . Senior right side Sydney Winslow paced SIUE with a 2.75 kills-per-set average last season . . . Senior outside hitter Karie Downing led the team with 768 attempts while posting a 2.16 kills-per-set average . . . The Cougars only starter lost was outside hitter Brittni Birkey who collected 1.79 kills per set last season.
►MAKING THE FIRST TEAM: Kelsey Brandl was named to 2009 All-MAC First Team after ranking third in the league with a .338 attack percentage . . . The mark was the 10th-best single-season percentage in program history . . . Brandl also ranked sixth among all league players with a 0.98 blocks-per-set average, while averaging 2.53 kills per set.
►CLIMBING THE DEFENSIVE CHARTS: Despite missing a majority of BSU's non-conference schedule last season due to injury, senior libero Alyssa Rio enters the 2010 season ranked fourth in program history with 1,450 career digs . . . While she would need 824 digs (which would be the second-highest single-season total in program history) this season to take over the top spot in program history, Rio is well within striking distance of the No. 2 slot held by Sarah Obras (2002-05) at 1,652 . . . Rio also ranks third in program history in digs-per-set average (4.74), matches with double-figure digs (69) and matches with 20-or-more digs (69).
►SCHEMBRA CLOSING IN ON TOP 20: Junior defensive specialist Kaylee Schembra is also climbing the defensive charts with 626 career digs . . . She needs just 183 more digs to break into the top 20 past Becky Inman's (1995-98) career total of 808.
►DISHING THE ROCK: With two seasons as the program's starting setter under her belt, junior Brittany McGinnis enters her junior year ranked eighth in program history with 2,276 career assists . . . McGinnis is on pace to climb into the top five in program annals this season, needing just 389 more to pass Lorie Vandenberg (1989-92) for the spot . . . McGinnis also enters the year ranked sixth on BSU's career charts with a 9.64 assists-per-set average.
►DOMINATING DEFENSE: One area where the Cardinals will look to continue to shine from last season is on defense, where Ball State limited its opponents to a .177 hitting percentage, which was the lowest in the Mid-American Conference . . . Led by Brandl, BSU also ranked fourth in the league with a 1.99 blocks-per-set average.
►MAC PRESEASON POLL: Ball State was picked fifth in the MAC West Division as voted on by the league's 12 coaches . . . Central Michigan earned the top spot, followed by Western Michigan, Northern Illinois, Toledo, BSU and Eastern Michigan . . . Ohio was picked to win the East Division and tournament.
