Ball State University Athletics
Women's Volleyball Travels To Tar Heel Classic
September 15, 2010 | Women's Volleyball
►CARDINALS HIT THE ROAD: The Ball State women's volleyball team continues its seven-match road swing this weekend when it travels to Chapel Hill, N.C., for the 2010 Tar Heel Classic . . . BSU will play host North Carolina at 7:30 p.m. Friday, before battling Temple (11 a.m.) and Appalachian State (5:30 p.m.) Saturday.
►VERSUS TAR HEEL CLASSIC FIELD: Ball State is a combined 2-2 versus teams in the 2010 Tar Heel Classic . . . The Cardinals have battled the host Tar Heels three times, owning a 2-1 record with all three matches played on UNC's home court . . . BSU won the first two meetings; 3-2 (Sept. 23, 1989) and 3-1 (Sept. 11, 1992), while the Tar Heels won the latest match 3-1 (22-30, 33-31, 30-23, 30-23) Sept. 13, 2002 . . . Ball State has played Appalachian State once, with the Mountaineers posting a 3-1 (23-30, 30-22, 30-18, 30-28) victory Sept. 16, 2006 . . . Ball State and Temple will be playing in women's volleyball for the first time.
►PICKING UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF: Ball State head coach Steve Shondell picked up right where he left off at Burris Laboratory School, winning his first seven matches with the Cardinals and guiding the team to an 8-1 record so far this season . . . As the head coach for Burris, Shondell racked up an 1183-95 record over his 34-year career from 1976-2009 . . . The 2007 American Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee coached the Owls to 21 state championships, including 13 straight Indiana Class 2A titles . . . The Owls won four national championships (1990, 1992, 1997 and 2004), and finished with undefeated records seven times (1985, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1997, 2004 and 2009).
►SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: Ball State (8-1) got back on the winning track Tuesday with a hard-fought 3-2 (25-21, 23-25, 25-20, 22-25, 15-12) victory at IPFW . . . In the match, Kylee Baker collected her second career double-double with career-highs of 18 kills and 14 digs, while Kelsey Brandl tied a career-high with a match-best 20 kills. . . Entering the weekend, Baker leads the Cardinals with 109 kills and a 3.63 kills-per-set average . . . Brandl is BSU's top attacker based on percentage, at .386, and ranks second in kills (103) and kills-per-set average (3.43) . . . Alyssa Rio enters the weekend with 161 digs and a 5.37 digs-per-set average . . . As a team, the Cardinals are out-hitting their opponents .249 to .133 on the year, while holding a 14.60 to 10.17 advantage in kills per set.
►SCOUTING NORTH CAROLINA: The Tar Heels enter the week with a 6-4 overall record after going 2-1 at last weekend's LSU Tiger Classic . . . After suffering a 3-0 setback to then-No. 21 LSU to open the tournament, UNC rebounded with wins over New Mexico State (3-0) and Rice (3-1) . . . Courtney Johnston leads the team with 94 kills and a 2.94 kills-per-set average, while Suzanne Haydel is second with 81 kills and a 2.31 kills-per-set average . . . Kaylie Gibson leads the Tar Heel backcourt with 155 digs and a 4.43 digs-per-set average . . . As a team, UNC is out-hitting its opponents .235 to .175, while averaging 13.89 kills per set compared to 12.17 for opposing teams.
►SCOUTING TEMPLE: The Owls enter the Tar Heel Classic with a 2-7 overall record after going 0-3 at last weekend's Montana Invitational . . . Temple suffered losses to North Dakota (1-3), Utah State (1-3) and Montana (2-3) in the two-day event . . . Overall, seven different Owls have collected between 45 and 65 kills this season, with Collin Wallace posting a team-high 65 in 27 sets for a 2.41 kills-per-set average . . . Elyse Burkert is second with 64 kills, while Ashley Carr has a team-best 2.61 kills-per-set average with 47 kills in 18 sets . . . Ariel Pierre leads the Owls' backcourt with 159 digs and a 4.82 digs-per-set average . . . As a team, Temple is being out-hit .164 to .184, while averaging 12.27 kills per set compared to 12.09 for its opponents.
►SCOUTING APPALACHIAN STATE: The Mountaineers enter the Tar Heel Classic with an 8-2 overall record after going 2-1 at last weekend's Akron Invitational . . . ASU scored wins over Akron (3-0) and Saint Francis (Pa.) (3-1) before falling to Indiana State (1-3) . . . Meghann Forshey and Kelly Rhein tie for the team lead with 90 kills and a 2.43 kills-per-set average apiece, and also have identical 0.68 blocks-per-game averages . . . Courtney Rhein leads the Mountaineers' backcourt with 179 digs and a 4.84 digs-per-set average . . . As a team, ASU is out-hitting its opponents .179 to .076, while averaging 11.81 kills per set compared to 10.57 for opposing teams.
►DIGGING IT UP: Ball State collected 101 digs in Tuesday's win over IPFW, marking the first time BSU has eclipsed the 100 dig mark in a match since it tallied 123 in a five-set win over Toledo (Sept. 28, 2006).
►20/20 FROM THE BACK ROW: Freshman defensive specialist Catie Fredrich led the Cardinals with a career-high 27 digs at IPFW, while senior libero Alyssa Rio added 26 digs . . . It was the first time a pair of Cardinals collected 20-or-more digs in a match since Sept. 9, 2008 vs. IUPUI when Kaylee Schembra tallied 22 digs and Rio added 20.
►RIO WATCH: With her 26-dig effort at IPFW, Alyssa Rio raised her career total to 1,611 . . . The total ranks her third in program history, behind only Stephanie Keller's (2001-04) 2,273 digs and Sarah Obras' (2002-05) 1,652 digs.
►FROM THE MIDDLE: Junior middle blocker Kelsey Brandl tied a career-high with 20 kills in Tuesday's win at IPFW, while hitting for a .351 rate of success . . . She was also the last BSU player to tally 20-or-more kills in a contest, with 20 versus Bowling Green (Oct. 23, 2009) . . . Brandl has collected double-digit kills in a team-best seven matches this season, while hitting .350 or better seven times.
►DOUBLING UP: Freshman outside hitter Kylee Baker recorded her second career double-double with career-highs of 18 kills and 14 digs at IPFW . . . The team's leader in kills (109) and kills-per-set average (3.63), Baker also ranks second on the team with 76 digs, while her digs-per-set average of 2.53 is third . . . Baker has tallied double-figure kills in six matches so far this season.
►HITTING THE MARKS: After struggling on offense the past four seasons, the Cardinals enter the weekend ranked second in the MAC with a .249 team hitting percentage . . . BSU has two attackers (Kylee Baker and Kelsey Brandl) ranked in the top six in both kills-per-set and points-per-set, while the team ranks first in the league in kills-per-set at 14.60 . . . Last season, Ball State finished the year ranked 10th in the MAC in hitting percentage (.183) and ninth in kills-per-set (12.43).
►COMING IN STRONG: Freshman setter Jacqui Seidel helped guide the Cardinals' offense in Tuesday's win over IPFW, as she entered the match early in the third set . . . She ended the night with a career-high and team-best four total blocks (one solo and three assists), while also posting career-bests of 26 assists, eight digs and three kills.
►SERVING IT UP: Freshman defensive specialist Catie Fredrich has proven to be one of the Cardinals' most consistent servers this season, leading the team with a perfect 1.000 serving percentage . . . All 105 of her serves have landed in play, with four of them hitting the hardwood as aces . . . As a team, the Cardinals are serving at a .930 clip, with 50 errors in 713 attempts.
►DEFENSIVE DOMINATION: BSU's defense continued to dominate Tuesday, limiting IPFW to a .115 hitting mark . . . BSU has held seven of its opponents below .170 this season, including a -.084 (14-21-83) mark from Tennessee State . . . BSU is limiting its opposition to a .133 rate of success this season, while connecting at a .249 clip on offense.
