Ball State University Athletics
Women's Volleyball Opens MAC Play This Weekend
September 24, 2010 | Women's Volleyball
►CARDINALS HIT THE ROAD: The Ball State women's volleyball team concludes its seven-match road swing and opens the 2010 Mid-American Conference season when its travels to Northern Illinois and Western Michigan this weekend . . . The Cardinals and Huskies square off at 7 p.m. (CT) Friday, while BSU battles the Broncos at 7 p.m. Saturday.
►SUCCESSFUL NON-CONFERENCE SLATE: Ball State finished its 2010 regular season non-conference schedule with a 10-2 record, which is the best non-conference record for BSU since league play began in 1983 . . . The 10 wins also tie for the most in regular season non-conference action with the 1989 squad which posted a 10-7 non-MAC slate . . . The best overall start for a season came in 1973, when the Cardinals won 11 of their first 12 matches . . . BSU's best 14-match record also came in 1973 at 12-2, while the 2000 squad started the season 11-3 . . . Ball State has started the season 10-4 a total of eight times.
►A COMEBACK FOR THE AGES: Ball State's thrilling come-from-behind victory over Appalachian State last Saturday was the Cardinals first when trailing by two sets since the end of the 2003 season, when Ball State earned a hard-fought 3-2 (23-30, 29-31, 30-21, 30-26, 18-16) win over No. 17 Louisville on its home court . . . In the 39-year history of the program, the Cardinals have only rallied from two sets down to win a match six times (9/18/2010 vs. Appalachian State; 11/29/2003 at No. 17 Louisville; 10/13/1995 at Bowling Green; 10/7/1992 vs. Western Michigan; 9/19/1992 at Kent State and 11/13/1982 in the consolation match of the 1982 Mid-American Conference Tournament versus Miami). . . . In contrast, Ball State has lost 13 matches when winning the first two sets . . . BSU has also rallied from a two-set hole 15 times only to drop the fifth set.
►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 the best regular-season non-conference record in program history at 10-2 . . . 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 (10-2) posted a 3-1 record last week with wins over IPFW (3-2), Temple (3-0) and Appalachian State (3-2) . . . The Cardinals lone loss came versus North Carolina (3-1) . . . Entering the first weekend of Mid-American Conference play, junior middle blocker Kelsey Brandl leads the team in kills per set (3.07), hitting percentage (.321) and blocks per set (0.93) . . . Freshmen outside hitters Kylee Baker and Whitney Heeres rank second (3.05) and third (2.69), respectively, on the team in kill per set . . . Baker also leads the squad in aces (15) and ranks second in digs per set (2.60) . . . In the backcourt, senior libero Alyssa Rio leads the MAC and ranks 13th nationally with her 5.52 digs per set . . . As a team, the Cardinals are out-hitting their opponents .207 to .136 on the year, while holding a 13.40 to 10.81 advantage in kills per set.
►SCOUTING NORTHERN ILLINOIS: The Huskies enter the week with a 13-1 overall record after going a 2-1 last week . . . After suffering a 3-0 setback to Wisconsin in a battle of then-unbeaten teams, NIU rebounded with victories over Youngstown State (3-0) and Iowa (3-0) . . . The Huskies host DePaul Tuesday, before battling Ball State Friday . . . Two-time MAC West Division Offensive Player of the Week Lauren Wicinski leads the team with 204 kills (4.43 kills per set) and 35 aces, while Mary Kurisch is second with 119 kills (2.70 kills per set) . . . Kaylie Gibson leads the Huskies backcourt with 188 digs (4.18 digs per set) . . . As a team, NIU is out-hitting its opponents .282 to .161, while averaging 14.09 kills per set compared to 10.26 for opposing teams.
►SCOUTING WESTERN MICHIGAN: The Broncos enter the week with a 9-4 overall record after posting three wins last week to take home the Seton Hall Invitational title . . . In the event, WMU posted wins over Northeastern (3-0), Seton Hall (3-1) and Maryland - Baltimore County (3-0) . . . WMU will host Toledo Friday, before playing the Cardinals Saturday . . . Jessica Brown leads the team with 137 kills (3.26 kills per set), while Gillian Asque is second at 99 (2.61 kills per set) . . . Reigning MAC West Division Defensive Player of the Week Ashley Turnage leads the WMU block with 0.97 blocks per set . . . Lena Oliver has a team-best 214 digs for a 5.10 digs-per-set average . . . As a team, Western Michigan is out-hitting its opponents .220 to .183, while averaging 13.33 kills per set compared to 12.55 for opposing teams.
►DIGGING IT UP: Ball State collected 101 digs in last 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).
►RIO TAKES OVER SECOND: With her tournament-best 71 total digs at last weekend's Tar Heel Classic, senior libero Alyssa Rio raised her career dig total to 1,682, moving past Sarah Obras' (2002-05) tally of 1,652 for second on Ball State's all-time digs list . . . Rio only trails Stephanie Keller's (2001-04) 2,273 digs in the BSU record book.
►CLIMBING THE NATIONAL CHARTS: After posting 97 digs (5.71 digs per set) in BSU's four matches last week, Alyssa Rio raised her digs-per-set average from 5.40 to 5.52 for the year . . . The average ranks first in the conference and 13th nationally . . . As a team, the Cardinals rank second in the MAC and 19th nationally with a 17.14 digs-per-set average.
►FROM THE MIDDLE: Junior middle blocker Kelsey Brandl tied a career-high with 20 kills in last Tuesday's win at IPFW, while hitting .351 . . . She followed with 26 more kills at the Tar Heel Classic to take over the season lead for the Cardinals with 129 . . . Brandl has collected double-digit kills in a team-best eight matches this season, while hitting .300 or better eight 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 last Tuesday . . . Baker enters the week ranked second on the team in kills (128) and digs (109), while leading the squad in aces (15) . . . Baker has tallied double-figure kills in six matches so far this season.
►HEERES LEADING THE ATTACK: Freshman outside hitter Whitney Heeres led the Ball State attack with a total of 29 kills at last weekend's Tar Heel Classic . . . She was the only BSU player with double-figure kills in the win over Temple, blasting 10 . . . Her 15 kills in the come-from-behind win over Appalachian State tied for team-high honors . . . So far this season, Heeres has smashed double-figure kills in five matches.
►COMING IN STRONG: Freshman setter Jacqui Seidel helped guide the Cardinals' to a pair of wins last week, entering in the third sets of both the IPFW and Appalachian State matches . . . At IPFW, Seidel dished out 26 assists, while posting career-highs of eight digs, four total blocks and three kills . . . In the come-from-behind win over ASU, she handed out a career-high 34 assists while blasting a career-best three service aces.
►DEFENSIVE DOMINATION: BSU's defense continued to dominate last week, limiting its four opponents to a combined .134 hitting mark . . . BSU has held nine of its 12 opponents below .170 this season, including a -.084 (14-21-83) mark from Tennessee State . . . Overall, BSU is limiting its opposition to a .136 rate of success this season.
