Ball State University Athletics
Women's Volleyball Hosts IUPUI Tuesday
September 06, 2010 | Women's Volleyball
Ball State vs. IUPUI: Live Stats / Live Audio / Live Video
►CARDINALS PLAY PAIR OF MATCHES THIS WEEK: The Ball State women's volleyball team continues play this week with a pair of non-conference matches . . . Tuesday, the Cardinals host in-state rival and The Summit League member IUPUI at 7 p.m. . . . Saturday, BSU will travel to Dayton, Ohio, to battle regional foe and Horizon League member Wright State at 4 p.m.
►FOLLOW THE ACTION: Ball State fans have a new way to follow the women's volleyball team this season, with Ball State All-Access streaming video . . . All of Ball State's home matches will be streamed live through ballstatesports.com starting with the Active Ankle Challenge . . . A subscription to Ball State All-Access is needed to watch the matches, with prices starting at $9.95 a month . . . Fans can also watch Saturday's match at Wright State through The Horizon League Network.
►BALL STATE VS. IUPUI: The Cardinals hold an 11-2 advantage in the all-time series versus IUPUI, including a 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-23) road win in the most-recent meeting Sept. 15, 2009 . . . Prior to last season's victory, the Jaguars had won the previous two meetings . . . Ball State holds a 7-1 edge in matches played in Muncie, Ind., including a 4-1 mark in Worthen Arena . . . IUPUI's only win in Muncie was a 3-1 victory Sept. 9, 2008.
►BALL STATE VS. WRIGHT STATE: The Cardinals have a 12-6 edge in the all-time series versus Wright State, despite a 3-0 (30-24, 30-28, 30-22) setback in the latest match Sept. 19, 2006 . . . Prior to the loss, the Cardinals had won the previous three meetings between the two programs . . . Ball State is 3-4 all-time in matches played in Dayton, Ohio, with its last road win in the series coming Sept. 1, 2004.
►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 six matches with the Cardinals . . . As the head coach for Burris, Shondell racked up an 1183-95 record over his 34-year career from 1976-2009 . . . He 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: Last weekend, the Cardinals (6-0) captured the 2010 Active Ankle Challenge with sweeps of Tennessee State, Robert Morris and Oakland . . . For their efforts in the two-day event, Kelsey Brandl was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, while Kylee Baker and Alyssa Rio joined her on the seven-member all-tournament team . . . Entering the week, Baker leads the Cardinals with 69 kills and a 3.83 kills-per-set average . . . Brandl is BSU's top attacker based on percentage, at .425, while she ranks second in kills (60) and kills-per-set average (3.33) . . . Rio enters the week with 88 digs and a 4.89 digs-per-set average . . . As a team, the Cardinals are out-hitting their opponents .290 to .117 on the year, while holding a 14.72 to 9.44 advantage in kills per set.
►SCOUTING IUPUI: The Jaguars (1-7) posted a 1-3 record at last weekend's IUPUI Hampton Inn Invitational, losing matches to Western Michigan (0-3), Austin Peay (0-3) and Wright State (2-3), while defeating DePaul (3-1) . . . Lindsey Weber leads the team with 82 kills and a 3.04 kills-per-set average, while Kalyse Reimbold is second with 80 kills and a 2.98 kills-per-set average . . . Shari Bernhardt leads the Jaguars' backcourt with 172 digs and a 6.14 digs-per-set average . . . As a team, the Jaguars are being out-hit .140 to .237 on the season, with opponents averaging 13.86 kills per set compared to 11.64 for IUPUI.
►SCOUTING WRIGHT STATE: The Raiders (3-4) tallied a 2-2 record at last weekend's IUPUI Hampton Inn Invitational, dropping matches to Austin Peay (1-3) and Western Michigan (0-3) before topping DePaul (3-0) and IUPUI (3-2) . . . Jessica Woods provides a bulk of the Raiders' offense with 101 kills for a 3.74 kills-per-set average . . . Heidi Splinter is second on the squad with 72 kills and a 2.67 kills-per-set average . . . In the backcourt, Woods also has a team-best 117 digs, while Kenzie Egan is second with 110 . . . As a team, the Raiders are being out-hit .188 to .196 on the season, despite holding a slim 12.41 to 12.37 edge in kills per set.
►BSU'S TOP CHEF: Freshman outside hitter Kylee Baker continued her stellar offensive play during last weekend's Active Ankle Challenge, leading the Cardinals with 35 kills over the three matches . . . In the championship match versus Oakland, Baker turned in her best performance to date with career-highs of 16 kills and 11 digs for her first career double-double . . . However, the most impressive stat from the match was Baker's .444 attack percentage, as she did not commit a single attack error in 36 swings.
►MORE ON BAKER: Through BSU's first six matches, Kylee Baker leads the team with 69 kills and a 3.83 kills-per-set average . . . She has also compiled a .323 hitting percentage, while adding 2.50 digs per set.
►BRANDL EARNS MVP: Junior middle blocker Kelsey Brandl was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2010 Active Ankle Challenge after turning in a .444 (27-3-54) attack percentage in the event, while blasting 3.00 kills per set . . . She also led the Cardinals with seven total blocks, including four solo stuffs.
►SPREADING THE WEALTH: Junior setter Brittany McGinnis kept opponents guessing for the second-straight weekend as she led the Cardinals to a .304 hitting mark in the Active Ankle Challenge . . . In the championship match versus Oakland, McGinnis guided the Cardinals to a season-high .339 attack percentage, with the team committing just eight total attack errors (six errors and two blocks).
►TOPPING 1,500: With her second dig versus Robert Morris, senior libero Alyssa Rio became just the fourth player in program history to reach 1,500 career digs . . . Rio finished the Active Ankle Challenge with a tournament-best 54 digs, raising her career total to 1,538 . . . She needs 42 more digs to pass Amanda McCormick's (2005-06) career total of 1579 for third on BSU's all-time list . . . Rio also ranks third in program history with 74 career matches with double-figure digs.
►DEFENSIVE DOMINATION: BSU's defense continued to dominate at the Active Ankle Challenge, limiting its three opponents to a combined .114 (87-51-317) hitting mark . . . BSU has held five of its opponents below .170 this season, including a -.084 (14-21-83) mark from Tennessee State . . . For the season, BSU is limiting its opposition to a .117 rate of success, while connecting at a .290 clip on offense.
►GOOD START: Ball State is off to a 6-0 start for the first time since 1989, which ties as the second-longest season-opening winning streak in program history . . . The longest winning streak to open a season came in 1973, when the Cardinals collected victories in their first 10 matches.
►SET STREAK: Ball State is a perfect 18-for-18 in sets played this season . . . The 18-set winning streak is the fourth-longest in program history . . . The longest set winning streaks in program history are 23 (11/3/93 - 11/27/93), 21 (10/9/04 - 10/30/04) and 19 (10/27/00 - 11/17/00).
