Ball State University Athletics
No. 12 MVB Visits George Mason & Sacred Heart
January 26, 2011 | Men's Volleyball
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Ball State men's volleyball team travels to the east coast this weekend for a pair of non-conference matches . . . Friday, Ball State will visit Fairfax, Va., for a 7 p.m. match versus George Mason . . . Saturday, the Cardinals will play an 8 p.m. contest versus Sacred Heart in Fairfield, Conn.
WHAT A TRIP: This weekend's trip to George Mason and Sacred Heart will encompass over 1,600 miles and take at least 27 hours to complete . . . Using MapQuest, the trip from Muncie to Fairfax is about 565 miles and 9.34 hours . . . BSU's journey from Fairfax to Fairfield is approximately 300 miles and 5.3 hours . . . The return trip to Muncie from Fairfield is listed at 738 miles and 12.4 hours.
IN THE POLLS: Thanks to its strong play at the 17th Annual Outrigger Hotels Invitational, the Ball State men's volleyball team has been ranked 12th in the last two American Volleyball Coaches Association Division I-II Men's Coaches Top 15 Polls . . . BSU has also received votes in the Asics/Volleyball Magazine Men's Division I-II Top 10 Poll the last two weeks.
BALL STATE VS. GEORGE MASON: The Cardinals hold a 38-24 advantage in the all-time series versus the Patriots, including wins in the last three meetings . . . Last season, the Cardinals picked up a 3-1 (30-23, 31-33, 30-19, 31-29) home win Jan. 29, while earning a 3-1 (30-25, 27-30, 30-22, 30-23) road victory March 19 . . . BSU is 11-9 all-time in Fairfax, including three straight wins.
BALL STATE VS. SACRED HEART: Saturday's match will be the first meeting between the Cardinals and the Pioneers.
SCOUTING NO. 12 BALL STATE: The Cardinals enter the week with a 2-2 record after going 1-2 at the 17th Annual Outrigger Hotels Invitational hosted by Hawai'i Jan. 13-15 . . . BSU opened the tournament a win over then-No. 5 Hawai'i, before losing to then-No. 8 UCLA and then-No. 10 Penn State . . . Sophomore Larry Wrather leads the Ball State attack with a 3.10 kills-per-set average, while sophomore Greg Herceg is second at 2.62 . . . Freshman Graham McIlvaine as set the BSU offense to a .253 rate of success this season, handing out 10.00 assists-per-set . . . Defensively, freshman Tommy Rouse leads BSU and the MIVA with a 3.00 digs-per-set average, while senior Anders Nelson paces the Cardinals at the net with a 1.23 blocks-per-set average.
SCOUTING GEORGE MASON: The Patriots enter the week with a 5-1 record, including a 3-0 sweep of Sacred Heart in its latest match Jan. 22 . . . Mark Jones leads the team with a 4.85 kills-per-set average, while Robert Stoeckinger is second at 2.91 . . . Brandon Joyner has set the GMU offense to a .264 rate of success this season, handing out 10.39 assists-per-set . . . Defensively, John Jepson leads the team with a 2.22 digs-per-set average, while Shaun Sibley has a team-best 1.96 blocks-per-set average.
SCOUTING SACRED HEART: The Pioneers suffered a 3-0 setback to George Mason in its lone match this season . . . Enzo Mackenzie led the team with 13 kills and six digs in the contest, while Roger Parent had eight kills . . . Tim Sadowski dished out 30 assists, while Mike Komlanc recorded a team-best six total blocks.
GASPAROVIC VS. MASON: In six career matches versus George Mason, senior middle attacker J.D. Gasparovic has racked up 60 kills, 32 total blocks and a .495 hitting percentage . . . In last season's 3-1 win at GMU (March 19, 2010), Gasparovic blasted 11 kills on 14 swings with no errors for a .786 hitting mark, while adding three blocks . . . In his first trip to George Mason (Feb. 8, 2008), Gasparovic collected 13 total blocks (three solo & 10 assists) . . . Gasparovic has a .534 (38-7-58) career hitting mark in Fairfax, to go along with 21 total blocks.
BIG WIN IN PARADISE: Ball State's 3-0 sweep of then-No. 5 Hawai'i in the 2011 Outrigger Hotels Invitational was the program's first over the Warriors in Honolulu and snapped an eight-match overall losing streak to Hawai'i . . . BSU is now 3-10 all-time versus Hawai'i, including a 1-8 record in the islands.
SPADAVECCHIO NAMED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: After collecting 23 kills and 12 digs in BSU's three matches at the Outrigger Hotels Invitational, redshirt junior outside attacker Dominic Spadavecchio was named to the event's All-Tournament Team . . . Spadavecchio collected six kills versus Hawai'i, 10 versus UCLA and seven against Penn State.
WRATHER LIGHTS UP UCLA: Sophomore outside attacker Larry Wrather turned in one of his best career performances versus the Bruins, leading the Cardinals with 17 kills . . . The 17-kill effort is the second-best single-match output of Wrather's career and his seventh career match with double-figure kills . . . Wrather enters the week ranked fifth in the MIVA with a team-leading 3.10 kills-per-set average.
THROWING UP THE BLOCK: Senior middle attacker Anders Nelson led the Cardinals with 13 total blocks at the Outrigger Hotels Invitational, including nine in the win over Hawai'i . . . Fellow senior middle attacker J.D. Gasparovic added 10 total blocks, to help BSU to a 2.45 blocks-per-set average for the event . . . BSU currently ranks second in the MIVA with a 2.50 blocking average.
PRESEASON HONORS: Senior middle attacker J.D. Gasparovic has been named to the 2011 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Preseason All-Conference Team as voted on by the league's seven head coaches . . . A two-time MIVA First Team All-Conference selection (2009 & 2010), Gasparovic ranked first in the league and fifth nationally with a single-season career-high 1.49 blocks-per-game average last season . . . In addition, his .405 attack percentage ranked third in the MIVA and 11th nationally.
MIVA PRESEASON PREDICTION: The Ball State men's volleyball team was picked to finish fourth in the league's preseason poll . . . Ohio State was selected to win the MIVA with 47 total points and six of seven first-place votes . . . Lewis was picked second with 39 points and one first-place vote, followed by Loyola in third (38), BSU in fourth (29) and IPFW in fifth (21), while Grand Canyon and Quincy tied for sixth with 11 points each.
ALL-ACCESS: Fans can follow the 2011 Ball State men's volleyball team at all home matches with live streaming video courtesy of Ball State All Access . . . All Access packages begin at $9.95 a month.
