Ball State University Athletics
WVB Visits Toledo, Hosts Buffalo This Week
October 25, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
►SPLIT WEEK: The Ball State women's volleyball team opens the week Thursday, when it travels to Toledo for a 7 p.m. Mid-American Conference West Division showdown versus the Rockets . . . Saturday, the Cardinals return to Worthen Arena for a 7 p.m. cross-divisional battle against Buffalo.
►FOLLOW THE ACTION: Live video will be available for both of Ball State's matches this week through Ball State All-Access . . . In addition, Sports Link Radio on WCRD 91.3 FM will cover Saturday's match versus Buffalo with Adam Fox, Donnie Kolakowski and Bryan Lord bringing fans the action live from Worthen Arena . . . Live stats will also be available for both contests.
►WEST VS. EAST: Ball State enters the week with a 5-0 record versus teams from the MAC East Division, including wins over Akron (3-1), Ohio (3-1), Kent State (3-0), Miami (3-1) and Bowling Green (3-0) . . . In fact, the MAC West Division holds a 27-3 advantage in interdivisional play so far this season, with only Ohio and Bowling Green picking up wins out of their division . . . Overall, the West Division has a 82-21 set record versus the East Division, including 18 sweeps.
►CARDINALS ALL-TIME: After posting a 2-0 record last week, the Cardinals enter Thursday's match at Toledo with a 783-497-2 (.612) all-time record, including a 44-8 (.846) mark under second-year head coach Steve Shondell.
►IN THE MAC: With the Oct. 14 win at Ohio, Ball State became just the second women's volleyball program in league history to collect 300 Mid-American Conference victories . . . BSU enters the week with a 303-146 (.675) all-time record in conference matches . . . BSU's record is the second-best in league history, trailing only Western Michigan which owns a 313-136 (.697) all-time league mark . . . Toledo is 11th with a 136-313 (.303) record, while Buffalo is 12th at 31-197 (.136)
►WHAT A START: Ball State's 20-3 record is the best in program history through the first 23 matches of a season . . . Prior to this season, BSU had gone 19-4 three times (1993, 2000 and 2010) . . . The Cardinals' best record through the first 25 matches is 21-4 set by the same three squads.
►HOME SWEET HOME: The Ball State women's volleyball team extended its homecourt winning streak to 22 matches with wins over Miami and Bowling Green last week . . . The streak is the second-longest in program history, trailing only the 42-match winning streak from Sept. 9, 1999 - Nov. 20, 2001 . . . In addition, the streak is the fifth-longest active streak in the nation behind Cincinnati (45), Nebraska (32), Texas (24) and San Diego (23).
►MORE FROM THE NEST: The Aug. 28 win over IPFW in the championship match of the 2011 Ball State Active Ankle Challenge was the 200th victory for the Cardinals in Worthen Arena . . . BSU owns a 205-56 (.785) all-time record in matches played in Worthen Arena, including a 155-30 (.838) mark versus Mid-American Conference teams.
►IN THE AVCA POLL: The Ball State women's volleyball team received three votes in the latest AVCA Division I Coaches Poll . . . It is the first appearance for the Cardinals in the receiving votes section of the AVCA Coaches Poll this season . . . BSU has never been ranked in the AVCA's Top 25, but was the first team not ranked (26th) after defeating then-No. 8 Pacific Sept. 9. 1995 . . . Ball State and No. 11 Purdue are the only teams from the state of Indiana to receive votes in this week's poll.
►LOCKED IN: In addition to helping Ball State become the first team in the MAC to reach 20 wins this season, BSU's victory over Bowling Green last Saturday secured the Cardinals spot in the reformatted Mid-American Conference Tournament . . . This season, the top eight teams advance to the tournament which runs Nov. 18-20 at SPIRE, part of the GaREAT family, located in Geneva, Ohio.
►SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: The Cardinals enter the week with a 20-3 record after scoring home wins over Miami (3-1) and Bowling Green (3-0) last weekend . . . Kara Bates leads the team with a 3.07 kills-per-set average, while Kelsey Brandl is second at 2.88 . . . Brandl leads the team's attackers with a .348 hitting percentage, while posting a team-high 36 aces . . . Mindy Marx is BSU's top blocker, averaging 0.98 blocks per set . . . Brittany McGinnis and Jacqui Seidel have combined to set the BSU offense to a .245 hitting mark this season, dishing out 8.82 and 2.71 assists per set, respectively . . . Catie Fredrich leads the team with a 4.68 digs-per-set average . . . On defense, Ball State is holding its opponents to a .167 hitting mark.
►BALL STATE VS. TOLEDO The Cardinals hold a 56-5 advantage in the all-time series versus the Rockets after earning a 3-1 (25-16, 19-25, 26-24, 25-19) victory in the MAC opener for both teams this season (Sept. 22) . . . Last season, Ball State won both regular season matches before being upset by Toledo in the quarterfinal round of the 2010 MAC Tournament . . . BSU has won five of the last seven meetings in the series, while holding a 42-match winning streak before a Nov. 6, 2008 Toledo victory . . . Ball State has a 23-2 advantage in matches played at Toledo.
►SCOUTING TOLEDO: The Rockets enter Thursday's match with an 8-14 overall record and 3-7 MAC mark after suffering a loss to Bowling Green (1-3) and topping Miami (3-2) last weekend . . . Sondra Parys leads Toledo with a 2.83 kills-per-set average, while Becca Reidy is second at 2.50 . . . Bethany Irwin paces Toledo's attackers with a .295 hitting percentage, while Kassie Kadera has set the Rockets offense to a .195 rate of success, averaging 10.85 assists per set . . . Amber DeWeerdt has a team-best 3.38 digs-per-set average . . . Toledo's opponents are hitting for a .236 rate of success.
►BALL STATE VS. BUFFALO: The Cardinals hold a 14-1 lead in the all-time series against Buffalo . . . The Bulls earned its first win in the series last season, scoring a 3-2 (28-26, 20-25, 25-19, 19-25, 15-13) home victory Oct. 9, 2010 . . . BSU holds a 9-0 edge in matches played in Worthen Arena.
►SCOUTING BUFFALO: The Bulls enter the week with a 9-15 overall record and a 2-8 MAC mark after suffering road losses at Eastern Michigan (3-0) and Central Michigan (3-0) last weekend . . . Dana Musil leads the Bulls with a 2.88 kills-per-set average, while Abby Niekamp is second at 2.66 . . . Liz Scott owns a team-best .238 hitting percentage, while Dani Reinert has set the Buffalo offense to a .177 rate of success by averaging 10.32 assists per set . . . Kelly Svoboda has a team-best 4.28 digs-per-set average . . . Buffalo's opponents are hitting for a .212 rate of success.
►FOUR-IN-A-ROW: Sophomore libero Catie Fredrich was named the MAC West Division Defensive Player of the Week for the fourth week in a row after helping guide BSU to home wins over Miami and Bowling Green last weekend . . . She is the first player in league history to earn four straight MAC Defensive Player of the Week awards.
►DURING THE RUN: Over the last four weeks Catie Fredrich has dominated the league in the backcourt, racking up MAC-best totals in digs (168) and digs-per-set average (5.60) . . . Miami libero Madison Hardy is second in digs during the same span with 152 digs, while Eastern Michigan libero Haley Stein is second in average at 5.41.
►DIGGING IT UP: Catie Fredrich is taking control in the Ball State backcourt, racking up double-digit digs in BSU's last 22 matches . . . She has led the Cardinals in digs in 19 of the last 20 matches, while earning match-high honors in 15 of the contests.
►FOR THE RECORD: Ball State's current 20-3 overall record is the ninth-best record in the nation among the 327 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball programs . . . The only teams with better records are: No. 17 San Diego (22-1), No. 12 Northern Iowa (22-1), No. 7 Hawaii (21-1), No. 3 Illinois (20-1), No. 1 Nebraska (17-1), No. 2 California (21-2), Western Kentucky (23-3) and Samford (21-3).
►THE WIN TOTAL: The Cardinals reached 20 wins in a season for second year in a row and the 15th time in program history with its 3-0 sweep of Bowling Green last Saturday . . . BSU is one of only nine teams in the nation to reach 20 wins so far this season.
►BRANDL IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS: Senior middle blocker Kelsey Brandl enters the week ranked 35th nationally with a 0.43 aces-per-set average . . . Her .348 hitting percentage ranks 67th, while her 3.77 points-per-set average is 180th.
►MORE ON THE NATIONAL RANKINGS: Four other Cardinals appear in the national rankings this week, with Catie Fredrich ranking 77th in digs (4.68), Jennifer Boyd ranking 180th in hitting percentage (.304), Brittany McGinnis ranking 190th in assists (8.82) and Kara Bates ranking 243rd in kills (3.07) . . . BSU's 13.89 kills-per-set average is 32nd among 322 ranked teams, while its .245 hitting mark is 42nd.
►HITTING THE MARK: Kelsey Brandl enters the week ranked third in program history with a .346 career hitting percentage at Ball State . . . Brandl also ranks 17th in BSU annals with 820 career kills, 19th with 247 career total blocks and 20th with 205 career block assists . . . Brandl is in her third season at Ball State after transferring from Cincinnati . . . Including her one season at UC, Brandl has 950 kills, a .332 hitting percentage and 107 aces over her collegiate career.
►HITTING AT A NEAR-RECORD PACE: Ball State enters the week with a .245 team hitting percentage . . . If the season were to end today, it would be the fifth-best single-season hitting effort in program history . . . The best season hitting mark in BSU annals is .262 set by the 1998 squad.
►BOYD VERSUS THE MAC: Senior middle blocker Jennifer Boyd has stepped up her play in league action, ranking first on the team and third in the MAC in league-only matches with a .354 attack percentage . . . She ranks second on the team with double-figure kills in five of BSU's 10 league matches, while posting a 2.26 kills-per-set average . . . She has hit .300-or-better in seven conference matches, while racking up at least four kills in all 10 matches . . . She also ranks second on the team with 24 total blocks in MAC action.
►DEPTH ON THE LEFT: Ball State's offense has been helped out by its ability to rely on three different left side hitters over the course of the season . . . Junior transfer Kara Bates currently has the hot hand, racking up double-digit kills in both of BSU's matches last week . . . Bates enters the week ranked eighth in the MAC with a 3.07 kills-per-set average . . . Sophomore Kylee Baker recorded her fifth double-double of the season in Friday's win at Miami, while adding seven kills versus BGSU . . . Sophomore Whitney Heeres carried the offensive load during BSU's last road weekend, leading the Cardinals with 16 kills in the win at Ohio, while posting eight at Kent State.
►OFFENSE DOMINATES KENT STATE: Led by sophomore setter Jacqui Seidel, the Cardinals hit for a season-best .390 mark in the Oct. 15 win at Kent State . . . The effort is BSU's best since the team connected for a .423 effort in a sweep of Chicago State Sept. 11, 2009.
►FROM THE SERVICE LINE: With 11 more service aces, compared to just seven errors last week, the Ball State women's volleyball team continues to be one of the top serving teams in the MAC, with a .939 service percentage . . . Only Western Michigan (.950) has a better serving percentage . . . BSU's 122 aces rank fourth in the league, while its 119 service errors are the third least . . . Overall, BSU's 1.03 ace-to-error ratio is the best in the MAC, with WMU being second at .880 (88-to-100).
►MORE FROM THE SERVICE LINE: Individually, Catie Fredrich paces all league servers with more than 125 attempts with a .993 serving percentage . . . In 324 service attempts, Fredrich had racked up 14 aces while committing just three errors . . . The MAC's second-best server so far this season is Western Michigan's Jessica Brown with a .985 percentage, having 14 aces and five errors in 331 attempts . . . Over her career, Fredrich has a .989 career service percentage with 32 aces to just eight errors in 730 attempts
►DISHING THE ROCK: With her third assist versus Murray State (Sept. 3), senior setter Brittany McGinnis moved into fourth in program history for career assists . . . Her 4,093 career assists are 311 shy of Wendy Carter's (1993-96) career total of 4,404 which ranks third in program history . . . In addition, McGinnis' 9.70 career assists-per-set average is sixth in BSU annals.
►MORE ON MCGINNIS: Brittany McGinnis has started 112 of 116 matches over her career, while playing in 422 of a possible 433 sets . . . Her 966 career digs rank 13th in program history, while her 39 matches with double-figure digs is 16th . . . She has also served up 105 career aces, which is 14th in BSU annals.
►SCHEMBRA IN THE RANKINGS TOO: Senior defensive specialist Kaylee Schembra is also climbing her way up the BSU record books, moving into 18th in program history with 859 career digs . . . She has tallied double-figure dig totals in four of BSU's last seven matches, giving her double-digit digs in 38 career matches to rank 17th in program history, right behind Brittany McGinnis.
