Ball State University Athletics
WVB Returns To The Road For Matches At CMU & EMU
October 07, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
►ON THE ROAD AGAIN: After a brief two match stop at Worthen Arena, the Ball State women's volleyball team returns to the road for its next four matches, beginning with a Friday contest at Central Michigan . . . The Cardinals will then travel to Eastern Michigan Saturday to wrap up its first tour through the Mid-American Conference West Division . . . Both matches start at 7 p.m.
►FOLLOW THE ACTION: Live Stats will be available for both matches this weekend.
►CARDINALS ALL-TIME: With wins over Northern Illinois and Western Michigan last week, the Cardinals enter the week with a 778-496-2 (.611) all-time record, including a 39-7 (.848) mark under second-year head coach Steve Shondell.
►IN THE MAC: The Cardinals enter the week with a 298-145 (.673) all-time record in conference matches . . . BSU's record is the second-best in league history, trailing only Western Michigan which owns a 308-135 (.695) all-time league mark . . . Central Michigan enters the week with a 228-215 (.515) all-time MAC mark, while EMU stands at 197-246 (.445) all-time in league action.
►WHAT A START: Ball State's 15-2 record to start the 2011 campaign is the best start in the storied history of Ball State women's volleyball . . . The previous best 17-match record in program history was 14-3 accomplished four times (1973, 1974, 2000 and 2010) . . . BSU's best record through the first 19 matches of a season is 16-3 set by the 1973 and 2000 squads.
►STREAKING IN THE MAC: Dating back to last season the Cardinals have won their last 14 Mid-American Conference regular season matches, which is the third-longest league winning streak in program history . . . From Oct. 23, 1992 to Sept. 25, 1995, the Cardinals strung together 45 consecutive regular season league wins which is the 18th-longest streak of its kind in NCAA Division I volleyball history . . . From Sept. 28, 1996 to Oct. 31, 1997, Ball State collected 24 straight regular season MAC wins.
►HOME SWEET HOME: The Ball State women's volleyball team extended its homecourt winning streak to 20 matches with its wins over NIU and WMU last weekend . . . 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 (42), Central Arkansas (30), Nebraska (28) and Texas (21).
►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 203-56 (.784) all-time record in matches played in Worthen Arena, including a 153-30 (.836) mark versus Mid-American Conference teams.
►SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: The Cardinals enter the week with a 15-2 (4-0 MAC) record after posting league wins over Northern Illinois (3-2) and Western Michigan (3-1) last week . . . Kara Bates leads the team with a 3.04 kills-per-set average, while Kelsey Brandl is second at 2.89 . . . Brandl leads the team's attackers with a .347 hitting percentage, while posting a team-high 28 aces . . . Mindy Marx is BSU's top blocker, averaging 0.96 blocks per set . . . Brittany McGinnis and Jacqui Seidel have combined to set the BSU offense to a .249 hitting mark this season, dishing out 9.22 and 2.17 assists per set, respectively . . . Catie Fredrich leads the team with a 4.30 digs-per-set average . . . On defense, Ball State is holding its opponents to a .174 hitting mark.
►BALL STATE VS. CENTRAL MICHIGAN: The Cardinals own a 36-28 advantage in the all-time series versus Central Michigan including wins in the last three matches . . . Last season, BSU earned a 3-1 (25-21, 18-25, 25-10, 25-17) win at Worthen Arena (Oct. 1), before posting a 3-1 (18-25, 26-24, 25-21, 25-23) victory at Mt. Pleasant (Nov. 6) . . . Ball State holds a 15-12 advantage in matches played in Mt. Pleasant.
►SCOUTING CENTRAL MICHIGAN: The Chippewas enter the week with a 9-6 (2-2 MAC) record after topping Eastern Michigan (3-2) and Kent State (3-1) last week . . . Kaitlyn McIntyre leads the team with a 3.05 kills-per-set average, while Lindsey Dulude is second at 2.68 . . . Kaitlyn Schultz paces CMU's attackers with a .329 hitting percentage, while Kelly Maxwell has set the Central Michigan offense to a .218 rate of success, averaging 10.55 assists per set . . . Jenna Coates has a team-best 4.05 digs-per-set average . . . CMU's opponents are hitting for a .169 rate of success.
►BALL STATE VS. EASTERN MICHIGAN: The Cardinal hold a 45-20 lead in the all-time series versus Eastern Michigan after winning both matches last season . . . In the first meeting, BSU snapped a two-match losing streak to EMU with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-22) home win Oct. 2 . . . The Cardinals took the final regular season meeting (Nov. 5) by a hard fought 3-2 (16-25, 25-28, 16-25, 25-23, 15-7) score in Ypsilanti . . . Ball State holds a slim 16-13 lead in matches played in Ypsilanti.
►SCOUTING EASTERN MICHIGAN: The Eagles enter the week with a 13-5 (1-3 MAC) record after suffering league losses at Central Michigan (3-2) and at home versus Ohio (3-0) last week . . . Rachel Iaquaniello leads the Eagles with a 3.92 kills-per-set average, while Paige Roback is second with 2.42 . . . Kristen Baker has a team-best .252 hitting percentage, while Ashley Mason has set the EMU offense to a .196 rate of success by averaging 10.03 assists per set . . . Haley Stein has a team-best 5.41 digs-per-set average . . . Eastern Michigan's opponents are hitting for a .170 rate of success.
►BRANDL IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS: Kelsey Brandl enters the week ranked 35th nationally with a 0.44 aces-per-set average . . . Her .347 hitting percentage ranks 66th, while her 3.74 points-per-set average is 190th.
►MORE ON THE NATIONAL RANKINGS: Three other Cardinals appear in the national rankings this week, with Catie Fredrich ranking 136th in digs (4.30), Brittany McGinnis ranking 155th in assists (9.22) and Mindy Marx ranking 211th in blocks (0.96).
►HITTING THE MARK: Kelsey Brandl enters the week ranked third in program history with a .345 career hitting percentage at Ball State . . . With her 14 kills last week, Brandl upped her BSU career kill total to 760 which is 11 shy of breaking into the top 20 in program history . . . She has also served up 75 career aces for the Cardinals . . . Brandl is in her third season at Ball State after transferring from Cincinnati . . . Including her one season at UC, Brandl has 890 kills, a .330 hitting percentage and 99 aces over her collegiate career.
►PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sophomore libero Catie Fredrich was named the Mid-American West Division Defensive Player of the Week for her performances versus Northern Illinois and Western Michigan last week . . . In the win over Western Michigan she recorded a career-high 30 digs, while posting a perfect passing percentage in 20 attempts . . . Against Northern Illinois, Fredrich tallied 16 digs, while earning a .941 (32-for-34) reception percentage.
►FREDRICH DIGGING IT UP: Catie Fredrich is taking control in the Ball State backcourt, racking up double-digit digs in BSU's last 16 matches, including a career-high 30 in the four-set victory over Western Michigan (Oct. 1) . . . She has led the Cardinals in digs in 13 of the last 14 matches, while earning match-high honors in 11 of those contests . . . She enters the week ranked fifth in the league with a 4.30 digs-per-set average.
►DOUBLING UP: Three players tallied double-doubles for BSU last weekend . . . In the win over NIU, senior setter Brittany McGinnis recorded her 35th career double-double with 26 assists and 14 digs . . . Against WMU, sophomore setter Jacqui Seidel recorded her first career double-double with 33 assists and 13 digs, while sophomore outside hitter Kylee Baker picked up her 10th career double-double with a career-high 23 digs and 14 kills.
►SEIDEL SERVING IT UP: Jacqui Seidel turned in a pair of solid serving performances for the Cardinals last weekend, leading the team with 44 service attempts without recording a service error, while posting a pair of aces . . . In the first set versus WMU, Seidel served the Cardinals from down 11-12 to a 17-12 lead . . . Seidel would go on to serve out the second set versus the Broncos, with BSU going from down 17-19 to winning 25-19.
►MORE FROM THE SERVICE LINE: The Cardinals continue to be one of the top serving teams in the MAC, with a .931 service percentage . . . Only Western Michigan (.947) and Toledo (.932) have better serving percentages . . . BSU's 91 aces rank third in the league, while its 99 service errors are the third least . . . Overall, BSU's .919 ace-to-error ratio is the best in the league, with WMU being second at .885 (65-to-76).
►DISHING THE ROCK: With her third assist versus Murray State (Sept. 3), Brittany McGinnis moved into fourth in program history for career assists . . . Her 3,933 career assists are 471 shy of Wendy Carter's (1993-96) career total of 4,404 which ranks third in program history . . . In addition, McGinnis' 9.81 career assists-per-set average is sixth in BSU annals.
►MORE ON MCGINNIS: Brittany McGinnis has started 108 of 110 matches over her career, while playing in 401 of a possible 410 sets . . . Her 903 career digs rank 16th in program history, while her 35 matches with double-figure digs is 17th . . . She has also served up 102 career aces, which is 13th in BSU annals.
