Ball State University Athletics
Women's Volleyball Hosts St. Louis Saturday
November 23, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
►REGULAR SEASON FINALE: The Ball State women's volleyball teams wraps up the 2011 regular season Saturday, when it hosts St. Louis in a 7 p.m. non-conference showdown at Worthen Arena.
►POST SEASON HOPES STILL ALIVE: Despite falling to Northern Illinois in Saturday's Mid-American Conference Tournament semifinals, the Ball State women's volleyball team still has a chance to earn an at-large bid into the 2011 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship . . . BSU enters the week with a 24-7 overall record and ranked 36th in the latest NCAA RPI rankings . . . Since the 2003 season, no tournament-eligible team with an RPI of 37-or-better has been left out of the NCAA Tournament field.
►FOLLOW THE ACTION: Ball State Sports Link Radio on WCRD 91.3 FM will cover Saturday's Ball State vs. St. Louis match live on the air and online at ballstatesports.com . . . Adam Fox, Donnie Kolakowski and Bryan Lord will bring fans the action live from the Worthen Arena floor . . . In addition, fans with a Ball State All Access pass will be able to view live streaming video of the contest . . . Live stats will also be available.
►21 AND COUNTING: The Ball State women's volleyball team made its 21st straight Mid-American Conference Tournament appearance this season, and 23rd overall . . . After posting a 1-1 record in the 2011 event, Ball State is 29-17 (.630) all-time in MAC Tournament matches . . . Both BSU's 29 wins and 46 matches played are league records . . . Overall, BSU is 4-1 in first round matches, 10-4 in quarterfinal matches, 9-9 in semifinal matches and 6-3 in championship matches . . . Ball State has more tournament wins (29) than seven other MAC schools have matches played . . . Miami (42), Western Michigan (41) and Bowling Green (35) are the only schools to play in more tournament matches than BSU has wins, while Ohio's 30 matches played equals BSU's win total.
►BATES EARNS ALL-TOURNAMENT: After helping guide the BSU to the semifinals of the MAC Tournament for the first time since 2005, junior Kara Bates was named to the six-member all-tournament team . . . An All-MAC First Team selection, Bates tallied a team-best 31 kills for a 3.88 kills-per-set average during the tournament . . . She hit for a .242 rate of success, while collecting 30 digs and three total blocks, including a pair of solo stuffs.
►ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Kara Bates is the 17th player in program history to earn MAC All-Tournament accolades . . . From 1991-2005, the Cardinals placed at least one player on the MAC All-Tournament squad every year, marking a league-record 15-straight seasons with an all-tournament honoree . . . Since the inception of the all-tournament team in 1989, BSU has received the most selections, being honored 25 times among 17 players . . . In addition, Ball State's six tournament Most Valuable Player selections trail only Ohio's seven.
►BALL STATE VS. ST. LOUIS: Saturday's match will mark just the second meeting between the Cardinals and Billikens . . . Ball State won the first-ever meeting by a score of 3-0 (30-27, 30-24, 30-26) on Sept. 8, 2001 in a match played at the Badger Invitational which was hosted by then-No. 3 Wisconsin.
►SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: Ball State enters Saturday's match with a 24-7 overall record . . . Last week, the Cardinals went 1-1 at the MAC Tournament with a quarterfinal win over Eastern Michigan (3-1) and a semifinal setback to Northern Illinois (3-1) . . . Kara Bates leads the team with a 3.28 kills-per-set average, while Kelsey Brandl is second at 2.77 . . . Brandl leads the team's attackers with a .338 hitting percentage, while posting a team-high 49 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 .245 hitting mark this season, dishing out 9.59 and 2.49 assists per set, respectively . . . Catie Fredrich leads the team with a 4.60 digs-per-set average . . . On defense, Ball State is holding its opponents to a .186 hitting mark.
►SCOUTING THE BILLIKINS: St. Louis enters Saturday's match with a 15-12 overall record . . . Last week, the Billikens posted a 1-1 record at the A-10 Tournament with a quarterfinal win over Rhode Island (3-2) and a semifinal loss to Xavier (3-1) . . . Alyssa Deno leads SLU with a 3.39 kills-per-set average, while Andrea Beaty is second at 3.37 . . . Cassie Clarke owns a team-best .231 hitting percentage and has set the St. Louis offense to a .168 rate of success by averaging 9.39 assists per set . . . Grace Bonoma has a team-best 2.74 digs-per-set average . . . The Billikens' opponents are hitting for a .159 rate of success.
►CARDINALS ALL-TIME: After posting an 1-1 record at the 2011 Mid-American Conference Tournament last weekend, the Cardinals enter Saturday's regular season finale versus St. Louis with a 787-501-2 (.611) all-time record, including a 48-12 (.800) mark under second-year head coach Steve Shondell.
►MORE ON SHONDELL: The 2010 Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year, Steve Shondell's current .800 overall winning percentage ranks third among all coaches in league history . . . Shondell also owns a 26-6 (.813) all-time record in league action, which is the fourth-best league winning percentage in MAC annals.
►IN THE MAC: With a 3-1 victory at Ohio (Oct. 14), Ball State became just the second women's volleyball program in league history to collect 300 Mid-American Conference victories . . . BSU ended the 2011 MAC season with a 306-149 (.673) all-time record in conference matches . . . BSU's record is the second-best in league history, trailing only Western Michigan's 317-138 (.697) all-time league mark . . . Eastern Michigan is eighth all-time in league play at 205-250 (.451).
►MORE ON THE MAC - WEST VS. EAST: Ball State went 6-0 versus teams from the MAC East Division this season . . . Including MAC Tournament play, the MAC West Division holds a 32-6 advantage in interdivisional play this season, with only Ohio (3), Bowling Green (1), Kent State (1) and Miami (1) picking up wins out of their division . . . Overall, the West Division has a 103-33 set record versus the East Division, including 21 sweeps.
►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 207-57 (.784) all-time record in matches played in Worthen Arena, including a 157-31 (.835) mark versus Mid-American Conference teams . . . BSU its 9-1 at home this season.
►FOR THE RECORD: Ball State's 24-7 overall record is the 32nd-best record in the nation among the 327 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball programs . . . BSU's 24 wins entering the week tied as the 23rd-best win total in the nation this season.
►MORE ON THE NATIONAL RANKING FRONT: Five Cardinals appear in the national rankings this week, led by Kelsey Brandl who is 30th in aces (0.42), 70th in hitting (.338) and 224th in points (3.63) . . . Brittany McGinnis enters the week ranked 141st in assists (9.59) and 183rd in aces (0.30) . . . Kara Bates also appears in two categories, ranking 182nd in kills (3.28) and 220th in points (3.66) . . . Catie Fredrich is 97th in digs (4.60), while Jennifer Boyd is 231st in hitting (.290).
►HITTING THE MARK: Kelsey Brandl enters Saturday's match ranked third in program history with a .342 career hitting percentage at Ball State . . . Brandl also ranks 14th in BSU annals with 899 career kills, 15th with 269 career total blocks and 18th with 224 career block assists . . . Brandl is in her third season at Ball State after transferring from Cincinnati . . . Including her one season at UC, Brandl has 1029 kills, a .330 hitting percentage and 322 total blocks over her collegiate career . . . She has also served up 120 career aces, with 96 coming in her three seasons at Ball State.
►HITTING AT A NEAR-RECORD PACE: Ball State enters Saturday's match with a .244 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 stepped up her play in league action, ranking first on the team and fifth in the MAC in league-only matches with a .350 attack percentage . . . She ranked second on the team with double-figure kills in seven of the 15 league matches she played, while posting a 2.24 kills-per-set average . . . She has hit .300-or-better in 10 conference matches, while ranking second on the team with 31 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, earned MAC All-Tournament team honors after leading the Cardinals with 31 kills for a 3.88 kills-per-set average in tournament play . . . She also tallied a career-high 20 digs in the quarterfinal match versus Eastern Michigan . . . Sophomore Kylee Baker tallied her eighth double-double of the season versus Eastern Michigan with 12 kills and 17 digs, while picking up 10 digs and four kills against Northern Illinois . . . Sophomore Whitney Heeres posted 11 kills and a .269 (11-4-26) hitting mark versus Eastern Michigan (Nov. 10), giving her double-figure kills in five of the 14 MAC matches she has played in.
►MORE ON BATES: Kara Bates has found a home in the Ball State lineup over the last five weeks, blasting double-figure kills in nine of BSU's last 10 matches . . . Over that span, Bates has tallied 145 kills for a 3.82 kill-per-set average . . . Kelsey Brandl is second over the span with 100 kills and a 2.56 average . . . Bates is first on the team with double-digit kills in 18 matches this season . . . Bates has also posted double-figure digs in six matches this season, while collecting five kill/dig double-doubles, including both matches in the 2011 MAC Tournament.
►FROM THE SERVICE LINE: With 14 more service aces, compared to just 12 errors in MAC Tournament action, the Ball State women's volleyball team continues to be one of the top serving teams in the MAC, with a .935 service percentage . . . Only Western Michigan (.955) has a better serving percentage . . . BSU's 162 aces rank third in the league, while its 172 service errors are the third least . . . Overall, BSU's .942 ace-to-error ratio is the best in the MAC, with WMU being second at .851 (103-to-121).
►MORE FROM THE SERVICE LINE: Individually, sophomore libero Catie Fredrich paces all league servers with more than 130 attempts with a .991 serving percentage . . . In 428 service attempts, Fredrich had racked up 16 aces while committing just four errors . . . The MAC's second-best server so far this season is Western Michigan's Jessica Brown with a .986 percentage, having 15 aces and six errors in 429 attempts . . . Over her career, Fredrich has a .989 career service percentage with 34 aces to just nine errors in 834 attempts.
►FREDRICH ON D: A four-time MAC West Division Defensive Player of the Week selection this season, Catie Fredrich has racked up double-digit digs in each of BSU's last 30 matches . . . She recorded a career-high 31 digs in two matches (at EMU, Oct. 8 and vs. Miami, Oct. 21), while adding 30 digs in BSU's home win over Western Michigan (Oct. 1) . . . She has led the Cardinals in digs in 27 of the last 28 matches, while earning match-high honors in 20 of the contests.
►DIGGING DEEP: Catie Fredrich enters Saturday's match with 791 career digs and needs just 67 more to break into the top 20 in program history . . . She has collected 534 digs so far this season which is the 10th-best single-season dig total in program history . . . Her 40 career matches with double-figure digs rank 17th in program history, while her nine career matches with 20-or-more digs is sixth.
►DISHING THE ROCK: With her 98 assists in the MAC Tournament, senior setter Brittany McGinnis moved from fourth to second in program history with 4,465 career assists . . . Emily Sallee (1997-2000) tops BSU's list with 6,408 career assists . . . In addition, McGinnis' 9.83 career assists-per-set average is sixth in BSU annals.
►ONE OF THREE: With her 13th dig at Western Michigan Nov. 4, Brittany McGinnis became the 13th player in program history to record 1,000 career digs . . . She collected 31 digs in the MAC Tournament to raise her career total to 1,062 . . . McGinnis is one of just three players in program history to record over 1,000 assists and 1,000 digs, joining Emily Sallee (1997-2000) and Tiffany Stevens (1992-95) . . . Sallee had 6,408 assists and 1,120 digs over her career, while Stevens recorded 1,597 assists and 1,087 digs.
►MORE ON MCGINNIS: Brittany McGinnis has started 120 of 124 matches over her career, while playing in 454 of a possible 465 sets . . . Her 45 matches with double-digit digs rank 12th in program history, while she has tallied 44 double-doubles over her career . . . She has also served up 119 career aces, which is ninth in BSU annals.
►THE GRANT FACTOR: Sophomore transfer right side hitter Lauren Grant was a huge factor in last Friday's MAC Tournament win over EMU, blasting 12 kills and hitting a career-best .571 (12-0-21) . . . Over the last six matches, Grant's 60 kills rank third on the team, while her .351 hitting percentage leads the Cardinals . . . She tallied a career-high 15 kills at Western Michigan (Nov. 4), while blasting 14 kills versus Eastern Michigan (Nov. 10) . . . In MAC play, Grant ranked second on the team with a .305 hitting mark, hitting .300-or-better in eight league matches.
