Ball State University Athletics
WVB Battles Louisville In NCAA Tournament Today
December 02, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
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►BATTLE OF THE CARDINALS: The Ball State women's volleyball team earned an at-large bid into the 2011 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship and will play Big East regular season champion and fellow at-large bid recipient Louisville in its first round match at 5 p.m. Friday in the West Lafayette subregional hosted at Purdue's Belin Court in Holloway Gymnasium.
►MORE FROM THE SUBREGIONAL: Purdue earned the No. 5 overall seed and an at-large bid as the Big Ten regular season runner-up and will battle Ohio Valley Conference regular season and tournament champion Morehead State in the 7:30 p.m. first round match Friday . . . The winner of each first round contest will advance to Saturday's NCAA Tournament second round match which will be hosted at Holloway Gymnasium at 7:30 p.m. . . . If Purdue advances to the second round, the match will be televised live on the Big Ten Network.
►FOLLOW THE ACTION: Sports Link Radio on WCRD 91.3 FM will cover all of BSU's NCAA Tournament action live on the air and free online at ballstatesports.com . . . Adam Fox, Donnie Kolakowski and Bryan Lord will bring fans the action . . . In addition, Purdue will be offering free live video and live stats for all three subregional matches at the following tournament site: http://www.purduesports.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/pur-w-volley-ncaa-11.html.
►CARDINALS ALL-TIME: After ending the 2011 regular season with a sweep of St. Louis, the Cardinals enter the NCAA Tournament with a 788-501-2 (.611) all-time record, including a 49-12 (.803) mark under second-year head coach Steve Shondell.
►AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP: When Ball State takes the court Friday, the program will be making its eighth (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2011) appearance in the NCAA Tournament and its first since the 2002 season . . . The Cardinals own a 2-7 all-time record in NCAA Tournament action, earning first round wins in 1994 and 1995 . . . In its last tournament appearance, the Cardinals also battled Louisville in a match played at Ohio State's St. John Arena Dec. 6, 2002 . . . Louisville held the upper hand in the contest, scoring a 3-0 (30-24, 30-24, 30-25) victory.
►BALL STATE VERSUS LOUISVILLE: The Cardinals will be squaring off for the 16th time in the all-time series Friday and the second time in NCAA Tournament action . . . The two teams last played each other at the beginning of the 2009 season, with Louisville scoring a 3-1 (25-16, 25-13, 23-25, 25-16) victory at Worthen Arena . . . U of L has won nine of the last 11 meetings in the series, while Ball State won the first four . . . BSU does hold a 3-2 edge in neutral court contests.
►SCOUTING THE BALL STATE CARDINALS: Ball State enters the NCAA Tournament with a 25-7 overall record, including a 12-4 record in Mid-American Conference play . . . The Cardinals concluded the 2011 regular season last Saturday with a 3-0 home win over St. Louis . . . Kara Bates leads the team with a 3.25 kills-per-set average, while Kelsey Brandl is second at 2.76 . . . Brandl leads the team's attackers with a .338 hitting percentage, while posting a team-high 50 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 .246 hitting mark this season, dishing out 9.62 and 2.49 assists per set, respectively . . . Catie Fredrich leads the team with a 4.61 digs-per-set average . . . On defense, Ball State is holding its opponents to a .186 hitting mark.
►SCOUTING THE LOUISVILLE CARDINALS: Louisville enters the NCAA Tournament with a 23-8 overall record, including a 13-1 Big East record . . . The Big East regular season champions ended the 2011 regular season last Saturday with a 3-0 victory over Ohio Valley Conference regular season and tournament champion Morehead State which is matched up against No. 5 seed Purdue in the West Lafayette subregional . . . Lola Arslanbekova leads Louisville with a 4.93 kills-per-set average, while Emily Juhl is second at 2.54 . . . Juhl also owns a team-best .292 hitting percentage . . . Taylor Brauneis has set the Louisville offense to a .256 rate of success by averaging 10.49 assists per set . . . Caitlin Welch has a team-best 4.39 digs-per-set average, while Tanya Lukyanenko leads U of L's regulars with a 1.08 blocks-per-set average . . . The Cardinals' opponents are hitting for a .169 rate of success.
►THE LAST MEETING: Ball State's four seniors are the only players on the active roster to see action against Louisville in the 2009 showdown . . . Brittany McGinnis set BSU to a .192 hitting mark, dishing out 34 assists, while adding eight digs, two kills and a solo block . . . Jennifer Boyd tallied eight kills and a .312 (8-3-16) hitting mark, while adding a dig and a solo block . . . Kaylee Schembra led BSU's backcourt with 10 digs as the starting libero, while Kelsey Brandl saw limited action as she was adjusting to a new program after transferring from Cincinnati, tallying one kill in two sets.
►THE LAST MEETING PART 2: Four members of the Louisville squad also remain from the 2009 showdown . . . Lola Arslanbekova led all players with 19 kills in the contest, while adding an ace and a dig . . . Gwen Rucker tallied six kills and four blocks, while Gosia Lech added three kills and three blocks . . . Maci Wachtel posted five digs . . . All four players were in the Louisville starting lineup for the match.
►LOUISVILLE IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: The Louisville Cardinals are making their 22nd overall and 13th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament . . . U of L owns a 13-21 overall record in NCAA tournament play, after advancing to the second round last season where it lost to Purdue . . . The Cardinals have advanced to the third round four times (1996, 1998, 2004 and 2005).
►PURDUE & MOREHEAD STATE: Friday's match will mark the first meeting between Purdue and Morehead State in women's volleyball.
►THE TWO IN THE TOURNAMENT: Morehead State will be making its first NCAA Tournament appearance Friday, while Purdue will play in its 14th . . . The Boilermakers have advanced to the third round a total of five times (1982, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2010), while playing in the Elite Eight twice; 1982 (32-team field) and 2010 (64-team field).
►SCOUTING PURDUE: Purdue enters the first round of the NCAA Tournament with a 27-4 overall record, including a 16-4 record in Big Ten play . . . The Boilermakers, who finished tied for second in the Big Ten standings, ended the 2011 regular season with wins at Indiana (3-1) and Wisconsin (3-0) last weekend . . . Ariel Turner leads Purdue with a 4.92 kills-per-set average, while Tiffany Fisher is second at 2.45 . . . Tiffany Fisher paces Purdue's attackers with a .391 hitting percentage, while Kierra Jones has a team-best 1.24 blocks-per-set average . . . Rachel Davis has set the Boilermakers offense to a .261 rate of success by averaging 10.92 assists per set . . . Blair Bashen has a team-best 4.04 digs-per-set average . . . The Boilermakers' opponents are hitting for a .148 rate of success.
►THE SERIES VERSUS PURDUE: Ball State trails Purdue 24-9 in the all-time series, with the Boilermakers winning the last 16 matches . . . Earlier this season, the teams squared off with undefeated records in the championship match of the Purdue Active Ankle Challenge, with the Boilermakers winning 3-1 (23-25,25-17,25-17,25-9) on Sept. 10 . . . Ball State was the only non-conference opponent to win a set at Holloway Gymnasium this season . . . BSU's last win in the series was a 2-1 (15-8, 10-15, 15-8) triumph Nov. 11, 1997 . . . Purdue holds a 7-1 advantage in matches played in West Lafayette.
►SCOUTING MOREHEAD STATE: Morehead State enters the first round of the NCAA tournament with a 26-7 overall record, including a 19-1 record in Ohio Valley Conference play . . . The OVC regular season and tournament champions, the Eagles suffered a 3-0 loss to Ball State's first round opponent Louisville to end the 2011 regular season last Saturday . . . Ellie Roberson leads Morehead State with a 3.89 kills-per-set average, while Aryn Bohannon is second at 3.33 . . . Emma Keough owns a team-best .310 hitting percentage, while Laura McDermott paces the MSU block with a 0.97 average . . . Caitlin Clark has set the Eagles offense to a .220 rate of success by averaging 11.58 assists per set . . . Leslie Schellhaas has a team-best 5.41 digs-per-set average . . . The Eagles' opponents are hitting for a .150 rate of success.
►THE SERIES VERSUS MOREHEAD STATE: Ball State holds a 10-0 record in the all-time series versus Morehead State . . . In the latest meeting, the Cardinals scored a hard-fought 3-2 (30-20, 19-30, 30-22, 26-30, 15-11) victory in a Sept. 10, 2002 mid-week contest held at Worthen Arena . . . BSU has won all five neutral site meetings in the series.
►21 AND COUNTING: The Ball State women's volleyball team made its 21st straight Mid-American Conference Tournament appearance this season and its 23rd overall in the league's premier event . . . After posting a 1-1 record in 2011, with a quarterfinal win over Eastern Michigan (3-1) and a semifinal loss to Northern Illinois (3-1), 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 five other MAC schools have matches played . . . Miami (42), Western Michigan (41), Bowling Green (35) and Ohio (30)are the only schools to play in more tournament matches than BSU has wins, while Northern Illinois' and Central Michigan's 29 matches played equals BSU's tournament win total.
►BATES EARNS ALL-TOURNAMENT: After helping guide Ball State 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.
►THE SHONDELL FACTOR: The 2010 Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year, Steve Shondell's current .803 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.
►FAMILY AFFAIR PART: If Ball State were to face Purdue Saturday in the NCAA Tournament second round, it would mark another family showdown for head coach Steve Shondell, as he would battle his brothers Dave Shondell (head coach) and John Shondell (assistant coach) for the second time this season . . . BSU freshman setter Jaclyn Fullove is also the niece of all three Shondell brothers.
►FAMILIAR TERRITORY: In addition to the family showdown, Ball State assistant coach Kelli Miller returns to Belin Court for the second time in her collegiate coaching career . . . Miller was a four-year letterwinner for the Boilermakers from 2005-08 and is the program's record-holder for career digs (2,013) and digs in a match (40 at Indiana, Oct. 17, 2007).
►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.
►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 held 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 had a 103-33 set record versus the East Division, including 21 sweeps in 38 matches played.
►THE MAC AND THE NCAA TOURNAMENT & RPI: The Mid-American Conference sent a league-record four teams to the 2011 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship with Ball State (at-large), Central Michigan (tournament champion), Northern Illinois (at-large) and Western Michigan (at-large) all advancing from the league's West Division . . . The MAC West Division features five teams in the RPI Top 75, which is the most of any conference division in the country: NIU (14), WMU (32), BSU (34), Eastern Michigan (68) and CMU (74).
►BEST OF THE BEST: The Ball State women's volleyball team led the MAC with a school-record four First Team All-MAC selections . . . Named to the squad were seniors Jennifer Boyd and Kelsey Brandl, junior Kara Bates and sophomore Catie Fredrich.
►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 208-57 (.785) all-time record in matches played in Worthen Arena, including a 157-31 (.835) mark versus Mid-American Conference teams . . . BSU posted a 10-1 record at home this season.
►FOR THE RECORD: Ball State's 25-7 overall record is the 30th-best record in the nation among the 327 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball programs . . . BSU's 25 wins entering the week tied as the 19th-best win total in the nation this season, with Northern Iowa leading both categories at 32-1.
►MORE ON THE NATIONAL RANKING FRONT: Five Cardinals appear in the national rankings this week, led by Kelsey Brandl who is 32nd in aces (0.42), 74th in hitting (.338) and 226th in points (3.62) . . . Brittany McGinnis enters the week ranked 141st in assists (9.62) and 162nd in aces (0.31) . . . Kara Bates also appears in two categories, ranking 189th in kills (3.25) and 220th in points (3.65) . . . Catie Fredrich is 95th in digs (4.61), while Jennifer Boyd is 211th in hitting (.295).
►HITTING THE MARK: Kelsey Brandl enters Friday's match ranked third in program history with a .342 career hitting percentage at Ball State . . . Brandl also ranks 14th in BSU annals with 907 career kills, 15th with 270 career total blocks and 18th with 225 career block assists . . . Her 47 career matches with double-digit kills rank 12th in BSU annals . . . Brandl is in her third season at Ball State after transferring from Cincinnati . . . Including her one season at UC, Brandl has 1037 kills, a .330 hitting percentage and 323 total blocks over her collegiate career . . . She has also served up 121 career aces, with 97 coming at Ball State.
►HITTING AT A NEAR-RECORD PACE: Ball State enters Friday's match with a .246 hitting percentage . . . The mark is currently 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 hitting mark . . . 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 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, earning 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 (Nov. 18) . . . 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 (Nov. 19) . . . Sophomore Whitney Heeres led the Cardinals with 10 kills in last Saturday's win over St. Louis, while hitting for a season-best .346 (10-1-26) rate of success . . . Heeres tied for third on the team with double-figure kills in 10 matches.
►MORE ON BATES: Kara Bates has found a home in the Ball State lineup over the last six weeks, blasting double-figure kills in nine of BSU's last 11 matches . . . Over that span, Bates has tallied 152 kills for a 3.71 kill-per-set average . . . Kelsey Brandl is second over the span with 108 kills and a 2.57 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 eight more service aces against St. Louis, compared to just seven errors, Ball State continues to be one of the top serving teams in the MAC, with a .934 service percentage . . . Only Western Michigan (.956) has a better serving percentage . . . BSU's 170 aces rank second in the league, while its 179 service errors are the third least . . . Overall, BSU's .950 ace-to-error ratio is the best in the MAC, with WMU being second at .852 (104-to-122).
►MORE FROM THE SERVICE LINE: Individually, sophomore libero Catie Fredrich paces all league servers with more than 135 attempts with a .991 serving percentage . . . In 438 service attempts, Fredrich had racked up 16 aces while committing just four errors . . . The MAC's second-best server this season is Western Michigan's Jessica Brown with a .986 percentage, having 15 aces and six errors in 440 attempts . . . Over her career, Fredrich has a .989 career service percentage with 34 aces and nine errors in 844 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 31 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 28 of the last 29 matches, while earning match-high honors in 21 of the contests.
►DIGGING DEEP: Catie Fredrich enters Friday's match with 805 career digs and needs just 53 more to break into the top 20 in program history . . . She has collected 548 digs so far this season which is the 10th-best single-season dig total in program history . . . Her 41 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 for career assists . . . After handing out 32 assists versus St. Louis last Saturday, McGinnis enters the NCAA Tournament with 4,497 career assists . . . Emily Sallee (1997-2000) tops BSU's list with 6,408 career assists.
►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 . . . With seven digs versus St. Louis, she raised her career total to 1,069 which is 12th on BSU's career list . . . McGinnis is one of three players in program history to record 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 121 of 125 matches over her career, while playing in 457 of a possible 468 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 121 career aces, which is ninth 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 16th in program history with 905 career digs . . . She has tallied double-figure dig totals in six matches this season, giving her double-digit digs in 39 career matches to rank 17th in program history . . . She has also played in 120 of a possible 125 career matches, while seeing action in 397 of a possible 468 sets.
►THE GRANT FACTOR: Sophomore transfer right side hitter Lauren Grant was a huge factor in BSU's MAC Tournament win over Eastern Michigan (Nov. 18), blasting 12 kills and hitting a career-best .571 (12-0-21) . . . Over the last seven matches, Grant's 65 kills rank third on the team, while her .354 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).
