Ball State University Athletics
MVB Hosts Quincy For Pair Of Weekend Matches
February 24, 2011 | Men's Volleyball
BATTLE OF THE BIRDS AT WORTHEN THIS WEEKEND: The Ball State men's volleyball team looks to end its two-match losing streak this weekend with a pair of Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association matches versus Quincy . . . The Cardinals will host the Hawks at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday . . . Admission to both matches is FREE.
WEEKEND RECAP: The Cardinals suffered a pair of MIVA home setbacks last weekend falling to No. 6 Ohio State 0-3 (16-25, 21-25, 26-28) Friday and No. 13 Loyola 1-3 (21-25, 25-22, 21-25, 18-25) Saturday.
IN THE POLLS: The Ball State men's volleyball team remained outside the top 15 for the second consecutive week in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association Division I-II Men's Coaches Top 15 Poll . . . BSU did receive three points which is 12 less than No. 15 Pacific . . . BSU has been ranked as high as 12th this season (Jan. 17 & Jan. 24) . . . BSU has also received votes in the Asics/Volleyball Magazine Men's Division I-II Top 10 Poll twice this season (Jan. 17 & Jan. 24).
SCOUTING BALL STATE: The Cardinals enter the week with a 6-6 (1-3 MIVA) record after losing a pair of league matches last week . . . Sophomore Larry Wrather leads the Ball State attack with a 3.03 kills-per-game average, while redshirt sophomore Jamion Hartley is second at 2.24 . . . Freshman Graham McIlvaine has set BSU to a .256 rate of success this season, handing out 9.95 assists-per-game . . . Defensively, redshirt freshman Tommy Rouse leads the team with a 2.60 digs-per-game average, while senior Anders Nelson paces the league at the net with a 1.48 blocks-per-game average . . . BSU is limiting its opponents to a .211 hitting mark.
SERIES VS. QUINCY: Despite having its 21-match winning streak versus the Hawks snapped last season, the Cardinals hold a 34-3 advantage in the all-time series versus Quincy . . . Last season, the Cardinals opened a two-match swing at Quincy with a hard-fought 3-2 (30-26, 30-21, 22-30, 22-30, 15-13) victory Feb. 12 . . . The Hawks responded with a 3-1 (30-28, 36-34, 26-30, 30-25) win the following night to snap their 21-match losing streak versus Ball State . . . BSU holds a 19-1 lead in matches played in Muncie, including 12 straight home wins.
SCOUTING QUINCY: The Hawks enter this weekend's two-match series with an 8-6 (0-3 MIVA) record . . . Last Saturday, Quincy scored a pair of sweeps over Rust College, winning the first match 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-10) and the second 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-23) . . . Ryan Lehmann leads the team with a 2.45 kills-per-game average, while Joseph Sokol is second at 2.39 . . . Andrew Ouano has set the Hawks offense to a .257 rate of success this season, handing out 9.97 assists-per-game . . . Defensively, Tanner Wright leads the team with a 2.02 digs-per-game average, while Steven Battaglia has a team-best 0.89 blocks-per-game average . . . Quincy is limiting its opponents to a .229 hitting percentage.
WRATHER HEATING UP: Sophomore outside attacker Larry Wrather turned in his best back-to-back performances of the season last weekend, racking up 25 kills and averaging 4.17 kills, 2.00 digs and 1.00 blocks per game in Ball State's two matches last week . . . In Friday's match versus No. 6 Ohio State, Wrather racked up 11 kills and a season-high .350 (11-4-20) hitting percentage, while adding seven digs and a pair of blocks . . . He followed with 14 kills and four blocks, including a pair of solo stuffs, against No. 13 Loyola . . . For the year, Wrather averages 3.03 kills, 1.31 digs and 0.69 blocks per set.
STUFFING THE COMPETITION: Ball State continued its domination at the net last weekend, averaging 3.79 blocks per game over the two matches . . . The Cardinals tallied 13.5 blocks in three games versus No. 6 Ohio State, while recording 13.0 blocks in four games versus Loyola . . . BSU enters the week ranked first in the MIVA and second in the country with a 3.07 blocks-per-game average.
406 AND COUNTING With his seven block assists last weekend, senior middle attacker J.D. Gasparovic remains third in program history with 406 career block assists . . . Gasparovic needs 31 more block assists to vault into second and 72 to pass Phil Eatherton (1994-97) career total of 477 for first . . . In addition, his 463 career total blocks rank fifth in BSU annals . . . He needs just two more blocks to move into fourth in program history in that category . . . Eatherton is also BSU's all-time leader in total career blocks at 575.
ANDERS LEADING THE LEAGUE: In addition to the Cardinals leading the league as a team, senior middle attacker Anders Nelson leads the MIVA and ranks third nationally with a 1.48 blocks-per-game average . . . In BSU's 12 matches this season, Nelson has racked up a team-leading 62 total blocks, including 15 solo blocks and 47 block assists . . . Last season, Nelson only recorded 19 solo blocks for the year, while finishing with a 1.26 blocks-per-game average.
BSU WALLS OFF IPFW: In the Feb. 12 win at IPFW, the Cardinals collected a season-high 21.5 total blocks . . . The effort was a BSU rally scoring era record for team blocks in a three game match . . . The previous record was 21.0 set at Mercyhurst April 11, 2003 . . . The 21.5 total blocks tie as the fourth-most in a match in the rally scoring era.
MORE ON THE BLOCKING TOTAL: The 21.5 blocks at IPFW are the most in a match for the Cardinals since Feb. 25, 2010, when the Ball State posted 22.5 blocks in a five set home win over IPFW . . . Of BSU's top six blocking efforts in the rally scoring era, three have come against the Mastodons . . . The Cardinals also scored 21.5 blocks in a five set win over IPFW March 21, 2008.
FROM THE BACK ROW: Ball State redshirt freshman libero Tommy Rouse currently ranks second in the MIVA and fifth nationally with a 2.60 digs-per-game average . . . In last Saturday's match versus No. 13 Loyola, Rouse reached double-figure digs for the sixth time in 2011, with a match-high 11 digs.
WEEKLY HONORS: So far this season, the Cardinals have claimed a pair of MIVA Weekly Awards . . . Tommy Rouse was named the MIVA Defensive Player of the Week Jan. 31 after averaging 3.44 digs per game and posting a .953 serve reception percentage versus George Mason and Sacred Heart . . . Anders Nelson earned MIVA Offensive Player of the Week honors Feb. 14 after leading the team with 19 kills, 17 total blocks and a .593 (19-3-27) attack percentage against Lewis and IPFW.
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.
