Ball State University Athletics
No. 14 MVB Hosts Pfeiffer & Limestone This Weekend
February 04, 2011 | Men's Volleyball
HOME SWEET HOME: For the first time in almost a month, the 14th-ranked Ball State men's volleyball team returns to Worthen Arena for matches versus Pfeiffer (Friday) and Limestone (Saturday) . . . Both contests start at 7:30 p.m. . . . Prior to both Ball State matches, Mt. St. Joseph will face Limestone (Friday) and Pfeiffer (Saturday), with both contests beginning at 5:30 p.m.
FOLLOW THE ACTION: Video for all four matches played at Worthen Arena this weekend will be streamed live online through Ball State All Access . . . Subscriptions start at $9.95 a month, with a 4-month subscription ($29.95) lasting through the remainder of the men's volleyball season . . . Sports Link Radio on WCRD 91.3 FM will cover both of Ball State's matches this weekend with free live audio on ballstatesports.com . . . Tim Keane will serve as the play-by-play announcer, while C.J. Allard will cover the color commentary . . . The pair will also host the weekly Men's Volleyball Show with Joel Walton which airs Mondays from 7-8 p.m.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: Both Pfeiffer University (Misenhimer, N.C.) and Limestone College (Gaffney, S.C.) are members of the Conference Carolinas . . . This is the second and final year the Conference Carolinas will sponsor men's volleyball as an emerging sport, with it becoming a full conference sport for the 2012 spring season . . . In addition, the conference will become the first NCAA Division II league nationwide to fully support the sport of men's volleyball next season . . . Conference Carolinas schools sponsoring men's volleyball this year are Lees-McRae College, Limestone College, Mount Olive College, Pfeiffer University, and King College . . . Later this season, BSU will travel to Bristol, Tenn., to play King College (March 26) and a neutral match versus Lees-McRae (March 27).
IN THE POLLS: After splitting a pair of road matches last weekend, the Ball State men's volleyball team dropped two spots to 14th in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association Division I-II Men's Coaches Top 15 Polls . . . BSU was ranked 12th the previous two weeks, after starting the season 15th in the preseason poll and 14th in the first poll of the season . . . BSU has also received votes in the Asics/Volleyball Magazine Men's Division I-II Top 10 Poll twice this season.
VERSUS THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Ball State will be playing both Pfeiffer and Limestone for the first time in program history . . . BSU is 1-0 all-time in matches versus teams from the Conference Carolinas, scoring a 3-0 (30-15, 30-24, 30-19) sweep of King College (April 9) last season at Worthen Arena.
SCOUTING NO. 12 BALL STATE: The Cardinals enter the week with a 3-3 record after posting a 1-1 mark on the east coast last weekend . . . BSU started its trip with a 1-3 (25-21, 20-25, 32-34, 21-25) setback at George Mason, before scoring a hard-fought 3-2 (21-25, 25-21, 25-16, 20-25, 15-8) victory in its first-ever match versus Sacred Heart . . . Sophomore Larry Wrather leads the Ball State attack with a 3.06 kills-per-set average, while sophomore Greg Herceg is second at 2.47 . . . Freshman Graham McIlvaine as set the BSU offense to a .256 rate of success this season, handing out 10.19 assists-per-set . . . Defensively, redshirt freshman Tommy Rouse leads BSU and the MIVA with a 3.18 digs-per-set average, while senior Anders Nelson paces the Cardinals at the net with a 1.36 blocks-per-set average . . . BSU is limiting its opponents to a .223 hitting mark this season.
SCOUTING PFEIFFER: The Falcons enter the week with a 3-1 record after posting a 3-1 mark at the Hampton Inn & Sleep Inn EMU DII/DIII Classic hosted by Eastern Mennonite University Jan. 21-22 . . . Pfeiffer scored wins over City College of New York (3-0), Lancaster Bible (3-1) and tournament hosts Eastern Mennonite (3-1), while losing to Medaille (3-1) . . . Drew Burdette leads the team with a 3.69 kills-per-set average, while Josh Mahan is second at 2.83 . . . Evan Fullerton has set the Falcons offense to a .275 rate of success this season, handing out 9.50 assists-per-set . . . Defensively, Mark Hess leads the team with a 2.13 digs-per-set average, while Eric Edelman has a team-best 1.08 blocks-per-set average.
SCOUTING LIMESTONE: The Saints enter the week with a 3-2 record after suffering a 3-2 setback at King College last Thursday . . . Limestone also posted a 3-1 record at the Hampton Inn & Sleep Inn EMU DII/DIII Classic, with wins over Eastern Mennonite (3-2), Kean (3-0) and Lancaster Bible (3-2), plus a loss to Medaille (3-2) . . . Kevin Hart leads the team with a 2.84 kills-per-set average, while Scott Schweihofer is second at 2.79 . . . Josh Slone has set the Saints offense to a .213 rate of success this season, handing out 8.81 assists-per-set . . . Defensively, Danny Gruszczyk leads the team with a 2.11 digs-per-set average, while Derek Daley has a team-best 0.76 blocks-per-set average.
ROUSE EARNS MIVA WEEKLY HONOR: After collecting a 3.44 digs-per-set average and a .953 (41-of-43) serve reception percentage last week, redshirt freshman libero Tommy Rouse has been named the MIVA Defensive Player of the Week . . . Rouse's best match came versus George Mason, when he collected a career-high 18 digs and a perfect 1.000 (25-for-25) reception percentage.
MORE ON "THE MOUSE": Nicknamed "The Mouse" by public address announcer and BSU men's volleyball alumnus Steve Shondell, Rouse enters the week ranked first in the league with a 3.18 digs-per-set average . . . He has collected double-digit digs in four of BSU's six matches this season for an average of 11.67 digs per match.
STRONG SERVING: Behind a career-high eight service aces at Sacred Heart, fifth-year senior Marcus Imwalle has climbed to first in the MIVA with a 0.73 aces-per-set average . . . The effort also moved Imwalle into a four-way tie for third in program history for aces in a match . . . Teammate and redshirt junior Dominic Spadavecchio also blasted eight aces in a match versus Quincy (3/28/2009).
GASPAROVIC BIG AGAIN: Senior middle blocker J.D. Gasparovic continued his solid play on the east coast, leading the Cardinals with 26 kills over the two matches . . . Gasparovic blasted 14 kills at George Mason and 12 at Sacred Heart . . . Of Gasparovic's 643 career kills, 74 or 11.5% have come versus George Mason . . . Of his 28 career matches with double-digit kills, six or 21.4% have come against the Patriots.
THE BIG BLOCK: Senior middle blocker Anders Nelson has been a one-man wall for the Cardinals this season, racking up nine solo blocks in seven matches . . . Nelson tallied a career-best five solo blocks at Sacred Heart, while posting three at then-No. 5 Hawai'i . . . Nelson enters the week ranked first in the MIVA with a 1.36 blocks-per-game average.
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.
