Ball State University Athletics
WVB Set For Marriott Volley Brawl At Valparaiso
September 01, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
►BALL STATE HEADS TO VALPARAISO: Ball State continues its 11-match road swing this weekend, when it heads to Valparaiso for the 2011 Marriott Volley Brawl . . . The Cardinals open the two-day four-team event Friday with matches against two more in-state foes in Evansville (2 p.m. CT) and tournament host Valparaiso (7 p.m. CT) . . . The Cardinals conclude play Saturday against Murray State (2 p.m. CT) and Texas A&M - Corpus Christi (7 p.m. CT).
►FOLLOW THE ACTION: Live stats will be available for all four of Ball State's matches in the 2011 Marriott Volley Brawl hosted by Valparaiso . . . In addition, free live audio and video will be available for Friday's Ball State versus Valparaiso match . . . Links for the live stats/audio/video can be found at http://www.valpoathletics.com/volleyball/ by clicking on the appropriate icon next to each selected match on the schedule at the bottom of the page.
►CARDINALS ALL-TIME: After posting a 3-0 sweep at IUPUI Tuesday, the Ball State women's volleyball program enters the weekend with a 766-494-2 (.608) all-time record.
►IN-STATE COMPETITION: Ball State is 2-0 versus schools from the state of Indiana this season, with wins over IPFW (3-1) and IUPUI (3-0) . . . BSU has three more matches versus in-state foes during its pre-conference schedule, with contests versus Evansville and Valparaiso Friday, and at Purdue Sept. 10 . . . In his brief collegiate coaching career, BSU head coach Steve Shondell is 5-0 versus Indiana programs.
►HOME SWEET HOME: With its pair of home wins last weekend, the Ball State women's volleyball team has won its last 17 home matches . . . The homecourt winning streak is the second-longest in program history, trailing only the only the 42-match winning streak from Sept. 9, 1999 - Nov. 20, 2001 . . . In addition, the streak ties as the seventh-longest in the nation . . . Cincinnati currently has the longest active homecourt winning streak at 39 matches.
►MORE FROM THE NEST: Last Sunday's 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 200-56 (.781) all-time record in matches played in Worthen Arena, including a 150-30 (.832) mark versus Mid-American Conference teams.
►BALL STATE VS. MARRIOTT VOLLEY BRAWL FIELD: The Cardinals own a 14-1 all-time record versus this weekend's tournament field . . . BSU has only played Evansville once in program history, scoring a 3-0 sweep of the Purple Aces Sept. 22, 1990 . . . The Cardinals own an 11-1 advantage in the all-time series versus Valparaiso, but have only played the Crusaders once since the 1990 season . . . BSU won the first 11 meetings between the two squads before a 3-0 setback to Valparaiso Sept. 4, 2004 . . . Ball State is 2-0 all-time versus Murray State with wins in the 1974 and 1976 seasons . . . The Cardinals and Texas A&M - Corpus Christi are meeting for the first time in women's volleyball
►SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: The Cardinals enter the Marriott Volley Brawl with a 3-0 record after scoring a sweep at IUPUI Tuesday . . . Kelsey Brandl, who was named the Most Valuable Player of last weekend's Ball State Active Ankle Challenge, leads the team with a 3.30 kills-per-set average, while Kylee Baker is second at 3.20 . . . Brandl also leads the team's attackers with a .371 hitting percentage, while posting team-highs of five aces and 12 total blocks . . . Brittany McGinnis and Jacqui Seidel have combined to set the BSU offense to a .250 hitting mark, dishing out 9.00 and 2.20 assists-per-set, respectively . . . Baker, who has collected double-figure digs in two of BSU's three matches, has a team-best 3.20 digs-per-set average . . . On defense, Ball State is holding its opponents to a .127 hitting mark.
►SCOUTING EVANSVILLE: The Purple Aces posted a 4-0 record at the Spartan Spiketacular last weekend with sweeps of North Carolina A&T, Coastal Carolina and UNC-Greensboro, as well as a 3-1 win over East Tennessee State . . . Brooke Maher leads Evansville with a 4.18 kills-per-set average, while Rachel TenHoor is second at 3.50 . . . TenHoor also owns a team-best .470 hitting percentage, while Ellen Sawin has set the Purple Aces offense to a .286 rate of success, averaging 12.17 assists-per-set . . . Katie Klages has a team-best 5.23 digs-per-set average . . . Evansville's opponents are hitting for a .127 rate of success.
►SCOUTING VALPARAISO: The Crusaders tallied a 3-1 record at last weekend's WVU Mountaineer Invitational with its lone loss coming against then-No. 21 Ohio State in the season-opener . . . Valpo bounced back with wins over host West Virginia (3-2), Robert Morris (3-0) and New Hampshire (3-0) . . . Katie Britton leads the Crusaders with a 2.83 kills-per-set average, while Morgan Beil is second at 2.27 . . . Jenny Pokorny, who has a team-best .317 hitting percentage, has set the Crusaders offense to a .185 rate of success, averaging 8.93 assists-per-set . . . Taylor Root has a team-best 4.93 digs-per-set average . . . Valparaiso's opponents are hitting for a .106 rate of success.
►SCOUTING MURRAY STATE: The Racers went 0-3 at the Belmont Invitational last weekend, losing to Belmont (3-0), Sacramento State (3-1) and Western Kentucky (3-0) . . . Wendi Zickfield leads Murray State with a 2.90 kills-per-set average, while Teresa Krog is second at 2.50 . . . Zickfield also owns a team-best .272 hitting percentage, while Lia Havili has set the Racers offense to a .099 rate of success, averaging 8.60 assists-per-set . . . Kayleah Sauer has a team-best 4.20 digs-per-set average . . . Murray State's opponents are hitting for a .256 rate of success.
►SCOUTING TEXAS A&M-CC: The Islanders posted a 2-1 record at the Sam Houston State Invitational last weekend, scoring wins over Rutgers (3-0) and Texas-Pan American (3-1), while losing to Sam Houston State (3-1) . . . Isabella Arcidiacono leads the Islanders with a 3.17 kills-per-set average, while Brooke Alverson is second at 2.55 . . . Ashley Phelps and Logen Borque have team-best .212 hitting percentages, with Borque setting the Islanders offense to a .138 rate of success, averaging 9.64 assists-per-set . . . Micah Nolan has a team-best 6.27 digs-per-set average . . . Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's opponents are hitting for a .083 rate of success.
►BRANDL BLOCK PARTY: Senior Kelsey Brandl followed her 2011 Ball State Active Ankle Challenge Most Valuable Player performance with another solid outing at IUPUI, racking up a career-best nine blocks to go along with seven kills, five digs and a service ace . . . A two-time First Team All-MAC selection, Brandl enters the weekend ranked second in the conference in serving (0.50), fifth in blocking (1.20), sixth in points (4.45) and 10th in hitting percentage (.371).
►HITTING THE MARK: After a solid first three matches from the attack line, Kelsey Brandl has raised her Ball State career hitting percentage to .346 which continues to rank third in program history . . . She also climbed over the 600 kill mark for her BSU career at 611, and has served up 52 career aces for the Cardinals . . . Brandl is in her third season with the Cardinals after transferring from Cincinnati . . . Including her one season at UC, Brandl has 741 kills, a .328 hitting percentage and 76 aces over her collegiate career.
►DISHING THE ROCK: After handing out 38 assists Tuesday at IUPUI, Brittany McGinnis raised her career assists total to 3,442 which ranks fifth in program history . . . She needs 94 more assists to pass Angie Parrell's (2004-07) career total of 3,535 for fourth on BSU's all-time list . . . In addition, McGinnis' 9.89 career assists-per-set average is sixth in BSU annals.
►MORE ON MCGINNIS: Brittany McGinnis has started all 96 matches over her career, while playing in 348 of a possible 357 sets . . . Her 806 career digs are two shy of breaking into the top 20 in program history, while her 88 career service aces are seven shy of the top 20.
►HAPPY BIRTHDAY MINDY: Sophomore Mindy Marx celebrated her 20th birthday last Sunday with a career-high tying 12 kills to help lead Ball State to a 3-1 win over IPFW . . . She also tied for team-high honors with three blocks while hitting .364 (12-4-22).
