Ball State University Athletics
Women's Volleyball Opens MAC Play This Week
September 20, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
►CARDINALS OPEN LEAGUE PLAY THIS WEEK: The Ball State women's volleyball team opens its 16-match Mid-American Conference slate this week with a Thursday home match versus Toledo (7 p.m.) and a Saturday road showdown at Akron (5 p.m.).
►FOLLOW THE ACTION: Ball State All Access (starting at $9.95 a month) will offer live streaming video of Thursday's MAC home opener versus Toledo . . . Ball State Sports Link Radio on WCRD 91.3 FM will also cover the match with Adam Fox, Donnie Kolakowski and Bryan Lord bringing fans the action live from the Worthen Arena floor . . . Fans can listen to the audio broadcast and access live stats during the match for free on ballstatesports.com . . . Live stats and streaming video will also be available for Saturday's match at Akron.
►CARDINALS ALL-TIME: After going 2-1 last weekend at the Spartan Invitational, the Cardinals enter MAC play with a 774-496-2 (.609) all-time record, including a 35-7 (.833) mark under current head coach Steve Shondell.
►IN THE MAC: After posting a 14-2 record in league action last season, the Cardinals enter the 2011 MAC season with a 294-145 (.670) all-time record in conference matches . . . BSU's record is the second-best in league history, trailing only the 305-134 (.695) mark of Western Michigan . . . Miami (Ohio) is third at 275-164 (.626).
►GREAT START: The Cardinals' 11-2 start to the 2011 season ties as the best in program history with both the 1973 and 2010 squads . . . With a pair of wins this week, the Cardinals would match the best 15-match start in program history at 13-2 set by the 1973 team.
►HOME SWEET HOME: With its pair of home wins in the Ball State Active Ankle Challenge (Aug. 26-28), the BSU women's volleyball team extended its Worthen Arena winning streak to 17 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 is the sixth-longest in the nation . . . Cincinnati has the longest active homecourt winning streak at 39 matches . . . Last Saturday's opponent Sacred Heart has the fourth-longest home winning streak in the nation at 20 matches.
►MORE 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 200-56 (.781) all-time record in matches played in Worthen Arena, including a 150-30 (.832) mark versus Mid-American Conference teams.
►SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: The Cardinals enter the week with an 11-2 record after going 2-1 at the Spartan Invitational last weekend . . . BSU opened the tournament with a loss to host Michigan State (3-0), before scoring wins over Sacred Heart (3-1) and VCU (3-1) . . . Kelsey Brandl leads the team with a 3.24 kills-per-set average, while Kara Bates is second at 2.80 . . . Brandl also leads the team's attackers with a .364 hitting percentage, while posting a team-high 21 aces . . . Mindy Marx is BSU's top blocker, averaging 0.97 blocks per set . . . Brittany McGinnis has set the BSU offense to a .253 hitting mark this season, dishing out 9.78 assists per set . . . Catie Fredrich leads the team with a 4.13 digs-per-set average . . . On defense, Ball State is holding its opponents to a .175 hitting mark.
►BALL STATE VS. TOLEDO: The Cardinals hold a 55-5 advantage in the all-time series versus the Rockets . . . While Ball State won both regular season matches last year, Toledo upset the top-seeded Cardinals in the quarterfinal round of the 2010 MAC Tournament with a 3-0 (28-26, 25-19, 25-21) victory at the SeaGate Centre . . . BSU has won four of the last six meetings in the series, while holding a 42-match winning streak before a Nov. 6, 2008 Toledo victory . . . Ball State holds a 26-2 advantage in matches played in Muncie, including an 18-1 edge in Worthen Arena.
►SCOUTING TOLEDO: The Rockets enter Thursday's match with a 5-7 overall record after going 1-2 at last weekend's Michigan/Adidas Invitational . . . At the two-day event, Toledo fell to then 18th-ranked Michigan (3-1) and Texas A&M (3-0), before earning a hard-fought victory over Xavier (3-2) . . . Sondra Parys leads Toledo with a 3.07 kills-per-set average, while Becca Reidy is second at 2.57 . . . Bethany Irwin paces Toledo's regular attackers with a .291 hitting percentage, while Kassie Kadera has set the Rockets offense to a .209 rate of success, averaging 11.19 assists per set . . . Amber DeWeerdt has a team-best 3.30 digs-per-set average . . . Toledo's opponents are hitting for a .244 rate of success.
►BALL STATE VS. AKRON: The Cardinals hold a 28-3 lead in the all-time series against Akron, including a three match winning streak and victories in nine of the last 10 meetings . . . Last season, the Cardinals scored a 3-1 (21-25, 25-19, 25-17, 25-17) homecourt victory Nov. 13 in the only contest between the two programs . . . BSU holds a 13-2 advantage in matches played in Akron, Ohio.
►SCOUTING AKRON: The Zips enter the week with a 3-10 overall record after going 0-3 at last weekend's Sports Imports Classic hosted by Ohio State . . . In the two-day event, Akron suffered losses to Albany (3-1), Maryland (3-0) and the then 25th-ranked host Buckeyes (3-0) . . . Courtney Jarvis leads the Zips with a 2.96 kills-per-set average, while Tina Dimitrijevs is second at 2.46 . . . Dimitrijevs also owns a team-best .367 hitting percentage, while Morgan Kuhn has set the Akron offense to a .191 rate of success by averaging 9.82 assists per set . . . Chelsea Harvey has a team-best 3.73 digs-per-set average . . . Akron's opponents are hitting for a .236 rate of success.
►PLAYER OF THE WEEK: For her performance at the Spartan Invitational, sophomore middle blocker/right side hitter Mindy Marx has been named the Mid-American Conference West Division Defensive Player of the Week . . . Marx finished the two-day event with a team-best 15 total blocks for a 1.36 blocks-per-set average . . . She also tallied 14 kills and a pair of digs . . . Her best performance came in Saturday's win over Sacred Heart when she collected a career-high 10 total blocks (one solo and nine assists) to become the first BSU player to record double-digit blocks in a match since Sept. 6, 2006.
►MORE FROM THE AWARD FRONT: Junior outside hitter Kara Bates and senior setter Brittany McGinnis were named to the Spartan Invitational All-Tournament Team . . . Bates led the Cardinals with 40 kills and a 3.64 kills-per-set average over the two matches, including a BSU career-high 19 kills against VCU . . . McGinnis helped set the BSU offense to a .260 rate of success over the weekend, while collecting eight kills on 12 swings with no errors for a .667 hitting mark.
►HITTING THE MARK: After a solid first 13 matches from the attack line, Kelsey Brandl has raised her Ball State career hitting percentage to .348 which continues to rank third in program history . . . With her 27 kills at the Spartan Invitational, she upped her BSU career kill total to 727 which is 44 shy of breaking into the top 20 in program history . . . She has also served up 68 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 857 kills, a .332 hitting percentage and 92 aces over her collegiate career.
►DISHING THE ROCK: With her third assist versus Murray State (Sept. 3), Brittany McGinnis moved into fourth in program history for career assists . . . Her 3,802 career assists are 602 shy of Wendy Carter's (1993-96) career total of 4,404 which ranks third in program history . . . In addition, McGinnis' 9.90 career assists-per-set average is sixth in BSU annals.
►MORE ON MCGINNIS: Brittany McGinnis has started 105 of 106 matches over her career, while playing in 384 of a possible 393 sets . . . Her 868 career digs rank 18th in program history, while her 34 matches with double-figure digs ties for 17th . . . She has also served up 101 career aces, which ties for 14th in BSU annals.
►FREDRICH DIGGING IT UP: Sophomore libero Catie Fredrich is taking control in the Ball State backcourt, racking up double-digit digs in BSU's last 12 matches, including a season-high 20 in the three-set victory at Valparaiso (Sept. 2) . . . She has led the Cardinals in digs in each of the last 10 matches, while earning match-high honors in nine of those contests . . . She enters the week ranked fifth in the league with a 4.13 digs-per-set average.
