Ball State University Athletics
Women's Volleyball Hosts NIU & WMU This Weekend
September 27, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
►TOUGH WEEK AHEAD: The top three ranked teams in the Mid-American Conference will be in action at Worthen Arena this weekend when the Ball State women's volleyball team hosts Northern Illinois (Friday) and Western Michigan (Saturday) . . . Both home matches start at 7 p.m.
►PROMOTIONS: Friday's match versus Northern Illinois will be Father/Daughter Night (when a father buys a ticket to the match, his daughter gets in for free) . . . Saturday the Cardinals are looking to WHITE OUT the Broncos, with the first 500 fans in attendance getting a free white women's volleyball t-shirt.
►FOLLOW THE ACTION: Ball State All Access (starting at $9.95 a month) will offer live streaming for both BSU matches this weekend . . . Ball State Sports Link Radio on WCRD 91.3 FM will also cover the matches with Adam Fox, Donnie Kolakowski and Bryan Lord bringing fans the action live from the Worthen Arena floor.
►CARDINALS ALL-TIME: After opening league play with wins over Toledo and Akron last week, the Cardinals enter the week with a 776-496-2 (.610) all-time record, including a 37-7 (.841) mark under second-year head coach Steve Shondell.
►IN THE MAC: After its pair of league wins last week, the Cardinals enter the week with a 296-145 (.671) all-time record in conference matches . . . BSU's record is the second-best in league history, trailing only Saturday's opponent Western Michigan which owns a 307-134 (.696) all-time league mark . . . Northern Illinois is fourth at 177-113 (.610).
►WHAT A START: The Cardinals' 13-2 start to the 2011 season ties as the best 15-match record in program history with the 1973 squad . . . With a win over Northern Illinois Friday, the Cardinals would move to 14-2 for the first time in program history . . . The Cardinals have started a season 13-3 four times; 1973, 1974, 2000 and 2010 . . . The best 17-match record in program history is 14-3 accomplished by the same four squads.
►STREAKING IN THE MAC: Dating back to last season the Cardinals have won their last 12 Mid-American Conference regular season matches, which is the third-longest league winning streak in program history . . . From Oct. 23, 1992 to Sept. 25, 1995, the Cardinals strung together 45 consecutive regular season league wins which is the 18th-longest streak of its kind in NCAA Division I volleyball history . . . From Sept. 28, 1996 to Oct. 31, 1997, Ball State collected 24 straight regular season MAC wins.
►HOME SWEET HOME: The Ball State women's volleyball team extended its homecourt winning streak to 18 matches with its 3-1 victory over Toledo last Thursday . . . The streak is the second-longest in program history, trailing only the 42-match winning streak from Sept. 9, 1999 - Nov. 20, 2001 . . . In addition, the streak is the sixth-longest active streak in the nation behind Cincinnati (42), Central Arkansas (30), Nebraska (28), Sacred Heart (22) and Texas (21).
►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 201-56 (.782) all-time record in matches played in Worthen Arena, including a 151-30 (.834) mark versus Mid-American Conference teams.
►SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: The Cardinals enter the week with a 13-2 (2-0 MAC) record after posting league wins over Toledo (3-1) and Akron (3-1) last week . . . Kelsey Brandl leads the team with a 3.11 kills-per-set average, while Kara Bates is second at 3.04 . . . Brandl also leads the team's attackers with a .362 hitting percentage, while posting a team-high 24 aces . . . Mindy Marx is BSU's top blocker, averaging 0.93 blocks per set . . . Brittany McGinnis has set the BSU offense to a .257 hitting mark this season, dishing out 10.00 assists per set . . . Catie Fredrich leads the team with a 4.17 digs-per-set average . . . On defense, Ball State is holding its opponents to a .170 hitting mark.
►BALL STATE VS. NORTHERN ILLINOIS: The Cardinals own a slim 26-25 advantage in the all-time series versus Northern Illinois including wins in the last four matches . . . Last season, BSU earned a 3-2 (25-20, 18-25, 17-25, 25-23, 16-14) win in DeKalb (Sept. 24), before posting a 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-21) victory at Worthen Arena (Oct. 30) . . . Ball State holds a 13-6 advantage in matches played in Muncie, including an 11-3 edge in Worthen Arena.
►SCOUTING NORTHERN ILLINOIS: The Huskies enter the week with a 12-4 (1-1 MAC) record after topping Central Michigan (3-0) and falling to Eastern Michigan (3-1) last week. . . Lauren Wicinski leads all NCAA Division I players with a 5.40 kills-per-set average, while Allison McGlaughlin is second on the NIU squad at 3.00 . . . Sarah Angelos paces the Huskies attackers with a .339 hitting percentage, while Kristin Hoffman has set the Northern Illinois offense to a .275 rate of success, averaging 12.34 assists per set . . . Amber Walker has a team-best 3.61 digs-per-set average . . . NIU's opponents are hitting for a .228 rate of success.
►BALL STATE VS. WESTERN MICHIGAN: The Broncos hold a slim 38-37 lead in the all-time series versus Ball State after collecting wins in eight of the last 10 meetings . . . In the final regular season meeting last season, BSU snapped a seven-match losing streak to WMU with a hard-fought 3-2 (25-22, 23-25, 16-25, 25-22, 15-13) home win Oct. 29 . . . The Broncos won the first meeting last season (Sept. 25) by a 3-0 (25-22, 30-28, 25-18) score . . . Ball State holds a 20-13 lead in matches played in Muncie, including a 15-5 advantage in Worthen Arena.
►SCOUTING WESTERN MICHIGAN: The Broncos enter the week with a 12-3 (2-0 MAC) record after earning league wins over Eastern Michigan (3-1) and Central Michigan (3-1) last week . . . WMU dropped the first set in both matches, before winning the final three . . . The Broncos' top three attackers are separated by just two kills as Ashley Turnage (164 kills; 2.98 kpg), Jessica Brown (163; 2.96) and Ali Gossen (162; 2.95) lead the squad . . . Turnage also owns a team-best .330 hitting percentage, while Terin Norris has set the WMU offense to a .234 rate of success by averaging 11.69 assists per set . . . Lena Oliver has a team-best 6.47 digs-per-set average, which ranks second among all NCAA Division I players . . . Western Michigan's opponents are hitting for a .187 rate of success.
►BRANDL IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS: Kelsey Brandl enters the week ranked 38th nationally with a 0.44 aces-per-set average . . . Her .362 hitting percentage ranks 49th, while her 3.11 kills-per-set average is 222nd.
►HITTING THE MARK: After a solid first 15 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 19 kills last week, Brandl upped her BSU career kill total to 746 which is 25 shy of breaking into the top 20 in program history . . . She has also served up 71 career aces for the Cardinals . . . Brandl is in her third season at Ball State after transferring from Cincinnati . . . Including her one season at UC, Brandl has 876 kills, a .333 hitting percentage and 95 aces over her collegiate career.
►BATES BLASTING OFF: Junior transfer Kara Bates enters the week ranked second in Mid-American Conference with a 4.25 kills-per-set average in league play . . . She tallied 18 kills versus Toledo (Sept. 22) and added 16 at Akron (Sept. 24).
►BATES PART TWO: Kara Bates has been BSU's top attacker over the last four matches, blasting a team-high 68 kills . . . Kelsey Brandl is second during that span with 40 kills . . . Bates is also averaging 2.12 digs and 0.62 blocks per set over the last four outings . . . Bates has tallied match-high kill honors in each of BSU's last four contests, while adding double-digit kills in a total of seven matches this season.
►THE GRANT FACTOR: Sophomore transfer Lauren Grant played a major role in shutting down opponents' offenses last week, helping limit Toledo to a .130 (24-14-77) hitting mark in the two sets she started, while helping hold Akron to a .029 (17-15-70) effort in the two sets she started . . . Opponents hit a combined .082 (41-29-147) when Grant started the set . . . Without Grant in the set's starting lineup, Toledo hit .222 (20-6-63) and Akron hit .202 (22-8-69) for a combined .212 (42-14-132) mark.
►DISHING THE ROCK: With her third assist versus Murray State (Sept. 3), Brittany McGinnis moved into fourth in program history for career assists . . . Her 3,892 career assists are 512 shy of Wendy Carter's (1993-96) career total of 4,404 which ranks third in program history . . . In addition, McGinnis' 9.93 career assists-per-set average is sixth in BSU annals.
►MORE ON MCGINNIS: Brittany McGinnis has started 107 of 108 matches over her career, while playing in 392 of a possible 401 sets . . . Her 883 career digs rank 17th in program history, while her 34 matches with double-figure digs ties for 17th . . . She has also served up 102 career aces, which is 13th 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 14 matches, including a season-high 23 in the four-set victory over Toledo (Sept. 22) . . . She has led the Cardinals in digs in 11 of the last 12 matches, while earning match-high honors in 10 of those contests . . . She enters the week ranked fifth in the league with a 4.17 digs-per-set average.
