Ball State University Athletics
WVB Travels Down I-69 For IUPUI Invite This Weekend
August 30, 2012 | Women's Volleyball
►BUSY WEEK AHEAD: The Ball State women's volleyball team continues the week Friday, when it opens play in the two-day IUPUI Jaguars Hampton Inn Invitational with a 4:30 p.m. first serve versus Georgia State ... Saturday, the Cardinals will battle North Texas (10 a.m.) and IUPUI (7 p.m.).
►FOLLOW THE ACTION: Sports Link Radio WCRD 91.3 FM will carry all three matches at the IUPUI Jaguars Hampton Inn Invitational live over the airwaves and FREE online at BallStateSports.com ... Fans can also follow the action with live stats for all three matches at the tournament central link provided above.
►CARDINALS ALL-TIME: Ball State enters Friday's contest with a 790-504-2 (.610) all-time record after suffering a 3-1 loss at IPFW Tuesday evening ... BSU boasts a 51-15 (.773) mark under third-year head coach Steve Shondell.
►FROM THE NEST: The Aug. 28, 2011 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 ... After going 2-1 at home last weekend to open the 2012 season, BSU owns a 210-58 (.784) all-time record in matches played in Worthen Arena, including a 157-31 (.835) mark versus Mid-American Conference teams.
►BALL STATE VS. IUPUI: Ball State holds a 12-3 lead in the all-time series versus the Jaguars, with one of IUPUI's three wins being vacated ... Ball State has won the past three meetings in the series, including a 3-0 victory in Indianapolis last season (Aug. 30) ... BSU is 4-2 all-time in matches hosted by IUPUI.
►PLAYING FOR THE FIRST TIME: Ball State will be playing both Georgia State and North Texas for the first time in women's volleyball at the IUPUI Jaguars Hampton Inn Invitational.
►SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: Ball State enters the weekend with a 2-2 record after suffering a Tuesday loss at IPFW (1-3) ... Last weekend, BSU scored wins over Gardner-Webb (3-0) and Illinois State (3-1), while lossing to VCU (1-3) in the 2012 BSU Active Ankle Challenge... Kara Bates leads the Ball State attack with a 3.53 kills-per-set average, while Kylee Baker is second at 2.53 ... Jacqui Seidel has set the Ball State offense to a .207 hitting percentage this season, having collecting assist/dig double-doubles in all four matches so far ... Catie Fredrich paces the BSU backcourt with a 4.53 digs-per-set average.
►SCOUTING THE PANTHERS: Georgia State enters the weekend with a 1-2 record after playing at the Benson Hospitality Bulldog Invitational hosted by Georgia last weekend ... GSU opened the tournament with a win over Troy (3-0), before losing to Georgia Southern (1-3) and Georgia (0-3) ... The Panthers also suffered a 1-3 exhibition loss to the Slovenia National Team at the tournament ... Sydney Hunsley leads the GSU attack with a 2.10 kills-per-set average, while Emily Averbeck has a team-best 5.00 digs-per-set average ... The Panthers are hitting .064 as a team, while allowing opponents to hit .215.
►SCOUTING THE MEAN GREEN: North Texas enters the weekend with a 5-0 record after scoring a 3-2 victory over UT-Arlington Tuesday night ... Last week, NT won its first ever home tournament with sweeps of Prairie View A&M, UMKC, Houston Baptist and Lamar in the North Texas Invitational ... Courtney Windham has a team-best 3.94 kills-per-set average, while Shelby Tamura leads the squad with a 5.29 digs-per-set average ... As a team, the Mean Green are hitting .208, while limiting opponents to a .067 rate of success.
►SCOUTING THE JAGUARS: IUPUI enters the weekend with a 3-1 record after scoring a 3-0 victory over Indiana State Tuesday night ... Last week, the Jaguars posted a 2-1 record at the Thunder Invitational with wins over Miami (OH) (3-1) and Wright State (3-0), while losing to tournament host Marshall (3-2) ... Moriah Fair leads the squad with a 3.27 kills-per-set average, while Beth Howard has a team-best 5.53 digs-per-set average ... As a team, IUPUI is hitting .219, while limiting its opposition to a .136 mark.
►THE ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: For their play during the 2012 Ball State Active Ankle Challenge, both Kara Bates and Kylee Baker were named to the all-tournament squad ... Bates led all players with a 3.09 kills-per-set average at the event, while Baker was fourth at 2.55 ... Baker is now a two-time member of the Ball State Active Ankle All-Tournament Team after also earning a slot as a freshman.
►FREDRICH ON D: A four-time MAC West Division Defensive Player of the Week selection in 2011, Catie Fredrich has racked up double-digit digs in each of BSU's last 36 matches dating back to last season ... She recorded a career-high 31 digs in two matches in 2011 (at EMU, Oct. 8 and vs. Miami, Oct. 21), while collecting a 2012 season-high 20 digs in BSU's match versus Illinois State (Aug. 25) ... She has also led the Cardinals in digs in 33 of the last 34 matches, while earning match-high honors in 24 of the contests.
►DIGGING DEEP: With her 16-dig effort at IPFW Tuesday, Catie Fredrich moved to 18th in program history with 887 career digs ... Her 20-dig effort versus Indiana State (Aug. 25) marked the 10th time in her career she has posted 20-or-more digs in a match which ranks sixth in BSU annals ... Fredrich's 562 digs in 2011 were the ninth-best single season dig total in program history, while her 46 career matches with double-figure digs ranks 12th and her 3.64 career digs-per-set average is fifth.
►SETTING BSU UP: Jacqui Seidel has been a solid all-around player for the Cardinals so far this season, collecting assist/dig double-doubles in all four matches ... At the 2012 Ball State Active Ankle Challenge, Seidel led all tournament setters with a 10.00 assists-per-set average, while ranking fourth with a 3.27 digs-per-set average ... She also served up six aces in the two-day event.
►IN THE PRESEASON POLLS: The Ball State women's volleyball team was picked to finish second in the Mid-American Conference West Division in the annual preseason poll ... Western Michigan was chosen first and garnered 10 first place votes, followed by BSU and Central Michigan with one first place vote each ... Northern Illinois, Eastern Michigan and Toledo rounded out the division.
