Ball State University Athletics
Volleyball Returns To Road For Matches At NIU & WMU
September 25, 2012 | Women's Volleyball
►THE WEEK AHEAD: After picking up five consecutive home wins over the last two weeks, the Ball State women's volleyball team returns to the road this weekend for matches at Northern Illinois (Friday at 7 p.m. CT) and Western Michigan (Saturday at 5 p.m.).
►FOLLOW THE ACTION: Ball State Sports Link Radio WCRD 91.3 FM will join the women's volleyball team on the road this weekend with live coverage of both MAC West Division tilts ... Adam Fox will cover the play-by-play action, while Donnie Kolakowski and Bryan Lord will handle the color commentary ... Both matches will be streamed live for free on BallStateSports.com ... In addition, live stats will be available for both matches at the links above.
►CARDINALS ALL-TIME: Ball State enters Friday's contest with a 797-508-2 (.611) all-time record after opening league play with wins over Toledo and Akron last week ... BSU boasts a 58-19 (.753) mark under third-year head coach Steve Shondell, including a 28-6 (.824) record in Mid-American Conference play.
►BALL STATE IN THE MAC: With a 3-1 victory at Ohio (Oct. 14, 2011), Ball State became just the second women's volleyball program in league history to collect 300 Mid-American Conference victories ... With two more MAC wins last week, BSU enters Friday's match at Northern Illinois with a 308-149 (.674) all-time record in conference matches ... BSU's record is the second-best in league history, trailing only Western Michigan's 318-139 (.696) all-time league mark.
►FROM THE NEST: After going 7-1 at home so far this season, Ball State owns a 215-58 (.788) all-time record in matches played in Worthen Arena, including a 159-31 (.837) mark versus Mid-American Conference teams.
►VS. NORTHERN ILLINOIS: The series between the Cardinals and Huskies is tied at 27-27 after NIU posted wins in two of the three meetings last season ... Ball State won the first contest by a score of 3-2 at Worthen Arena Sept. 30 ... NIU rebounded with a 3-0 sweep on its home court Nov. 5 ... The Huskies also scored a 3-1 win over the Cardinals in the semifinals of the 2011 MAC Tournament on Nov. 19 ... Ball State is 8-16 all-time in matches played in DeKalb, Ill., including wins in three of its last four trips to Victor E. Court.
►VS. WESTERN MICHIGAN: The Broncos hold a slim 39-38 advantage in the all-time series after the teams split the regular season series last season ... Ball State scored a 3-1 win at Worthen Arena Oct. 1, before falling to WMU in Kalamazoo 3-2 on Nov. 4 ... The Cardinals are 13-22 all-time in matches played in Kalamazoo, having lost its last five matches in University Arena.
►SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: Ball State enters the week ranked first in the MAC West Division with a 9-6 (2-0 MAC) record ... BSU opened league play last week with wins over Toledo (3-0) and Akron (3-1) ... Kara Bates leads the Ball State attack and ranks second in the MAC with a 4.00 kills-per-set average, while Lisa Scott is second among BSU's starters at 2.35 ... Junior setter Jacqui Seidel has the BSU offense ranked second in the MAC with a .229 team hitting percentage, and has also collected assist/dig double-doubles in seven of BSU's 15 matches ... Catie Fredrich paces the BSU backcourt and ranks second in the league with a 5.17 digs-per-set average ... As a team, Ball State is limiting its opponents to a .172 hitting mark which ranks BSU's defense second in the MAC.
►SCOUTING THE HUSKIES: Northern Illinois enters the week with a 10-8 (1-1 MAC) record ... The Huskies opened league play with a win at Central Michigan (3-1) and a loss at Eastern Michigan (0-3) last week ... MacKenzie Roddy paces the Huskies attack with a 3.35 kills-per-set average, while Meghan Romo is second at 3.33 ... Alexis Gonzalez has set the Northern Illinois offense to a .190 hitting mark this season, which ranks eighth among the 12 MAC teams ... Amber Walker has a team-best 4.71 digs-per-set average to rank fourth in the league ... As a team, NIU is allowing its opponents to hit for a .184 rate of success to rank third in the MAC.
►SCOUTING THE BRONCOS: Western Michigan enters the week with an 8-6 (1-1 MAC) record ... WMU will host Toledo Friday in its first home match of the 2012 season before BSU travels to Kalamazoo Saturday ... Last week, WMU opened league play with a win at Eastern Michigan (3-2) before losing at Central Michigan (1-3) ... Jessica Brown paces the Western Michigan attack with a 3.31 kills-per-set average, while Ali Gossen is second at 2.98 ... Terin Norris has set the Broncos' offense to a .212 hitting mark this season, which ranks fifth among the 12 MAC teams ... Lena Oliver anchors the WMU backcourt with a 5.02 digs-per-set average to rank third in the conference ... As a team, the Western Michigan defense is allowing opponents to hit .204 which is seventh in the league.
►HEATING UP: During Ball State's current five match winning streak, senior outside hitter Kara Bates has paced the BSU attack with a 4.29 kills-per-set average ... She opened MAC play with a dominating performance over Toledo, racking up 19 kills in just three sets (6.33 kps) ... She is also hitting an impressive .340 (73-19-159) over the past five matches, while ranking second on the team with a 3.18 digs-per-set average ... Her five solo blocks also pace the squad.
►GREAT SCOTT: Another link to Ball State's offensive success over the last five matches has come from senior transfer middle hitter Lisa Scott ... During BSU's current winning streak, Scott leads the Cardinals with a .400 (48-10-95) attack percentage, including .400 marks in each of BSU's conference matches last week ... Her 48 kills rank second on the squad over the past five games, while her 0.94 blocks-per-set average is first.
►FREDRICH ON D: A five-time career MAC West Division Defensive Player of the Week selection, including once this season, junior defensive specialist Catie Fredrich has racked up double-digit digs in 14 of BSU's 15 matches this season, with 20-or-more digs five times ... In helping guide BSU to a pair of wins to open MAC play last week, Fredrich collected 13 digs versus Toledo and a match-high 18 against Akron ... Overall, Fredrich has led BSU in digs in 43 of the last 45 matches dating back to last season, while earning match-high honors in 32 of the contests.
►DIGGING DEEP: With her 31 digs last week, Catie Fredrich climbed from 14th to 11th in program history with 1,088 career digs ... Fredrich is 22 digs shy of passing Katie Butts (1999-2002) career total of 1,109 for 10th on BSU's all-time list ... Her 22-dig effort versus Wyoming (Sept. 15) marked the 14th time in her career she has posted 20-or-more digs in a match which ranks fifth in BSU annals ... Her 56 career matches with double-figure digs ranks seventh on BSU's career charts, while her 3.87 career digs-per-set average is fourth.
►NOT SO SECRET WEAPON: Freshman Jenna Spadafora proved to be an effective secret weapon for Ball State Saturday, as she racked up a career-high 11 kills as an outside hitter against Akron ... Listed as BSU's backup setter, Spadafora was called into action on the left side versus the Zips and delivered an impressive performance by also hitting for a .381 (11-3-21) rate of success.
►SET FOR SUCCESS: Junior setter Jacqui Seidel has guided the Ball State offense to a .277 hitting mark over the last five matches, including a season-best .330 effort versus Wright State (Sept. 15) ... She has set four players to hitting marks of .294-or-better during the run, and helped the Cardinals climb to second in the league with a .229 team hitting mark for the year.
►MORE ON THE D: In addition to posting strong offensive numbers over the last five matches, Ball State is holding its opponents to a combined .129 hitting mark ... Akron entered last Saturday's match at the league's top hitting team (.264), and the Cardinals held them to a .109 effort, including three sets at .054-or-lower.
