Ball State University Athletics
Volleyball Travels To Miami And BGSU This Weekend
October 22, 2014 | Women's Volleyball
►THE WEEK AHEAD: The Ball State women's volleyball returns to the road this weekend for 7 p.m. matches at Miami (Friday) and Bowling Green (Saturday).
►FOLLOW THE ACTION: Live stats are available for both of this weekend's matches and will be linked to the live stats page on BallStateSports.com ... Miami and Bowling Green will offer live streaming video (pay-per-view) of this weekend's matches ... BGSU will also have live audio available courtesy of the Bowling Green Radio Sports Organization ... Fans can also follow the program on twitter @BallStateWVB and @BallStateSports.
►CARDINALS ALL-TIME: The Ball State women's volleyball team enters Friday's match at Miami with an 838-536-2 (.610) all-time record ... The Cardinals boast a 99-47 (.678) mark under fifth-year head coach Steve Shondell, including a 51-21 (.708) ledger in MAC play.
►IN THE MAC: Ball State holds a 336-167 (.668) all-time record in Mid-American Conference matches, which ranks second among all league schools ... Western Michigan is first with a 351-152 (.698) all-time league mark, while Miami is fourth at 303-200 (.602) and Bowling Green is sixth at 272-231 (.541).
►HOME SWEET HOME: Ball State owns a 230-68 (.772) all-time record in Worthen Arena, including a 170-39 (.813) mark versus MAC opponents ... The Cardinals are 6-2 at home this season, including wins over league rivals Eastern Michigan (3-2), Central Michigan (3-1), Toledo (3-1) and Kent State (3-0).
►FROM THE ROAD: Ball State holds a 3-4 record in true road matches this season and a 6-7 overall record away from home ... The Cardinals, who play five of their final eight MAC matches on the road, have a 2-1 ledger in league road contest this season with wins at Western Michigan (3-2) and Buffalo (3-1).
►FROM THE ROAD PART 2: Ball State's 12 straight road matches, from Sept. 5-27, marked the longest string of matches the Cardinals have played without a stop at home since joining the MAC in volleyball in 1980 ... The Cardinals played 11 consecutive matches away from home in four previous seasons since joining the league; 1982, 1989, 2003 and 2011 ... Ball State's longest single-season road swing is 19 matches in 1974 ... The Cardinals also played the final 13 matches of the 1973 season away from home, moving its total to 32 consecutive contests on the road from Nov. 16, 1973 to Oct. 24, 1974.
►VERSUS MIAMI: Ball State holds a 42-32 lead in the all-time series versus Miami, including a 3-1 (25-19, 25-19, 23-25, 25-23) home win last season (Oct. 26) ... The Cardinals have won 17 of the last 21 meetings in the series ... The RedHawks won the last match played in Millett Hall, scoring a 3-2 (25-23, 24-26, 18-25, 27-25, 15-11) victory Oct. 20, 2012 ... Ball State is 17-13 all-time in matches played in Oxford, Ohio.
►VERSUS BOWLING GREEN: Ball State maintains a 37-17-1 lead in the all-time series versus Bowling Green despite suffering a 3-1 (25-23, 25-23, 14-25, 25-19) home setback to the Falcons last season (Oct. 25) ... Prior to the loss, the Cardinals had won the previous three meetings, including two matches on BGSU's home floor ... Ball State is 15-7 all-time in matches played in Bowling Green, Ohio.
QUICK HITS
● Ball State enters Friday's match versus Miami with a 12-9 (6-2 MAC) record ... The Cardinals suffered a 3-1 home loss to defending MAC regular season and tournament champion Ohio last Friday, before rebounding for a 3-0 home win over Kent State Saturday ... Hayley Benson leads the squad with 230 kills and a 2.74 kills-per-set average, while Alex Fuelling averages a team-best 3.42 digs per set.
● Miami enters the week with a 12-8 (5-3 MAC) record and will host Toledo Thursday before battling the Cardinals Friday ... Last week, the RedHawks scored road wins at Eastern Michigan (3-0) and Central Michigan (3-0) ... Olivia Rusek leads Miami with 198 kills and a 2.79 kills-per-set average, while Maeve McDonald has a team-best 4.29 digs-per-set average.
● Bowling Green enters the weekend with a 4-16 (1-7 MAC) record and will host Toledo Friday before playing Ball State Saturday ... The Falcons suffered road losses at Central Michigan (3-1) and Eastern Michigan (3-0) last weekend ... Nicole Slimko leads Bowling Green with 245 kills and a 3.27 kills-per-set average, while Madeline Garda has a team-best 4.31 digs-per-set average.
● Ball State junior middles Hayley Benson and Kelly Hopkins have combined for 192 of the Cardinals' 431 kills in league action, while attacking for a combined .419 (192-40-363) rate of success ... Benson's .475 (107-13-198) attack percentage is first in the conference in league-only matches, while Hopkins' .352 (85-27-165) mark is seventh.
● Hayley Benson has turned her success on offense over the last two weeks into back-to-back MAC West Division Offensive Player of the Week accolades ... A four-time honoree this season, Benson has been virtually unstoppable over the last four matches, smashing 52 kills with just one attack error for a .543 (52-1-94) attack percentage ... She hit a career-best .667 (12-0-18) versus Kent State and has not recorded an attack error in the last three matches.
● A First Team All-MAC selection last season, Hayley Benson is way ahead of her pace from 2013 which saw her finish conference play with 161 kills and a .344 attack percentage ... Over Ball State's first eight league matches in 2013, Benson had just 70 kills and was hitting .318 (70-22-151) ... This season, Benson has 107 kills and is attacking for a .475 (107-13-198) rate of success through eight conference matches.
● Hayley Benson has also improved her game at the net compared to the first eight league matches last season, leading the team with 26 total blocks (three solo and 23 assists) in 2014 ... Over the first eight league matches in 2013, Benson had 21 total blocks (two solo and 19 assists).
● Kelly Hopkins has proven to be a major factor in Ball State's 6-2 run to open league play, blasting double-digit kills in four of Ball State's eight league matches ... She smashed a career-best 17 kills at Northern Illinois (Sept. 27) and opened league play with a career-best .643 (11-2-14) attack percentage at Western Michigan (Sept. 26) ... Prior to league play, Hopkins had only tallied double-digit kills in seven of her previous 46 career matches played.
● Sabrina Mangapora has provided several key plays at the net, collecting a team-best 16 solo blocks so far this season ... In the win at Western Michigan (Sept. 26), Mangapora collected a career-high five solo blocks, which are the most for a Ball State player in a match since Hayley Benson logged five versus SMU Sept. 21, 2013 ... Of her 15 solo blocks this season, eight of come in BSU's six league matches.
● Since moving back to the libero position for the Eastern Michigan (Oct. 3) match, junior Kati Vasalakis has dominated the Ball State backcourt, averaging 4.54 digs per set and posting a .967 (147-for-152) reception percentage ... She has collected 20-or-more digs in two of the six matches, including a career-high tying 24 versus EMU ... Prior to the switch, Vasalakis has only tallied 20-or-more digs in one other career match.
● Junior setter Jenna Spadafora enters the weekend ranked second in the MAC with an 11.28 assists-per-set average in league-only matches ... Spadafora has handed out 50-or-more assists in three matches over her career, with two coming in the first eight matches of league play this season.
● According to the latest NCAA RPI rankings, the Cardinals have faced the toughest schedule of any MAC program this season with a strength of schedule at 106 ... Eastern Michigan is second at 114, followed by Bowling Green (117) and Ohio (153).
