Ball State University Athletics
WVB To Play No. 5 WMU In MAC Tournament Saturday
November 22, 2014 | Women's Volleyball
►THE WEEK AHEAD: The Ball State women's volleyball team opens the 2014 Mid-American Conference Tournament as the No. 4 seed and will battle No. 5 Western Michigan in Saturday's 5:30 p.m. quarterfinal match ... The winner advances to Sunday's 5:30 p.m. semifinal match versus host and top-seeded Ohio.
►HOW WE GOT HERE: In the newly reformatted Mid-American Conference Tournament, the league's top eight teams qualify for the event with the top two seeds, No. 1 Ohio (16-0 MAC) and No. 2 Northern Illinois (14-2 MAC) advancing directly to Sunday's semifinal matches ... No. 3 Miami (12-4 MAC) and No. 4 Ball State (11-5 MAC) advance directly to Saturday's quarterfinal matches and will play the winners of Friday's two first round matches ... The RedHawks battle the winner of No. 6 Eastern Michigan (9-7 MAC) and No. 7 Kent State (8-8 MAC), while the Cardinals take on the winner of No. 5 Western Michigan (9-7 MAC) and No. 8 Buffalo (6-10 MAC) ... Ohio hosts the tournament as the 2013 MAC Regular Season Champion.
►FOLLOW THE ACTION: The Mid-American Conference will offer live stats and free live video throughout the entire tournament on the tournament central page: http://mac-sports.com/tournaments/?id=22 ... Monday's championship match will be televised live by the Buckeye Cable Sports Network (BCSN) and will also be carried by Time Warner Cable Sports, WatchESPN and ESPN3 ... Fans can also follow the program on twitter @BallStateWVB and @BallStateSports.
►CARDINALS ALL-TIME: The Ball State women's volleyball team enters the MAC Tournament with an 843-539-2 (.610) all-time record ... The Cardinals boast a 104-50 (.675) mark under fifth-year head coach Steve Shondell, including a 56-24 (.700) ledger in MAC play.
►IN THE MAC: Ball State holds a 341-170 (.667) all-time record in MAC matches, which ranks second among all league schools ... Western Michigan is first with a 354-157 (.693) all-time league mark, while Ohio is fifth at 283-228 (.554).
►24 AND COUNTING: The Ball State women's volleyball team will make its 24th straight Mid-American Conference Tournament appearance this season and its 26th overall in the league's premier event ... Ball State is 29-19 (.604) all-time in MAC Tournament matches, with both its 29 wins and 48 matches played being league records ... Overall, BSU is 4-1 in first round matches, 10-6 in quarterfinal matches, 9-9 in semifinal matches and 6-3 in championship matches.
►ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Since the inception of the MAC All-Tournament Team, Ball State has received more selections (25) than any other league school ... Miami and Ohio are tied for second on the list with 22 apiece ... Ball State placed at least one player on the MAC All-Tournament team every year from 1991-2005, marking a league-record 15-straight seasons with a honoree ... In addition, Ball State's six tournament Most Valuable Player selections trail only Ohio's eight.
►VERSUS THE FIELD: Ball State holds a 254-158 record versus the 2014 MAC Tournament field, including a 16-15 mark in tournament action and a 3-3 ledger in championship matches.
►VERSUS WESTERN MICHIGAN: Thanks to a pair of thrilling 3-2, overtime wins in the regular season, Ball State evened the all-time series versus Western Michigan at 42 matches apiece ... Last season, the Cardinals also swept the regular season series, only to see the Broncos avenge the losses with a MAC Tournament victory ... Despite being the two most successful programs in league history, BSU and WMU have only met four times in MAC Tournament play with each winning twice, including each claiming a championship over the other.
►VERSUS OHIO: While Ball State holds a 34-16 lead in the all-time series versus Ohio, the Bobcats have controlled action in the MAC Tournament by winning all five postseason meetings ... In the 2014 regular season showdown, Ohio recorded a 3-1 (25-8, 20-25, 25-20, 25-18) victory in Worthen Arena ... Ball State holds a 17-5 lead in matches played in Athens, Ohio, including a 3-2 (25-21, 17-25, 25-22, 13-25, 15-10) win last season.
QUICK HITS
● Ball State enters the MAC Tournament with a 17-11 (11-5 MAC) record ... Last week, the Cardinals closed the regular season with a wins at Toledo (3-0) and at home over Akron (3-1) ... Hayley Benson leads the squad with 328 kills and a 2.85 kills-per-set average, while Alex Fuelling averages a team-best 3.31 digs per set.
● Western Michigan enters Saturday's MAC Tournament quarterfinal match with a 19-13 (9-7 MAC) record ... The Broncos earned a spot in the quarterfinals with a win over No. 8 Buffalo Friday night ... Alysia Baznik leads the squad with 361 kills and a 2.98 kills-per-set average, while Sierra Neil-Hubbard paces WMU with 434 digs and a 3.88 digs-per-set average.
● Ohio enters the MAC Tournament with a 23-4 (16-0 MAC) record and ranked 24th in the latest AVCA Division I Coaches Poll ... The Bobcats closed the 2014 regular season with home sweeps of Bowling Green and Miami to post its fourth perfect league season in program history, and first since 2006 ... Kelly Lamberti leads the two-time defending MAC regular season champions with a 4.05 kills-per-set average, while MAC Defensive Player of the Year Meredith Ashy holds down the Ohio backcourt with a 4.82 digs-per-set average.
● Ball State's 3-0 win at Bowling Green (Oct. 25) marked the program's 100th victory under head coach Steve Shondell, who has amassed a 104-50 (.675) record over his five-year collegiate coaching tenure … A 2007 inductee into the AVCA Hall of Fame for his efforts in 34 seasons as the head girls varsity coach at the Burris Laboratory School, Shondell is just the third coach in program history to amass 100 career wins.
● Four Ball State players were honored by the league this week with Hayley Benson, Kelly Hopkins and Jenna Spadafora earning All-MAC First Team and Sabrina Mangapora being named to the All-MAC Second Team and MAC All-Freshman squad.
● Ball State's 90 all-time All-MAC selections rank second in league history, trailing only Western Michigan's 99 ... In addition, the Cardinals rank second in league annals with 43 First Team All-MAC honorees, once again trailing the Broncos who have had 54.
● Hayley Benson ranked first in MAC-only matches with a .433 (205-33-397) attack percentage ... She is the first player to finish league play hitting above .400 since Central Michigan's Kaitlyn Schultz hit .451 (193-28-366) in 2011.
● Kati Vasalakis' 33 digs at Eastern Michigan (Nov. 8) was the highest dig total for a Ball State player since Catie Fredrich recorded 33 in the Oct. 20, 2012 match at Miami ... In addition, the team's 86 digs at EMU was the most in a match since the Cardinals posted 88 in a home contest versus Eastern Michigan Nov. 2, 2013.
● Sabrina Mangapora's two highest career kill totals have come against Western Michigan ... Mangapora blasted a career-best 18 kills in the Nov. 1 match versus WMU, while connecting for a career-high .536 (18-3-28) rate of success ... In the first meeting in Kalamazoo (Sept.26), Mangapora tallied a then career-best 16 kills, while posting career-highs of five solo blocks and six total blocks ... Mangapora is averaging 3.40 kills and 0.70 blocks per set versus the Broncos, while hitting .387 ... For the year, she is averaging 2.64 kills and 0.37 blocks per set, while hitting .216.
