Ball State University Athletics
Women's Volleyball Set For HotelRED Invitational
September 11, 2014 | Women's Volleyball
►THE WEEK AHEAD: The Ball State women's volleyball team continues its 12-match road swing this weekend, when it travels to Madison, Wis., for the 2014 HotelRED Invitational ... The Cardinals open the two-day event Friday versus Missouri State (4:30 p.m. CT) ... Ball State closes the tournament Saturday with matches against Miami (Fla.) (10 a.m. CT) and fourth-ranked Wisconsin (7:30 p.m. CT).
►FOLLOW THE ACTION: Ball State fans not able to make it to Madison for the matches will have the ability to watch live online with streaming video courtesy of BTN2GO.com ... Access to BTN2GO costs $14.95 for a one-month subscription ... In addition, live stats are available for all three of the Cardinals' matches at the tournament on www.UWBadgers.com ... Fans can also follow the program on twitter @BallStateWVB and @BallStateSports.
►CARDINALS ALL-TIME: The Ball State women's volleyball team enters the HotelRED Invitational with an 829-530-2 (.610) all-time record ... The Cardinals boast a 90-41 (.687) mark under fifth-year head coach Steve Shondell, including a 45-19 (.703) ledger in Mid-American Conference play.
►IN THE MAC: Ball State entered the 2014 season with a 330-165 (.667) all-time record in Mid-American Conference matches, which ranks second among all league schools ... Western Michigan is first with a 345-150 (.697) league mark.
►FROM THE NEST: Ball State opened the 2014 season by posting a 2-1 mark at the Ball State Active Ankle Challenge, moving its all-time record in Worthen Arena to 226-67 (.771).
►VERSUS HOTELRED INVITATIONAL FIELD: Ball State is 4-5 all-time versus teams in the 2014 HotelRED Invitational field ... The Cardinals are 1-1 all-time versus Missouri State, including a 2-0 (15-5, 15-11) victory in the latest meeting Nov. 6, 1982 ... Ball State is 3-4 all-time versus Wisconsin, winning the first three meetings prior to a four-match Badgers winning streak ... In the last meeting, UW pulled out a 3-0 (30-28, 33-31, 30-16) victory in Madison Sept. 7, 2001 ... Ball State and Miami (Fla.) will be meeting for the first time in women's volleyball.
QUICK HITS
● Ball State enters its third pre-conference tournament with a 3-3 overall record after going 1-2 at last weekend's UniWyo Cowgirl Classic ... The Cardinals opened the event with a win over Montana (3-2), before losing to host Wyoming (3-1) and South Alabama (3-0).
● Missouri State enters the weekend with a 4-4 overall record after playing five matches in a five-day span starting last Thursday ... The Bears went 3-1 at their own University Plaza/Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational with wins over Oral Roberts (3-1), Incarnate Wood (3-0) and Milwaukee (3-0), plus a loss to Western Kentucky (3-1) ... Missouri State also suffered a 3-2 loss at Kansas State Monday.
● Miami (Fla.) enters the weekend with a 4-2 record after going 1-2 at last weekend's TCU Nike Invitational ... The Hurricanes suffered losses to Arkansas-Little Rock (3-1) and host TCU (3-2), before rebounding for a win over Prairie View (3-0).
● Wisconsin enters the weekend ranked fourth in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 poll with a perfect 5-0 record ... Last weekend, the Badgers went 3-0 at the Northern Colorado/Colorado State Classic with wins over Northern Colorado (3-1), Florida A&M (3-1) and No. 13 Colorado State (3-0).
● There are a pair of interesting coaching connections to this weekend's matches ... Ball State assistant coach Fritz Rosenberg spent the past three seasons as an assistant coach at Missouri State ... Wisconsin head coach Kelly Sheffield is a 2001 graduate of Ball State University and began his coaching career as an assistant coach for Ball State head coach Steve Shondell at Burris Laboratory School, where he helped guide the Owls to a pair of state titles and one national championship.
● Redshirt junior middle hitter Hayley Benson was named the Mid-American Conference West Division Offensive Player of the Week after leading the Cardinals with 39 kills (3.25 per set) and a .492 (39-7-65) attack percentage at last weekend's UniWyo Cowgirl Classic.
● The MAC's top returning attacker based on 2013 hitting percentage (.353), Benson enters the weekend ranked second in the league by connecting at a .374 (63-17-123) clip this season.
● Junior defensive specialist Kati Vasalakis continues to be one of Ball State's most consistent passers, maintaining a perfect 1.000 (76-for-76) reception percentage over Ball State's first six matches ... She also ranks second on the squad with a 2.86 digs-per-set average, including a career-high 24 digs versus Eastern Illinois (Aug. 30).
● Vasalakis ranks first on the squad in service percentage, with a .968 rate of success ... She has just three service errors in a team-high 93 total attempts ... She also has five aces on the year.
● The Ball State defense enters the weekend averaging 2.20 blocks per set ... Through the first six matches in 2013, the Cardinals averaged just 1.82 blocks and finished the season at 2.21 ... Ball State's blocking average is second among this weekend's field, trailing only Miami (2.48) ... Missouri State averages 1.97 blocks per set, while Wisconsin is at 1.94.
