Ball State University Athletics
WVB Travels To Ohio & Kent State This Weekend
October 15, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
Match 21
Ball State at Ohio
Friday, Oct. 16 (7 p.m.)
Athens, Ohio (Convocation Center)
Live Video | Live Stats
Match 22
Ball State at Kent State
Saturday, Oct. 17 (7 p.m.)
Kent, Ohio (M.A.C. Center)
Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats
►THE WEEK AHEAD: The Ball State women's volleyball team concludes its current four-match road swing with matches at Mid-American Conference leading Ohio (Friday at 7 p.m.) and Kent State (Saturday at 7 p.m.) this weekend.
►A QUICK LOOK AT FRIDAY'S MATCHUP: Ball State heads into Friday's match in Athens as the last MAC team to defeat Ohio in regular season play … The Bobcats enter the week having won 30 consecutive MAC regular season matches, after falling to the Cardinals by a score of 3-2 (25-21, 17-25, 25-22, 13-25, 15-10) on Oct. 19, 2013 in Athens … Current Ball State head coach Steve Shondell has never lost a match versus Ohio in Athens, also winning in his debut at the Bobcats' Convocation Center by a score of 3-1 (25-23, 25-16, 20-25, 25-21) Oct. 14, 2011 … Since the beginning of the 2011 season, Ohio owns a 32-2 record in regular season MAC home matches, with both losses coming to the Cardinals.
►GOODSEL LEADING THE WAY: Freshman right side Brooklyn Goodsel has been Ball State's top attacker over the last two weeks, producing 42 kills and averaging 3.00 kills per set … She has taken a team-high 118 swings during the span, while serving up four aces … She smashed a career-high 15 kills versus Western Michigan (Oct. 3), while blasting 11 kills and hitting a career-best .588 versus Northern Illinois (Oct. 2) … Goodsel has been no slouch on defense during the run either, ranking third on the team with 35 digs (2.50 per set) and collecting seven total blocks … Goodsel finished both the WMU match and last Saturday's contest at Eastern Michigan with double-doubles, the second and third of her career.
►SCHREINER TURNS IN SOLID WEEKEND: Freshman defensive specialist Lauren Schreiner turned in a pair of solid performances for the Cardinals last weekend, totaling 24 digs for a 3.00 per-set average in BSU's two match … The total was second on the team, trailing only senior libero Kati Vasalakis' 41 digs … Schreiner tallied a career-high 14 digs at Central Michigan (Oct. 9), while earning 10 more at Eastern Michigan (Oct. 10) … She also served up her first two career aces versus the Eagles, while finishing the weekend with a .973 (36-for-37) reception percentage.
►HITTING THEIR MARK: The Cardinals connected for a season-high .370 (51-14-100) attack percentage in the Oct. 2 victory over MAC West Division preseason favorite Northern Illinois … It marked the team's best attack percentage since tallying a .376 (43-9-93) rate of success against Illinois-Chicago (Sept. 14, 2013) … Overall, it is the fifth-best mark for Ball State in the Steve Shondell era.
1. .419 (55-11-105) vs. The Citadel (Aug. 31, 2013)
2. .390 (39-9-77) at Kent State (Oct. 15, 2011)
3. .384 (50-12-99) vs. Murray State (Sept. 3, 2011)
4. .376 (43-9-93) vs. Illinois-Chicago (Sept. 14, 2013)
5. .370 (51-14-100) vs. Northern Illinois (Oct. 2, 2015)
►TRIPLING UP: In the Oct. 3 match versus Western Michigan, senior setter Jenna Spadafora registered 10 kills, 13 digs and 41 assists for her first career triple double … Prior to the contest, the closest Spadafora had been to a triple double was one kill shy, earning nine kills, 13 digs and 42 assists in a 3-2 loss to Missouri State (Sept. 12, 2014) … Spadafora's triple double marks Ball State's first triple double since Oct. 19, 2002, when then-setter Stacie Baldwin (2001-04) produced 10 kills, 14 digs and 70 assists in a 3-2 victory over Eastern Michigan in Worthen Arena.
►REACHING 1,000: Senior libero Kati Vasalakis become the 16th player in program history to eclipse the 1,000 career digs mark versus Northern Illinois (Oct. 2) ... She enters the week with 1,067 career digs which is tied with Lindsay Follin (1995-98) for 14th on Ball State's all-time list ... Vasalakis needs 53 more digs to break into the top 10.
►GOING THE DISTANCE: Ball State opened MAC play with a pair of five-set victories at Toledo (Sept. 24) and at Akron (Sept. 26) ... It marked the first time in program history the Cardinals opened league play with back-to-back five set victories ... Ball State enters the week with a 5-1 record in five-setters in 2015, which is the program's best mark in five-set matches since the 2010 squad finished the year with a 7-1 record on their way to earning the MAC Regular Season Championship.
►IN THE FIFTH SET: The Ball State offense is connecting for a .317 (53-13-126) attack percentage in fifth sets this season, while limiting its opposition to a .176 (40-18-125) rate of success ... Senior middle Kelly Hopkins leads the Cardinals with nine fifth-set kills, while both senior outside Alex Fuelling and junior outside Mackenzie Kitchel have eight ... Ball State also holds a 61-to-46 advantage in digs, a 9-to-5 lead in team blocks and a 6-to-5 edge in aces over its opponents in the fifth set.
►IN THE MAC: Ball State enters Friday's match with a 344-173 (.665) all-time record in MAC matches ... Western Michigan is first on the list with a 358-159 (.692) all-time league mark ... Ohio is fifth on the all-time list at 289-228 (.559), while Kent State is 10th at 184-333 (.354).
►SERIES VS. OHIO: Ball State holds a 34-16 lead in the all-time series versus Ohio, including wins in each of its last two trips to Athens ... Last season, the Bobcats earned a 3-1 (25-8, 20-25, 25-20, 25-18) win in Worthen Arena (Oct. 17) to claim its third victory in the last four meetings ... This will be the fourth meeting between the two programs on Oct. 16, with Ball State holding a 2-1 edge on the date, including a 3-2 (15-11, 15-4, 11-15, 10-15, 15-7) win in 1992 and a 3-0 (15-5, 15-5, 15-12) victory in 1999 ... Ohio's win on the date came in 2002 by a score of 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-15) ... The Cardinals are 17-5 all-time in matches played in Athens, while head coach Steve Shondell is 3-3 over his career versus Ohio.
►SERIES VS. KENT STATE: Ball State is 39-11 all-time versus Kent State, including five consecutive wins ... Last season, the Cardinals topped the Golden Flashes by a score of 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-23) in Worthen Arena Oct. 18 ... Ball State has won its last two matches at Kent State's M.A.C. Center, while KSU's last win in the series was on its home court by a score of 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-16) Oct. 16, 2009 ... This will be the third meeting between the two programs on Oct. 17, with Ball State claiming a 2-1 (15-7, 13-15, 15-11) win in 1980 and Kent State earning a hard-fought 3-2 (23-25, 25-19, 21-25, 25-16, 20-18) win in 2008 ... The Cardinals are 15-6 all-time in matches played in Kent, while head coach Steve Shondell is 5-0 over his career versus Kent State.
►CARDINALS ALL-TIME: The Ball State women's volleyball team enters Friday's match with an 852-551-2 (.607) all-time record ... The Cardinals boast a 113-62 (.646) mark under sixth-year head coach Steve Shondell, including a 59-27 (.686) ledger in MAC play.
►BALL STATE WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL ON ESPN3: The Cardinals have two more scheduled appearances on ESPN3 this season, starting with next Friday's home match versus Miami (Oct. 23) ... Ball State's match versus Toledo (Oct. 29) is also slated to be carried on the platform ... Joel Godett (play-by-play) and four-year letterwinner (2007-10) and one-year student assistant coach (2011) Alyssa Rio (analyst) call the action for the Cardinals' home matches ... Overall, Ball State is 3-1 in ESPN3 matches this season, including 3-2 wins over New Mexico (Aug. 29) and IPFW (Sept. 16), as well as a sweep of Northern Illinois (Oct. 2) ... The Cardinals' loss came by a score of 3-1 at Central Michigan last Saturday ... ESPN3 is accessible online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app and streamed on televisions through Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast (via the WatchESPN app), Roku, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
QUICK HITS
● Ball State head coach Steve Shondell is in his fourth season as a voting member of the AVCA Division I Coaches Top-25 Poll.
● Alex Fuelling averages 3.11 kills and 4.00 digs per set in two career matches versus Ohio.
● Meg Starling tallied a career-high tying seven kills in the first set at No. 22 Purdue (Sept. 18) ... The effort ties as the highest single-set kill total by a Ball State player in 2015, with Alex Fuelling and Bailey Baumer both scoring seven kills in the third set versus Albany (Aug. 28) ... Fuelling also had seven kills in set one versus FAU (Sept. 4).
● Senior setter Jenna Spadafora enters Friday's match ranked ninth in program history with 2,437 career assists ... She needs 213 to pass both Jacqui Seidel's (2010-13) and Janell Lorenz's (1984-87) career total of 2,649 for seventh on Ball State's all-time list.
● Ball State enters the week ranked first in league-only matches with a 2.40 blocks-per-set average ... Senior Kelly Hopkins leads the team and ranks second in MAC-only play with a 1.16 average.
● Since 1972, the Ball State women's volleyball program has competed in 33 of the 50 U.S. states, and has also played a tournament in Washington, D.C. ... This season, the Cardinals checked the states of Tennessee (Lipscomb Invitational - Sept. 4-5) and Washington (Cougar Challenge - Sept. 11-12) off its list of states remaining to visit.
SHONDELL QUOTABLES
● ON THIS WEEKEND'S MATCHES: “We have two challenging matches this weekend that we are really looking forward to. Ohio is on a tremendous run in MAC play, winning their last 30 regular season league matches. This will be a good measuring stick to see where we stack up against the top team in the conference. Kent State is having an outstanding MAC season and enters the week 4-2 in league play.”
● ON THE TEAM'S PROGRESSION: “We are getting a little better every week. When you have a young team, we are currently playing four freshmen in the rotation, you are going to get better as those players gain experience. Our goal is just to get better each week, qualify for the tournament, and come tournament time, put it all together and play our best volleyball of the year.”
