Ball State University Athletics
Women's Volleyball Wraps Up Regular Season This Weekend
November 12, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
Ball State (13-15 / 7-7 MAC) hosts Eastern Michigan (12-15 / 4-10 MAC)
Friday, Nov. 13 (7 p.m.)
ESPN3 Broadcast | Live Stats
Ball State (13-15 / 7-7 MAC) hosts Central Michigan (11-16 / 6-8 MAC)
Saturday, Nov. 14 (7 p.m.)
Muncie, Ind. (Worthen Arena)
ESPN3 Broadcast | Live Stats
►THE WEEK AHEAD: The Ball State women's volleyball team closes the 2015 regular season this weekend, when it welcomes Eastern Michigan (Friday) and Central Michigan (Saturday) to Worthen Arena ... Both matches start at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
►BACK ON ESPN3: Ball State women's volleyball returns to ESPN3 with Ball State Sports Link producing both of this weekend's matches for the platform ... Cory Stace (play-by-play) and Noah Reed (analyst), the SL Digital Radio talent for the program, will move over to call the action for both broadcasts ... Ball State is 5-1 in ESPN3 matches this season, with all five wins coming at home ... In home broadcasts, the Cardinals scored 3-2 wins over New Mexico (Aug. 29) and IPFW (Sept. 16), while sweeping Northern Illinois (Oct. 2), Miami (Oct. 23) and Toledo (Oct. 29) ... The Cardinals' lone ESPN3 loss came by a score of 3-1 at Central Michigan (Oct. 9) ... 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 ... The broadcasts are available for free to viewers with a subscription to a participating TV or Internet service provider.
►WITH TWO TO GO: With two matches remaining in the regular season, the Cardinals enter the week with a 7-7 MAC record and have locked up a berth in the 2015 MAC Tournament which will be hosted by Ohio (Nov. 19-22) ... Ball State will be either the 6th, 7th or 8th seed in the tournament depending on this weekend's results ... The top five seeds are currently Northern Illinois (12-2), Ohio (11-3), Kent State (11-3), Miami (10-4) and Western Michigan (10-4) ... Ball State is currently the sixth seed, while Buffalo (6-8) and Central Michigan (6-8) are the final two teams currently in the tournament ... Eastern Michigan (4-10) is the only team with a chance to play its way into the tournament, but would need to win both of its matches this weekend and have CMU lose both of its matches ... Bowling Green (3-11), Akron (2-12) and Toledo (2-12) have been eliminated from tournament contention.
►HOME SWEET HOME: Ball State enters Friday's match versus Eastern Michigan with a 9-1 record in home matches this season, including a 5-1 mark in league play ... The Cardinals ended a late October home stand with a 4-0 record, with all four wins coming via the sweep ... In contrast, EMU is 3-8 in true road matches this season, while Central Michigan is 2-7.
►MORE NEWS FROM THE HOME FRONT: Ball State is out-hitting opponents by a .238 to .156 margin in home matches, including its two best attack percentages of the year in sweeps of Northern Illinois (Oct. 2) and Bowling Green (Oct. 24), with marks of .370 and .360, respectively ... Ball State also holds a 14.05 to 10.82 advantage in kills per set on its home court ... On defense, the Cardinals are out-digging opponents 15.61 to 13.47, and hold a 2.25 to 1.76 edge in blocks per set in Worthen Arena.
►FROM THE NEST: With a 9-1 record in home matches so far this season, Ball State enters the week with a 241-70 (.775) all-time record in Worthen Arena ... The Cardinals are 5-1 in league play at home this season, improving to 177-41 (.812) all-time versus MAC teams in Worthen Arena.
►20/20 DIGGING: In last Friday's loss at Western Michigan, senior libero Kati Vasalakis logged 28 digs, while senior outside attacker Alex Fuelling collected a career-high 25 digs to give the Cardinals a pair of players with 20-plus digs in the same match for the first time since the 2013 season ... Catie Fredrich (25) and Kylee Baker (22) were the last Ball State players to accomplish the feat, in a 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-16) home victory over Eastern Michigan Nov. 11, 2013.
►MORE DIGGING NUMBERS FROM WMU: Ball State finished last Friday's match at Western Michigan with 90 team digs, its second-highest total of the season, trailing only the 94 in a five-set win over IPFW (Sept. 16) ... Four players finished the match with double-digit digs, including freshman defensive specialist Lauren Schreiner who earned a career-best 15 digs on the night.
►REWRITING THE RECORD BOOKS: Amanda Raker, who started her collegiate career as a women's basketball player at Butler (2011-12 & 2012-13), turned in the most impressive performance of her three-year volleyball career in the Oct. 29 win over Toledo, smashing nine kills on nine attempts for a perfect 1.000 attack percentage … With the effort, Raker became the first Ball State player in the rally scoring era (2001-present) to boast a perfect attack percentage in a match with a minimum of seven attempts ... In fact, Raker is the only non-setter to boast a perfect attack percentage for the Cardinals in the rally scoring era with a minimum of five attempts … Prior to Raker, setter Brittany McGinnis (2008-11) was the last Ball State player to log a perfect attack percentage with at least five attempts, going 5-0-5 at Purdue (Aug. 28, 2009) ... Setter Stacie Baldwin (2001-04) is the only other Ball State player to earn a perfect attack percentage in a match with at least five attempts, going 6-0-6 versus Western Michigan (Nov. 16, 2002).
►MORE ON RAKER'S BIG WEEKEND: Amanda Raker followed her record-setting effort versus Toledo with another outstanding performance in the Oct. 31 win over Buffalo, recording a .727 attack percentage with nine kills on 11 attempts with one attack error ... She started the match with kills on her first five swings, giving her kills on 14 consecutive attempts before being dug midway thought the second set ... However, the ball found its way back onto the Cardinals' side of the court and Raker was able to finish the rally with her sixth kill of the match ... Overall, Raker's .850 (18-1-20) attack percentage for the two matches is the best for a Ball State player collecting at least five attempts in back-to-back matches in the rally scoring era.
►RAKER VERSUS WMU: Amanda Raker added another strong performance at Western Michigan last Friday, smashing a career-best 13 kills and hitting .355 (13-2-31) ... She also collected five block assists to finish the contest with a career-high 15.5 points ... Over the last two weeks, Raker leads the Ball State offense with a .483 (34-6-58) attack percentage, while her 34 kills are second on the squad, trailing only Alex Fuelling's total of 38.
►RAKING IN THE HONORS: For her performance in guiding the Cardinals to sweeps of Toledo (Oct. 29) and Buffalo (Oct. 31), Amanda Raker was named both the MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week and the MAC West Division Offensive Player of the Week … Raker is the first Ball State women's volleyball player to be named the MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week since the 2005 season, when then-senior Sarah Obras (2002-05) claimed the honor twice (for the weeks of Oct. 17-23 and Nov. 7-13).
►BIG WEEKEND FOR KITCHEL: Mackenzie Kitchel was named the MAC West Division Offensive Player of the Week after averaging 4.00 kills and hitting .413 (24-5-46) in Ball State's wins over Miami (Oct. 23) and Bowling Green (Oct. 24) ... A first-time career MAC Player of the Week honoree, Kitchel dominated opposing defenses by smashing a match-high 12 kills against both the RedHawks and the Falcons ... She also finished the match versus BGSU with a career-high .588 (12-2-17) attack percentage ... Kitchel's .413 attack percentage for the weekend was the best two-match average of her entire career, while she collected back-to-back double-digit kill totals for just the fourth time in a Cardinals uniform.
►ACE OF SPADES OR JACK OF ALL TRADES?: In addition to being one of the league's top setters, ranking fifth in the MAC in league-only matches with a 9.40 assists-per-set average, Jenna Spadafora enters the week ranked eighth among MAC players in league action with a .319 attack percentage ... On the year, Spadafora has accumulated 144 kills which is the third-highest kill total for a six rotation setter (who has played exclusively at the setter position) in the country based on players listed as setters in the current NCAA statistical rankings ... Only Sarah Bell of Southern Miss and Aubrey Marsellis of Austin Peay have more at 147 and 146, respectively.
►TRIPLING UP: In the Oct. 3 match versus Western Michigan, 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) ... She also fell one kill shy of a triple double in the Oct. 17 match at Kent State, registering nine kills, 13 digs and 44 assists … 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.
►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 … The effort ranks as the fifth-best total in a match in the Steve Shondell era, and is the team's best attack percentage since earning a .376 (43-9-93) rate of success against Illinois-Chicago (Sept. 14, 2013) … Ball State's .360 (44-13-86) effort versus Bowling Green (Oct. 24) is the ninth-best mark under Shondell.
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)
6. .367 (54-10-120)...................................... at Miami (Oct. 22, 2010)
7. .3659 (42-12-82).................. vs. Western Carolina (Sept. 9, 2011)
8. .3656 (45-11-93)..................... vs. Northern Illinois (Oct. 30, 2010)
9. .360 (44-13-86)........................ vs. Bowling Green (Oct. 24, 2015)
►SERIES VS. EASTERN MICHIGAN: While Eastern Michigan scored a 3-1 (26-28, 25-19, 26-24, 25-17) victory in the first meeting this season, played Oct. 10 in Ypsilanti, Mich., the Cardinals maintain a 50-25 lead in the all-time series ... The Eagles have won the last two matches in the all-time series, but Ball State won the previous four including the last two played in Worthen Arena ... Friday's match will be the first-ever meeting between the two clubs on Nov. 13 ... The Cardinals hold a 28-9 lead in matches played in Muncie, including a 22-4 advantage in Worthen Arena ... EMU's last win on Ball State's home court came Oct. 6, 2012 ... Head coach Steve Shondell is 7-5 all-time versus Eastern Michigan, including a 6-5 mark in regular season play.
►SERIES VS. CENTRAL MICHIGAN: While Central Michigan earned a 3-1 (25-13, 25-21, 23-25, 25-11) win in the first meeting this season, played Oct. 9 in Mount Pleasant, Mich., the Cardinals maintain a 42-31 lead in the all-time series ... Prior to the first meeting, Ball State had won the previous four matches in the all-time series ... Saturday's contest will be the third meeting between the two teams on Nov. 14, with Ball State earning a 2-0 (15-8, 17-15) win in 1981 and Central Michigan scoring a 3-1 (30-17, 30-25, 24-30, 30-22) victory in 2003 ... Ball State holds a 21-12 lead in matches played in Muncie, including a 17-4 advantage in Worthen Arena ... CMU's last win on Ball State's home court came Oct. 5, 2012 ... Head coach Steve Shondell is 6-5 all-time versus Central Michigan.
QUICK HITS
● The Ball State women's volleyball team enters Friday's match with an 856-555-2 (.607) all-time record ... The Cardinals boast a 117-66 (.639) mark under sixth-year head coach Steve Shondell, including a 63-31 (.670) ledger in MAC play.
● Ball State enters Friday's match with a 348-177 (.663) all-time record in MAC matches ... Western Michigan is first on the list with a 364-161 (.693) all-time league mark, while Central Michigan is seventh at 266-259 (.507) and Eastern Michigan is eighth at 234-291 (.446).
● Senior outside attacker Alex Fuelling put together one of the most impressive single-set performances of the season last Friday at Western Michigan, blasting nine kills and hitting .643 (9-0-14) in the Cardinals' 25-21 fourth-set victory ... The nine kills are the most in a set for a Ball State player this season, topping the previous best of seven which was done three times by Fuelling and once by both redshirt freshman middle Meg Starling and sophomore outside attacker Bailey Baumer.
● Bailey Baumer served up a career-high four aces at Western Michigan last Friday ... The total is Ball State's best individual effort in a match this season, and the best since Alex Fuelling blasted six aces in a Nov. 15, 2014 match at Akron.
● Senior setter Jenna Spadafora enters Friday's match ranked sixth in program history with 2,721 career assists ... She needs 815 more assists to pass Angie Parrell's (2004-07) career total of 3,535 for fifth on Ball State's all-time list.
● With her 34 digs last weekend, Kati Vasalakis continues to rank ninth on Ball State's all-time career digs list at 1,187 … Vasalakis needs 18 more digs to pass Megan Hammons (1998-2001) career total of 1,204 for eighth on Ball State's career chart.
● Ball State head coach Steve Shondell is in his fourth season as a voting member of the AVCA Division I Coaches Top-25 Poll.
