Ball State University Athletics
WVB Opens MAC Tournament Play Thursday vs. Buffalo
November 18, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
Match 31
No. 6 Ball State (14-16 / 8-8 MAC) vs. No. 7 Buffalo (7-21 / 6-10 MAC)
Thursday, Nov. 19 (7:30 p.m.)
Athens, Ohio (Convocation Center)
Live Video | Live Stats
►THE WEEK AHEAD: The Ball State women's volleyball team opens the 2015 Mid-American Conference Tournament as the No. 6 seed and will play No. 7 Buffalo in Thursday's 7:30 p.m. first round match at the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio ... The winner advances to Friday's 7:30 p.m. quarterfinal match to play No. 3 seed Kent State.
►MORE ABOUT THE TOURNAMENT: For the second consecutive season, the 2015 MAC Tournament will feature the league's top eight teams battling it out at the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio, for an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament ... The top two seeds, No. 1 Northern Illinois (14-2 MAC) and No. 2 Ohio (13-3 MAC), earned double byes to advance directly to the semifinals ... In the first quarterfinal Friday, No. 4 Miami (12-4 MAC) will play the winner of No. 5 Western Michigan (10-6 MAC) and No. 8 Eastern Michigan (6-10), who open the tournament at 5:30 p.m. Thursday ... In the second quarterfinal Friday, No. 3 Kent State (13-3 MAC) will face the winner of No. 6 Ball State (8-8 MAC) and No. 7 Buffalo (6-10 MAC), who square off in first round action at 7:30 p.m. Thursday ... By virtue of locking up the 2015 MAC regular season title, NIU will host the 2016 MAC Tournament in DeKalb, Ill.
►BALL STATE IN THE TOURNAMENT: Ball State will be making its 25th consecutive appearance in the Mid-American Conference Tournament this season, and its 27th overall trip to the league's premier event ... Ball State is 29-20 (.592) all-time in MAC Tournament matches, with both its 29 wins and 49 matches played being league records ... Overall, Ball State is 4-1 in first round matches, 10-7 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 is second on the list with 24 after its run to last season's championship match ... 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 257-166 record versus the 2015 MAC Tournament field, including a 3-7 record in matches this season ... In tournament action, the Cardinals are 16-16 versus this season's field, including a 3-3 record in championship matches.
►VERSUS BUFFALO: Ball State is 19-1 all-time versus Buffalo, including a 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-19) victory in a Halloween showdown in Worthen Arena earlier this season (Oct. 31) ... The Cardinals have won the last five meetings in the all-time series and own a 1-0 edge in MAC Tournament play, winning the only previous tournament meeting by a score of 3-2 (26-30, 30-27, 30-28, 25-30, 15-7) in a Nov. 14, 2006 showdown inside Worthen Arena ... Thursday's match will mark the first-ever neutral site meeting between the two clubs, as well as the first match played on Nov. 19 in the all-time series ... Ball State head coach Steve Shondell is 5-1 all-time versus Buffalo ... The box score and recap from the Oct. 31 meeting this season can be found on page 18 of this release.
►VERSUS KENT STATE: Ball State holds a 39-12 lead in the all-time series versus Kent State, despite a 3-2 (13-25, 25-13, 22-25, 27-25, 15-9) setback to the Golden Flashes in an Oct. 17 showdown at KSU's M.A.C. Center ... Prior to the loss, the Cardinals had won the previous five meetings in the series ... Ball State is 1-1 versus the Golden Flashes in MAC Tournament play, with a 3-1 (17-15, 15-8, 15-17, 15-5) victory in the latest tournament match up Nov. 24, 2000 ... The Cardinals hold a 4-1 edge in neutral court matches, while the potential match would be the second in the series played on Nov. 20, with the only other coming in 1999 with KSU earning a 3-2 (7-15, 15-12, 15-9, 14-16, 15-13) victory ... Ball State head coach Steve Shondell is 5-1 all-time versus Kent State ... The box score and recap from the Oct. 17 meeting this season can be found on page 19 of this release.
►VERSUS OHIO: Ball State maintains a 34-17 lead in the all-time series versus Ohio, despite a 3-2 (25-19, 23-25, 25-22, 21-25, 18-16) setback to the Bobcats in an Oct. 16 contest at OU's Convocation Center ... Ball State had three match points in the fifth set of the contest, but were unable to push through in the end ... Ohio has won two straight in the all-time series and maintains a 5-0 record versus the Cardinals in MAC Tournament play ... The last time the teams battled in the league tournament, Ohio scored a 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-15) victory Nov. 16, 2012 at the Spire Institute in Geneva, Ohio ... Ball State does hold a 17-6 advantage in matches played in Athens, including wins in two of the last three matches played on the Bobcats' home court ... Were the teams to meet up in the semifinals, it would be the second all-time meeting on Nov. 21, with Ohio scoring a 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-18) victory in the first in the 2008 MAC Tournament quarterfinals ... Ball State head coach Steve Shondell is 3-4 all-time versus Ohio, including a 0-1 mark in MAC Tournament play ... The box score and recap from the Oct. 16 meeting this season can be found on page 20 of this release.
►HOME SWEET HOME: Ball State finished the 2015 regular season with a 10-2 record in home matches this season, raising its all-time record in Worthen Arena to 242-71 (.773) ... The Cardinals were 6-2 in league play at home this season to move to 178-42 (.809) all-time versus MAC teams in Worthen Arena.
►20/20 PART 1: Senior outside attacker Alex Fuelling made the most of her final match on the Worthen Arena hardwood floor in last Saturday's win over Central Michigan (Nov. 14), recording her 10th double-double of the season with a match-high 20 kills and 21 digs ... With the 20/20 effort, Fuelling became the first player to record 20-or-more kills and 20-or-more digs in the same match for Ball State since Sarah Obras (2002-05) tallied 21 kills and 20 digs in a 3-2 victory over Houston Sept. 18, 2004.
►20/20 PART 2: In the Nov. 6 loss at Western Michigan, senior libero Kati Vasalakis logged 28 digs, while 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 ... The pair did it again last Saturday (Nov. 14) versus Central Michigan, with Vasalakis earning 28 digs and Fuelling collecting 21 ... Prior to the last two weeks, 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.
►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 finished 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.
►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 9.31 assists-per-set average, Jenna Spadafora enters the week ranked fourth among MAC players in league action with a .336 attack percentage ... On the year, Spadafora has accumulated 160 kills which is the 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 ... Aubrey Marsellis of Austin Peay is second at 152, while, Sarah Bell of Southern Miss is third at 151.
►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 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).
QUICK HITS
● The Ball State women's volleyball team enters Thursday's match with an 857-556-2 (.606) all-time record ... The Cardinals boast a 118-67 (.638) mark under sixth-year head coach Steve Shondell, including a 64-32 (.667) ledger in MAC play.
● Ball State closed the 2015 MAC season ranked second in the league with a 349-178 (.662) all-time record in MAC matches ... Western Michigan is first with a 364-163 (.691) all-time league mark.
● Senior outside attacker Alex Fuelling put together one of the most impressive single-set performances of the season at Western Michigan (Nov. 6), 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 has been done five times by Fuelling, including once in each match last weekend, and one time each by redshirt freshman middle Meg Starling and sophomore outside attacker Bailey Baumer.
● Bailey Baumer served up a career-high four aces at Western Michigan (Nov. 6) ... 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 Thursday's match ranked sixth in program history with 2,800 career assists ... She needs 736 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 38 digs last weekend, Kati Vasalakis climbed one spot to eighth on Ball State's all-time career digs list at 1,225 … Vasalakis needs 26 more digs to pass Jennifer Schilling's (1995-1998) career total of 1,250 for seventh 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.
