Ball State University Athletics
WVB Hosts IPFW Wednesday, Travels To Purdue This Weekend
September 15, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
Match 11
Ball State hosts IPFW
Wednesday, Sept. 16 (7 p.m.)
Muncie, Ind. (Worthen Arena)
Live Stats | ESPN3 Broadcast | SL Digital
Match 12
Ball State vs. Notre Dame
Friday, Sept. 18 (Noon)
West Lafayette, Ind. (Belin Court)
Live Stats | Tournament Central
Match 13
Ball State at No. 22 Purdue
Friday, Sept. 18 (7:30 p.m.)
West Lafayette, Ind. (Belin Court)
Live Stats | Live Video (PPV) | Tournament Central
Match 14
Ball State vs. South Dakota
Saturday, Sept. 19 (5:30 p.m.)
West Lafayette, Ind. (Mackey Arena)
Live Stats | Tournament Central
►THE WEEK AHEAD: The Ball State women's volleyball team opens another busy week Wednesday, when it hosts in-state rival IPFW in a 7 p.m. match which will be broadcast live on ESPN3 ... The Cardinals then travel to West Lafayette for the Purdue Boiler Box Challenge, where it will play Notre Dame (Noon) and Purdue (7:30 p.m.) Friday and South Dakota (5:30 p.m.) Saturday.
►FAMILY AFFAIR PART 1: It will be a week of family reunions for Ball State head coach Steve Shondell, starting Wednesday when IPFW visits Worthen Arena ... Shondell's niece, Jasmine Fullove, is in her second season as a full-time assistant coach for the Mastodons, after previously serving as a graduate assistant for the program from 2009-11.
►FAMILY AFFAIR PART 2: In Friday's nightcap of the Boiler Box Challenge at No. 22 Purdue, Ball State head coach Steve Shondell will go head-to-head versus his brothers Dave Shondell (head coach) and John Shondell (assistant coach) ... All three brothers were letterwinners for their dad, Don Shondell, on the Ball State men's volleyball team; Steve (1974-77), Dave (1978 & 1980), John (1989, 1991-93).
►33 & COUNTING: 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) its list of states remaining to visit.
►SERIES VS. IPFW: Ball State holds a 12-4 lead in the all-time series versus IPFW, including two straight wins ... The Cardinals are 7-1 all-time in matches played in Muncie, with the Mastodon's lone win on Ball State's home court coming in the first-ever meeting Nov. 11, 1987 by a score of 3-2 (16-14, 15-11, 5-15, 12-15, 15-13)
►SERIES VS. NOTRE DAME: Notre Dame holds a slim 3-2 edge in the all-time series which has not seen a match since a 3-2 (10-15, 15-10, 6-15, 15-9, 15-12) Ball State victory Oct. 1, 1996 in South Bend ... Friday's contest will mark the third neutral site meeting in the series, with each team owning a neutral court victory.
►SERIES VS. PURDUE: Purdue holds a 24-9 lead in the all-time series, including 16 consecutive wins ... Friday's match will mark the second meeting with Steve Shondell as head coach, with the Boilermakers pulling out a 3-1 (23-25, 25-17, 25-17, 25-9) victory in the first Sept. 10, 2011 ... Ball State is 1-7 all-time in matches played in West Lafayette, with its lone victory on Purdue's court coming Nov. 5, 1975 ... The Cardinals' last win in the series came Nov. 11, 1977 in Huntington, Ind.
►SERIES VS. SOUTH DAKOTA: Saturday's match will be the first meeting between Ball State and South Dakota in women's volleyball.
►BALL STATE WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL ON ESPN3: Four of Ball State's nine remaining home matches are scheduled to appear on ESPN3: IPFW (Sept. 16), Northern Illinois (Oct. 2), Miami (Oct. 23) and Toledo (Oct. 29) ... Joel Godett (play-by-play) and four-year letterwinner (2007-10) and one-year student assistant coach (2011) Alyssa Rio (analyst) were treated to quite the match in the 2015 EPSN3 debut, as the Cardinals rallied from two sets down to top New Mexico (Aug. 29) ... 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.
►CARDINALS ALL-TIME: The Ball State women's volleyball team enters Wednesday's match versus IPFW with an 848-545-2 (.609) all-time record ... The Cardinals boast a 109-56 (.661) mark under sixth-year head coach Steve Shondell, including a 56-24 (.700) ledger in MAC play.
►FROM THE NEST: With three wins at “The Nest” opening weekend, Ball State improved to 235-69 (.773) all-time in Worthen Arena ... The Cardinals went 6-2 at home in MAC action in 2014, improving to 172-40 (.811) versus MAC teams in Worthen Arena.
►ON THE ROAD: Ball State enters the week with a 254-225-1 (.530) all-time record in road matches, while owning a 228-168-1 (.576) mark in neutral site contests ... Under Steve Shondell, the Cardinals are 34-28 (.548) on the road and 26-15 (.634) in neutral matches.
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.
● Freshman Ellie Dunn was named to the Cougar Challenge All-Tournament after leading the Cardinals with a career-high 11 kills versus Washington State, and tying the mark in the win over Morehead State.
● Ball State enters the week ranked second in the MAC with a 12.59 kills-per-set average ... 11 different Cardinals have scored 10-or-more kills this season, with six scoring at least 40 ... Akron is second in the MAC with nine players producing at least 10 kills, while five other teams have eight.
● With 159 digs so far this season, senior libero Kati Vasalakis enters Wednesday's match with 878 career digs ... She needs seven more digs to break into the top 20 on Ball State's career charts.
● Senior setter Jenna Spadafora dished out 40 assists in the win over Morehead State to bring her career total to 2,036 which makes her the 10th player in program history to eclipse the 2,000 career assists mark.
SHONDELL QUOTABLES
● IPFW Rivalry: “What makes the IPFW rivalry so special is it's a men's and women's rivalry. Both universities are known for being volleyball schools and we have been playing each other for years. What also makes it special is that it's a friendly rivalry. I am good friends with both staffs, and I really want them to win every match they play, except of course when they play Ball State.”
● Family Connection: “It's really a proud feeling to know you have relatives coaching at the collegiate level, particularly in Division I.”
● Playing At Purdue: “Being able to play at Purdue again is really special. To be a featured match in front of what will be a sold-out crowd is going to be fun. Purdue is a top 25 team, and this is a great opportunity for us to represent Ball State in a positive way and hopefully play great volleyball.”
● Positives From Cougar Challenge “Ellie Dunn making the all-tournament team as a freshman was definitely a bright spot. She had two outstanding matches. McCallen Kennedy coming in and giving us a big spark off the bench with her serving was another big positive. To see Mackenzie Kitchel play like she is capable of playing her first weekend back was definitely a positive.”
