Volleyball Closes Regular Season with Pair of Home Matches This Weekend

MATCH 29 • Ball State hosts Western Michigan
Friday, Nov. 11  • 7 p.m. • Muncie, Ind.
  ESPN3 Live Video | Live Stats

MATCH 30 • Ball State hosts Northern Illinois - Senior Day
Saturday, Nov. 12  • 7 p.m. • Muncie, Ind.
  ESPN3 Live Video |  Live Stats

• The Ball State women's volleyball team closes the 2016 regular season this weekend with home matches versus Western Michigan (Friday) and Northern Illinois (Saturday) ... Both matches are scheduled to start at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app.

• The Cardinals (8-6 MAC) officially punched their ticket to the eight-team 2016 MAC Tournament hosted by Northern Illinois (Nov. 17-20) with a 3-2 victory at Central Michigan (Oct. 29) ... With two matches remaining the MAC season, Ball State enters the week as the projected sixth seed in the tournament ... The Cardinals are currently tied with Toledo (8-6 MAC) and Bowling Green (8-6 MAC) in a battle for the fourth seed, but lose the tiebreaker to both teams by virtue of its 1-2 record in head-to-head matches ... Toledo holds the advantage at 2-1, while Bowling Green is 1-1.

• Since starting the season 0-9, Ball State has been one of the hottest teams in the MAC, going 12-7 over its last 19 matches ... Only three league teams have a better record over that span; MAC East Division leader Miami which is 18-1, MAC West Division leader Northern Illinois which is 16-3 and Bowling Green which is 13-6.

• Ball State enters the week ranked second in the league with a 357-184 (.660) all-time MAC record ... Friday's opponent Western Michigan is the all-time leader in MAC wins at 369-172 (.682), while Saturday's foe Northern Illinois is third at 251-139 (.644) based on winning percentage.

• While the Cardinals snapped a three-match losing streak to the Broncos with a 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-21, 25-23) victory in the first meeting this season played Oct. 8 in Kalamazoo, WMU maintains a slim 45-43 advantage in the all-time series ... Ball State holds a 24-14 lead in matches played in Muncie, including an 18-7 edge in Worthen Arena ... In each of the last four seasons, the winner of the series-opener between the two teams has went on to win the second match.

• Ball State is 10-8 all-time in matches played on Nov. 11, including back-to-back wins ... The Cardinals last played on the date in 2010, scoring a 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-19) home court victory over Toledo ... Ball State and Western Michigan have played once on the date, with the Cardinals scoring a 3-1 (15-13, 15-4, 10-15, 15-13) victory in Kalamazoo in 1992.

• Thanks to a 3-0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-11) victory in the first meeting played Oct. 7 in DeKalb, Northern Illinois extended its lead in the all-time series to 33-30 with its second straight victory ... Ball State's last win in the series came Oct. 2, 2015 in Worthen Arena by a score of 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-21) ... Overall, the Cardinals hold an 18-6 advantage in matches played in Muncie, including a 14-5 edge in Worthen Arena.

• Ball State is 11-1 all-time in matches played on Nov. 12, including nine straight wins ... Ball State last played on the date in 2011, scoring a 3-1 (25-23, 17-25, 25-15, 25-16) home court win over Central Michigan ... Ball State and Northern Illinois will be meeting for the first time on the date Saturday.

• Ball State enters the week with a 247-77 (.762) all-time record in matches played in Worthen Arena, including a 5-6 mark this season ... In 2015, the Cardinals went 10-2 in home matches, including a 6-2 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... Ball State is 181-45 (.801) all-time versus MAC teams in Worthen Arena, with no MAC foe holding a winning record on the Cardinals' court.

• Ball State finished last Sunday's match versus Akron (Nov. 6) with a season-high .327 (45-9-110) attack percentage ... All eight players who scored a kill against the Zips finished with a positive attack percentage, with six Cardinals hitting .400-or-better ... It marked the second time this season the Cardinals offense has topped .300, with the team's pervious best being a .311 (54-17-119) rate of success at Buffalo (Oct. 1).

• With 462 digs this season, freshman libero Kate Avila enters the week ranked 14th on Ball State's single-season charts ... With 70 more digs, Avila would pass the total of 531 digs set by last year's senior libero Kati Vasalakis for 13th all-time ... Avila is just the eighth player in program history to record at least 450 digs in a single season.

• Kate Avila continues to be one of the top defenders in the MAC, ranking seventh in the conference with a 4.05 digs-per-set average this season ... Avila's 462 total digs rank fourth in the conference, while her 36 dig effort versus Appalachian State (Sept. 10) ranks as the fifth-best single match performance in the MAC this season ... Her 32 digs versus Valparaiso (Sept. 16) tie as the 11th-best single match performance and makes her one of only four MAC players to collect 30-or-more digs in multiple matches this season.

• Freshman middle Sydnee VanBeek was named the MAC West Division Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in her career after turning in impressive numbers at Toledo (Nov. 3) and versus Akron (Nov. 6) last week ... VanBeek averaged 2.25 kills per set and hit an astonishing .469 (18-3-32) over the two matches, while also collecting 0.88 blocks per set ... She smashed a career-high 10 kills in the win over the Zips, after producing a career-best .538 (8-1-13) attack percentage against the Rockets.

• With her 10 kills in Sunday's win over Akron (Nov. 6), Sydnee VanBeek became the seventh different Ball State player to record at least 10 kills in a match this season ... Sophomore Brooklyn Goodsel paves the way for the Cardinals offense with double-digit kills in 19 matches, while Sabrina Mangapora is second at 15 and Ellie Dunn is third at 11.

• Brooklyn Goodsel has been a key component to the Cardinals' offense in MAC play, ranking first on the team and fifth in the league with a 3.37 kills-per-set average in conference play ... Goodsel has smashed double figure kills in 11 of Ball State's 14 league matches and has also played a key role on defense, collecting six of her eight double-doubles this season against MAC foes.

• With her 22 kills versus Kent State (Oct. 14), Ellie Dunn became the third different Ball State player to score 20-or-more kills in a match this season … She joins redshirt junior outside hitter Sabrina Mangapora who has tallied 20-or-more kills in three matches and sophomore right side Brooklyn Goodsel who has accomplished the task twice … It's the first time since the 2009 season Ball State has had three different players log 20-or-more kills in a match in the same season.

• The Oct. 29 come-from-behind victory at Central Michigan was truly a team effort, as all 16 players dressed for the match saw action ... It was the first time this season all 16 dressed players saw action in a match ... Previously, Ball State had played 15 players in a match three times; at Omaha (Sept. 2), vs. Eastern Michigan (Sept. 24) and at Miami (Oct. 22).

• One of the biggest contributions in the win over Central Michigan (Oct. 29) came from redshirt senior outside hitter Mackenzie Kitchel who came off the bench to start the final three sets and scored nine kills and hit a team-best .500 (9-0-18).

• Redshirt junior outside hitter Sabrina Mangapora continues to be Ball State's active career kills leader at 612, just ahead of Mackenzie Kitchel's career total of 602 ... Mangapora has blasted double-digit kills in 10 of Ball State's 12 wins this season ... She currently leads the Ball State offense with 174 kills and a 3.48 kills-per-set average in the team's victories this season.

• Ball State turned in a dominating effort at the net Oct. 28 at Eastern Michigan, recording 13.0 team blocks in the come-from-behind win over the Eagles ... The effort tied as the Cardinals' second-best blocking performance of the season, with only the 15.0 total blocks at Morehead State (Sept. 9) passing the total ... It was also Ball State's best blocking performance in league play this season.

• Redshirt sophomore middle Avery Devoe played a big role in the Cardinals' win at Eastern Michigan, leading all players with six total blocks, while depositing 10 kills ... It marks just the second time Devoe has scored double-digit kills in her career, with the other coming in a career-high 11 kill outburst versus Ohio (Oct. 15) ... Devoe also led the Cardinals for the first time in her career with 14.0 total points at EMU.

• Ball State freshman setter Amber Seaman opened her collegiate career with three consecutive assist/dig double-doubles at the Fort Wayne Invitational ... Her best match came versus host Fort Wayne (Aug. 27), when she logged 45 assists and career-highs of 22 digs and four service aces ... The last time a Ball State setter opened the season with three consecutive double-doubles was the 2013 season when Jackie Seidel (2010-13) accomplished the task versus Gardner Webb (Aug. 24), VCU (Aug. 25) and Illinois State (Aug. 25) ... Seaman currently has 13 assist/dig double-doubles on the season.

• Amber Seaman's 22 digs at Fort Wayne (Aug. 27) are the most for a Ball State setter in a match in the rally scoring era (2001-present) ... The previous mark was 21 set by Jackie Seidel (2010-13) versus Toledo on Oct. 3, 2013 ... In addition, the 22 digs are the most for a Ball State setter since Emily Sallee (1997-2000) recorded 26 at Bowling Green on Sept. 22, 2000, which is tied as the program record for digs by a setter ... Wendy Carter (1993-96) also tallied 26 digs versus Bowling Green on Nov. 18, 1994.

• Ball State picked up its first ESPN3 victory of the season when it downed in-state rival Valparaiso 3-1 (25-23, 25-9, 21-25, 25-17) in its second match of the Ball State Active Ankle Challenge on Sept. 16 ... The 25-9 second set victory ties as the seventh-largest set victory for the Cardinals in the 25-point rally scoring era (2008-present) ... Ball State has won six sets by a score of 25-8 since 2008, with three coming in MAC play.

Volleyball Closes Regular Season with Pair of Home Matches This Weekend

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kate Avila

Avery Devoe

Ellie Dunn

Brooklyn Goodsel

Mackenzie Kitchel

Sabrina Mangapora

Amber Seaman

Sydnee VanBeek

Kati Vasalakis