Ball State University
UNCG
Volleyball Hosts Active Ankle Challenge Friday & Saturday
September 15, 2016 | Women's Volleyball
Friday, Sept. 16 • 10 a.m. • Muncie, Ind.
Live Stats
MATCH 13 • Ball State hosts Valparaiso
Friday, Sept. 16 • 10 a.m. • Muncie, Ind.
Live Stats | ESPN3 Live Video | SL Radio on WCRD 91.3 FM
MATCH 14 • Ball State hosts No. 19 Ohio State
Saturday, Sept. 17 • 6 p.m. • Muncie, Ind.
Live Stats
• The Ball State women's volleyball team closes the non-conference portion of its 2016 schedule this weekend when it hosts the Ball State Active Ankle Challenge ... The Cardinals open the tournament Friday versus UNCG (10 a.m.) and Valparaiso (8 p.m. on ESPN3) ... Ball State concludes the two-day event Saturday with a scheduled 6 p.m. first serve versus 19th-ranked Ohio State.
• The Cardinals are 19-17 versus teams in this weekend's Active Ankle Challenge ... Ball State will be playing UNCG for the first time in women's volleyball ... The Cardinals hold a 12-1 lead in the all-time series versus Valparaiso, including a 3-0 (25-16, 25-23, 25-19) victory in the last meeting, Sept. 2, 2011 at Valparaiso ... Ohio State holds a 16-7 lead in the all-time series, however the Buckeyes' win in the 2000 NCAA tournament was later vacated ... Including the vacated match for NCAA rules violations in 2000, Ohio State has won 13 straight matches in the series, including a 3-0 (30-12, 30-28, 30-23) victory in the last meeting, Aug. 25, 2007 in Muncie, Ind.
• There will be plenty of familiar faces in Worthen Arena this weekend, starting with Friday's opening match versus UNCG ... The Spartans are led by Corey Carlin who was an assistant coach for the Cardinals under Steve Shondellfrom 2010-2013 ... He helped lead Ball State to the 2010 MAC regular season championship, an at-large berth into the 2011 NCAA Tournament and the 2013 MAC West Division crown ... UNCG assistant coach CJ Allard was also a manager for the Cardinals from 2011-2014.
• Friday's night match will feature the return of Ball State women's volleyball alumna Carin (Zielinski) Avery who was a three-year letterwinner for the Cardinals from 1992-94 ... Valparaiso's head coach for the past 15 seasons, Avery was a 1994 First Team All-MAC selection and the 1994 MAC Tournament Most Valuable Player ... Over her playing career, Avery helped guide the Cardinals to two MAC regular season titles, three MAC tournament championships and three NCAA tournament appearances ... She also helped the program earn its first-ever NCAA tournament win; a 3-2 (15-12, 8-15, 15-7, 8-15, 16-14) victory over Illinois on Nov. 30, 1994 ... Her name still appears in Ball State's record book 17 times, with her 401 kills in 1994 ranking 16th on Ball State's single-season charts and her 803 career kills ranking 20th in program history.
• Ohio State head coach Geoff Carlston is no stranger to Worthen Arena either, as he was the head coach at MAC rival Ohio from 2003-07 ... He helped the Bobcats reach the NCAA Tournament every season and win five straight MAC crowns ... Ohio owned a 144-22 overall record during Carlston's time in Athens ... He led the Bobcats to a 78-2 MAC record and went 14-1 in the conference tournament with four tourney titles.
• Ball State is 9-9 all-time in matches played on Sept. 16, including a hard-fought 3-2 (25-20,27-25,11-25,25-27,15-9) win over Fort Wayne last season ... Friday will mark the fourth time Ball State has played a pair of matches on the date, with the Cardinals sweeping the first two in 1977 and 1978, while losing both in 2006
• Ball State holds an 11-6 record in matches played on Sept. 17, including another hard-fought 3-2 (36-34,21-25,25-22,26-28,15-12) victory over the Mastodons, this time in Fort Wayne ... Overall, Ball State has won its last four matches played on the date, with two coming in 2011 and one each in 2013 and 2014.
• The Ball State women's volleyball program will be looking to pick up its fourth all-time win over a ranked team Saturday when No. 19 Ohio State visits Worthen Arena ... The Cardinals are 3-54 all-time versus ranked opponents, with its last win over a top 25 foe coming at Louisville Nov. 29, 2003 by a score of 3-2 (23-30, 29-31, 30-21, 30-26, 18-16) ... Three of the ranked losses have come versus Ohio State, however, one was the vacated match in the 2000 NCAA Tournament.
• Freshman libero Kate Avila was named to the Eagle Challenge All-Tournament Team after finishing the event with a 4.54 digs-per-set average and a .954 reception percentage … Her best performance came in Saturday's win over Appalachian State (Sept. 10), when she led all players with a career-high 36 digs which ties as the 19th-best single match total in program history ... It was the best individual effort in a match for a Ball State player since Oct. 29, 2010 when then-senior Alyssa Rio collected a career-high 44 digs versus Western Michigan … Avila also handed out a career-high eight assists and served up a career-best three service aces in the win over the Mountaineers.
• With her solid performance at last weekend's Eagle Challenge, Kate Avila has climbed to eighth in the MAC statistical rankings with a team-best 3.76 digs-per-set average ... Her 36 dig effort versus Appalachian State (Sept. 10) ranks as the fourth-best single match performance in the MAC this season ... Avila currently leads the team with 169 digs entering the weekend and has recorded double-digit digs in nine of the 10 matches she has served as the team's libero.
• Kate Avila enters the week ranked second in the MAC among league passers who have received at least 200 serves with a .9710 (202 for 208) reception percentage ... Kent State's Challen Geraghty is the only passer with a better percentage at .9714 (272 for 280).
• Ball State's defense came up huge in last Saturday's win over Appalachian State (Sept. 10), finishing the night with 110 digs which ties as the 13th-best single match performance in program history ... It was also the most digs in a match for Ball State since the team collected 123 versus Toledo on Sept. 28, 2006 ... In addition, the Cardinals held a +28 advantage in team digs with Appalachian State earning just 82 ... It was the biggest digs advantage for the Cardinals in a match in the rally scoring era (2001-present), with the previous best being 26 twice versus Eastern Michigan in 2008.
• Saturday's match versus Appalachian State (Sept. 10) was not the only one in which the Ball State defense shined last weekend ... The Cardinals tallied a season-high 15.0 total blocks in Friday's win over tournament host Morehead State (Sept. 9) ... Redshirt sophomore middle hitter Avery Devoe led the Cardinals' front line with a career-high eight block assists, while freshman setter Amber Seaman was second with a career-high six total blocks (two solo and four assists) ... It was the best blocking effort for the Cardinals this season and the most blocks Ball State has earned in a match since a 19.0 effort at Toledo on Sept. 24, 2015.
• On the offensive front, redshirt junior outside hitter Sabrina Mangapora was named to the Eagle Challenge All-Tournament team after finishing the two-day event with a team-leading 3.31 kills-per-set average ... Her best match came versus Appalachian State (Sept. 10), when she blasted a career-high 22 kills ... She saved her best play for the tournament's final set, as she tallied five kills and was credited with a solo block to turn a 5-5 tie into an 11-6 Ball State advantage ... Mangapora finished the set with six kills and closed the tournament with 43.
• Sabrina Mangapora became the first Ball State attacker to blast 20-or-more kills in a match this season when she connected for 20 kills at Omaha (Sept. 2) ... Her career-high 22 kills versus Appalachian State (Sept. 10) rank as the third-best single match total in the MAC this season, trailing only the 23 recorded by both Valisha Watkins (Buffalo) and Mary Grace Kelly (NIU) ... In addition, Mangapora is the only MAC player to have multiple 20-or-more kill matches this season.
• 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 career-highs of 45 assists, 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 seven 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 ... The previous mark was 21 set by Jackie Seidel (2010-13) versus Toledo (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 enters the Active Ankle Challenge with a 242-73 (.771) all-time record in matches played in Worthen Arena, including an 0-2 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 178-42 (.809) all-time versus MAC teams in Worthen Arena, with no MAC foe holding a winning record on the Cardinals' court.
