Volleyball Closes Home Stand Thursday vs. Toledo on ESPN3

Thursday, September 29

Muncie, Ind.

7:00 PM

Ball State University

Toledo

Volleyball Closes Home Stand Thursday vs. Toledo on ESPN3

September 29, 2016 | Women's Volleyball

WVB Match Notes - Toledo / Buffalo

• The Ball State women's volleyball team closes a six-match home stand Thursday when it hosts Mid-American Conference West Division rival Toledo in a 7 p.m. match broadcast live on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN App ... The Cardinals then travel to Buffalo for a 6 p.m. cross-divisional showdown Saturday.

• Ball State is 3-2 in matches broadcast on ESPN3 this season including three straight wins ... Thursday's match versus Toledo will be produced by Ball State University Media Services and feature Joel Godett covering the play-by-play action and women's volleyball alumna (2007-10) and former student assistant coach (2011) Alyssa Rio serving as analyst ... The 2010 CVU.com Libero of the Year, Rio finished her career ranked second in program history with 2,089 career digs and first with 20-or-more digs in 49 career matches.

• Last weekend's ESPN3 matches were produced by Ball State Sports Link and Digital Sports Production ... Cory Stace and Noah Reed covered the action, while Kaitlyn Young produced both broadcasts ... In 2013, Ball State University became the first school in the nation to offer a degree in Digital Sports Production through the Department of Telecommunications ... Digital Sports Production is an interactive learning experience combined with an immersive learning project, Ball State Sports Link.

• Ball State enters Thursday's match with a 246-74 (.769) all-time record in matches played in Worthen Arena, including a 4-3 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 180-42 (.811) all-time versus MAC teams in Worthen Arena, with no MAC foe holding a winning record on the Cardinals' court.

• Ball State enters the week ranked second in the league with a 351-178 (.664) all-time MAC record ... Western Michigan is first with a 364-165 (.688) all-time league mark ... Toledo is 11th at 157-372 (.297), while Buffalo is 12th at 55-245 (.183).

• Ball State maintains a 63-7 advantage in the all-time series versus Toledo, including four straight wins ... Last season, the Cardinals pulled out a hard-fought 3-2 (13-25, 18-25, 26-24, 25-11, 15-10) come-from-behind victory at Toledo (Sept. 24) before scoring a 3-0 (26-24, 25-13, 25-14) victory over the Rockets in Worthen Arena (Oct. 29) ... Ball State strung together a 42-match winning streak over the Rockets from Nov. 13, 1987 - Oct. 2, 2008 ... Overall, 13 of the last 29 matches have gone five sets, with Ball State holding an 11-2 edge ... The Cardinals hold a 30-3 advantage in matches played in Muncie, including a 22-2 record in Worthen Arena.

• Ball State is 20-1 all-time versus Buffalo, including a 3-1 (25-19, 22-25, 25-14, 25-13) victory on Nov. 19, 2015 in the first round of the MAC Tournament ... The Cardinals also scored a 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-19) victory over the Bulls on Oct. 31 in the only regular season meeting last season ... Overall, Ball State has won the last six matches between the two teams and owns a 7-1 all-time record in Buffalo's Alumni Arena ... The Bulls' lone win the series was a 3-2 (28-26, 20-25, 25-19, 19-25, 15-13) victory on its home court Oct. 9, 2010 ... Of Ball State's 20 wins, 13 have been sweeps, five have come in four sets and two have went the distance.

• Ball State is 6-7 all-time in matches played on Sept. 29, with its most recent being a 3-1 (25-11,25-21,20-25,25-19) loss at Western Michigan in 2012 ... Ball State and Toledo have met one previous time on this date, with the Cardinals scoring a 3-1 (30-27, 25-30, 30-28, 30-27) home victory in 2005.

• Ball State is 13-3 all-time in matches played on Oct. 1, including a seven-match winning streak on the date ... Included in the streak is a 3-1 (30-27, 25-30, 30-28, 30-27) home win over Buffalo in 2005 ... The Cardinals have not lost on Oct. 1 since a near upset of 14th-ranked Notre Dame in 1993 ... After Ball State won the first two sets, the Irish fought back to take the final three to win the match 3-2 (10-15, 14-16, 15-6, 15-7, 15-13).

• The Cardinals enter the second week of MAC play as one of the league's hottest teams, winning six of its last seven matches ... Ball State's only loss over the span came to 19th-ranked Ohio State (Sept. 17) ... Miami is the only MAC team with a better record over the last seven matches, going a perfect 7-0 ... Bowling Green, Kent State and Northern Illinois are all 5-2 over their last seven matches.

• Redshirt junior outside hitter Sabrina Mangapora has paced the Ball State offense over the seven-match run, leading the team with 111 kills and a 3.58 kills-per-set average ... She has blasted double-digit kills in all six victories, including a career-high 22 versus Appalachian State (Sept. 10) ... She also scored 20 kills in the win over Valparaiso (Sept. 16).

• Sabrina Mangapora enters the week as the only player in the MAC to score at least 20 kills in three matches this season … Her career-high 22 kills versus Appalachian State (Sept. 10) rank as the fifth-best single match total in the MAC this season, while her 20 kills versus Valpo (Sept. 16) and at Omaha (Sept. 2) are tied for 11th.

• Sophomore right side Brooklyn Goodsel has also played a large role on offense over the last seven matches, ranking second on the team with 96 kills and a 3.20 kills-per-set average ... She has smashed double-digit kills in six of the seven contests, including a career-high 20 kills in Ball State's MAC-opening win over Central Michigan (Sept. 23).

• Brooklyn Goodsel has also excelled on defense during the run, ranking third on the team with 66 digs for a 2.20 digs-per-set average over the last seven outings ... Goodsel has produced three double-doubles over the span, in wins over UNCG (Sept. 16), Central Michigan (Sept. 23) and Eastern Michigan (Sept. 24) ... Last weekend's effort marks the first time in her career she has tallied double-doubles in back-to-back matches.

• MAC players have combined to produce 20-or-more kills just 14 times this season, with Ball State's Sabrina Mangapora and Brooklyn Goodsel combining for four ... Ohio's Jaime Kosiorek joins Mangapora as the only other MAC player with multiple 20-kill matches at two, while Western Michigan is the only other team with two players scoring at least 20 kills (Sydney LeMay and Oliva Kofie).

• Ball State's offense has connected for a .210 attack percentage over the last seven matches, while hitting just .177 over the season's first nine matches ... The Cardinals defense has also vastly improved over the span, limiting opponents to a .169 rate of success after allowing opponents to connect at a .245 clip at the beginning of the year.

• Freshman libero Kate Avila has been a key defensive asset for the Cardinals over the last seven matches, collecting 154 digs for a team-best 4.97 digs-per-set average ... She recorded a career-high 36 digs in Ball State's win over Appalachian State (Sept. 10) 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.

• Kate Avila continued her climbed up the MAC statistical rankings, moving up one spot to sixth with a 4.04 digs-per-set average this season ... Avila's 271 total digs rank fourth in the conference, while her 36 dig effort versus Appalachian State (Sept. 10) ranks as the fourth-best single match performance in the MAC this season ... Her 32 dig performance versus Valparaiso (Sept. 16) ranks as the seventh-best single match performance and makes her one of only two MAC players to collect 30-or-more digs in multiple matches this season.

• Fellow freshman defensive specialist Hannah Smith has also make a huge impact on defense over the last seven matches, ranking second on the team in both digs (97) and digs-per-set average (2.97) ... She has tallied double-digit digs in all six of Ball State's wins, including a career-high 18 vs. Appalachian State (Sept. 10) ... She also boasts a perfect reception percentage over the last seven matches and leads Ball State's primary passers with a .986 (141-for-143) reception percentage for the year.

• Ball State's defense came up huge in the 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.

• 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 eight 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.