Volleyball Hosts MAC Leaders BGSU & Miami This Weekend

THIS WEEK'S LINKS
Friday, Oct. 20 hosts Bowling Green (7 p.m.) | Live Stats | ESPN3
Saturday, Oct. 21 hosts Miami (7 p.m.) | Live Stats

WHAT TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK
• THE WEEK AHEAD: The Ball State women's volleyball team opens a five-match homestand Friday, when it welcomes Mid-American Conference leader Bowling Green to Worthen Arena for a 7 p.m. first serve ... Saturday, the Cardinals host the league's second place team Miami in another 7 p.m. first serve.

• SEASON TO DATE: Ball State enters the week with a 13-8 overall record, including a 5-3 mark in MAC play ... Last week, the Cardinals picked up a four-set victory at Kent State Friday, only to suffer a 3-0 setback at Ohio Saturday ... Ball State enters its final homestand of the 2017 season with a 7-1 record in matches played in Worthen Arena ... The Cardinals are also 3-6 in true road matches and 3-1 in neutral site contests this season.

• BALL STATE IN THE MAC: Ball State enters Friday's match versus Bowling Green with a 363-188 (.659) all-time record in Mid-American Conference play ... The only program with a better all-time league mark is Western Michigan at 375-176 (.681) ... Bowling Green is sixth at 295-256 (.535), while Miami is fourth at 343-208 (.622).

• ALL-TIME AGAINST BOWLING GREEN: Ball State maintains a 40-17-1 lead in the all-time series with Bowling Green, including sweeping the Falcons in each of the last three meetings ... Last season, the Cardinals scored a 3-0 (26-24, 25-16, 25-15) victory at BGSU's Stroh Center on Oct. 21 ... In the last match played at Worthen Arena, the Cardinals earned a 3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-11) victory Oct. 24, 2015 ... Ball State holds a 17-9 edge in matches played in Muncie, including a 14-4 record in Worthen Arena ... BGSU's last win in Muncie was a 3-1 (25-23, 25-23, 14-25, 25-19) triumph Oct. 25, 2013 ... Ball State has won six of the last seven meetings between the two programs, with five of the wins being sweeps ... The Cardinals won 24 straight matches in the series from Nov. 7, 1992 to Oct. 2, 2004, while the Falcons followed with six straight wins before Ball State's current 6-1 run.

• ALL-TIME AGAINST MIAMI: Ball State holds a 43-34 edge in the all-time series versus Miami with the home team winning the last six matches ... Last season, the Cardinals suffered a 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 26-24) setback at Millett Hall ... Ball State scored a 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-21) win the last match at Worthen Arena, Oct. 23, 2015 ... The Cardinals are the last team to earn a road victory in the series, with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 26-24) sweep in Oxford Oct. 22, 2010 ... Ball State holds a 22-13 advantage in matches played in Muncie, including a 14-6 mark in Worthen Arena ... The Cardinals own the longest winning streak in the series at 10 matches, while Miami has had a pair of five-match streaks.

• FOLLOW THE ACTION: Friday's match versus Bowling Green will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app ... In addition, Sports Link Radio WCRD 91.3FM will carry the match live over the airwaves and online at WCRD.net ... In addition, live stats will be available for both matches courtesy of BallStateSports.com ... Fans can also follow the Cardinals on twitter (@BallStateWVB) for regular updates ... Links for the ESPN3 broadcast and live stats can be found above.

• BALL STATE ON ESPN3: Ball State enters the week with a 7-4 record on ESPN3 this season ... The Cardinals own ESPN3 wins over Bradley (Sept. 1), Evansville (Sept. 14), Duquesne (Sept. 15), at Eastern Michigan (Sept. 22), Buffalo (Sept. 30), Western Michigan (Oct. 7) and at Kent State (Oct. 13) ... Including Friday's match versus Bowling Green, the Cardinals are scheduled to appear on ESPN3 five more times during the 2017 regular season.

BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL QUICK HITS
• With a 7-1 record at home so far this season, the Ball State women's volleyball program is 255-79 (.763) all-time in Worthen Arena ... The Cardinals are even better when it comes to battling league foes in the building, owning a 184-47 (.797) advantage in MAC matches since Worthen Arena became the program's home beginning in the 1992 season.

• Ball State boasts an 884-583-2 (.602) all-time record in women's volleyball over 45-plus seasons of play ... The Cardinals have won eight MAC Regular Season Championships, six MAC Tournament Championships and made eight appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

• While Ball State was swept for the third time this season last Saturday at Ohio (Oct. 14), that could be good news heading into this weekend's matches with league leaders Bowling Green & Miami ... The previous two times Ball State was swept this season, at Indiana (Aug. 25) and at Toledo (Sept. 28), the Cardinals answered with sweeps of their own followed by four-set victories ... In fact, Ball State hit a season-best .396 in the rebound match versus Buffalo (Sept. 30), while its .315 rate of success against Indiana State (Aug. 26) is the team's third-best hitting mark of the season.

• Ball State continues to be one of the league's top hitting teams, entering the week ranked second in the MAC with a .216 team attack percentage ... The Cardinals have out-hit their opponents 15 times this season, owning a 13-2 edge in those matches ... Ball State is 7-1 this season when hitting at least .250, with its lone loss in such matches coming at then-No. 25 Colorado State (Sept. 8).

• The Ball State offense has been nearly unstoppable at home, with the Cardinals boasting a .249 attack percentage at Worthen Arena this season ... In fact, Ball State has out-hit all eight opponents on its home court this season, while hitting .300-or-better four times.

• In contrast, Ball State's opponents are having a difficult time connecting at Worthen Arena with the Cardinals defense limiting opponents to a .150 rate of success in The Nest ... Ball State has limited three teams to their worst attacking marks of the season at Worthen Arena, including a .155 (30-14-103) effort by Navy (Sept. 1), a .052 (33-27-115) mark by Fort Wayne (Sept. 2) and a .079 (38-28-127) attack percentage by Western Michigan (Oct. 6).

• Sophomore middle Sydnee VanBeek turned in a career night at Kent State (Oct. 13), smashing a career-high 14 kills and collecting a career-best five digs to help guide Ball State to the 3-1 victory ... VanBeek has been a key component in Ball State's 5-3 run to open MAC play, leading the team and ranking ninth in the MAC with a .307 attack percentage ... Her 2.38 kills-per-set average in MAC play is third on the squad, while her 0.85 blocks-per-set average is second.

• Last weekend was sophomore libero Kate Avila's best statistical weekend of the season as she led the Ball State defense with a 6.86 digs-per-set average and logged a perfect reception percentage in 30 attempts ... In Friday's win at Kent State (Oct. 13), Avila led all players with a season-high 28 digs (7.00 per set) and was 18-for-18 in serve receive ... She followed with 20 digs (6.67 per set) and a perfect 12-for-12 reception mark Saturday at Ohio (Oct. 14) ... With the effort, Avila raised her digs-per-set average to 5.10 in MAC play, while her overall average stands at 4.41.

• Kate Avila has collected at least 20 digs in three consecutive matches, giving her seven matches with 20-or-more digs this season ... With the pair of 20 dig matches last weekend, Avila moved into a tie for sixth in program history with 20-or-more digs in 16 career matches ... Avila also raised her career dig total to 876, leaving her 38 digs shy of catching Kaylee Schembra's (2008-11) career total of 914 to break into the top 20 in program history.

• With her career-high tying 21 kills versus Northern Illinois (Oct. 7), Brooklyn Goodsel became just the 17th player in program history to record 20-or-more kills in at least four career matches ... Goodsel also smashed 21 kills versus Toledo (Sept. 29, 2016) and has blasted 20 kills in two matches; versus Central Michigan (Sept. 23, 2016) and at Eastern Michigan (Sept. 22, 2017).

• Brooklyn Goodsel opened MAC play by leading the offense with a 5.14 kills-per-set average and leading the defense with a 4.57 digs-per-set average in wins at Eastern Michigan (Sept. 22) and Central Michigan (Sept. 23) ... With the effort, Goodsel became the first player in program history to average over 5.0 kills and 4.0 digs per set for a week in the 25-point rally scoring era (2008-present) ... In fact, Goodsel is just the second player in program history to average over 5.0 kills and 4.0 digs per set in a week in the rally scoring era (2001-present) ... The only other player to accomplish the task was three-time All-MAC First Team selection Sarah Obras (2002-05) who accomplished the feat eight times.

• With 15 kills last weekend, Brooklyn Goodsel raised her career total to 709 ... She needs 94 kills to catch Carin Zielinski's (1992-94) career total of 803 to break into the top 20 in program history.

• Junior outside attacker Ellie Dunn has picked up her play since MAC season began, averaging 3.46 kill-per-set in league play after posting a 2.60 average in non-conference action ... She has smashed double-digit kills in six of Ball State's eight MAC matches, including a season-high 19 in the league-opening win at Eastern Michigan (Sept. 22).

• Redshirt junior middle Meg Starling leads Ball State at the net and ranks fifth in the MAC with a 1.03 blocks-per-set average ... Starling entered the season with 27 blocks and an 0.58 career blocks-per-set average, having played in 46 of a possible 250 sets in her first two seasons ... So far this year, Starling has played in 71 of 79 sets and racked up 73 total blocks, including 19 solo stuffs.

• Meg Starling dominated at the net in the Cardinals' win over Idaho State (Sept. 8), finishing the match with a career-high 10 total blocks (two solo and eight assists) ... She is the first Ball State player to reach double digit blocks in a match since Haley Benson (2012-14) recorded 14 blocks (five solo and nine assists) in a 3-1 victory over SMU Sept. 21, 2013.

• Sophomore setter Amber Seaman continues her climb up the Ball State record books, becoming just the 14th player in program history to eclipse 1,000 career assists versus Indiana State (Aug. 26) ... With 780 assists so far this season, Seaman ranks 11th in program history with 1,752 career assists ... She needs 598 more to catch Susan Franssen's (1987-90) career total of 2,350 for 10th on Ball State's career charts.

• No one on Ball State's roster will be looking forward to Saturday's match versus defending MAC Regular Season Champion Miami more than Amber Seaman … That's because Seaman's younger sister Morgan is freshman setter for the RedHawks … Attending two different high schools growing up, Amber Seaman helped guide Brebeuf to the 2013 IHSAA Class 3A State Championship, while Morgan Seaman helped guide Carmel to the 2014 IHSAA Class 4A State Championships … Their teams met once at the varsity level in high school, with Morgan Seaman's Carmel squad earning a 3-0 win at Brebeuf Sept. 10, 2014.

• Freshman outside attacker Kia Holder became the sixth different Ball State player to record double digit kills in a match this season with her career-high 10 kills versus Duquesne (Sept. 15) ...Ellie Dunn leads the Cardinals with double-digit kills in 12 matches, while Brooklyn Goodsel is next at 11 ... Junior right side Emily Holland is right behind at seven, while Meg Starling and Sydnee VanBeek are at four each.

• The Ball State offense was firing on all cylinders in the Sept. 30 win over Buffalo, connecting for a season-best .396 (45-7-96) attack percentage ... It was the Cardinals' best hitting mark in a match since a .419 (55-11-105) effort in a home sweep of The Citadel Aug. 31, 2013 ... In fact, it was the team's fourth-best attack percentage in a match in the rally scoring era (2001-present), with the record being a .425 (51-6-106) effort in a sweep of Northern Illinois Oct. 28, 2005.

• Ball State opened the Active Ankle Challenge with a dominating 25-7 opening set victory over Navy (Sept. 1) ... The 25-7 set victory ties as the second-largest in the 25-point rally scoring era (2008-present) in program history ... The only larger set victory was a 25-5 opening set win versus Tennessee State on Sept. 3, 2010 in another match Ball State swept at home.

• Four Cardinals finished the win over Indiana State (Aug. 26) with double digit kills; Brooklyn Goodsel (12), Ellie Dunn (10), Meg Starling (10) and Sydnee VanBeek (10) ... It was the first time Ball State had four players log double digit kills in a three set match since Nov. 18, 2008 versus Eastern Michigan ... The players involved in that match were Alisha Green (12), Julie Breivogel (11), Elaina Kakatolis (10) and Jennifer Boyd (10).

Volleyball Hosts MAC Leaders BGSU & Miami This Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Kate Avila

Ellie Dunn

Brooklyn Goodsel

Kia Holder

Emily Holland

Amber Seaman

Meg Starling

Sydnee VanBeek