Volleyball Battles WMU for MAC Lead Friday; Plays NIU Saturday

THIS WEEK'S LINKS
Friday, Oct. 6 hosts Western Michigan (7 p.m.) | Live Stats | ESPN3
Saturday, Oct. 7 hosts Northern Illinois (7 p.m.) | Live Stats | ESPN3

WHAT TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK
• THE WEEK AHEAD: It will be a battle for the top spot in the Mid-American Conference standings Friday when the Ball State women's volleyball team hosts Western Michigan for a 7 p.m. first serve inside Worthen Arena ... WMU is the only remaining undefeated team in league play at 4-0, while the Cardinals are right behind at 3-1 ... Saturday, the Cardinals host defending MAC Tournament champion Northern Illinois in another 7 p.m. first serve ... Both matches will be carried live on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app.

• SEASON TO DATE: Ball State enters the week with an 11-6 overall record, including a 3-1 mark in MAC play ... After being swept on the road last Thursday at Toledo, the Cardinals rebounded with an impressive Saturday sweep of Buffalo to remain undefeated in Worthen Arena at 6-0 ... Ball State is 2-5 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 Western Michigan with a 361-186 (.660) all-time record in Mid-American Conference play ... The only program with a better all-time league mark is Friday's opponent Western Michigan at 374-173 (.684) ... Northern Illinois is third all-time based on winning percentage at 254-143 (.640).

• ALL-TIME AGAINST WESTERN MICHIGAN: While Ball State swept the 2016 regular season meetings, it was Western Michigan that finished with the upper hand by eliminating the Cardinals from the MAC Tournament with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-17) victory Nov. 17 to pull ahead 46-44 in the all-time series ... Ball State won both 2016 regular season matches in four sets, pulling off a 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-21, 25-23) road victory Oct. 8 and a 3-1 (25-21, 25-18, 12-25, 25-14) home victory Nov. 11 ... Overall, the Cardinals own a 24-15 (.615) advantage in matches played in Muncie, including a 19-7 (.731) record in Worthen Arena ... Since the 2010 season, the teams have played 17 times with three matches ending in a sweeps, nine going four sets and five going the distance.

• ALL-TIME AGAINST NORTHERN ILLINOIS: With Northern Illinois winning the last three meetings versus Ball State, the Huskies have built a 34-30 advantage in the all-time series ... Last season, the Cardinals suffered a 3-0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-11) road setback Oct. 7 before taking the Huskies the distance in a 3-2 (25-13, 23-25, 25-14, 23-25, 15-12) home loss Nov. 12 ... Ball State's last win in the series was a 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-21) victory Oct. 2, 2015 in Worthen Arena ... Overall, the Cardinals hold a 16-9 (.640) advantage in matches played in Muncie, including a 14-6 (.700) edge in Worthen Arena ... Over the last eight seasons, the winner of the first meeting has went on to sweep the regular season series seven times, with the only exception being the 2015 season when both teams won on their home court.

• FOLLOW THE ACTION: Ball State fans unable to attend this week's matches can still follow the action, as both matches will be carried live on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app ... 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 broadcasts and live stats can be found above.

• BALL STATE ON ESPN3: Ball State enters the week with a 5-2 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) and Buffalo (Sept. 30) ... Ball State's ESPN3 losses have come at IUPUI (Sept. 5) and at Toledo (Sept. 28) ... Including both matches this week, the Cardinals are scheduled to appear on ESPN3 nine more times during the 2017 regular season after the recent addition of the Oct. 14 match at Ohio to the broadcast schedule.

BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL QUICK HITS
• With a 6-0 record at home so far this season, the Ball State women's volleyball program is 254-78 (.765) all-time in Worthen Arena ... The Cardinals are even better when it comes to battling league foes in the building, owning a 183-46 (.799) advantage in MAC matches since Worthen Arena became the program's home beginning in the 1992 season.

• Ball State boasts an 882-581-2 (.603) 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.

• The Ball State offense was firing on all cylinders last Saturday at Worthen Arena, connecting for a season-best .396 (45-7-96) attack percentage in a sweep of Buffalo (Sept. 30) ... It was the Cardinals' best attack percentage 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) rate of success in a sweep of Northern Illinois Oct. 28, 2005.

• Sophomore middle hitter Sydnee VanBeek led the Ball State offense with a .405 (18-3-37) attack percentage last week, smashing 18 total kills in the Cardinals' matches at Toledo (Sept. 28) and versus Buffalo (Sept. 30) ... In the win over the Bulls, VanBeek paced all players with a career-best .643 attack percentage, blasting nine kills on 14 swings with no errors.

• Ball State's 89 digs at Eastern Michigan (Sept. 22) were a season high and the most in a four-set match for the Cardinals since a 94-dig effort Nov. 11, 2011 in a 3-1 victory over Eastern Michigan in the quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament ... Overall, the 89 digs tie as the ninth-highest total for Ball State in a four-set match in the rally scoring era (2001-present).

• Junior outside hitter 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.

• Redshirt junior middle Meg Starling leads Ball State at the net and ranks fourth in the MAC with a 1.02 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 60 of 63 sets and racked up 61 total blocks, including 13 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 total blocks (five solo and nine assists) in a 3-1 victory over SMU Sept. 21, 2013.

• In the Sept. 5 match at IUPUI, Meg Starling blasted a career-high 15 kills and hit a career-best .700 (15-1-20) ... Her .700 attack percentage ties as the 12th-best single match performance in program history for a player with at least 15 attempts ... In addition, the effort ties as the second-best individual performance under such stipulations in the 25-point rally scoring era (2008-present), with only Alex Fuelling's (2013-15) mark of .733 (11-0-15) versus The Citadel on Aug. 31, 2013 being better.

• 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) ... The Cardinals' junior outside attacking duo of Brooklyn Goodsel and Ellie Dunn have each blasted double digit kills in nine matches this season, while Emily Holland is right behind at seven ... Meg Starling has double digit kills in four matches this season, the first four of her career, while sophomore middle Sydnee VanBeek has accomplished the task twice.

• 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).

• 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.

• With her 35 digs last weekend, sophomore libero Kate Avila raised her career total to 792 ... Avila is 122 digs shy of catching Kaylee Schembra's (2008-11) career total of 914 digs to break into the top 20 in program history ... Avila has also collected 20-or-more digs in four matches this season, raising her career total to 13 matches which is seventh on Ball State's all-time charts.

• With her 17 kills last weekend, Brooklyn Goodsel raised her career total to 661 ... She needs 142 kills to catch Carin Zielinski's (1992-94) career total of 803 to break into the top 20 in program history.

• 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 612 assists so far this season, Seaman ranks 12th in program history with 1,584 career assists ... She needs 13 more to catch Tiffany Steven's (1992-95) career total of 1,597 for 11th on Ball State's career charts.

Volleyball Battles WMU for MAC Lead Friday; Plays NIU Saturday

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Players Mentioned

Kate Avila

Ellie Dunn

Brooklyn Goodsel

Kia Holder

Emily Holland

Amber Seaman

Meg Starling

Sydnee VanBeek