Volleyball Set to Host Ball State Tournament Friday & Saturday

THE WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday, Sept. 1 vs. Navy (10 a.m) | Live Stats | Live Video (BallStateSports.com)
Friday, Sept. 1 Fort Wayne vs. Navy (Noon) | Live Stats
Friday, Sept. 1 Navy vs. Fort Wayne (5 p.m.) | Live Stats
Friday, Sept. 1 vs. Bradley (7:30 p.m.) | Live Stats | ESPN3
Saturday, Sept. 2 Bradley vs. Navy (3 p.m) | Live Stats
Saturday, Sept. 3 vs. Fort Wayne (7 p.m) | Live Stats | Live Video (BallStateSports.com)

WHAT TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEKEND:
• THE WEEKEND AHEAD: The Ball State women's volleyball team opens the home portion of its 2017 season Friday with matches versus Navy (10 a.m.) and Bradley (7:30 p.m.) as part of the Ball State Tournament ... The Cardinals close the two-day event with a Saturday showdown against in-state rival Fort Wayne (7 p.m.)

• OPENING AT HOME: Despite a 3-1 loss to IUPUI in its 2016 home opener, the Ball State women's volleyball program maintains a 29-16 all-time record in its first home match of the season ... Prior to last season, the Cardinals had won seven consecutive home openers.

• AGAINST THE FIELD: Ball State is 14-5 all-time versus this weekend's tournament field, with 18 of the 19 matches being played versus Fort Wayne ... The Cardinals have never played Navy in women's volleyball ... Ball State won the only previous meeting with Bradley by a score of 3-0 (18-16, 15-12, 15-8) on Sept. 28, 1985 ... The Cardinals maintain a 13-5 edge in the all-time series against Fort Wayne despite the Mastodons rallying from down two sets for a 3-2 (22-25, 22-25, 25-22, 28-26, 15-5) victory in Fort Wayne last season (Aug. 27) ... Ball State holds an 8-1 advantage versus the Mastodons in matches played in Muncie, including an 8-0 record in Worthen Arena ... Fort Wayne's lone road victory came by a score of 3-2 (16-14, 15-11, 5-15, 12-15, 15-13) in the series opener Nov. 10, 1987.

• FOLLOW THE ACTION: Ball State fans not able to make it to Muncie for the weekend can watch all three matches LIVE and FREE online ... Friday's contest versus Navy (10 a.m.) and Saturday's match versus Fort Wayne (7 p.m.) will be streamed through BallStateSports.com/watch ... Friday's nightcap versus Bradley (7:30 p.m.) will be carried live on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app ... Live stats will be available for all six Ball State Tournament matches ... In addition, fans can follow the Cardinals on twitter (@BallStateWVB) for regular match updates ... Links for this weekend's live video and live stats can be found above.

Ball State Volleyball Quick Hits
• Ball State enters Friday's match versus Navy with a 248-78 (.761) all-time record in Worthen Arena ... The Cardinals went 6-7 in home matches last season.

• Ball State boasts an 873-576-2 (.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.

• Saturday's match versus Fort Wayne will be the Cardinals' third versus an in-state opponent this season ... Ball State is currently 1-1 versus teams from the state of Indiana, dropping the season opener at Indiana (Aug. 25) and sweeping Indiana State (Aug. 26) ... Following Fort Wayne, the Cardinals have three more matches versus in-state competition: at IUPUI (Sept. 5), hosts Evansville (Sept. 14) and at Butler (Sept. 16).

• Four Cardinals finished last Saturday's sweep of Indiana State with double digit kills; Brooklyn Goodsel (12), Ellie Dunn (10), Meg Starling (10) and Sydnee VanBeek (10) ... It's the first time four Ball State players have logged double digit kills in the same match since a 3-2 victory over Appalachian State on Sept. 10, 2016 ... It's also the first time Ball State has 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).

• Last Saturday's match versus DePaul (Aug. 26) was a big night for Ball State's defenders, as three Cardinals logged defensive milestones ... Junior defensive specialist Lauren Schreiner collected her 400th career dig, while sophomore setter Amber Seaman notched her 300th career dig and junior outside attacker Ellie Dunn earned her 100th career dig.

• Sophomore Kate Avila continued to shine in her role as the team's libero last weekend, leading the Ball State defense with 34 digs ... She was credited with double-digit digs in both matches Saturday and has collected 10-plus digs in 31 career matches ... Avila, who led Ball State's primary passers with a .947 (36-for-38) reception percentage last weekend, has severed as the team's libero in each of the last 132 sets.

• With her 34 digs at the Indiana Invitational, sophomore libero Kate Avila raised her career total to 562 ... Avila is 352 digs shy of breaking into the top 20 in program history, with Kaylee Schembra's (2008-11) career total of 914 digs in her sights this season.

• Junior outside attacker Brooklyn Goodsel recorded her 500th career kill in last Saturday's sweep of Indiana State ... In leading the Ball State offense with 33 total kills last weekend, Goodsel raised her career total to 521 ... She needs 282 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 continued her climb up the Ball State record books versus Indiana State, becoming just the 14th player in program history to eclipse 1,000 career assists ... She enters the Ball State Tournament ranked 13th on the Cardinals' career charts with 1,065 career assists.

• In dishing out 93 total assists at the Indiana Invitational, Amber Seaman led the Ball State offense to a .245 (124-46-318) attack percentage last weekend ... The effort has the Cardinals ranked first in the Mid-American Conference in offensive efficiency, with Ohio second at .233 (190-76-490).

• Amber Seaman was the lone Ball State player to record a double-double last weekend, notching assist/dig double-doubles versus both Indiana State and DePaul ... Seaman leads Ball State's active players with 15 career double-doubles.

• Redshirt junior middle Meg Starling turned in a breakout performance versus Indiana State, blasting double digit kills for the first time in her career with 10 markers ... Starling also played strong at the net for the Cardinals at the Indiana Invitational, leading the squad with eight total blocks (five solo and three assists) and finishing the weekend with an 0.80 blocks-per-set average.

Volleyball Set to Host Ball State Tournament Friday & Saturday

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Players Mentioned

Kate Avila

Ellie Dunn

Brooklyn Goodsel

Lauren Schreiner

Amber Seaman

Meg Starling

Sydnee VanBeek