Volleyball Travels to MAC East Leaders This Weekend

Friday, Oct. 19
7 p.m. - at Miami - LIVE STATS  | Miami All-Access ($9.95 per month)

Saturday, Oct. 20
5 p.m. - at Bowling Green - LIVE STATS  |  ESPN3

• THE WEEK AHEAD: If the Ball State women's volleyball team wants to claim the 2018 Mid-American Conference regular season title, winning this weekend's matches could prove crucial to that goal ... The Cardinals are one of three team's entering the week with a 7-1 MAC record, the other two are this weekend's opponents Miami and Bowling Green ... BSU will battle the RedHawks at Millett Hall Friday at 7 p.m., before traveling to the Stroh Center to face the Falcons Saturday at 5 p.m.

• FOLLOW THE ACTION: Live stats will be available for both matches courtesy of the home institutions ... In addition, Friday's match at Miami will be broadcast on RedHawks All-Access ($9.95 per month), while Saturday's contest at Bowling Green will be carried live on ESPN3.

• FOLLOW THE ACTION PART 2: Another great way to follow the Cardinals this season is on social media ... For in-match updates, pre-match features, post-match stories, videos and photos fans can follow the team on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat @BallStateWVB.

• ALL-TIME: Ball State boasts a 906-591-2 (.605) all-time record in women's volleyball in its 47th season of play ... The Cardinals have won eight MAC Regular Season Championships, six MAC Tournament Championships and made eight appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

• IN THE MAC: Ball State enters Friday's match versus Miami with a 376-191 (.663) all-time record in Mid-American Conference play ... The only program with a better all-time league mark is Western Michigan at 381-186 (.673) ... Friday's opponent Miami is fourth all-time at 357-210 (.630), while Saturday's foe Bowling Green is sixth at 308-259 (.543).

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
• The two-time defending MAC regular season champions and last season's MAC Tournament winner, Miami enters the week with a 15-5 (7-1 MAC) record after scoring road wins at Eastern Michigan (3-2) and Central Michigan (3-1) last weekend ... The RedHawks' lone MAC loss this season was a 3-1 setback at Bowling Green on Sept. 27 ... Miami currently ranks sixth in the MAC with a 12.43 kills-per-set average, with four players averaging at least 2.00 kps led by Margaret Payne and Gaby Harper at 2.50 kps apiece ... Morgan Seaman (5.70 assists per set), the younger sister of Ball State junior setter Amber Seaman, leads the RedHawks' 6-2 offense which ranks sixth in the MAC with a .206 attack percentage ... On defense, Abigail Huser has a team-best 4.95 digs-per-set average, while Payne leads Miami at the net with a 1.14 blocks-per-set average ... As a team, Miami ranks seventh in the league at 16.14 dps and is fifth in blocking at 2.04 bps.

• Bowling Green enters the week with a 13-8 (7-1 MAC) record after earning road wins at Central Michigan (3-1) and Eastern Michigan (3-1) last weekend ... The Falcons' lone MAC loss this season was a 3-1 setback at Western Michigan on Sept. 29 ... BGSU currently ranks seventh in the MAC with a 12.25 kills-per-set average, with its top six attackers averaging at least 1.92 kps led by Katelyn Meyer at 2.70 kps ... Isabelle Marciniak has done a majority of the setting for Bowling Green, helping run the offense to a .175 attack percentage by averaging 9.04 assists per set ... Kallie Seimet not only leads the MAC, but leads the nation with her 6.54 digs-per-set average, while Katie Kidwell is BGSU's top blocker at 1.14 blocks per set ... As a team, Bowling Green paces the league at 19.24 dps and is fourth in blocking at 2.10 bps.

       BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL QUICK HITS
• SERIES VS. MIAMI: The Cardinals hold a 43-35 lead in the all-time series versus the RedHawks despite two straight losses ... Last season, Miami scored a 3-1 (25-22, 20-25, 25-20, 25-22) win over Ball State in Worthen Arena on Oct. 21 ... The RedHawks also scored a 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 26-24) victory in the latest meeting in Millett Hall on Oct. 22, 2016 ... Ball State does hold a 17-15 series lead in matches played in Oxford, Ohio, however, its last road win in the series came Oct. 22, 2010 by a score of 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 26-24) ... A complete series history can be found on page four of this release.

• SERIES VS. BOWLING GREEN: The Cardinals hold a 41-17-1 advantage in the all-time series versus the Falcons, including four straight wins ... Last season, BSU scored a 3-1 (12-25, 26-24, 25-15, 25-20) win in Worthen Arena on Oct. 20 ... In addition, the Cardinals have won four straight road matches in the series and have won all three matches played in the Stroh Center ... In the latest match at the Stroh Center, the Cardinals scored a 3-0 (26-24, 25-16, 25-15) victory Oct. 21, 2016 ... Ball State is 17-7 all-time in matches played in Bowling Green, Ohio ... A complete series history can be found on page four of this release.

• Junior setter Amber Seamen was named the MAC West Division Setter of the Week for the third straight week, and fourth time this season, after averaging 12.29 assists per set and running the Ball State offense to a combined .267 (100-30-262) attack percentage last week ... Seaman started by handing out 46 assists and guiding the Cardinals to their first home win over Ohio (Oct. 12) since the 2010 season last Friday ... She followed by leading the Ball State offense to a .360 (49-9-111) rate of success in a sweep of Kent State (Oct. 13) last Saturday, handing out 40 assists while guiding a trio of Cardinals to double-digit kills.

• On top of her strong setting performance, Amber Seaman served up nine total aces, while averaging 1.29 blocks per set and 2.00 digs per set last week ... In the win over Ohio (Oct. 12), Seaman tallied a career-high six aces which are the most for a Ball State player since then-setter Brittany McGinnis (2008-11) tallied seven versus Central Michigan on Nov. 12, 2011 ... She also tallied a season-high five block assists in the match, while earning eight digs ... In the victory over Kent State (Oct. 13), Seaman added three more aces, while collecting four more blocks (two solo and two assists) and six more digs.

• Amber Seaman enters the week leading the MAC and ranked 56th nationally with a 10.48 assists-per-set average ... He 786 total assists are second in the league and 39th among all NCAA Division I players ... In MAC-only competition, Seaman is even better, averaging a league-best 11.93 assists per set.

• With her 86 assists last week, Amber Seaman raised her career total to 2,869 and is eight assists shy of passing her predecessor Jenna Spadafora's (2012-15) career total of 2,876 assists for sixth on BSU's career charts ... Just the 11th player in program history to record over 1,000 assists in a single season with 1,111 last year, Seaman's 10.14 career assists-per-set average ranks fifth on the all-time list and she is on pace to become only the fifth Cardinal to hand out over 4,000 career assists.

• Amber Seaman is also getting things done from behind the service line this season, leading Ball State with 31 aces to raise her career total to 94 ... Seaman is looking to become just the 19th player in program history to reach 100 career aces.

• Senior outside attacker Ellie Dunn enters Friday's match at Miami ranked fourth in the MAC and 78th nationally with a 3.75 kills-per-set average ... She has registered double-digit kills in 18 of the Cardinals' 21 matches this season, with her 21 kills versus Indiana (Sept. 8) tying as the 18th-highest individual total in the MAC this season ... She also registered 20 kills in the five-set victory over UMBC (Sept. 14).

• With her team-leading 32 kills last weekend, Ellie Dunn raised her career total to 958 and moved past Liz Cothren's (1994-97) career total of 927 for 11th in program history ... Dunn needs 42 more kills to become only the 11th player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills.

• Ellie Dunn enters the week tied for ninth on Ball State's career charts with double-figure kills in 54 career matches ... In addition, her 2.82 career kills-per-set average is 16th in program history, while her 2,795 career attack attempts are ninth.

• With 16 digs versus Ohio (Oct. 12) and 17 digs versus Kent State (Oct. 13) last week, junior libero Kate Avila extend her streak of matches with double-digit digs to 50 and raised her career total to 79, which ranks fifth in program history ... Avila is currently sixth in program history with 1,476 career digs and is 104 digs shy of passing Amanda McCormick's (2005-06)career total of 1,579 for fifth on Ball State's career charts ... In addition, her 4.61 career digs-per-set average is fourth on BSU's all-time list.

• Kate Avila is the third-fastest player in program history to reach 1,000 career digs, doing so in 57 matches ... Amanda McCormick (2005-06), who transferred to Ball State after playing two years at Nebraska, is the fastest player to reach 1,000 career digs as a Cardinal, doing so in 43 matches ... The only other BSU player to record 1,000 career digs faster than Avila is Alyssa Rio (2007-10), who accomplished the task in 55 matches and is second in program history with 2,089 career digs ... Stephanie Keller (2001-04), the program's all-time digs leader at 2,273, and Avila's high school coach at Yorktown, reached 1,000 career digs in 70 matches.

• Junior middle Sydnee VanBeek and redshirt senior middle Meg Starling both enter Friday's match at Miami ranked in the top 10 in the MAC in attack percentage ... VanBeek leads the squad and is sixth in the MAC at .314, while Starling is second on the team and eighth in the league at .307 ... The last time Ball State had a pair of players hit above .300 in the same season was 2013 when Mindy Marx (2010-13)led the league at .359 and Hayley Benson (2012-14)was third at .353.

• With her fourth kill in Saturday's win over Kent State (Oct. 13), Sydnee VanBeek become the third active Cardinal to reach 500 career kills, joining Ellie Dunn(958) and Emily Holland (558) ... VanBeek finished the match with eight kills to raise her career total to 504 ... VanBeek also added her name to the Ball State record book, as she currently ranks 14th in program history with a .268 career attack percentage ... To be eligible for the list, a player must have reached 500 career kills at Ball State.

• Ball State continues to lead the MAC with a .243 attack percentage this season ... The Cardinals have hit .250-or-better in nine matches, owning a 9-0 record in those contests ... More impressively, Ball State has hit above .300 six times this season, which is the most since the 2013 squad accomplished the feat eight times.

• In addition to having the top offense in the MAC, Ball State boasts the best block in the league with a 2.51 blocks-per-set average ... The average also ranks 38th nationally ... Meg Starling leads the team, ranks second in the MAC and is 43rd nationally with her 1.26 blocks-per-set average ... In addition, Starling's 91 total blocks are the most in the MAC and rank 38th among all NCAA Division I players entering the week.

• Meg Starling is looking to become the first Ball State player to finish the year with a 1.24-or-better blocks-per-set average, which would rank in the top 20 in program history, since Christine Kennedy (2006-07)averaged 1.31 blocks per set in 2006 ... Starling's 91 total blocks this season are already 12 more than her previous season-best of 79 last year and are more than triple her total of 27 from her first two seasons combined.

• Led by nine aces from junior setter Amber Seaman, the Cardinals blasted a total of 19 service aces last weekend ... It's the most aces Ball State has registered in back-to-back matches since the 2007 season when the Cardinals tallied 22 starting with six in a five-set win at Toledo (Sept. 27) and followed with 16 in a home win over Buffalo (Sept. 29).

• Ball State's 11 aces in last Friday's win over Ohio (Oct. 13) were the most the Cardinals had served up in 230 matches, dating back to Sept. 9, 2011 when the BSU aced Western Carolina 12 times.

• Ball State's current six-match winning streak is its longest of the season and the program's longest since an 11-match run beginning Sept. 7, 2013 versus Western Illinois and ending following a Sept. 28, 2013 victory over Central Michigan.

• By winning the first two sets versus Ohio (Oct. 12) last Friday, Ball State extended its set winning streak to 14 ... The effort tied as the 11th-longest set winning streak in program history with a run from Oct. 1, 1991 to Oct. 12, 1991 ... It was also the program's longest set winning streak since a 21-set run in 2010.

Volleyball Travels to MAC East Leaders This Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Kate Avila

Ellie Dunn

Emily Holland

Amber Seaman

Meg Starling

Sydnee VanBeek