Volleyball Takes on Ohio & Kent State This Weekend

Friday, October 12

Muncie, IN

7 p.m.

Ball State University

Ohio University

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October 10, 2018 | Women's Volleyball

Match Notes: Ohio & Kent State

Friday, Oct. 12
7 p.m. - hosts Ohio - LIVE STATS | ESPN
PROMOTIONS:
Cardinal Kids Club Night: A face painter and balloon artist will be stationed on the Worthen Arena concourse.
Miss Ball State Night: Miss Ball State 2018, Victoria Ruble, will perform the national anthem and be on hand to sign posters next to the Ball State Fan of the Game table.
Autograph Poster Night: The Ball State women's volleyball team will sign autographs after the match.

Saturday, Oct. 13
7 p.m. - hosts Kent State - LIVE STATS | ESPN3
PROMOTIONS:
Autograph Poster Night: The Ball State women's volleyball team will sign autographs after the match.

• THE WEEK AHEAD: The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to Worthen Arena for a pair of matches versus Mid-American Conference East Division foes this weekend ... First up, a Friday showdown with Ohio ... Saturday, the Cardinals play host to Kent State ... Both matches will begin at 7 p.m.

• FOLLOW THE ACTION: Live stats will be available for both matches this weekend on BallStateSports.com ... In addition, Sports Link will produce Friday's match versus the Bobcats for ESPN and Saturday's contest against the Golden Flashes for 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 904-591-2 (.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 Ohio with a 374-191 (.662) all-time record in Mid-American Conference play ... The only program with a better all-time league mark is Western Michigan at 380-185 (.673) ... Friday's opponent Ohio is fifth all-time at 320-245 (.566), while Saturday's foe Kent State is 10th at 205-360 (.363).

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
• Ohio enters the week with an 8-11 (3-3 MAC) record after losing road matches at Miami (3-2) and Bowling Green (3-0) last weekend ... The Bobcats rank last in the MAC with an 11.53 kills-per-set average, with Jaime Kosiorek (2.68 kps) and Lizzie Stephens (2.57 kps) leading the squad ... Vera Giacomazzi (7.86 assists per set) and Kyra Slavik (3.89 aps) have combined to set the Ohio offense to a .189 attack percentage which is seventh in the league ... On defense, Macy Reihing has a team-leading 4.41 digs-per-set average, while Simone Miller leads the MAC in blocking at 1.32 blocks per set ... As a team, Ohio ranks last in the league at 13.61 dps, but is second behind the Cardinals in blocking at 2.21 bps.

• Kent State enters the week with an 8-12 (1-5 MAC) record after being swept at both Bowling Green and Miami last weekend ... The Golden Flashes rank 11th in the MAC with a 11.58 kills-per-set average, led by Kathryn Ellison (2.63 kps) and Darby Connors (2.28 kps) ... Alex Haffner (8.62 assists per set) and Natalie Tagala (3.45 aps) have combined to set the KSU offense to a .175 attack percentage which ranks 10th in the league ... On defense, Erin Gardner has a team-leading 4.72 digs-per-set average, while Myla King leads the squad in blocking at 0.77 blocks per set ... As a team, Kent State ranks third in the league at 17.14 dps, but is 10th in blocking at 1.71 bps.

BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL QUICK HITS
• FRIDAY'S PROMOTIONS: Friday's match will serve as Cardinal Kids Club Night with a face painter and balloon artist stationed on the Worthen Arena concourse ... In addition, Miss Ball State 2018, Victoria Ruble, will perform the national anthem and be on hand to sign posters next to the Ball State Fan of the Game table ... The Ball State women's volleyball team will also sign autographs after both matches this weekend.

• SERIES VS. OHIO: The Cardinals maintain a 34-19 lead in the all-time series versus the Bobcats despite losing the last four matches in the series ... Ball State won 26 consecutive matches in the series from Oct. 18, 1985 to Sept. 28, 2002 ... However, Ohio has won 17 of the last 20 meetings between the two programs ... In the latest meeting, the Bobcats swept the Cardinals 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-18) in Athens on Oct. 14, 2017 ... Ball State does maintain a 16-8 edge in matches played in Muncie, including a 9-7 edge in Worthen Arena ... The Cardinals' last win in the series was a 3-2 (25-21, 17-25, 25-22, 13-25, 25-10) road victory Oct. 19, 2013 ... Ball State has not defeated Ohio at home since the 2010 season ... A complete series history can be found on page four of this release.

• SERIES VS. KENT STATE: The Cardinals hold a 40-14 advantage in the all-time series versus the Golden Flashes, including a 3-1 (25-19. 17-25, 25-19, 27-25) victory on Oct. 13 of last season ... Prior to the win, however, KSU had won three straight in the series ... Ball State maintains a 20-5 lead in matches played in Muncie, including a 13-3 record inside Worthen Arena ... However, Kent State did pick up a hard-fought 3-2 (25-18, 25-23, 16-25, 23-25, 15-6) win in its last trip to Muncie on Oct. 14. 2016 ... A complete series history can be found on page four of this release.

• The Cardinals dominated in all aspects of the game last week in sweeps of Toledo (Oct. 4) and Buffalo (Oct. 6), running its current winning streaks to four matches and 12 straight sets, while improving to 14-5 (5-1 MAC) on the year ... For that effort, the team was heavily rewarded this week by sweeping the MAC West Division Defensive, Offensive and Setter of the Week honors.

• Junior setter Amber Seamen was named the MAC West Division Setter of the Week for the second straight week, and third time this season, after averaging 13.00 assists per set and running the Ball State offense to a combined .308 (93-23-227) attack percentage last week ... Seaman started by handing out 43 assists and setting a trio of teammates to double-digit kills in the win over Toledo (Oct. 4) .... Ball State's offense could hardly be stopped in the match as the Cardinals finished with a .374 (54-8-123) attack percentage ... She followed by handing out 35 assists and guiding Ball State to a .231 (39-15-104) attack percentage in a sweep at Buffalo (Oct. 6).

• Amber Seaman entered the week leading the MAC and ranked 62nd nationally with a 10.29 assists-per-set average ... He 700 total assists are also tops in the league and 41st among all NCAA Division I players ... In MAC-only competition, Seaman is even better, averaging a league-best 11.80 assists per set.

• With her 78 assists last week, Amber Seaman raised her career total to 2,783 to remain seventh on BSU's career charts ... She is 94 assists shy of passing her predecessor Jenna Spadafora's (2012-15)career total of 2,876 assists for sixth ... Just the 11th player in program history to record over 1,000 assists in a single season with 1,111 last year, Seaman's 10.08 career assists-per-set average ranks sixth 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 22 aces to raise her career total to 85 ... Seaman is looking to become just the 19th player in program history to reach 100 career aces.

• Senior outside attacker Ellie Dunn was named the MAC West Division Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this season after leading the Ball State offense with a 4.83 kills-per-set average last week, blasting a match-high 15 kills in the sweep of Toledo (Oct. 4) and adding a team-high 14 in a sweep at Buffalo (Oct. 6) ... In addition to leading all players with 15 kills versus the Rockets, Dunn hit an astonishing .395 for the match, not tallying a single attack error in 38 attempts ... The effort marks the first time in her career Dunn has logged no errors in a match with at least seven attempts.

• Ellie Dunn enters Friday's match versus Ohio ranked fourth in the MAC with a 3.67 kills-per-set average ... She has registered double-digit kills in 16 of the Cardinals' 19 matches this season, with her 21 kills versus Indiana (Sept. 8) tying as the 15th-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 14 kills at Buffalo (Oct. 6), Ellie Dunn raised her career total to 926 which moved her from 15th to 12th on Ball State's career chart ... She is now two kills shy of passing Liz Cothren's (1994-97)career total of 927 for 11th in program history and 74 shy of becoming only the 11th player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills.

• Ellie Dunn also enters the week tied for 11th on Ball State's career charts with double-figure kills in 52 career matches ... In addition, her 2.78 career kills-per-set average is tied for 18th in program history, while her 2708 career attack attempts are 10th.

• Junior libero Kate Avila was named the MAC West Division Defensive Player of the Week for the first time this season, and the fourth time in her career, after averaging 6.00 digs-per-set and posting a .973 (36-for-37) reception percentage last week ... She was credited with 22 digs and a .944 (17-for-18) reception percentage in the sweep of Toledo (Oct. 4), while adding 14 digs and a perfect reception percentage in the sweep at Buffalo (Oct. 6).

• Kate Avila's biggest impact last week might have come from the service line, however, as she served 10 straight Ball State points to help turn a 13-4 deficit into a 15-13 lead in the opening set at Buffalo (Oct. 6) ... After a Bulls service error gave the Cardinals the ball at 13-5, Avila served up an ace and followed with nine more BSU points to push Ball State ahead 15-13 ... The Cardinals went on to win the set 25-23.

• With double-digit digs in both matches last week, Kate Avila extend her streak of matches with double-digit digs to 48 and raised her career total to 77 ... She also upped her career digs total to 1,443 which is sixth in program history.

• 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 versus Ohio ranked in the top 10 in the MAC in attack percentage ... VanBeek leads the squad and is seventh in the MAC at .328, while Starling is second on the team and eighth in the league at .309 ... 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.

• Ball State continues to lead the MAC with a .240 attack percentage this season ... The Cardinals have hit .250-or-better in eight matches, owning an 8-0 record in those contests.

• In addition to having the top offense in the MAC, Ball State boasts the best block in the league with a 2.42 blocks-per-set average ... Meg Starling leads the team, ranks second in the MAC and is 49th nationally with a 1.25 blocks-per-set average ... In addition, Starling's 81 total blocks are the most in the MAC and rank 41st 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 since Christine Kennedy (2006-07)averaged 1.31 blocks per set in 2006 ... Her 81 total blocks this season are already two more than her previous season-best of 79 last year and are triple her total of 27 from her first two seasons combined.

• Ball State's current 12-set winning streak ties as the 15th-longest set winning streak in program history and is the team's longest since the 2015 season when BSU also swept four straight matches from Oct. 23 to Oct. 31 ... The longest set winning streak in program history is 23 from Nov. 3, 1993 to Nov. 27, 1993.