Volleyball Opens MAC Tournament Play Friday

Match 30 - MAC Tournament Quarterfinals vs. TBA
Friday, Nov. 16 - 7 p.m. (Millett Hall)
Tournament Central | Live Stats | ESPN+ Broadcast | SL Digital Broadcast | Social Media (@BallStateWVB)

Match 31 - MAC Tournament Semifinals vs. No. 2 Miami
Saturday, Nov. 17 - 7 p.m. (Millett Hall)
Tournament Central | Live Stats | ESPN+ Broadcast | SL Digital Broadcast | Social Media (@BallStateWVB)

Match 32 - MAC Tournament Championship Match vs. TBA
Sunday, Nov. 18 - 4:30 p.m. (Millett Hall)
Tournament Central | Live Stats | ESPN+ Broadcast | SL Digital Broadcast | Social Media (@BallStateWVB)

• TOURNAMENT TIME: After a successful regular season which saw the Ball State women's volleyball program win its ninth Mid-American Conference West Division Championship, the team turns its attention to the postseason when it opens play in the 2018 MAC Tournament as the third seed in Friday's 7 p.m. quarterfinal match ... Ball State faces the winner of sixth-seeded Northern Illinois vs. seventh-seeded Ohio from Thursday's 7 p.m. first round match ... All tournament matches will be played at Miami University's Millett Hall in Oxford, Ohio.

• WIN & ADVANCE: The winner of Friday's quarterfinal match advances to Saturday's 7 p.m. semifinal match against second-seeded Miami ... The 2018 MAC Tournament championship match will be played Sunday at 4:30 p.m.

• ABOUT THE TOURNAMENT: The 2018 MAC Tournament features the league's top eight teams battling it out at Millett Hall in Oxford, Ohio for an automatic berth into the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship ... As the top two seeds in the event, No. 1 Bowling Green (13-3 MAC) and No. 2 Miami (13-3 MAC) each received a double bye straight to Saturday's semifinals ... No. 3 Ball State (12-4 MAC) and No. 4 Buffalo (10-6 MAC) each earned a single bye to Friday's quarterfinals ... No. 5 Eastern Michigan (9-7 MAC) and No. 8 Kent State (6-10 MAC), as well as No. 6 Northern Illinois (9-7 MAC) and No. 7 Ohio (7-9 MAC) will battle it out first round action Thursday.

• FOLLOW THE ACTION: Ball State fans unable to make it to Oxford, Ohio for the 2018 MAC Tournament can still watch the action live, as all seven tournament matches will be carried live on ESPN+ ... In addition, Shaemus Kreider will have the radio call for SL Digital for all of Ball State's matches in the tournament ... Live stats will also be available courtesy of Miami ... Links to follow the action can be found above.

• 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.

BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL QUICK HITS
• BALL STATE ALL-TIME: Ball State boasts a 911-594-2 (.605) all-time record in women's volleyball in its 47th season of play ... The Cardinals have won nine MAC West Division Championships, eight MAC Regular Season Championships, six MAC Tournament Championships and made eight appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

• BALL STATE IN THE TOURNAMENT: Ball State will be making its 28th consecutive appearance in the MAC Tournament this season, and its 30th overall trip to the league's premier event ... Ball State is 30-23 (.566) all-time in tournament play, including a 5-2 (.714) record in first round matches, a 10-9 (.526) mark in quarterfinal matches, a 9-9 (.500) ledger in semifinal matches and a 6-3 (.667) record in championship matches ... Ball State's six MAC Tournament titles are third among league schools, trailing only Ohio (9) and Miami (7) ... The Cardinals are second in the league with six MAC Tournament Most Valuable Players and rank third with 25 all-time all-tournament selections.

• ALL-TIME VERSUS 2018 TOURNAMENT FIELD: Ball State holds a 271-150-1 record versus the 2018 MAC Tournament field, including a 6-3 record in matches this season ... In MAC Tournament action, the Cardinals are 21-15 versus this season's field, including a 4-2 mark in championship matches ... A complete series history for all 2018 MAC Tournament opponents can be found on pages 5-6 of this release.

ALL-TIME VERSUS THE 2018 MAC TOURNAMENT FIELD
Team                                   Overall       Tournament     Championship      Streak
No. 1 Bowling Green          42-17-1              6-1                      2-0                 W5
No. 2 Miami                         43-36               5-3                      2-0                  L3
No. 4 Buffalo                         23-1                2-0                      0-0                 W9
No. 5 Eastern Michigan       55-27               6-0                      0-0                  L1
No. 6 Northern Illinois         32-36               1-4                      0-1                 W1
No. 7 Ohio                           35-19               0-5                      0-1                 W1
No. 8 Kent State                  41-14               1-2                      0-0                 W2
Totals                               271-150-1         21-15                    4-2

• VERSUS NORTHERN ILLINOIS IN 2018: Ball State split the 2018 regular season series versus NIU, with each team picking up homecourt wins ... The Huskies took the first meeting 3-1 (25-23, 25-18, 22-25, 25-21) at Victor E. Court in DeKalb, Illinois on Sept. 22, while the Cardinals rebounded for a 3-0 (25-20, 25-13, 25-18) win in Worthen Arena on Oct. 26.

• VERSUS NIU ROUND 1: Despite three players with double-digit kills, Ball State suffered its first league loss of the season to the Huskies on Sept. 22 ... Senior outside attacker Ellie Dunn led the Cardinals offense with 15 kills, while sophomore outside attacker Kia Holder added 12 and junior middle Sydnee VanBeek scored 11 ... VanBeek also led all players with a season-high seven blocks in the contest, helping Ball State hold a 14.0 to 10.0 edge for the match ... Junior libero Kate Avila led all players with 23 digs ... For the Huskies, who managed to out-hit the Cardinals .194 (56-25-160) to .190 (53-24-153) on the night, Meg Wolowicz smashed a match-high 17 kills and Jori Radtke added 15 to go along with 17 digs ... NIU libero Miranda Karlen scooped up 22 digs.

• VERSUS NIU ROUND 2: Led by 14 kills each from Ellie Dunn and Sydnee VanBeek, the Ball State offense could not be stopped in a 3-0 sweep of the Huskies on Oct. 26 ... The Cardinals finished the match with a .374 (48-8-107) attack percentage, which ties as its third-best mark of the season ... The biggest of Ball State's 48 total kills came at the 23-12 mark of the second set, when Dunn blasted her 1,000th career kill off the NIU block ... Dunn turned in just as an impressive performance on defense by leading the Cardinals with 15 digs for her 11th double-double of the season ... Meanwhile, VanBeek led all players with a .480 (14-2-25) attack percentage and five total blocks to go along with her 14 kills ... Meg Wolowicz paced Northern Illinois with 12 kills, while Miranda Karlen added a match-best 16 digs.

• VERSUS OHIO IN 2018: The Ball State women's volleyball team had plenty of heroes in a hard-fought 3-1 (25-20, 28-26, 20-25, 25-18) victory over Ohio on Oct. 12 in Worthen Arena ... Ellie Dunn led the Cardinals with 19 kills and added 15 digs ... Junior setter Amber Seaman served up a career-high six aces, handed out 46 assists, collected eight digs and tallied five blocks for one of her best all-around matches of the season ... Kate Avila and freshman defensive specialist Cathryn Starck tied for team-high honors with 16 digs each ... However, it was a dominating four straight blocks early in the fourth set and all involving junior middle Sydnee VanBeek, that truly deflated the Bobcats and helped Ball State claim its first home win over Ohio since the 2010 season ... Jamie Kosiorek led Ohio with 17 kills, while Macy Reihing was credited with a match-high 25 digs.

• VERSUS MIAMI IN 2018: In a battle of two of the top three teams in the MAC, the Ball State women's volleyball team fell two points short in overtime of the fifth set to Miami on Oct. 19, suffering a 3-2 (19-25, 25-23, 28-30, 25-18, 18-16) setback at Millett Hall ... Despite the loss, Ellie Dunn had a big night for the Cardinals, blasting 20 kills and registering 18 digs for her ninth double-double of the season ... It was the third time this season, and the fourth time in her career, Dunn has tallied at least 20 kills in a match ... From the middle, the Cardinals received 12 kills and a .333 (12-2-30) attack percentage from Sydnee VanBeek and 10 kills and a .381 (10-2-21) rate of success from redshirt senior Meg Starling... Kate Avila led the Ball State defense with 20 digs, while Starling had a match-high seven total blocks ... Courtney Simons led four RedHawks in double figures with 16 kills, while Miami setter Morgan Seaman, the younger sister of Ball State setter Amber Seaman, led the defense with 17 digs.

• ALL-TIME IN THE MAC: With a 12-4 league record, Ball State finished the 2018 regular season with a 381-194 (.663) all-time record in Mid-American Conference play ... The only program with a better all-time league mark is Western Michigan at 384-191 (.668).

• Ball State was heavily rewarded for its run to the 2018 MAC West Division Championship, with four players earning postseason honors as voted on by the league's 12 head coaches and announced by the MAC office Wednesday (Nov. 14) ... Highlighting the list was Amber Seaman who became the first player in program history to earn MAC Setter of the Year honors in the award's 12-year existence ... Seaman was also named to the All-MAC First Team along with Ellie Dunn and Sydnee VanBeek... In addition, Meg Starling was named to the All-MAC Second Team.

• With the four All-MAC award winners, Ball State continues to rank second in MAC history in both total All-MAC selections (99) and total First Team All-MAC honorees (49).

• A five-time MAC West Division Setter of the Week award winner this season, Amber Seaman enters the MAC Tournament leading the league and ranked 70th nationally with a 10.32 assists-per-set average ... Her 1,084 total assists are second in the league and rank 46th among all NCAA Division I players.

• At the 18-9 mark in the opening set of the Oct. 27 win over Western Michigan, Amber Seaman set up Jessica Lindsey for a kill to become just the sixth player in program history to reach 3,000 career assists ... Her 3,167 career assists rank sixth on BSU's career list and are 369 shy of passing Angie Parrell's (2004-07)career total of 3,535 for fifth ... Seaman's 10.12 career assists-per-set average ranks fifth on BSU's 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 45 aces to raise her career total to 108 ... Her career total currently ranks 14th in program history ... Seaman joins Emily Sallee (1997-2000) and Brittany McGinnis (2008-11) as the only three players in program history to reach 3,000 career assists and 100 career aces.

• A three-time MAC West Division Offensive Player of the Week this season, Ellie Dunn raised her career kill total to 1,066 with 24 kills last week ... The total ranks 11th on BSU's career charts and is 105th among active NCAA Division I players ... Dunn needs 70 more kills to pass Mindy Stanley's (1993-96) career total of 1,135 for 10th on BSU's all-time list ... Dunn also ranks ninth on Ball State's career charts with double-figure kills in 60 career matches, while her 2.88 career kills-per-set average is tied for 14th and her 3,109 career attack attempts are eighth.

• At the 23-12 mark of the opening set in the Oct. 26 win over Northern Illinois, Ellie Dunn blasted the ball off the Huskies block and onto the Worthen Arena hardwood floor for her 1,000th career kill ... With the tally, Dunn become just the 11th player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills and the program's first to reach the mark since Julie Breivogel (2006-09)in 2009.

• Ellie Dunn enters the MAC Tournament ranked fourth in the league and 92nd nationally with a 3.71 kills-per-set average this season ... She has registered double-digit kills in 24 of the Cardinals' 29 matches this season, including a season-high 21 kills versus Indiana (Sept. 8) ... She also registered 20 kills in the five-set victory over UMBC (Sept. 14) and at Miami (Oct. 19).

• Sydnee VanBeek and Meg Starling both enter the MAC Tournament ranked in the top 10 in the MAC in attack percentage ... VanBeek leads the Cardinals and is third in the MAC at .324, while Starling is second on the team and seventh in the league at .312 ... 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.

• Sydnee VanBeek has stepped up her defense in MAC play, leading the league with 1.28 blocks per set in conference action ... Her 1.01 blocks-per-set average for the season ranks sixth in the league and is 200th nationally ... Over her career, VanBeek has rallied 220 blocks and is on pace to finish her career as one of the top 15 blockers in program history.

• Meg Starling enters the MAC Tournament ranked first in the MAC and 47th nationally with a 1.25 blocks-per-set average ... She 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 on Ball State's single season charts, since Christine Kennedy (2006-07)averaged 1.31 blocks per set in 2006 ... Starling's 121 total blocks this season rank 51st nationally and are 15 more than her total of 106 from her first three seasons combined.

• Meg Starling recorded her 200th career block at Miami (Oct. 19) ... She enters the week with 227 career blocks, including 53 solo blocks and 174 block assists ... Her career blocking total is 22 shy of breaking into the top 20 in program history, while her 53 solo blocks are 19th on BSU's career charts.

• Meg Starling is not the only Ball State player to reach 200 career blocks this season, as junior middle Sydnee VanBeek recorded hers versus NIU (Oct. 26) and senior middle Emily Holland tallied hers against WMU (Oct. 27) ... The last time Ball State had three players with 200 career blocks as a member of the program on the same team was in 2005 when Rachel Refenes (2004-05), Kristin Westhof (2002-05) and Sarah Obras (2002-05) were all seniors.

• A two-time MAC West Division Defensive Player of the Week this season, Kate Avila has played all 350 sets over her career, including the last 346 as BSU's libero ... She enters the MAC Tournament with 1,626 career digs to rank fifth in program history and 43rd among active NCAA Division I players ... In addition, Avila's 4.65 career digs-per-set average is fourth on BSU's all-time list, while her 87 matches (including 58 straight) with double-figure digs are fifth.

• Ball State leads the MAC with a .237 attack percentage this season ... The Cardinals have hit .250-or-better in 12 matches, producing an 11-1 record in those contests ... Ball State has hit above .300 seven times this season, which is the most since the 2013 squad accomplished the feat eight times.

• Ball State also boasts the best block in the league at 2.58 blocks per set ... The average currently ranks 34th nationally and is the program's best average since the 2005 team averaged 2.62 blocks per set.

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Players Mentioned

Kate Avila

Ellie Dunn

Kia Holder

Emily Holland

Jessica Lindsey

Amber Seaman

Cathryn Starck

Meg Starling

Sydnee VanBeek