Volleyball Closes Regular Season This Week

Match 28 - Ball State at Toledo
Thursday, Nov. 8 - 7 p.m. (Savage Arena)
Live Stats | ESPN+ Broadcast | Social Media (@BallStateWVB)

Match 29 - Ball State hosts Akron
Saturday, Nov. 10 - 7 p.m. (Worthen Arena)
Live Stats | SL Digital | Social Media (@BallStateWVB)

• THE WEEK AHEAD: The Ball State women's volleyball team closes the 2018 regular season with a pair of matches this week ... The first comes Thursday night when the Cardinals visit Toledo for a 7 p.m. first serve ... Ball State returns to Worthen Arena Saturday for Senior Night versus Akron in another 7 p.m. contest.

• MAC WEST CHAMPIONS: While the Cardinals suffered a pair of losses last weekend, that did not stop the program from clinching at least a share of the 2018 MAC West Division Championship ... With a 10-4 record in league play, Ball State is two matches ahead of both Northern Illinois (8-6) and Eastern Michigan (8-6) in the MAC West Division standings with just two matches remaining.

• STILL A SHOT AT OVERALL TITLE: Ball State could also secure at least a share of the 2018 MAC Regular Season title this weekend with a pair of wins and losses by both Bowling Green and Miami who enter the week at 11-3 in league play ... To earn the No. 1 seed in the MAC Tournament, the Cardinals would need to sweep this weekend, have Bowling Green lose one match and have Miami lose both its contests ... The Falcons and the RedHawks both travel to Kent State and Ohio this weekend.

• FOLLOW THE ACTION: Fans can follow this week's action with live stats courtesy of the home institutions ... In addition, Thursday's match at Toledo will be carried live on ESPN+, while audio for Saturday's senior night contest versus Akron will be broadcast by SL Digital ... 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.

• ALL-TIME: Ball State boasts a 909-594-2 (.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 Thursday's match at Toledo with a 379-194 (.661) all-time record in Mid-American Conference play ... The only program with a better all-time league mark is Western Michigan at 382-191 (.667) ... Thursday's opponent Toledo is 11th at 175-398 (.305), while Saturday's opponent Akron is ninth at 171-276 (.383).

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
• Toledo enters Thursday's contest with a 9-16 (4-10 MAC) record after being swept at both Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan last weekend ... Chloee Kleespies leads the Rockets with a 3.17 kills-per-set average, while the team ranks 10th in the league at 11.76 ... Carly Townsend has set a majority of the season for UT, handing out 9.47 assists per set and helping lead the team to a .169 attack percentage which ranks 11th in the MAC ... Maurissa Leonard paces the team and ranks third in the league at 5.88 digs per set, while Zoe Birnbrich averages a team-high 0.84 blocks per set ... As a team, Toledo ranks fourth in the MAC in digs per set (17.04) and ninth in blocks per set (1.90).

• Akron enters the week with an 11-14 (3-11 MAC) record and will play at Buffalo Thursday ... Last week, the Zips suffered home losses to Ohio (3-1) and Kent State (3-2) ... Kayla Gwozdz leads Akron with a 3.03 kills-per-set average, while the team ranks sixth in the MAC at 12.49 ... Emily Weigand has done a majority of the setting for the Zips and averages 7.78 assists per set, while the team ranks fifth in the league with a .201 attack percentage ... Taylor Sharrits leads the Akron defense at 4.45 digs per set, while Ashley Richardson paces the team at 0.69 blocks per set ... As a team, the Zips rank last in the MAC in both digs per set (14.23) and blocks per set (1.49).

BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL QUICK HITS
• SERIES VS. TOLEDO: The Cardinals hold a 65-10 lead in the all-time series after sweeping the Rockets in the season's first meeting played Oct. 4 in Worthen Arena ... While Ball State has won the last two meetings, the home team in the series has won four straight with Toledo picking up wins in Savage Arena in back-to-back matchups Nov. 3, 2016 and Sept. 28, 2017 ... Ball State strung together a 42-match winning streak versus the Rockets from Nov. 13, 1987 to Oct. 2, 2008 ... Since then, the Cardinals have won 14 of the last 21 matches ... BSU is 27-5 all-time in matches played in Toledo, but have not picked up a road win in the series since Sept. 24, 2015 ... A complete series history can be found on page four of this release.

• CARDINALS VS. ROCKETS ROUND 1: Behind the third-best attack percentage of the season, .374 (54-8-123), Ball State scored a 3-0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-19) sweep of Toledo in the first meeting this season played Oct. 4 in Worthen Arena ... Senior outside attacker Ellie Dunn paced all players with 15 kills and hit an astonishing .395 for the match, not tallying a single attack error in 38 attempts ... Junior middle Sydnee VanBeek led Ball State's attackers with a .611 attack percentage, collecting 11 kills on 18 swings with no errors ... Redshirt senior middle Meg Starling was not far behind, hitting .333 with 12 kills on 24 attempts with four errors ... In the backcourt, junior libero Kate Avila collected a team-high 22 digs ... Chloee Kleespies and Emma Swope led the Toledo attack with 10 kills each, while Maurissa Leonard had a match-high 23 digs.

• SERIES VS. AKRON: The Cardinals have won four straight versus the Zips and lead the all-time series 34-4 ... Last season, the Cardinals scored a 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 29-27) victory in Akron on Nov. 4, 2017 ... Ball State maintains a 16-1 advantage in matches played in Worthen Arena and have not lost at home to the Zips since Nov. 9, 2008 ... Akron's last win in the series was a 3-1 (25-17, 25-19, 9-25, 26-24) victory in Rhodes Arena on Nov. 9, 2013 ... A complete series history can be found on page four of this release.

• THE LAST MEETING VERSUS AKRON: The Ball State women's volleyball team rallied late in each set, including overcoming a 24-16 deficit in the third, to sweep Akron 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 29-27) in the latest meeting Nov. 4, 2017 ... Trailing 22-18 in the opening set, the Cardinals rallied to win 25-23 on a service ace from setter Amber Seaman... Down 23-21 in the second stanza, Ball State scored four straight points, book ended by kills from Ellie Dunn, to win 25-23 ... Behind 24-16 in the third frame, a kill from middle Emily Holland set up a seven-point service run by defensive specialist Lauren Schreiner to even the score at 24 ... While the Zips had one more chance to end it at 25-24, the Cardinals countered and went on to claim the set, 29-27, on a kill from outside attacker Kia Holder to complete the sweep.

• Amber Seaman turned in a milestone night versus Western Michigan (Oct. 27), becoming just the sixth player in program history to reach 3,000 career assists ... She also became just the 19th player in program history to serve up 100 career aces ... In addition, she tallied her 700th career dig and 100th career block in guiding the Cardinals to the 3-0 victory.

• A five-time MAC West Division Setter of the Week award winner this season, Amber Seaman enters Thursday's match at Toledo leading the MAC and ranked 66th nationally with a 10.36 assists-per-set average ... Her 1,005 total assists are second in the league and rank 44th among all NCAA Division I players ... In league play, Seaman is doing even better, handing out 11.04 assist per set.

• 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 3,088 career assists rank sixth on BSU's career list and are 448 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 42 aces to raise her career total to 105 ... Her career total currently ranks 15th 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 two-time MAC West Division Defensive Player of the Week, Kate Avila became just the sixth player in program history to reach 1,500 career digs with her fourth dig at Bowling Green (Oct. 20) ... Avila, who has played all but the first four sets of her collegiate career as the team's libero, enters the week with 1,581 career digs to rank fifth in program history and 43rd among all active NCAA Division I players ... In addition, Avila's 4.62 career digs-per-set average is fourth on BSU's all-time list, while her 85 matches (including 56 straight) with double-figure digs are fifth.

• Kate Avila was 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.

• 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.

• A three-time MAC West Division Offensive Player of the Week, Ellie Dunn raised her career kill total to 1,042 with 26 kills last weekend ... The total ranks 11th on BSU's career charts and is 104th among active NCAA Division I players ... Dunn needs 94 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 59 career matches, while her 2.88 career kills-per-set average is tied for 14th and her 3,042 career attack attempts are ninth.

• Ellie Dunn enters Thursday's match ranked fourth in the MAC and 82nd nationally with a 3.77 kills-per-set average this season ... She has registered double-digit kills in 23 of the Cardinals' 27 matches this season, with her 21 kills versus Indiana (Sept. 8) tying as the 21st-highest individual total in the MAC this season ... She also registered 20 kills in the five-set victory over UMBC (Sept. 14) and at Miami (Oct. 19).

• Meg Starling enters the weekend ranked second in the MAC and 48th 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 111 total blocks this season rank 60th nationally and are five 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 217 career blocks, including 51 solo blocks and 166 block assists ... Her career blocking total is 32 shy of breaking into the top 20 in program history, while she needs one more solo block to reach the top 20 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.

• Sydnee VanBeek and Meg Starling both enter Thursday's match ranked in the top 10 in the MAC in attack percentage ... VanBeek leads the Cardinals and is fourth in the MAC at .320, while Starling is second on the team and eighth in the league at .313 ... 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 12 matches, owning a 11-1 record in those contests ... More impressively, 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 2.53 blocks per set ... The average currently ranks 41st nationally.

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

• Led by nine aces from Amber Seaman, the Cardinals blasted 19 service aces in wins over Ohio (Oct. 12) and Kent State (Oct. 13) ... 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 offense connected for a .469 (44-6-81) attack percentage in the win over Grambling State (Aug. 31) which stands as the third-best single match performance in program history ... The only two matches that were better, a .512 mark versus Southeast Missouri (Sept. 9, 2000) and a .506 effort at Indiana State (Oct. 11, 1988).

• In addition to a solid attacking performance versus Grambling State (Sept. 1), the Ball State defense limited the Tigers attack to a season-low -.061 (18-23-82) rate of success ... It's Ball State's best all-around effort on defense since holding Tennessee State to a -.084 (14-21-83) rate of success on Sept. 3, 2010.

Players Mentioned

Kate Avila

Ellie Dunn

Kia Holder

Emily Holland

Jessica Lindsey

Lauren Schreiner

Amber Seaman

Meg Starling

Sydnee VanBeek

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