Volleyball Hosts EMU & CMU This Weekend

THIS WEEK'S LINKS
Friday, Sept. 28
7 p.m. - hosts Eastern Michigan - LIVE STATS | ESPN | SL DIGITAL AUDIO
PROMOTIONS: Ball State Dance Marathon Night. For every Ball State student in attendance, Ball State Athletics will donate a dollar to BSUDM. In addition, BSUDM will have special games and giveaways throughout the night.

Saturday, Sept. 29
7 p.m. - hosts Central Michigan - LIVE STATS | SL DIGITAL AUDIO
PROMOTIONS: Fans who attended Ball State's football game versus Kent State can receive FREE ADMISSION to the volleyball match by showing their ticket stub at the Worthen Arena ticket office.

• THE WEEK AHEAD: After spending the last two weekends on the road, the Ball State women's volleyball team opens a three-match homestand Friday when it hosts Eastern Michigan for a 7 p.m. first serve ... The Cardinals also welcome Central Michigan to Worthen Arena on Saturday for another 7 p.m. showdown.

• FOLLOW THE ACTION: Live stats will be available for both matches this weekend, as will a Ball State Sports Link Digital (SL Digital) audio-only broadcast ... Friday's match versus Eastern Michigan will also be broadcast live on ESPN .

• 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 900-591-2 (.603) all-time record in women's volleyball over 46-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.

• IN THE MAC: Ball State enters Friday's match versus Eastern Michigan with a 370-191 (.660) all-time record in Mid-American Conference play ... The only program with a better all-time league mark is Western Michigan at 378-183 (.674) ... Friday's opponent Eastern Michigan is eighth all-time at 248-313 (.442), while Saturday's foe Central Michigan is seventh at 278-283 (.496).

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
• Eastern Michigan enters the week with a 10-6 (2-0 MAC) record after opening league play with a road win at Central Michigan (3-1) and a home sweep of Kent State (3-0) last week ... The Eagles offense leads the league with a 13.58 kills-per-set average, paced by Jordan Smith at 3.60 ... Mallory Rajewski and Riley Taylor have combined in a 6-2 to set the Eagles offense to the league's third-best attack percentage at .228, averaging 7.50 and 4.32 assists per set, respectively ... The Eastern Michigan defense also paces the MAC in digs per set (18.58) and blocks per set (2.35), led by Alyssa LaFace in the backcourt (6.15 dps) and Cassie Haut at the net (1.25 bps).

• Central Michigan enters the week with a 3-11 (0-2 MAC) record after suffering home losses to Eastern Michigan (1-3) and Ohio (0-3) last week ... Kalina Smith leads the Chippewas attack with a 2.85 kills-per-set average, while the team as a whole is 10th in the MAC at 11.60 ... Three different setters have combined to set the CMU attack to a league-low .151 rate of success this season, with Kendall Braate (5.74 assists per set) and Grace Butler (5.56 aps) splitting time in the 6-2 last week ... The Chippewas backcourt has also been run by committee this season, with Savanna Thompson owning team-bests of 158 digs and a 3.04 digs-per-set average.

BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL QUICK HITS
• FRIDAY PROMOTIONS: Friday's match versus Eastern Michigan will serve as Ball State Dance Marathon Night ... For every Ball State student in attendance, Ball State Athletics will donate a dollar to BSUDM ... In addition, BSUDM will have special games and giveaways throughout the night.

• SATURDAY PROMOTIONS: For Saturday's match versus Central Michigan, fans who attended the afternoon football game versus Kent State can receive FREE ADMISSION to the volleyball match by showing their ticket stub at the Worthen Arena ticket office.

• SERIES VS. EMU: Ball State holds a 54-26 lead in the all-time series versus Eastern Michigan, including a four-match winning streak ... The Cardinals hold a 30-10 advantage in matches played in Muncie, including a 24-5 edge in Worthen Arena ... The last two matches between the teams in Worthen Arena have went five sets, with Ball State winning both ... EMU's last win in Muncie was also its latest in the series, a 3-1 victory Nov. 13, 2015 ... A complete series history can be found on page four.

• SERIES VS. CMU: Ball State maintains a 46-32 lead in the all-time series versus Central Michigan after the Chippewas snapped a four-match losing streak to the Cardinals with a 3-2 victory in Worthen Arena on Oct. 27, 2017 in the latest meeting between the two programs ... BSU holds a 23-13 advantage in matches played in Muncie, including a 19-5 edge in Worthen Arena ... A complete series history can be found on page four.

• Junior middle Sydnee VanBeek opened MAC play with one of the best all-around weekends of her career, leading the Ball State offense with a 3.50 kills-per-set average, while also pacing the Cardinals at the net with a 1.50 blocks-per-set average ... VanBeek tallied match-highs of 17 kills and five total blocks (one solo and four assists) in the win at Western Michigan (Sept. 21), while adding 11 kills and a match-best seven total blocks (one solo and six assists) at Northern Illinois (Sept. 22).

• With her team-high 17 kills at Western Michigan (Sept. 21), Sydnee VanBeek has led the Ball State offense in kills four times this season, doubling her career total entering the year ... VanBeek has registered double-digit kills in eight of BSU's 15 matches this season, raising her career total to 18 ... In addition, she has hit .300-or-better nine times this year and ranks fifth in the MAC with a .340 attack percentage this season.

• Redshirt senior middle Meg Starling also turned in a strong week at the net to open MAC play, ranking second on the team with 10 total blocks for a 1.25 blocks-per-set average ... Starling enters the week ranked second in the league and 49th nationally with a 1.26 blocks-per-set average for the year ... In addition, her 68 total blocks are the most in the MAC and rank 24th 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 ... In addition, with her 17 solo blocks, 51 block assists and 68 total blocks through 15 matches this season, Starling is on pace to shatter her previous season-best blocking totals of 20 solo blocks, 59 block assists and 79 total blocks set last season.

• On offense, Meg Starling hit a career-best .727 (8-0-11) in the win over Marshall (Aug. 25) and followed with a .714 (11-1-14) mark versus Grambling (Aug. 31) to become just the second player in program history to record a .700-or-better attacking mark in back-to-back matches with at least 10 attempts in each one ... The first was Julie Zylka (1998-2001) who hit .727 (8-0-11) versus Tennessee Tech (Sept. 3, 1999) and .724 (22-1-29) versus Austin Peay (Sept. 4, 1999).

• Senior outside attacker Ellie Dunn enters Friday's match versus Eastern Michigan ranked fifth in the league with a 3.47 kills-per-set average this season ... She has registered double-digit kills in 12 of the Cardinals' 15 matches, with her 21 kills versus Indiana (Sept. 8) being the 11th-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 15 kills at Northern Illinois (Sept. 22), Ellie Dunn raised her career kill total to 871 which leaves her five kills shy of passing Sharon Strayer (1984-87) for 15th on Ball State's career charts ... In addition, her 58 attack attempts raised her career total to 2,545, which is just 25 shy of breaking into the top 10 in program history.

• Ellie Dunn also enters the week ranked 13th on Ball State's career charts with double-figure kills in 48 career matches ... Her 2.71 career kills-per-set average is also just outside the top 20 in program history.

• With her 23 digs at Northern Illinois (Sept. 22), junior libero Kate Avila has recorded double-digit digs in 44 consecutive matches and 73 times over her career ... Her 1,386 career digs rank sixth in program history, while her 4.60 career digs-per-set average is fourth ... Avila needs just 194 more digs to pass Amanda McCormick's (2005-06) career total of 1,579 for fifth on Ball State's all-time digs list.

• Kate Avila was the 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 at Ball State, doing so in 43 matches ... The only other Ball State player to record 1,000 career digs faster than Avila is Alyssa Rio (2007-10), who accomplished the task in 55 career matches and ranks 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.

• With her 86 assists last weekend, junior setter Amber Seaman raised her career total to 3,633 which is the 10th-highest total in program history ... She needs just 17 more assists to pass both Janell Lorenz (1984-87)and Jacqui Seidel (2010-13)for eighth on BSU's all-time list, while 32 more will move her past Lorie Vandenberg (1989-92)and into seventh ... Just the 11th player in program history to record over 1,000 assists in a single season with 1,111 last year, Seaman's 9.97 career assists-per-set average ranks sixth in program history and she is on pace to become only the fifth Cardinal to hand out over 4,000 career assists.

• With her service ace at Western Michigan (Sept. 21), Amber Seaman raised her career total to 79 ... Seaman, who is tied with junior defensive specialist Anna Jensen for the team lead with 16 aces this season, is looking to become just the 19th player in program history to reach 100 career aces.

• 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.

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Players Mentioned

Kate Avila

Ellie Dunn

Anna Jensen

Amber Seaman

Meg Starling

Sydnee VanBeek