WVB Set to Host UNI, NDSU and Indiana This Weekend

2018 Ball State Active Ankle Challenge Schedule:
Friday, Sept. 7
10 a.m. - Ball State vs. Northern Iowa - LIVE STATS  |  SL DIGITAL AUDIO  |  PROMOTIONS
Noon - Indiana vs. North Dakota State - LIVE STATS
5 p.m. - Northern Iowa vs. Indiana - LIVE STATS
7:30 p.m. - Ball State vs. North Dakota State - LIVE STATS  |  SL DIGITAL AUDIO  |  ESPN+
Saturday, Sept. 8
2 p.m. - North Dakota State vs. Northern Iowa - LIVE STATS
7 p.m. - Ball State vs. Indiana - LIVE STATS  | SL DIGITAL AUDIO  |  ESPN+ |  PROMOTIONS

• THE WEEK AHEAD: The Ball State women's volleyball team opens the home portion of its 2018 season this weekend with the Ball State Active Ankle Challenge ... The Cardinals begin play in the two-day event Friday with matches versus Northern Iowa (10 a.m.) and North Dakota State (7:30 p.m.) ... On Saturday, Ball State welcomes in-state rival Indiana to Worthen Arena for a 7 p.m. first serve ... Cardinals fans are encouraged to wear black to the match to #BLACKOUT the Hoosiers.

• FOLLOW THE ACTION: Fans will have multiple ways to follow the action this weekend, starting with live stats (http://bit.ly/2Q87ssj) for all six matches of the Ball State Active Ankle Challenge on BallStateSports.com ... In addition, audio for all three of Ball State's matches in the tournament will be broadcast live on SL Digital (http://mixlr.com/bsusportslink) ... Finally, the Cardinals' matches versus North Dakota State and Indiana will be streamed 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 an 894-588-2 (.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.

• AGAINST THE TOURNAMENT FIELD: Ball State is 22-28 all-time versus teams in the Ball State Active Ankle Challenge ... The Cardinals are 2-3 versus Northern Iowa, dropping three straight to the Panthers ... In the last meeting, UNI scored a 3-1 victory in the USC/Holiday Inn Tournament on Sept. 30, 2003 ... Ball State is 20-25 all-time versus Indiana, dropping the last two meetings ... Saturday's contest will mark just the third between the two in-state rivals since 1996 ... Last season, the Hoosiers opened the year with a 3-0 sweep of the Cardinals on Aug. 25, 2017 ... Ball State and North Dakota State will be playing for the first time in women's volleyball ... A complete series history for each opponent can be found on page four of this release.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
• Northern Iowa enters Friday's match with a 2-4 record after going 0-3 last week ... UNI, which was ranked 17th in the Aug. 27 AVCA Top 25 Poll, fell out of the rankings after suffering a 3-0 home loss to Iowa State on Wednesday and a pair of 3-1 home setbacks to Washington State over the weekend ... The Panthers, who also own wins over then-No. 13 Creighton and then-No. 5 Kentucky this season, are led offensively by Karlie Taylor's 5.09 kills-per-set average ... Rachel Koop has set the UNI attack to a .219 attack percentage and is averaging 11.00 assists-per-set this season ... Kendyl Sorge solidifies the Northern Iowa backcourt with a team-best 4.50 digs-per-set average.

• North Dakota State enters the Ball State Active Ankle Challenge with a 2-5 record after going 1-3 last week ... The Bison went 0-3 at the Diet Coke Classic, being swept at No. 3 Minnesota on Friday before losing to Arkansas (3-1) and Georgia Southern (3-0) Saturday ... In a quick turnaround, NDSU hosted Western Carolina Sunday, pulling out a 3-1 victory to snap a four-match losing streak ... McKenzie Burke leads the North Dakota State offense with a 2.80 kills-per-set average ... Kalli Hegerle has set the offense to a .139 attack percentage, averaging 8.72 assists per set ... Abbi Klos leads the NDSU defense with a 3.72 digs-per-set average.

• Indiana enters the Ball State Active Ankle Challenge with a 4-1 record after going 1-1 last week ... The Hoosiers rebounded from a 3-0 Friday loss at Texas A&M with a hard-fought 3-2 win at Temple Saturday ... Kendall Beerman, whose mother Mary Beth (Singleton) Beerman was a four-year letterwinner for the Ball State women's volleyball program from 1986-89 and whose father Chris Beerman was a four-year letterwinner for the Ball State men's volleyball program from 1987-90, leads the Indiana attack with a 3.89 kills-per-set average ... Victoria Brisack and Abigail Westenhofer have combined to set the IU offense to a .201 attack percentage, averaging 6.22 and 5.71 assists-per-set, respectively ... Bayli Lebo leads the Hoosiers defense with a 3.84 digs-per-set average.

BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL QUICK HITS
• Ball State enters the week leading the Mid-American Conference with a .240 attack percentage ... Junior middle Sydnee VanBeek paces the Cardinals offense, and ranks 10th in the MAC, with a .333 attack percentage.

• 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).

• Ball State finished last Saturday's win over Oral Roberts (Sept. 1) with a .306 (62-17-147) attack percentage, marking the third straight match the Cardinals hit .300-or-better following a .385 (48-11-96) mark versus Marshall (Aug. 25) and the .469 (44-6-81) effort against Grambling State (Aug. 31) ... It marks the first time in the rally scoring era (2001-present) Ball State has finished three consecutive matching hitting above .300.

• During the three-match run, Ball State connected for a .370 (154-34-324) attack percentage, led by redshirt senior middle Meg Starling at .625 (22-2-32) ... Sydnee VanBeek was not far behind, hitting .479 (42-7-73) over the same span, with her 42 kills leading the Cardinals' offense.

• In a career filled with big match performances, Meg Starling has turned in a pair of gems so far this season, connecting for a .727 (8-0-11) attack percentage versus Marshall (Aug. 25) and a .714 (11-1-14) rate of success against Grambling State (Aug. 31) ... Starling is 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).

• Sydnee VanBeek led the offensive charge for the Cardinals at last week's Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational, earning all-tournament honors after blasting 40 total kills and hitting .419 (40-9-74) over the three matches ... She smashed a career-high 20 kills in Saturday's win over Oral Roberts (Sept. 1) and hit .500 (20-2-36) for the match ... In Friday's (Aug. 31) win over Grambling State, VanBeek posted an even more impressive attacking number, connecting for a .579 (13-2-19) rate of success.

• Sydnee VanBeek was also solid on defense at the tournament, leading the Cardinals with 10 total blocks, including a season-high six total blocks (two solo and four assists) against Missouri State ... She also collected 11 digs and turned in a .952 (20-for-21) reception percentage for the weekend.

• Speaking of big defensive performers, junior libero Kate Avila notched double-digit digs in all three matches at the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational to earn all-tournament honors ... She finished the tournament with 51 digs for a 4.64 digs-per-set average ... In addition, she only committed one reception error over the two days to lead Ball State's primary passers with a .977 (42-for-43) reception percentage.

• With her 51 digs last weekend, Kate Avila climbed from 10th to ninth in program history with 1,217 career digs ... She is the third-fastest player in program history to reach 1,000 career digs, doing so in 57 matches ... Avila is also fourth on Ball State's career charts with a 4.56 digs-per-set average, while her 26 matches with 20-or-more digs are fifth and her 64 matches with double-figure digs are seventh.

• Junior setter Amber Seaman helped guide the Ball State offense to a .250 (149-50-395) attack percentage at last weekend's Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational ... She dished out 102 assists over 10 sets to average 10.20 assists per set ... In the tournament opener versus Grambling State, Seaman helped the Ball State offense turn in one of the most dominating efforts in program history, as the Cardinals connected for a .469 (44-6-81) rate of success which is the third-best attack percentage in a match in program history.

• Amber Seaman enters the weekend ranked 11th in program history with 2,302 career assists ... A 2017 All-MAC Honorable Mention, Seaman dished out 1,111 assists last season to become just the 11th Ball State setter to record over 1,000 assists in a season ... In addition, her 10.01 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.

• Senior outside hitter Ellie Dunn continues to pace the Ball State offense with a 3.13 kills-per-set average which also places her sixth among all MAC attackers ... Dunn has registered double-digit kills in five of Ball State's six matches this season, including a season-high 17 in the season opener versus South Alabama (Aug. 24) ... Dunn has also picked up her game on defense this season, collecting double-figure digs in four matches to earn her first four career double-doubles.

• 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 ... Its 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.

• Ball State's 15 total blocks versus Missouri State (Sept. 1) were the most for the Cardinals in a match since the team recorded 17 exactly one year earlier in a 3-1 home win versus Bradley on Sept. 1, 2017 ... In addition, the team's eight solo blocks against the Bears were the most in a match since producing nine in a 3-2 win at Western Michigan on Sept. 26, 2014.

• Junior defensive specialist Anna Jensen enters the weekend leading the team and ranked 10th in the MAC with a 0.33 aces-per-set average ... She has served up at least one ace in all five matches she has played this season ... Jensen has also helped solidify the Ball State backcourt, logging double-digit digs in three matches, including a season-high 11 versus both Oral Roberts (Sept. 1) and at Missouri State (Sept 1).

• In April, Ball State assistant coach Tiffany Fisher was named one of the American Volleyball Coaches Association's 2018 Thirty Under 30 Award winners ... The 28-year-old Fisher was one of only 12 NCAA Division I coaches to make the list which honors up-and-coming coaching talent at all levels of the sport ... She is also the only MAC representative ... The Cardinals will face another member from that list this weekend in North Dakota State head coach Jennifer Lopez.

• Tiffany Fisher is not the only AVCA Thirty Under 30 Award winner on Ball State's staff, as Kelli Miller earned the honor in 2016, just prior to being named head coach of the Cardinals ... At the time, Miller was also one of only 12 NCAA Division I coaches to make the list and the only MAC representative.

• The Ball State women's volleyball program was one of a record 973 teams to earn the AVCA Team Academic Award for the 2017-18 season ... The Cardinals finished the academic year with a 3.55 GPA led by a perfect 4.0 mark from redshirt senior middle/opposite Avery Devoe... In addition, Kate Avila and sophomore setter Ali Finch tallied 4.0 GPAs for the fall semester and Amber Seaman tallied a 4.0 GPA during the spring semester.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kate Avila

Avery Devoe

Ellie Dunn

Ali Finch

Anna Jensen

Amber Seaman

Meg Starling

Sydnee VanBeek