Volleyball's MAC West Leaders Clash Friday in Mount Pleasant

Friday, October 11

Mount Pleasant, MI

6:00 PM

Ball State University

Central Michigan

Photo by: Ball State University Creative Services

Volleyball's MAC West Leaders Clash Friday in Mount Pleasant

October 10, 2019 | Women's Volleyball

Match Notes: CMU & EMU

Match 17 - Ball State (9-7; 3-1 MAC) at Central Michigan (14-2; 4-0 MAC)
Friday, Oct. 11 - 6 p.m. (Mount Pleasant, Mich. / McGuirk Arena)
ESPN3 | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateWVB)

Match 18 - Ball State (9-7; 3-1 MAC) at Eastern Michigan (6-10; 1-3 MAC)
Saturday, Oct. 12 - 8 p.m. (Ypsilanti, Mich. / Convocation Center)
EMU All-Access Video | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateWVB)

• THE WEEK AHEAD: The top two teams in the Mid-American Conference West Division square off Friday, when the Ball State women's volleyball team visits Central Michigan for a 6 p.m. first serve at McGuirk Arena ... Saturday, the Cardinals travel to Eastern Michigan to take on the defending MAC Tournament Champions in an 8 p.m. first serve.

• WATCHESPN: Friday's match at Central Michigan will be carried live on ESPN3 ... It will be Ball State's fifth match carried on the ESPN family of networks this season ... The Cardinals are 3-1 in the previous four matches broadcast on ESPN platforms this season, including a 3-1 win over Western Michigan in its ESPN3 debut last Saturday ... Overall, Ball State is scheduled to play seven matches on ESPN+ and four on ESPN3 this season.

• MORE WAYS TO FOLLOW: Saturday's match at Eastern Michigan will be streamed live on EMU All-Access (PPV - $6.95) ... In addition, fans can follow along with live stats for both matches courtesy of the home institutions ... 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.

• SCOUTING CMU: The Chippewas enter the week with a 14-2 (4-0 MAC) record ... CMU has won nine straight matches, including victories over Eastern Michigan (3-1) and Kent State (3-1) last week ... Central Michigan enters the weekend leading the league with a 13.48 kills-per-set average and is sixth with a .219 team attack percentage ... On defense, CMU is holding opponents to a league-low .151 attack percentage and ranks third in digs (16.79) and sixth in blocks (1.84) per set ... Individually, Kalina Smith leads the team and is third in the league at 3.57 kills per set, while Megan Kern is fourth in the MAC at 5.19 digs per set.

• SERIES VS. CMU: Ball State holds a 47-33 lead in the all-time series versus Central Michigan, including a 20-15 edge in matches played in Mount Pleasant ... Last season, the clubs split the regular season series with each winning at home ... The Cardinals scored a 3-0 (25-17, 27-25, 25-23) victory Sept. 29, while the Chippewas picked up a 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-23) win Nov. 2.

• SCOUTING EMU: The Eagles enter the week with a 6-10 (1-3 MAC) record ... EMU snapped a four-match losing streak with a 3-1 victory over Ohio last Saturday ... Eastern Michigan enters the weekend ranked fifth in the MAC with a 12.36 kills-per-set average, while its .212 attack percentage is eighth ... Defensively, the Eagles lead the MAC with a 2.21 blocks-per-set average and are ninth with a .216 opponents attack percentage ... Individually, Franki Strefling and Cassie Haut are tied for fifth among league players with 3.25 kills-per-set averages, and Haut also ranks seventh at 1.02 blocks per set ... In the backcourt, Camille Schomer is eighth with a 4.19 digs-per-set average.

• SERIES VS. EMU: The Cardinals hold a 55-27 lead in the all-time series versus Eastern Michigan, including a 20-17 edge in Ypsilanti ... Last season, the teams split the regular season series with each winning at home ... The Cardinals scored a 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-20) victory Sept. 28, while the Eagles snapped a five-match losing streak to BSU with a 3-2 (25-17, 25-17, 23-25, 17-25, 15-9) win Nov. 3.

BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL QUICK HITS
• Ball State boasts a 921-603-2 (.604) all-time record in women's volleyball in its 48th season of play ... The Cardinals have won nine MAC West Division Championships, eight MAC Regular Season Championships, six MAC Tournament Championships, made eight appearances in the NCAA Tournament and earned one bid into the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC).

• Ball State enters the weekend with a 384-195 (.663) all-time record in MAC play ... The only program with a better all-time league mark is Western Michigan at 386-193 (.667) ... Friday's opponent Central Michigan is seventh all-time based on winning percentage at 286-293 (.494), while Eastern Michigan is eighth at 256-323 (.442).

• With a pair of home wins last weekend, Ball State improved to 273-85 (.763) all-time in Worthen Arena, including a 197-49 (.801) mark versus MAC foes ... The Cardinals have won 12 straight MAC matches at home dating back to the 2017 season ... Ball State has a ways to go, however, to match its longest MAC winning streak in Worthen Arena which was 57 matches from Nov. 18, 1997 to Sept. 27, 2003 ... The streak included the Cardinals winning both the 1999 and 2002 MAC Tournaments on its home court.

• Ball State senior setter Amber Seaman is one of 30 candidates nationally for the 2019 Senior CLASS Award in collegiate volleyball ... To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition ... An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

• Amber Seaman, the reigning MAC Setter of the Year, has already established herself as one of the top setters in program history ... She enters Friday's match at Central Michigan ranked fifth on Ball State's career charts with 3,738 assists ... Seaman, who also ranks sixth with a 10.05 career assist-per-set average, is currently on pace to become only the fifth Cardinal to hand out over 4,000 career assists.

• Amber Seaman has also gotten things done from behind the service line over her career, ranking eighth in program history with 127 aces ... Seaman, who served up 51 aces last season, joins Emily Sallee (1997-2000) and Brittany McGinnis (2008-11) as the only three players to reach 3,000 career assists and 100 career aces in a Ball State uniform.

• For the first time this season, and the sixth time in her career, Amber Seaman was named the MAC West Division Setter of the Week after guiding Ball State to a wins over Northern Illinois (Oct. 4) and Western Michigan (Oct. 5) last weekend ... The Cardinals hit a combined .284 (113-31-289) over the two wins, starting with a season-best .387 (50-9-106) rate of success in a sweep of the Huskies ... She followed by guiding the team to a .224 (63-22-183) hitting mark in Saturday's victory over the Broncos ... Overall, Seaman averaged 13.00 assists per set and had the offense connecting for 16.14 kills per set ... She also served up five of the team's eight aces and averaged 1.57 digs per set.

• Freshman opposite Allison Hamaker has a strong week of her own, earning her second career MAC West Division Player of the Week honor after blasting 4.00 kills per set and hitting an astonishing .468 (28-6-47) last week ... In Friday's sweep of NIU, she smashed nine kills and hit .412 (9-2-17) ... She followed with a career-high 19 kills and connected at a .500 (19-4-30) clip in Saturday's four-set win over Western Michigan.

• Since making her collegiate debut at then-No. 18 Purdue, freshman opposite Allison Hamaker has been a mainstay in the Ball State rotation, leading the team with 158 kills and a 2.98 kill-per-set average over the last 14 matches ... Her .277 (158-52-382) attack percentage is second among the team's attackers during the span, while she has also collected 23 digs and 18 total blocks ... She is also tied for the team lead with double digit kills in eight matches this season.

• Sydnee VanBeek enters the week ranked fifth in the MAC with a 1.05 blocks-per-set average ... She has accumulated 45 total blocks this season, including 12 solo blocks which rank second in the league ... VanBeek enters the week ranked 16th in program history with 281 total blocks ... In addition, her 232 career block assists are 17th on Ball State's all-time charts, while her 49 career solo blocks are three shy of breaking into the top 20.

• Outside attacker Natalie Mitchem joined elite company in the Aug. 30 match versus USF, becoming only the fourth Ball State player in the rally scoring era (2001-present) to register 20-or-more kills in a match as a freshman ... The last player to accomplish the feat was Julie Breivogel (2006-09) with 24 kills versus Toledo on Sept. 28, 2006 ... Before that, it was Kelly Cochran (2003-06) on Nov. 7, 2003 with 20 kills at Toledo ... Ball State's all-time career kills leader Sarah Obras (2002-05) smashed 20-or-more kills in nine matches her freshman season (2002) on her way to 1,975 career kills.

• Recognized by PrepVolleyball.com as one of the top 55 recruiting classes in the nation, earning "Highest Honorable Mention" accolades, Ball State's 2019 freshman class did something no other class in program history has accomplished in the Sept. 6 win over Grand Canyon ... Five members of the class smashed double digit kills, marking the first time the Cardinals have had five players score double figure kills in the same match since Oct. 15, 2016 vs. Ohio and the first time five members of the same class have accomplished the feat in program history ... Outside Natalie Risi led the way with a career-high 17 kills, while opposite Allison Hamaker was right behind with a 16 ... Outside Natalie Mitchem collected 14 kills, while middles Marie Plitt and MyKel Ivy finished the night with career highs of 11 and 10, respectively.

• Including redshirt freshman Esther Grussing, Ball State's freshmen have accounted for 78.0 percent of the team's kills (640 of 821), 61.8 percent of the team's blocks (102 of 165), 59.2 percent of the team's digs (579 of 978), 58.4 percent of the team's aces (45 of 77) and 35.2 percent of the team's assists (269 of 656) this season.

• With double-figure digs in both matches last weekend, senior libero Kate Avila became the program's all-time leader in the category ... She has now collected 10-or-more digs in 102 career matches, passing the previous record of 101 set by Stephanie Keller (2001-04) and later tied by Catie Fredrich (2010-13) ... In addition, Avila has collected 20-or-more digs in 40 career matches, which ranks fourth in program history ... The program record is 49 by Alyssa Rio (2007-2010).

• Kate Avila has played all 426 sets over her collegiate career, including the last 422 as Ball State's libero ... She enters Friday's match at Central Michigan with 1,934 career digs to rank fourth in program history ... In addition, Avila's 4.54 career digs-per-set average is fourth on BSU's all-time list.

• With her 1,934 career digs entering the week, Kate Avila has a chance to become the program's all-time career digs leader by the end of the season ... She needs just 340 more digs to pass the current record of 2,273 ... The Cardinals are guaranteed 12 more regular season matches, meaning Avila would need to average 28.25 digs per match to pass the total before the MAC Volleyball Championship ... Interestingly enough, she has the old record holder to thank for her defensive prowess as Stephanie Keller (2001-04) was Avila's high school coach at Yorktown.

• Freshman Chloe Rickenbach turned in an impressive performance from behind the service line versus Missouri State (Sept. 21), serving up a career-high six aces ... It's the highest total for a Ball State player since Amber Seaman served up six aces versus Ohio on Oct. 12, 2018 ... In the 48-year history of the program, a Cardinal has served up six-or-more aces just 35 times.

• The two-time defending MAC West Division champions, Ball State received 10 of the 12 first-place votes and 68 total points to three-peat as the divisional champions in the league's annual preseason poll ... Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan each received one first place vote and were selected second (57) and third (43), respectively ... Central Michigan (39), Northern Illinois (24) and Toledo (21) round out the division.