Volleyball Travels To Ohio & Kent State This Weekend

Match 19 - Ball State (10-8; 4-2 MAC) at Ohio (12-7; 4-2 MAC)
Friday, Oct. 18 - 7 p.m. (Athens, Ohio / Convocation Center)
ESPN3 | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateWVB)

Match 20 - Ball State (10-8; 4-2 MAC) at Kent State (8-10; 1-5 MAC)
Saturday, Oct. 19 - 5 p.m. (Kent, Ohio / M.A.C. Center)
ESPN+ | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateWVB)

• THE WEEK AHEAD: The Ball State women's volleyball program closes the first half of its 2019 Mid-American Conference schedule this weekend when it travels to Ohio Friday (7 p.m.) and Kent State Saturday (5 p.m.) ... After this weekend, the Cardinals will have played six of its first eight MAC matches on the road, the most of any team in the league this season.

• BALL STATE ON ESPN: Both of this weekend's matches will be streamed live on ESPN platforms, with Friday's match at Ohio on ESPN3 and Saturday's contest at Kent State on ESPN+ ... So far this season, the Cardinals have had five matches streamed on ESPN3 or ESPN+, going 3-2 in those matches ... Overall, Ball State is scheduled to play seven matches on ESPN+ and four on ESPN3 this season.

• MORE WAYS TO FOLLOW: 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 OHIO: The Bobcats enter the weekend with a 12-7 (4-2 MAC) record ... Ohio is currently on a two-match winning streak after picking up road victories at both Akron (3-1) and Buffalo (3-2) last weekend ... The Bobcats rank second in the MAC with a .221 team attack percentage, while averaging 13.17 kills per set which is fourth in the conference ... On defense, Ohio ranks second in the league with a 2.07 blocks-per-set average, but is ninth in digs per set (15.29) and 10th in opponent attack percentage (.218) ... Individually, Tia Jimerson leads the MAC in attack percentage (.401) and blocks per set (1.33), plus is fourth in kills per set (3.31) ... Lizzie Stephens averages a league-best 0.48 aces per set, while Vera Giacomazzi has a MAC-high 11.24 assists-per-set average.

• SERIES VS. OHIO: Ball State holds a 36-19 lead in the all-time series versus Ohio, including a pair of wins last season ... The Cardinals earned a 3-1 (25-20, 28-26, 20-25, 25-18) victory in an Oct. 12 regular season meeting in Muncie, as well as a 3-2 (25-14, 23-25, 25-23, 22-25, 15-12) win in the quarterfinals of the MAC Volleyball Championship in Oxford, Ohio ... The Cardinals are 17-7 all-time in Athens, but have not won a road match in the series since 2013.

• SCOUTING KENT STATE: The Golden Flashes enter the weekend with an 8-10 (1-5 MAC) record ... Kent State picked up its first league win of the season last Friday at Buffalo (3-0), before falling at MAC East Division leader Akron (3-1) ... KSU is seventh in the MAC with a .215 attack percentage, while ranking second in kills per set at 13.38 ... On defense, Kent State leads the league with an 18.76 digs-per-set average and is fifth in opponent hitting percentage at .201 ... Individually, Erin Gardner leads the league with a 5.79 digs-per-set average, while Danie Tyson is 10th in the MAC with a .325 attack percentage.

• SERIES VS. KENT STATE: Ball State holds a commanding 41-14 lead in the all-time series, including back-to-back wins ... Last season, the Cardinals scored a 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-18) victory in Muncie on Oct. 13 ... BSU also earned a 3-1 (25-19, 17-25, 25-19, 27-25) win in its last trip to Kent State on Oct. 13, 2017 ... Ball State is 16-7 all-time in matches played in Kent, Ohio.

BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL QUICK HITS
• Ball State boasts a 922-604-2 (.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 385-196 (.663) all-time record in MAC play ... The only program with a better all-time league mark is Western Michigan at 386-195 (.664) ... Ohio is fifth all-time based on winning percentage at 328-253 (.565), while Kent State is 10th at 211-370 (.363).

• With home wins over Northern Illinois (Oct. 4) and Western Michigan (Oct. 5), 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 Ohio ranked fifth on Ball State's career charts with 3,782 assists ... Seaman, who also ranks sixth with a 10.01 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 sixth in program history with 130 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) ... 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 the 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 had a strong week of her own against NIU (Oct. 4) and WMU (Oct. 5), 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) ... In Friday's sweep of the Huskies, 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 the four-set win over the Broncos.

• 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 184 kills and a 2.97 kills-per-set average over the last 16 matches ... Her .276 (184-59-453) attack percentage is second among the team's attackers during the span, while she has also collected 41 digs and 21 total blocks ... She is also tied for the team lead with double digit kills in nine matches this season.

• Sydnee VanBeek enters the week ranked fourth in the MAC with a 1.10 blocks-per-set average ... She has accumulated 57 total blocks this season, including 13 solo blocks which are tied for third in the league ... VanBeek enters the week ranked 15th in program history with 293 total blocks ... In addition, her 243 career block assists are tied for 14th on Ball State's all-time charts, while her 50 career solo blocks are two shy of breaking into the top 20.

• On offense, Sydnee VanBeek enters the week as Ball State's active career kills leader at 725 ... She had her best offensive week of the season last week, smashing a season-high 13 kills at Central Michigan (Oct. 11), only to better the mark with 19 kills at Eastern Michigan (Oct. 12) ... For the weekend, VanBeek averaged 3.56 kills per set and hit a team-high .300 (32-11-70).

• 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 76.7 percent of the team's kills (719 of 937), 61.8 percent of the team's blocks (116 of 194), 60.1 percent of the team's digs (684 of 1138), 59.8 percent of the team's aces (52 of 87) and 38.7 percent of the team's assists (335 of 866) this season.

• With double-figure digs in both matches last weekend, senior libero Kate Avila has now collected 10-or-more digs in a program-record 104 career matches ... The previous record was 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 41 career matches, which ranks fourth in program history ... The program record is 49 by Alyssa Rio (2007-2010).

• Kate Avila has played all 435 sets over her collegiate career, including the last 431 as Ball State's libero ... Only 12 players in program history have played in more sets than Avila, who enters Friday's match at Ohio with 1,966 career digs to rank fourth in program history ... In addition, Avila's 4.52 career digs-per-set average is fourth on BSU's all-time list.

• With her 1,966 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 308 more digs to pass the current record of 2,273 ... Averaging 4.15 digs per set this season, Avila would need to play in 74 more sets to pass the total ... 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.

Volleyball Travels To Ohio & Kent State This Weekend

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kate Avila

Esther Grussing

Allison Hamaker

MyKel Ivy

Natalie Mitchem

Marie Plitt

Chloe Rickenbach

Natalie Risi

Amber Seaman

Sydnee VanBeek