Ball State University
Northern Illinois
Volleyball Returns to Worthen For Weekend #MACtion
October 03, 2019 | Women's Volleyball
Match 15 - Ball State (7-7; 1-1 MAC) hosts Northern Illinois (4-12; 1-1 MAC)
Friday, Oct. 4 - 7 p.m. (Muncie, Ind. / Worthen Arena)
Live Video  | SL Digital Audio  |  Live Stats  |  Social Media (@BallStateWVB)
PROMOTIONS: Muncie/Family Fun Friday & National Taco Day (fans can pick up a voucher at the 3 p.m. Ball State field hockey game for a FREE WALKING TACO at the women's volleyball match - supplies are limited)
Match 16Â - Ball State (7-7; 1-1Â MAC) hosts Western Michigan (10-4; 1-1Â MAC)
Saturday, Oct. 5 - 7 p.m. (Muncie, Ind. / Worthen Arena)
ESPN3 |  Live Stats  |  Social Media (@BallStateWVB)
PROMOTIONS: Volleyball Camper Night (If you attended a Ball State women's volleyball camp this past spring or summer, and are currently 13-or-under, you will receive FREE ADMISSION ... If you are a previous camper aged 14-or-older, you can purchase a discounted ticket for just $3)
• THE WEEK AHEAD: The Ball State women's volleyball team continues Mid-American Conference play this weekend when it hosts Northern Illinois (Friday) and Western Michigan (Saturday) at Worthen Arena ... Both matches are set for 7 p.m. first serves.
• TACO FRIDAY: The Cardinals are doing their part to celebrate not only Muncie/Family Friday but also National Taco Day by giving fans an opportunity to receive a FREE WALKING TACO ... Fans can pick up a voucher for a free walking taco at Friday's field hockey game versus Kent State (3 p.m. at the Briner Sports Complex) and trade it in at Friday's volleyball match versus the Huskies ... Supplies are limited, so make sure you head over to field hockey early Friday afternoon.
• BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL CAMPER NIGHT SATURDAY: If you attended a Ball State women's volleyball camp this past spring or summer, and are currently 13-or-under, you will receive FREE ADMISSION to Saturday's match versus Western Michigan ... If you are a previous camper aged 14-or-older, you can purchase a discounted ticket for just $3.
• WATCHESPN: Saturday's match versus Western Michigan will be carried live on ESPN3, marking the fourth match to be carried on the ESPN family of networks so far in 2019 ... The Cardinals are 2-1 in ESPN+ matches this season, including a sweep at Toledo last Thursday ... Overall, Ball State is scheduled to play seven matches on ESPN+ and four on ESPN3 this season.
• MORE WAYS TO FOLLOW: Friday's match versus Northern Illinois will be streamed for free on Ball State All-Access, while Sports Link Digital will provide an audio broadcast for the contest on its Mixlr channel ... Fans can also follow along with live stats for both matches ... 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 NIU: The Huskies enter the week with a 4-12 (1-1 MAC) record ... NIU opened league play with a 3-1 loss at Central Michigan last Friday, before rebounding with a 3-1 win at Eastern Michigan last Saturday ... The Huskies have struggled on both offense and defense this season, ranking last in the league in both attack percentage (.175) and opponent's attack percentage (.301) ... Kennedy Wallace leads the team with a 2.81 kills-per-set average, while Miranda Karlen has a team-best 3.97 digs-per-set mark.
• SERIES VS. NIU: Northern Illinois holds a 36-32 edge in the all-time series after the team's split a pair of regular season meetings last year ... NIU won on its home court by a score of 3-1 on Sept. 22, while the Cardinals scored a 3-0 win at home on Oct. 26 ... Ball State is 17-10 all-time versus NIU in Muncie.
• SCOUTING WMU: The Broncos enter the week with a 10-4 (1-1 MAC) record ... WMU opened league play by sweeping Eastern Michigan last Friday, before being swept by Central Michigan last Saturday ... The Broncos rank third in the MAC with a .224 attack percentage, and are fourth in opponent's attack percentage at .194 ... WMU's Rachel Bontrager leads the MAC with a 3.78 kills-per-set average, while Kathleen Reilly is fourth in the league with a 5.07 digs-per-set mark.
• SERIES VS. WMU: The Cardinals hold a 48-47 edge all-time against WMU after winning both regular season meetings last season ... BSU earned a 3-1 win on the road Sept. 21, before sweeping the Broncos at home Oct. 27 ... Ball State has won the last three meetings in Worthen Arena and holds a 26-15 edge in matches played in Muncie.
BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL QUICK HITS
• Ball State boasts a 919-603-2 (.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 382-195 (.662) all-time record in MAC play ... The only program with a better all-time league mark is Saturday's opponent Western Michigan at 385-192 (.667) ... Friday's opponent Northern Illinois is third all-time based on winning percentage at 270-156 (.634).
• The Cardinals enter Friday's match versus Northern Illinois with a 271-85 (.761) all-time record in Worthen Arena, including a 195-49 (.799) mark versus MAC foes ... Ball State went 8-0 at home versus league opponents last season, and has won 10 straight MAC matches at home dating back to the 2017 season ... The Cardinals own a 15-7 (.682) mark versus NIU in Worthen Arena, as well as a 21-7 (.750) edge against Western Michigan.
• 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 versus Northern Illinois ranked fifth on Ball State's career charts with 3647 assists ... Seaman, who also ranks sixth with a 9.99 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 ninth in program history with 122 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.
• Freshman outside hitter Natalie Risi had a strong start to MAC play, leading the Ball State offense with 23 kills and a 2.88 kills-per-set average last week ... She also ranked second on the Cardinals defense with a 3.25 digs-per-set average ... In her MAC debut at Toledo (Sept. 26), Risi tied for team high honors in both kills (9) and digs (17) ... Two days later at Akron (Sept. 28), Risi paced the Ball State offense with 14 kills and chipped in nine digs.
• 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 130 kills and a 2.83 kill-per-set average over the last 12 matches ... Her .251 (130-46-335) attack percentage is third among the team's attackers during the span, while she has also collected 21 digs and 16 total blocks ... She also leads Ball State with double digit kills in seven matches this season.
• Sydnee VanBeek enters the second week of MAC play leading the league with a 1.17 blocks-per-set average ... She has accumulated 42 total blocks, including 12 solo blocks which ranks second in the league ... VanBeek enters the week ranked 16th in program history with 278 total blocks, moving up one spot from the previous week ... In addition, her 229 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 career-best 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.
• Adding to the freshman fun in the win over Grand Canyon (Sept. 6) was defensive specialist Maggie Huber with 13 digs ... While she is not part of the same recruiting class, redshirt freshman setter Esther Grussing saw action in all five sets, starting the last three ... She handed out a career-high 51 assists while collecting 14 digs for her first career double-double ... Grussing was also credited with a kill and three total blocks, including a huge solo stuff to end the fourth set, at 36-34, in Ball State's favor.
• Including redshirt freshman Esther Grussing, Ball State's freshmen have accounted for 77.1 percent of the team's kills (546 of 708), 62.3 percent of the team's blocks (96 of 154), 62.3 percent of the team's aces (43 of 69), 58.3 percent of the team's digs (493 of 845) and 40.5 percent of the team's assists (266 of 656) this season.
• With a season-high 31 digs versus both Grand Canyon (Sept. 6) and Wright State (Sept. 21), senior libero Kate Avila has now registered 30-or-more digs in a match seven times over her career ... This past Saturday at Akron (Sept. 28), Avila collected 17 digs for her 100th career match with double-figure digs ... The program record for matches with double-figure digs is currently 101 set by Stephanie Keller (2001-04) and later tied by Catie Fredrich (2010-13).
• Kate Avila has played all 419 sets over her collegiate career, including the last 415 as Ball State's libero ... She enters Friday's match versus Northern Illinois with 1,900 career digs to rank fourth in program history ... In addition, Avila's 4.53 career digs-per-set average is fourth on BSU's all-time list, while her 39 matches with 20-or-more digs are fourth.
• With her 1,900 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 374 more digs to pass the current record of 2,273 ... The Cardinals are guaranteed at least 14 more regular season matches, meaning Avila would need to average 26.71 digs per match to pass the total before the MAC Volleyball Championships ... 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.
• Over the last two weeks, Ball State has vastly improved its service game, averaging 1.84 ace per set over the last five matches ... Over the first nine matches, BSU averaged just 0.94 aces per set.
• 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.
