WVB Hosts Active Ankle Challenge Friday & Saturday

Match 10 - Ball State hosts Austin Peay
Friday, Sept. 20 - 7 p.m. (Muncie, Ind. / Worthen Arena)
SL Digital Audio | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateWVB)
PROMOTIONS: Kids Club Night (25% off Charlie Kids Club Memberships) - prematch ballon artist, face painting, exclusive Kids Club prematch court access, and more!

Match 11 - Ball State hosts Wright State
Saturday, Sept. 21 - Noon (Muncie, Ind. / Worthen Arena)
WXFN Audio | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateWVB)
PROMOTIONS: Pediatric Cancer Awareness Day

Match 12 - Ball State hosts Missouri State
Saturday, Sept. 21 - 7 p.m. (Muncie, Ind. / Worthen Arena)
ESPN+ | SL Digital Audio | Live Stats | Social Media (@BallStateWVB)
PROMOTIONS: National Dance Day

• THE WEEK AHEAD: After playing its last seven matches on the road, the Ball State women's volleyball team returns to Worthen Arena this weekend for the Active Ankle Challenge ... The Cardinals open with Austin Peay Friday at 7 p.m. ... Saturday, Ball State will face Wright State (Noon) and Missouri State (7 p.m.).

• LISTEN LIVE: Ball State Sports Link will cover all three of Ball State's matches LIVE this weekend ... Friday's match versus Austin Peay and Saturday's evening match against Missouri State will be carried on SL's Mixlr home ... Saturday's contest against Wright State will be carried live on Muncie's Sports Station 102.9 FM and WXFN 1340 AM and also be broadcast live online at WXFN.com.

• WATCHESPN: Saturday's night match versus Missouri State will also be broadcast live on ESPN+ ... It will be the Cardinals second of five matches carried live on ESPN+ ... Ball State will also have a pair of home matches carried live on ESPN3.

• MORE WAYS TO FOLLOW: 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.

• SERIES VS. AUSTIN PEAY: Ball State is 2-0 all-time versus Austin Peay, winning neutral site matches on Sept. 4, 1999 by a score of 3-1 (8-15, 15-9, 15-9, 16-14) and Aug. 30, 2013 by a score of 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 26-24).

• SERIES VS. WRIGHT STATE: Ball State is 13-7 all-time against Wright State, winning the latest meeting by a score of 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-16) in the 2012 Ball State Tournament in Worthen Arena ... The Cardinals hold a 9-1 edge in matches played in Muncie, including five straight wins dating back to the 1981 season.

• SERIES VS. MISSOURI STATE: Missouri State holds a 3-1 edge in the all-time series, including a 3-1 (25-21, 25-17, 21-25, 25-17) victory late season in Springfield, Missouri ... This will be the first time the Cardinals have hosted the Bears.

BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL QUICK HITS
• Ball State boasts a 916-601-2 (.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).

• Austin Peay, which was picked to finished second in the Ohio Valley Conference after winning-back-to-back OVC regular season championships, has three local products on its roster ... Senior MiMi Arrington and freshman Tegan Seyring both graduated from Yorktown, while junior Chloe Stitt graduated from Delta.

• Wright State, which enters the week with an 8-1 record including a win over Notre Dame, features some Indiana talent as well ... Junior Nyssa Baker (Fort Wayne Snider), junior Teddie Sauer (Concordia Lutheran) and sophomore Ellee Ruskaup (Carroll) are from Fort Wayne, while junior Abigail Barcus (Jay Country) is from Portland.

• Missouri State's local connection is Ball State assistant coach Fritz Rosenberg who spent three seasons (2011-13) as an assistant coach for the Bears.

• After missing the second week of the season, senior Sydnee VanBeek returned to the Ball State lineup with a vengeance in last Friday's win at Northern Kentucky, coming off the bench in the second set and finishing the night with eight kills, a .353 (8-2-17) attack percentage and a team-high eight total blocks ... VanBeek turned in another solid day last Saturday, registering five blocks versus both Cincinnati and Notre Dame ... She also finished the day with 15 total kills ... VanBeek averaged 1.77 kills and 1.38 blocks per set, while hitting .275 to earn NKU Invitational All-Tournament Team honors.

• Sydnee VanBeek enters the week with a team-best 1.29 blocks-per-set average, logging four solo blocks and 18 block assists over 17 sets this season ... With her 10 total blocks last Saturday, VanBeek raised her career total to 258 and broke into the top 20 in program history, passing Elaina Kakatolis' (2006-09) career total of 249 ... In addition, VanBeek's 41 career solo blocks are 11 shy of the top 20, while her 217 career block assists are three shy of 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 77.9 percent of the team's kills (357 of 458), 66.3 percent of the team's blocks (67 of 101), 61.8 percent of the team's aces (21 of 34) and 59.9 percent of the team's digs (311 of 519) so far this season.

• Freshman Natalie Risi was named to the Gonzaga Invitational All-Tournament Team after leading the Cardinals with 35 kills and a 3.18 kills-per-set average during the tournament ... She also ranked second on the team with a 2.73 digs-per-set average for the event ... Risi was credited with her first career double-double in the win over Grand Canyon (Sept. 6), leading the offense with 17 kills while ranking second on the defense with 14 digs.

• Leading the way in digs versus Grand Canyon (Sept. 6) was senior libero Kate Avila with a season-high 31 ... It's the sixth time in her career Avila has registered 30-or-more digs in a match ... Avila's 31 digs also tie as the fifth-best single match total in the MAC so far this season.

• Kate Avila has played all 400 sets over her collegiate career, including the last 396 as Ball State's libero ... She enters Friday's match versus Austin Peay with 1,820 career digs to rank fourth in program history ... In addition, Avila's 4.55 career digs-per-set average is fourth on BSU's all-time list, while her 97 matches with double-figure digs are tied for third.

• With her 1,820 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 454 more digs to pass the current record of 2,273 ... 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.

• Senior Amber Seaman has already established herself as one of the top setters in program history ... Both her 3,477 career assists and 10.05 career assists-per-set average rank sixth on Ball State's career charts ... Seaman, whose 1,223 assists last season were the 12th-best single season total in program history, 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 10th in program history with 117 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 opposite Allison Hamaker has been a big spark for the Ball State offense of late, including leading the Ball State offense with 34 kills at last weekend NKU Invitational ... She started with an 11-kill performance in the come-from-behind win at Northern Kentucky (Sept. 13) ... Hamaker blasted 15 kills in the near upset of Cincinnati (Sept. 14) and finished the event with eight kills versus Notre Dame (Sept. 14).

• Freshman Marie Plitt has also played a big role in the middle for the Cardinals, ranking second on the team with 20 total blocks, including a team-high seven solo stuffs ... The sister of Ball State football starting quarterback Drew Plitt, she is also fourth on the squad with 52 kills, including a career-high 11 in the win over Grand Canyon (Sept. 6).

• 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.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kate Avila

Esther Grussing

Allison Hamaker

Maggie Huber

MyKel Ivy

Natalie Mitchem

Marie Plitt

Natalie Risi

Amber Seaman

Sydnee VanBeek