Ball State University
Akron
WVB Is Back... Cardinals Start Title Defense Friday
January 21, 2021 | Women's Volleyball
| Ball State (0-0, 0-0 MAC) hosts Akron (0-0, 0-0 MAC) | |
| Match 1 | Friday, Jan. 22 at 6 p.m. ET |
| Match 2 | Saturday, Jan. 23 at 6 p.m. ET |
| Location | Worthen Arena - Muncie, Ind. |
| ESPN+ | Friday Link (Jack McMullen / Katie Tomasic) | Saturday Link (Joel Godett / Katie Tomasic) |
| SL Digital Radio | Friday Link (Ryan Klimcak / Charlie Maurer) | Saturday Link (Ryan Klimcak / Lexi Eblen) |
| Tickets | NONE AVAILABLE |
| Game Notes | Ball State | Akron |
| Live Stats | Live Stats |
| Social Media | Twitter | Instagram |
THE WEEK AHEAD: The 49th season of Ball State women's volleyball will be unlike any other, with the Cardinals opening the delayed 2020 season Friday, Jan. 22, 2021 with the first of two consecutive matches versus Akron ... Ball State will battle the Zips on Friday and Saturday at 6 p.m. inside Worthen Arena.
HOW TO FOLLOW: Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 global pandemic and resulting county health department guidance, general public attendance at Ball State women's volleyball matches is currently prohibited ... Fans can watch both of this weekend's matches on ESPN+ or can listen to both contests via Sports Link Digital ... Live stats will also be available ... Links for all options to follow can be found above or on the women's volleyball schedule page as they become available:
HOW THE 2020-21 SPRING SEASON CAME ABOUT:Â
• On Aug. 8, 2020, the Mid-American Conference announced the postponement of all scheduled fall contests, as well as all MAC championships, due to continuing concerns related to the COVID-19 global pandemic ... On Sept. 21, 2020, the NCAA Division I Council approved moving all fall championships to the spring and set the spring women's volleyball start date for Jan. 22, with the regular season concluding April 3.
• On Oct. 12, 2020, the MAC announced the spring operational plan for women's volleyball which will see the teams compete in 22 conference matches in a double round robin format over a 10-week period between Jan. 22, 2021 and March 27, 2021 ... Teams will face the same opponent twice in one weekend at one site ... Travel partners, in Ball State's case Miami, will play midweek during the last two weeks of the "regular season".
• In addition, the league announced the MAC Tournament will be a four-team event and take place April 2-3, 2021, at the site of the highest seed (best overall conference record) to determine the league's automatic qualifier into the now 48-team NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship.
• The 48-team NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship will begin with the selection show on April 4, 2021 ... The champion from each of the 32 Division I conferences will earn an automatic berth into the tournament, while 16 teams will earn an at-large bid ... The semifinals and championship match of the tournament will be played at the CHI Health Center Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska, on April 22 and April 24, 2021.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEKEND:
• The Cardinals enter their 49th season of play with a 25-23 record in season-opening matches ... Ball State has won its last two season openers, including a 3-0 (31-29, 25-23, 25-20) victory over UAB (Aug. 30) last season at Worthen Arena.
• Ball State's coaching staff will look a little different the first couple weeks of the season as head coach Kelli Miller Phillips is on maternity leave after the birth of her daughter, Marlee Mae, on Jan. 6 ... Fritz Rosenberg will take over as the acting head coach during her absence ... Rosenberg enters his seventh season as an assistant for the Cardinals, two under retired head coach Steve Shondell and entering his fifth under Phillips ... Overall, he has helped lead the Cardinals to a 106-81 record, including a 62-34 mark in MAC play ... His expertise has helped lead Ball State to three MAC West Division championships (2017, 2018 and 2019), the 2019 MAC Volleyball Tournament title and a berth into the 2019 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championships.
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS:
• While the Cardinals return a majority of last season's team which posted a 20-12 (11-5 MAC) record, captured the MAC Tournament title and battled No. 5 Nebraska in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament, the Cardinals will be missing four-year startign setter Amber Seaman and four-year starting libero Kate Avila ... In addition, the team graduated its top blocker from a year ago in middle Sydnee VanBeek.
• The good news, Ball State returns 2019 MAC Freshman of the Year Natalie Risi who played in all 126 sets and led the offense with 360 kills a year ago ... In fact, the Cardinals return nearly all of its offensive production (72.6% of total kills) from last season, including 2019 MAC Tournament MVP Kia Holder, and Natalie Mitchem (259) and Allison Hamaker (243) who ranked second and third, respectively, on the team in kills last season.
• The Cardinals also have some experience at setter returning, as redshirt sophomore Esther Grussing split time both as a starter and in a 6-2 last season with Seaman ... Grussing dished out 518 total assists last season, ranked 10th in the MAC with a 7.40 assists-per-set average and was a three-time MAC West Division Setter of the Week honoree.
• At the net, sophomore Marie Plitt returns as the team's top blocker ... She was second on the squad with 58 blocks a year ago, including 19 solo stuffs.
SCOUTING THE ZIPS:Â
• The Zips return four of its six starters, as well as the libero, from last season's squad which finished the year with a 17-12 (9-7) MAC record ... Leading the charge is senior setter Emily Weignad who earned First Team All-MAC honors last season after ranking second in the league with a 10.36 assists-per-set average ... Also returning to the lineup is senior outside Alexis Adleta who earned All-MAC Honorable Mention accolades after leading the team with 285 kills ... Leading the backcourt is senior defensive specialist Taylor Sharrits who finished seventh in the MAC with a 4.66 digs-per-set average.
MAC PRESEASON POLL:Â
• In the annual MAC Preseason Poll which was released Thursday, the defending MAC West Division champion Cardinals were selected to finish second in the league behind 2019 division co-champion Central Michigan ... Ball State also picked up a pair of votes to defend its 2019 MAC Tournament Championship.
2020-21 West Division Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Central Michigan - 67 points (7 first-place votes)
2. Ball State — 64 points (5)
3. Western Michigan — 45 points
4. Eastern Michigan — 31 points
5. Toledo — 23 points
6. Northern Illinois — 22 pointsÂ
2020-21 East Division Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Miami — 62 points (4)
2. Bowling Green — 60 points (5)
3. Ohio — 55 points (3)
4. Akron — 28 points
5. Kent State — 24 points
6. Buffalo — 23 points
Tournament Champions:Â Bowling Green (5), Ball State (2), Central Michigan (2), Kent State (1), Miami (1), Ohio (1)
THE SERIES VS. AKRON:
• Ball State holds a 35-5 advantage in the all-time series versus Akron despite a hotly contested 3-2 (21-25, 20-25, 25-16, 25-22, 18-16) setback at James A. Rhodes Arena in the last meeting Sept. 28, 2019 ... The Cardinals won the first two sets, only to see the Zips rally back to win the final three ... However, the Cardinals hold a 17-1 edge in matches played in Muncie, including six straight wins.
PRESEASON ALL-MAC:
• After stellar freshman campaigns which saw them help Ball State women's volleyball claim the program's first Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship since 2002, sophomores Marie Plitt and Natalie Risi were both named to the 2020-21 Preseason All-MAC West Division Team as voted on by the league's 12 head coaches.
• Risi, the 2019 MAC Freshman of the Year, played in all 32 matches and all 126 sets for the Cardinals last season ... Her team-leading 360 kills also helped her earn spots on the All-MAC First Team and MAC All-Freshman Team ... A two-time MAC West Division Offensive Player of the Week last season, Risi smashed double-digit kills in a team-high 18 matches, including a career-high 27 against Toledo (Oct. 31, 2019).
• Plitt also earned a spot on the 2019 MAC All-Freshman team after playing in 30 of 32 matches last season, seeing action in 106 sets. She ranked first among Ball State's regular starters with a .295 attack percentage and scored 196 kills on the year ... She smashed double-digit kills in six matches, including a career-high 14 versus Bowling Green (Oct. 26, 2019).
HOME SWEET HOME:
• The Cardinals enter the 2020-21 season with a 201-51 (.798) record versus MAC opponents in Worthen Arena ... Among the total is a 17-1 (.944) record against this weekend's opponent Akron ... Overall, the Cardinals are 277-87 (.761) in matches played on its current home floor ... Ball State was 6-2 in MAC matches at home last season, including a 3-1 win over Central Michigan to win a share of the MAC West Division title to close the regular season.
IN THE MAC:
• Ball State closed the 2019 regular season with a league-best 392-199 (.663) all-time record in MAC play ... Western Michigan enters the season three matches back in second at 289-202 (.658) ... Akron is ninth on the list based on winning percentage at 180-285 (.387).
2019 MAC AWARDS:
• Ball State was heavily rewarded for its run to a third consecutive MAC West Division Championship with four student-athlete being recognized in the league's postseason awards ... Natalie Risi became just the third player in program history to be named MAC Freshman of the Year ... Risi also earned First Team All-MAC honors and was a member of the MAC All-Freshman Team ... Senior setter Amber Seaman picked up honors for the third straight season, being named to the All-MAC Honorable Mention squad ... Seaman was also an honorable mention in 2017 and earned first team honors, along with MAC Setter of the Year accolades, in 2018 ... In addition, opposite Allison Hamaker and middle Marie Plitt joined Risi on the MAC All-Freshman squad.
• With two more All-MAC (first team or honorable mention) award winners, Ball State continues to rank second in MAC history in both total All-MAC selections (101) and total First Team All-MAC honorees (50).
• Ball State's student-athletes earned a total of 12 MAC weekly awards this season ... Freshman Esther Grussing and Amber Seaman led the way earning three MAC West Division Setter of the Week honors apiece ... Natalie Risi and Allison Hamaker both earned a pair of MAC West Division Offensive Player of the Week honors ... Kia Holder earned offensive player honors in the final week of the season, while Kate Avila did the same with MAC West Division Defensive Player of the Week.
