Ball State University
Kent State University
WVB Hosts Kent State in Key MAC Series
March 10, 2021 | Women's Volleyball
| Ball State (6-7, 6-7 MAC) hosts Kent State (9-4, 9-4 MAC) | |
| Match 1 | Thursday, March 11 at 7 p.m. ET - Worthen Arena |
| Match 2 | Friday, March 12 at 2 p.m. ET - Rec Center |
| ESPN+ | Thursday ESPN+ Link - TALENT: Peyton Monnell (PBP) / Mackenzie Kitchel (Analyst) |
| Sports Link Digital Radio | Thursday SL Digital Link | Friday SL Digital Link (w/Video) - TALENT: Ryan Klimcak (PBP) / Lexi Eblen (Analyst) |
| Tickets | NONE AVAILABLE |
| Game Notes | Ball State | Kent State |
| Live Stats | Live Stats |
| Social Media | Twitter | Instagram |
THE WEEK AHEAD: The Ball State women's volleyball team opens a five-match homestand Thursday, when it hosts Kent State in a 7 p.m. first serve at Worthen Arena ... The Cardinals and Golden Flashes will play again at 2 p.m. Friday, but in a new location; the Jo Ann Gora Student Recreation and Wellness Center.
HOW TO FOLLOW: Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 global pandemic and resulting health department guidance, there will be no general public attendance at this week's matches ... Thursday's match will be carried live on ESPN+ with Peyton Monnell calling the play-by-play action and former Ball State four-year letterwinner Mackenzie Kitchel (2013-16) serving as analyst ... SL Digital will also cover both matches, including providing an audio and video feed for Friday's contest in the Rec Center ... Live stats will be available for both matches ... Links for all options to follow can be found above or on the women's volleyball schedule page.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK:
• The Cardinals offense got back on track last week, hitting an impressive .288 (150-40-384) over its three matches ... Leading the charge was freshman middle Lauren Gilliland who connected for a .514 (20-2-35) rate of success ... Sophomore middle Marie Plitt was not far behind, connecting at a .458 (33-6-59) clip.
• This weekend's matches could be considered a must-win for the Cardinals who are currently seventh in the MAC standings with a 6-7 record ... With only four teams eligible for the spring 2021 MAC Tournament, Ball State could make up some serious ground with a pair of wins over the Golden Flashes who are currently third at 9-4 ... Bowling Green currently tops the MAC with a 13-0 mark, while Western Michigan is second at 10-3 ... However, teams 4-9 are all within striking distance of the final spot with Ohio currently leading a 5-4 ... The complete MAC standings can be found here.
SCOUTING BALL STATE:
• Ball State enters Thursday's match versus Kent State ranked sixth in the MAC with a .220 attack percentage, while its .202 opponent attack percentage is seventh ... Senior middle Marie Plitt is ranked fourth in the MAC with her .359 attack percentage, while senior outside Kia Holder has a team-best 3.17 kills-per-set average ... Ball State converted to a 5-1 offense last week, with redshirt sophomore setter Esther Grussing handing out 10.91 assists per set, to raise her season average to 6.64 which is 10th in the league ... Freshman middle Lauren Gilliland continues to lead the Cardinals at the net, ranking third in the MAC with her 1.13 blocks-per-set average ... In the backcourt, sophomore libero Maggie Huber is fifth in the conference with her 5.08 digs-per-set average ... As a team, Ball State is sixth in the league in both blocking (2.08) and digging (17.11) average.
SCOUTING KENT STATE:
• The Golden Flashes enter the week ranked second in the MAC in both attack percentage (.243) and opponent attack percentage (.185) ... While KSU has a 9-4 overall record, it has lost three of its last four matches, dropping two versus league-leading Bowling Green and splitting last week with Miami ... Sophomore outside hitter Savannah Matthews leads the squad and is third in the MAC with a 4.09 kills-per-set average ... Junior middle Lana Strejcek is hitting a team-high .364, ranking third among all MAC attackers ... Strejeck is also the team's leading blocker at 1.15 blocks per set, which is second in the MAC ... Redshirt junior setter Alex Haffner runs the offense, dishing out 11.24 assists per set to rank third among league setters ... Junior libero Erin Gardner paces the defense and is seventh in the MAC at 4.76 digs per set, while the team as a whole is second in the league averaging 18.67 digs per set.
MAC WEST HONORS:
• So far this season, the Ball State women's volleyball program has earned MAC weekly honors a total of four times ... The latest was sophomore libero Maggie Huber who picked up MAC West Division Defensive Player of the Week accolades after averaging 7.00 digs per set at Toledo during the third week of play ... The awards started with freshman setter Kate Vinson earning MAC West Division Setter of the Week following opening weekend ... After the second week of the season, senior outside hitter Kia Holder was named MAC West Division Offensive Player of the Week, while Ball State's 6-2 setter tandem of redshirt sophomore Esther Grussing and Vinson claimed MAC West Division Setter of the Week.
MAC PRESEASON POLL:
• In the annual MAC Preseason Poll released Thursday, Jan. 21, the defending MAC West Division champion Cardinals were selected to finish second in the division 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 points
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: Bowling Green (5), Ball State (2), Central Michigan (2), Kent State (1), Miami (1), Ohio (1)
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, Marie Plitt and sophomore outside hitter 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.
THE SERIES VS. KENT STATE:
• The Cardinals hold a 41-15 lead in the all-time series versus Kent State despite a 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-19) road loss to the Golden Flashes last season (Oct. 19) ... Prior to that, the Cardinals had a two-match winning streak in the series ... The Cardinals hold a 21-5 lead in matches played in Muncie, including a 14-3 edge in matches played in Worthen Arena.
• The last time the teams played in the Rec Center, which was before it was rebuilt in 2010 and known as Irving Gym, was Sept. 21, 1991 when the Cardinals scored a 3-0 (15-9, 15-8, 15-8) victory over the Golden Flashes ... That day, Stefanie Decker led the Cardinals with 13 kills, while Lorie Vandenberg dished out 33 assists and had Ball State hitting .253 for the match ... BSU also tallied 11 total blocks in the sweep.
IN THE MAC:
• With its 3-0 victory over Ball State last Sunday, Western Michigan moved back ahead of the Cardinals with a 399-205 (.661) all-time record in Mid-American Conference play ... Ball State is second all-time at 398-206 (.659) ... Kent State is ninth based on wins (228) and 10th based on winning percentage (.374).
STILL HOLDING STRONG:
• Senior outside Kia Holder has continued right where she left off in 2019, turning in several dominating offensive performances so far this season ... She has collected double-digit kills in nine of BSU's 13 matches, including a season-high 17 in the five-set win at Toledo (Feb. 5) ... In fact, going back to the last 10 matches last year, Holder has smashed double-digit kills in 17 of her last 23 outings ... Prior to the run, Holder only had four double-digit kill performances in her first 50 career matches.
HOLD ON, THERE'S MORE:
• Over the last 23 matches, senior outside Kia Holder is averaging 3.57 kills per set and is hitting .223, which has raised her career average to .205 ... She entered the year hitting just .152 over her first three years ... In addition, she has made tremendous strides at the net, including a career-high six total blocks at Buffalo (Jan. 29) ... She registered her first two solo blocks of the season in the series at Buffalo, and has 31 total blocks this year after logging just 41 over her first three seasons.
BIG IMPACT AT THE NET:
• Freshman middle Lauren Gilliland (pictured) enters the week ranked second in the MAC and 102nd nationally with a 1.13 blocks-per-set average ... In her collegiate debut, Gilliland collected nine total blocks versus Akron (Jan. 22) and followed with seven more against the Zips the next night (Jan. 23) ... She has registered at least two blocks in 12 of BSU's 13 matches, including six in the first match at Toledo (Feb. 4), giving her three matches with six-or-more.
NEARLY NO STOPPING HER:
• Sophomore middle Marie Plitt continues to pace the squad with a .359 (96-18-217) attack percentage this season, which ranks fourth in the MAC ... She hit a season-best .583 (8-1-12) at Ohio (March 5), and has hit at least .300 in nine of BSU's 13 matches this year ... Plitt finished her freshman year with 106 kills and a .295 attack percentage to earn MAC All-Freshman Team honors ... BSU's single season attack percentage record is currently .391 set by Julie Zylka in 2000.
HUBER DIGGING LIBERO:
• Sophomore Maggie Huber has jumped right into the role of Ball State's starting libero, ranking fifth in the MAC and 38th nationally with a 5.08 digs-per-set average ... She has registered double-digit digs in 10 of the 11 matches she has played this season, including a career-high 35 digs in each match at Toledo (Feb. 4 & Feb. 5) ... Huber played a significant part in Ball State's backcourt as a freshman last season, collecting double-digit digs in 24 matches and even saw some time as the team's libero ... She finished the year ranked second on the team with a 3.02 digs-per-set average.
DYK LIBERO FACT:
• The last Ball State libero to finish a season with a digs-per-set average above 5.0 was Catie Fredrich in 2012 at 5.02 ... Kate Avila, BSU's libero the last four years, was the next closest with a 4.94 average in 2017.
DISHING THE ROCK:
• Over the last four matches, in which the Cardinals have switched back to a 5-1 rotation, redshirt sophomore setter Esther Grussing has led the offense to a .272 (192-54-507) attack percentage ... She has dished out 11.07 assist per set and helped both freshman middle Lauren Gilliland (.435) and sophomore middle Marie Plitt (.402) hit above .400 ... The Cardinals also ran a 5-1 a majority of opening weekend, with freshman setter Kate Vinson guiding the offense to a .253 (98-27-281) attack percentage with a 10.57 assists-per-set average ... In the six matches when Ball State has run primarily a 5-1, it is connecting for a .265 (290-81-788) rate of success ... In the seven matches the Cardinals were in a 6-2 rotation, the offense is only connecting for a .180 (293-129-911) attack percentage.
