Ball State University
Miami
WVB Hosts Miami in Tuesday #MACtion
March 15, 2021 | Women's Volleyball
| Ball State (6-9, 6-9 MAC) hosts Miami (8-7, 8-7 MAC) | |
| Date/Time | Tuesday, March 16 at 7 p.m. ET |
| Location | Worthen Arena |
| ESPN+ | Tuesday's ESPN+ Link - TALENT: Joel Godett (PBP) / Katie Tomasic (Analyst) |
| Sports Link Digital Radio | Tuesday SL Digital Link - TALENT: Ryan Klimcak (PBP) / Lexi Eblen (Analyst) |
| Tickets | NONE AVAILABLE |
| Game Notes | Ball State | Miami |
| Live Stats | Live Stats |
| Social Media | Twitter | Instagram |
THE WEEK AHEAD: It will be another busy week for the Ball State women's volleyball team which concludes the home portion of its 2020-21 spring schedule with three matches in Worthen Arena this week ... The first comes Tuesday with a 7 p.m. showdown versus MAC East rival Miami ... The Cardinals then welcome Central Michigan to Muncie for matches Friday (7 p.m.) and Saturday (1 p.m.).
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 ... Tuesday's contest will be carried live on ESPN+ with Joel Godett calling the play-by-play action and former Miami four-year letterwinner Katie Tomasic (2014-17) serving as analyst ... SL Digital will provide live audio on BallStateSports.com and the BSU Athletics digital app ... Live stats will also be available ... Links for all options to follow can be found above or on the women's volleyball schedule page.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR THIS WEEK:
• Freshman outside Cait Snyder had a pair of breakout matches for the Cardinals versus Kent State, starting with a career-high 14 kills on Thursday ... Friday, she tallied her first career double-double against the Golden Flashes with 13 kills and a career-high 10 digs ... Over the two matches, Snyder averaged 3.00 kills per set and 1.56 digs per set.
• With six matches remaining in the regular season, Ball State finds itself ninth among the 12 teams in the Mid-American Conference standings ... With only four teams making the MAC Tournament this season, the Cardinals need wins and some help to clinch a spot in the tournament ... BGSU has already locked up a tournament berth at 15-0, while Western Michigan is second at 12-3 ... Kent State is third at 11-4, followed by Central Michigan (9-7), Miami (8-7), Ohio (6-6), Northern Illinois (7-9) and the Cardinals (6-9) ... The good news, all six of Ball State's remaining matches are against teams ahead of them in the standings, meaning the Cardinals can make up some ground with wins.
SCOUTING BALL STATE:
• Ball State enters Tuesday's match versus Miami ranked seventh in the MAC with a .208 attack percentage, while its .201 opponent attack percentage is fifth ... Senior middle Marie Plitt is ranked sixth in the MAC with her .323 attack percentage, while senior outside Kia Holder has a team-best 3.31 kills-per-set average ... Ball State has switched between a 5-1 and 6-2 offense through the season, with redshirt sophomore setter Esther Grussing ranking 10th in the league with 6.73 assists per set ... Freshman Kate Vinson is BSU's other setter, and has seen time as a defensive specialist, averaging 3.89 assists per set ... Freshman middle Lauren Gilliland continues to lead the Cardinals at the net, ranking fourth in the MAC with her 1.18 blocks-per-set average ... In the backcourt, sophomore libero Maggie Huber is fifth in the conference with her 4.83 digs-per-set average ... As a team, Ball State is fourth in the league in blocking (2.21) and seventh in digging (16.56).
SCOUTING MIAMI:
• The RedHawks enter the week ranked fourth in the MAC in attack percentage (.231) and ninth in opponent attack percentage (.208) ... Miami has won three of its last four matches, including a 3-2 win over Ohio at home Saturday ... Senior opposite Sarah Wojick leads the squad with a 2.83 kills-per-set average, while junior outside Sophie Riemersma is second at 2.69 ... Freshman middle Maggie McCrary is hitting a team-high .340 and owns a team-best 36 total blocks ... Senior setter Morgan Seaman, the younger sister of former Ball State four-year letterwinner Amber Seaman (2016-19), has seen a majority of time at setter and is ranked eighth in the MAC with a 8.25 assists-per-set average ... Miami has also split time between a 5-1 and 6-2 this season ... Senior libero Abigail Huser paces the defense and is eighth in the MAC at 4.45 digs per set, while the team is ninth in the league at 15.77 digs per set.
THE SERIES VS. MIAMI:
• The Cardinals hold a 41-38 lead in the all-time series versus Miami after snapping a five-match losing streak to the RedHawks with a 3-1 (25-18, 28-30, 25-23, 25-20) MAC Tournament semifinal win on Nov. 23, 2019 ... Ball State also holds a 22-15 edge in matches played in Muncie, including a 14-8 edge in Worthen Arena ... Unfortunately, Miami has won the last two matches on BSU's home court.
IN THE MAC:
• Ball State enters the week two wins shy of 400 all-time in MAC play ... The Cardinals' 398-208 (.657) all-time record in league play is second only to Western Michigan's 401-205 (662) mark ... Miami is third all-time at 383-223 (.632).
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 11 of BSU's 15 matches, including a season-high 19 last Friday versus Kent State (March 11) ... In fact, going back to the last 10 matches last year, Holder has smashed double-digit kills in 19 of her last 25 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 25 matches, senior outside Kia Holder is averaging 3.20 kills per set and is hitting .220, which has raised her career average to .202 ... 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 twice this season ... She is tied for the team lead with seven solo blocks this season, and has 40 total blocks this year after logging just 41 over her first three seasons.
BIG IMPACT AT THE NET:
• Freshman middle Lauren Gilliland (pictured to the right) enters the week ranked fourth in the MAC and 73rd nationally with a 1.18 blocks-per-set average ... In fact, her 65 total blocks (7 solo and 58 assists) are the most among MAC players and 30th nationally ... In her collegiate debut, Gilliland collected nine total blocks versus Akron (Jan. 22) and tied the mark in last Friday's contest versus Kent State (March 12) ... She has registered at least two blocks in 14 of BSU's 15 matches, including six-or-more blocks on four occasions.
SPEAKING OF BLOCKS:
• The Cardinals tallied a season-high 15 total blocks last Friday versus Kent State which ties as the second-best match total in the league this season ... In addition to freshman middle Lauren Gilliland, senior outside Kia Holder and redshirt freshman opposite Cailyn Bolser turned in career blocking nights with six and five total blocks, respectively.
NEARLY NO STOPPING HER:
• Sophomore middle Marie Plitt continues to pace the squad with a .323 (110-24-266) attack percentage this season, which ranks sixth 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 15 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 63rd nationally with a 4.83 digs-per-set average ... She has registered double-digit digs in 11 of the 13 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 previous four years, was the next closest with a 4.94 average in 2017.
DISHING THE ROCK:
• With 64 more assists last weekend, redshirt sophomore Esther Grussing raised her career total to 861 which is 16th in program history ... She needs just seven more assists to move into 15th, and is on pace to become just the 15th player in program history to reach 1,000 career assists by the end of the season.
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.
