Big Home Test: WVB Hosts NIU This Weekend

Match 19: Ball State (15-3; 5-1 MAC) hosts Northern Illinois (9-8; 3-4 MAC)
   Friday, Oct. 15 at 6:30 p.m. ET - Worthen Arena
   Live Stats  |  ESPN3
Charlie's Cardinal Crew Appreciation Night - Pre-match High-Five Tunnel

Match 20: Ball State (15-3; 5-1 MAC) hosts Northern Illinois (9-8; 3-4 MAC)
   Saturday, Oct. 16 at 3 p.m. ET - Worthen Arena
   Live Stats  |  ESPN3

MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to Worthen Arena this weekend for a Mid-American Conference West Division double feature versus Northern Illinois.

The Cardinals (15-3; 5-1 MAC) will put its current five-match winning streak on the line against the Huskies (9-8; 3-4 MAC) with a 6:30 p.m. match Friday and a 3 p.m. contest Sunday.

Entering the fourth week of conference play, Ball State is one of just four league teams with a winning MAC record. Bowling Green leads both the MAC East Division and the overall league standings with a 6-0 mark. Western Michigan tops the MAC West Division at 6-1, with its lone loss coming last Saturday at BGSU.

The Cardinals and Toledo are tied for second in the MAC West Division with 5-1 league marks. Ball State does hold the best overall record among the 12 league schools at 15-3. The Rockets are second at 14-4.

Last weekend, Ball State picked up road wins at Akron (Oct. 8) and Buffalo (Oct. 9). The Cardinals swept the Zips in convincing fashion, by a score of 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-16), while pulling out a five-set thriller against the Bulls. Ball State rallied from down 14-12 in the fifth set for the second time in eight days to top Buffalo 3-2 (25-15, 25-27, 17-25, 25-21, 16-14).

One of the keys to the Cardinals' strong start to the season has been the team's ability to spread out its offense and keep opponents guessing on every swing. Four different Ball State players enter the weekend averaging at least 2.33 kills per set, while six are smashing at least 1.76 kills per set.

Outside Jaclyn Bulmahn leads the club with a 2.84 kills-per-set average, while opposite Natalie Mitchem is not far behind at 2.64. Rounding out the top four attackers are outside Emily Hollowell (2.41) and middle Marie Plitt (2.33).

The BSU's offense is also connecting at a league-best .261 clip this season, ahead of Bowling Green which is hitting .240 as a squad. In fact, the Cardinals have hit .200-or-above in 17 of its 18 matches this season, including finishing last weekend's road swing with a .290 rate of success.

Playing a large role in guiding the offense has been setter Megan Wielonski who is fourth in the MAC with a 10.20 assist-per-set average. In fact, Wielonski set Ball State to a .476 attack percentage in the sweep of St. Thomas (Aug. 27), which ranks as the third-best single match team performance in program history.

Defensive specialist Kate Vinson leads the Ball State defense with a 3.34 dig-per-set average. Natalie Risi, who has started at libero for BSU over the last eight matches, is second on the team at 3.07 digs per set.

At the net, middle Lauren Gilliland leads the squad and is ninth in the league at 0.94 blocks per set, while Plitt is not far behind at 0.70.

As a team, the Cardinals are limiting opponents to a .211 attack percentage and rank fifth in the MAC at 1.96 blocks per set and sixth in the league at 14.46 digs per set.

BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL QUICK HITS:

In addition to leading the MAC and ranking 30th nationally with a .261 team attack percentage, Ball State features the top two attackers in the league based on attack percentage … Middle Lauren Gilliland leads the conference and is 57th nationally at .369, while middle Marie Plitt is second in the MAC and 71st nationally at .359.
Setter Megan Wielonski enters the weekend ranked 11th nationally with her 714 total assists, while her 10.20 assists-per-set average is 51st … Wielonski is also putting up big numbers in the backcourt with 10 assist/dig double-doubles in the last 14 matches … In fact, her 179 total digs, including a career-high 21 at Wright State (Sept 3), are third on the squad as is her 2.56 digs-per-set average.
In addition to being one of the top setters in the MAC, Megan Wielonski has also proven to be its top server ranking first at 0.44 aces per set … In fact, Wielonski's 31 service aces, including a career-high seven vs. Ohio (Sept. 30), are first in the league and rank 16th among all NCAA Division I players nationwide.
Outside Jaclyn Bulmahn has made her presence felt in the Ball State lineup, leading the squad with a 2.84 kills-per-set average … A First Team All-Missouri Valley Conference selection at Valparaiso last season, Bulmahn has reached double digits in 12 matches so far this season, including a season-high 19 kills in the Sept. 25 sweep at Kent State … The 19 kills tie as the most in a three-set match in the MAC this season and are four shy of her career-high 23 set versus Southern Illinois (Feb. 14, 2021) during her 2021 spring season at Valpo.
Jaclyn Bulmahn enters Friday's match versus Northern Illinois with 855 career kills, including 196 so far in her first season at Ball State … Her career-best for kills in a season is 277 set her junior year at Valpo, while she averaged a career-best 3.05 kills per set for the Beacons last season.
Opposite Natalie Mitchem has gotten off to a strong start in 2021, ranking second on the team with a 2.64 kills-per-set average … She has smashed double-digit kills in 11 of BSU's 18 matches, including a season-high 16 in the win over Wright State (Sept. 3) … She's also turned in a strong effort at the net, averaging 0.66 blocks per set, with at least one block in 17 matches.
After serving as the team's libero for the first three weeks of the season, defensive specialist Kate Vinson anchors the Ball State defense and ranks 10th in the MAC with 224 total digs … She has collected double-digit digs in 11 of the 18 matches, including a career-high 29 versus Marshall (Sept. 4) … The 29 digs tie as the seventh-most in a match in the MAC so far this season.
Natalie Risi transitioned from the outside back to the libero position for the past eight matches, and is now second on the team with a 3.07 digs-per-set average … Since moving to libero for the Northern Kentucky series, Risi is averaging 4.16 digs per set, including a season-high 25 in the Sept. 24 match at Kent State.
Ball State enters Friday's match with a 956-623-2 (.605) all-time record in women's volleyball in its 50th season of play … In addition, the Cardinals own a 406-212 (.657) all-time record in Mid-American Conference play ... The only program with a better all-time league mark is Western Michigan at 412-207 (.666) ... Northern Illinois is fourth all-time based on winning percentage at 285-184 (.608).
With a 4-0 record at home so far this season, the Cardinals own a 283-93 (.753) all-time record in Worthen Arena … BSU is even more dominate in Worthen Arena in MAC play, with a 207-57 (.784) mark … However, Northern Illinois enters the weekend with the most wins for a league opponent in Worthen Arena with a 9-16 (.640) record in the building.
In addition to having the most wins for a MAC foe in Worthen Arena at nine, Northern Illinois is the only league team with an all-time winning record versus Ball State at 38-34 … During the 2020-21 spring season, the Huskies picked up a pair of wins in Worthen Arena, topping the Cardinals 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-20) on Feb. 18 and 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-22) on Feb. 19 … Prior to last season, Ball State has won three straight in the series.

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Players Mentioned

Jaclyn Bulmahn

Lauren Gilliland

Emily Hollowell

Natalie Mitchem

Marie Plitt

Natalie Risi

Kate Vinson

Megan Wielonski