Volleyball Welcomes Bowling Green & Miami for Weekend #MACtion

Match 24: Ball State (20-3; 10-1 MAC) hosts Bowling Green (15-6; 11-0 MAC)
   Friday, Oct. 29 at 6:30 p.m. ET - Worthen Arena
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Match 25: Ball State (20-3; 10-1 MAC) hosts Miami (5-16; 3-8 MAC)
   Saturday, Oct. 30 at 6:30 p.m. ET - Worthen Arena
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MUNCIE, Ind. - - All season, the biggest match for the Ball State women's volleyball program has been the one in front of it. This weekend, that mantra still rings true as the Cardinals battle for the top spot in the Mid-American Conference and a bid to host the upcoming MAC Volleyball Championships.

While Friday's 6:30 p.m. showdown in Worthen Arena with MAC overall leader Bowling Green could be billed as the de facto MAC regular season championship match, Ball State knows there is still a lot of work to be done following the matchup of division leaders.

With just seven matches remaining in the regular season, the Cardinals (10-1 MAC) and Falcons (11-0 MAC) have built a sizable lead in the league standings. The next closest teams are Western Michigan (7-4 MAC) and Toledo (7-4 MAC) in the West Division and Ohio (6-5 MAC) in the East Division.

That advantage gives the winner of Friday's tilt the best odds of taking home the MAC regular season title and hosting the league's postseason tournament. A BSU victory would give the Cardinals a half-match lead in the standings by virtue of the head-to-head victory. Meanwhile, a BGSU win would give the Falcons a 2.5-match edge in the standings.

The slim lead Ball State would get in the standings with a win Friday makes Saturday's 6:30 p.m. serve versus Miami just as important. While the RedHawks enter the weekend with a 5-16 (3-8 MAC) record, they have the third-longest active winning streak in the league at two matches, trailing only Bowling Green's 12-match streak and Ball State's 10-match streak.

After the Miami match, the Cardinals host Central Michigan (Nov. 4-5), travel to Eastern Michigan (Nov. 12-13) and visit Toledo (Nov. 17) to close the regular season.

Bowling Green follows Friday's matchup with a trip to Toledo (Oct. 30), before battling the other top two teams in the MAC East Division: hosting Kent State (Nov. 5-6) and traveling to Ohio (Nov. 12-13). The Falcons close the season at home vs. Miami (Nov. 11).

As mentioned to earlier, the Cardinals enter the Friday's match versus the Falcons with the second-longest winning streak in the MAC at 10 matches. The biggest of those wins came last week, starting with a 3-1 home victory over Toledo last Tuesday (Oct. 19). BSU followed with back-to-back sweeps of Western Michigan (Oct. 22 & Oct. 23) to take a three-match lead in the MAC West Division standings.

Once again, it was Ball State's offense which shined over the three matches as the team hit a combined .279 for the week, including a .336 effort in the opener at WMU.

That has been a big key to the Cardinals' success this season, as BSU has successfully been able to spread out its offense and keep opponents guessing on every swing. Five different Ball State players enter the weekend averaging at least 2.00 kills per set, while six are smashing at least 1.78 kills per set.

Outside Jaclyn Bulmahn leads the club with a 2.90 kills-per-set average, while opposite Natalie Mitchem is not far behind at 2.85. Rounding out Ball State's top attackers are outside Emily Hollowell (2.41), middle Marie Plitt (2.26), middle Lauren Gilliland (2.00), and outside Cait Snyder (1.78).

The BSU's offense is also connecting at a league-best .267 clip this season, well ahead of Bowling Green in second which is hitting .251 as a squad. In fact, the Cardinals have hit .200-or-above in 23 of its 24 matches this season, including above .300 marks seven times.

Playing a large role in guiding the offense has been setter Megan Wielonski who is fourth in the MAC with a 10.37 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 3.14 dig-per-set average, while Maggie Huber, who has served as the team's libero in each of the last five matches, is second at 2.96.

At the net, Gilliland leads the squad and is 10th in the league at 0.91 blocks per set, while middle Marie Plitt and Mitchem are not far behind at 0.73 and 0.71, respectively.

As a team, the Cardinals are limiting opponents to a .204 attack percentage, which ranks as the fourth-best defense in the MAC. BSU also ranks fourth in the MAC at 2.03 blocks per set and seventh in the league at 15.33 digs per set.

BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL QUICK HITS:

The first MAC team to reach 20 wins this season, thanks to its 3-0 sweep at Western Michigan last Saturday, Ball State enters the weekend as one of only six 20-win teams in all of NCAA Division I women's volleyball … In addition, Ball State's .870 (20-3) winning percentage is tied for ninth among all 332 ranked NCAA Division I programs.
In addition to leading the MAC and ranking 26th nationally with a .267 team hitting percentage, Ball State features the top two attackers in the league based on attack percentage … Middle Lauren Gilliland ranks first in the conference and is 47th nationally at .378, while middle Marie Plitt is second in the MAC and 80th nationally at .352.
Setter Megan Wielonski enters the weekend ranked eighth nationally with her 892 total assists, while her 10.37 assists-per-set average is 41st … Wielonski is also putting up big numbers in the backcourt with 13 assist/dig double-doubles this season … In fact, her 233 total digs, including a career-high 21 at Wright State (Sept 3), are second on the squad.
In addition to being one of the top setters in the MAC, Megan Wielonski has also proven to be the league's top server ranking first at 0.46 aces per set … In fact, Wielonski's 39 service aces, including a career-high seven vs. Ohio (Sept. 30), are first in the league and rank 11th 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 2.90 kills-per-set average … A First Team All-Missouri Valley Conference selection at Valparaiso last season, Bulmahn has reached double digits in 15 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 at Western Michigan with 900 career kills, including 241 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 2.85 kills-per-set average … She has smashed double-digit kills in 14 of BSU's 23 matches, including tying her career high with 21 in last Tuesday's win over Toledo (Oct. 19) … She has also turned in a strong effort at the net this season, averaging 0.71 blocks per set with at least one block in 21 matches, including tying her career high with seven blocks versus Northern Illinois (Oct. 15).
So far this season, the Cardinals have turned to three different liberos, most recently having Maggie Huber suit up in the off-colored jersey for the last five matches … Huber has done a solid job in the role, averaging 4.94 digs per set … Defensive specialist Kate Vinson was BSU's libero for the first 10 matches of the season and currently leads the Cardinals with a 3.14 digs-per-set average … Natalie Risi took over the role for the next eight matches, and is 11th in the league with 253 total digs … Risi averages 2.94 digs per set.
Natalie Risi move back to the left side for the Northern Illinois series and did not disappointed … She set the tone for the Ball State block in the series-opening win over the Huskies (Oct. 15), registering solo blocks on two of the first five points … She tallied three total solo blocks in the match and added another late in the third set of the Oct. 16 sweep to help the Cardinals stomp out an NIU rally attempt … Risi, who entered the NIU opener with just five solo blocks in her first 70 career matches, has five solo blocks in the last five matches after adding a solo block in the series-opening sweep at Western Michigan (Oct. 22).
Ball State enters Friday's match with a 961-623-2 (.607) all-time record in women's volleyball in its 50th season of play … In addition, the Cardinals own a 411-212 (.660) all-time record in Mid-American Conference play ... The only program with a better all-time league mark is Western Michigan at 413-210 (.663) … Bowling Green is fifth based on winning percentage at 356-267 (.571), while Miami is third at 391-232 (.628).
With a 7-0 record at home so far this season, the Cardinals own a 288-93 (.756) all-time record in Worthen Arena … BSU is even more dominate in Worthen Arena in MAC play, with a 210-57 (.787) mark … Bowling Green is 7-15 (.318) all-time in Worthen Arena, while Miami is 8-15 (.348)
Ball State owns a 43-20-1 overall lead in the all-time series versus Bowling Green, despite the Falcons winning both matches played in the COVID-19 adjusted 2020-21 spring season … The Falcons earned sweeps in both those contest, winning 3-0 (25-14, 25-16, 25-20) on Feb. 11 and 3-0 (25-15, 25-12, 25-21) on Feb. 12, to improve to 12-18 all-time in matches played in Muncie … In fact, BGSU enters Friday's contest with a three-match winning streak in Worthen Arena thanks to a 3-2 (19-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-20, 15-13) win on Oct. 26, 2019 … Ball State answered, however, with a 3-2 (21-25, 25-17, 25-18, 18-25, 15-5) victory on Nov. 24, 2019 in the championship match of the 2019 MAC Tournament played at Bowling Green's Stroh Center.
Ball State holds a 45-39 advantage in the all-time series versus Miami, having won two of the last three meetings … The teams split a home-and-home series during the 2020-21 spring season, with each squad winning on its home floor … The Cardinals scored a 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-18) victory March 16 in Worthen Arena to improve to 23-15 all-time in home matches versus the RedHawks … Miami earned a 3-2 (25-13, 23-25, 23-25, 25-22, 15-11) win in the latest meeting, played March 23 at Millett Hall.

Volleyball Welcomes Bowling Green & Miami for Weekend #MACtion

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Players Mentioned

Jaclyn Bulmahn

Lauren Gilliland

Emily Hollowell

Maggie Huber

Natalie Mitchem

Marie Plitt

Natalie Risi

Cait Snyder

Kate Vinson

Megan Wielonski