Volleyball Closes Regular Season Home Slate With Two vs. CMU

Match 26: Ball State (22-3; 12-1 MAC) hosts Central Michigan (11-14; 5-8 MAC)
   Thursday, Nov. 4 at 6:30 p.m. ET - Worthen Arena
   Live Stats  |  ESPN+  |  SL Digital Radio

Match 27: Ball State (22-3; 12-1 MAC) hosts Central Michigan (11-14; 5-8 MAC)
   Friday, Nov. 5 at 6:30 p.m. ET - Worthen Arena
   Live Stats  |  ESPN+  |  SL Digital Radio
   PROMOTIONS: Senior Day

MUNCIE, Ind. - - The first-place Ball State women's volleyball team closes the home portion of its 2021 regular season this week with a pair of matches versus Central Michigan. The Cardinals and Chippewas will battle Thursday and Friday at 6:30 p.m. in Worthen Arena.

It will be another key series for Ball State as it looks to maintain the top spot in the Mid-American Conference standings. The Cardinals enter the match with a 22-3 overall record, including a 12-1 mark in league play. By virtue of its sweep of Bowling Green (12-1 MAC) last Friday, BSU holds the current tiebreaker for the No. 1 seed and hosting rights for the 2021 MAC Volleyball Championships.

Ball State enters Thursday's contest on a 12-match winning streak which is tied with Morehead State for the seventh-longest active streak in the nation. Only Louisville (21), Texas (17), Western Kentucky (15), BYU (14), FGCU (14), and Dayton (14) have longer winning streaks as of matches played through Nov. 2.

The Cardinals also climbed to 39th in the latest NCAA RPI rankings released Monday, which is the program's highest ranking since it was 36th in the final release of 2011. BSU climbed as high as 30th that season, in the Oct. 23 release, for the highest ranking with current head coach Kelli Miller Phillips on staff. Phillips was an assistant under then-head coach Steve Shondell at the time.

Ball State has been ranked as high as 22nd in the final 2002 NCAA RPI, while it also reached 30th in the 2000 NCAA tournament selection rankings.

With just five matches remaining in the regular season, the Cardinals (12-1 MAC) and Falcons (12-1 MAC) have built a sizable lead in the league standings. The next closest teams are Western Michigan (8-5 MAC) and Toledo (7-6 MAC) in the West Division and Ohio (8-5 MAC) in the East Division.

The Cardinals climbed atop the MAC standings and in the RPI after putting together a pair of dominating performances last weekend. It started with a three-set sweep of then-MAC leader Bowling Green. The Cardinals finished the match with a .328 (49-8-125) attack percentage against a Falcons (15-7; 11-1 MAC) squad which entered the match as the league's top defense by holding opponents to a .162 mark.

Ball State's offense was even more impressive Saturday, connecting for a .412 (50-10-97) rate of success led by opposite Natalie Mitchem. Mitchem led all players with 15 kills and hit an astonishing .714 (15-0-21). In fact, it's the second straight match, and third of the last four, Mitchem has not logged an attacking error.

Saturday's match was also a special one for head coach Kelli Miller Phillips, as she earned her 100th career victory with the sweep of the RedHawks. Phillips enters this week's series versus Central Michigan with a 100-63 (.613) career record in six seasons.

Last season, Phillips was credited with a 4-9 overall record after missing the early portion of the season while on maternity leave. Assistant coach Fritz Rosenberg was elevated to acting head coach for those contests and was credited with a 5-3 record for the year.

Combined, Ball State finished the weekend with a .365 attack percentage to raise its season mark to .273 which is 19th nationally. The current program record for hitting percentage in a season is .262 set by the 1998 squad. Overall, the Cardinals have hit .200-or-above in 24 of its 25 matches this season, including above .300 marks nine times.

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 1.84 kills per set.

Mitchem leads the club with a 2.91 kills-per-set average, while outside Jaclyn Bulman is not far behind at 2.85. Rounding out Ball State's top attackers are outside Emily Hollowell (2.41), middle Marie Plitt (2.27), middle Lauren Gilliland (2.05), and outside Cait Snyder (1.84).

Playing a large role in guiding the offense has been setter Megan Wielonski who is fourth in the MAC with a 10.352 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.

Current libero Maggie Huber leads the Ball State defense with a 3.24 digs-per-set average, while Natalie Risi has a team-best 266 digs and Wielonski is second on the squad with 250 total digs. At the net, Gilliland leads the squad at 0.88 blocks per set, while Plitt and Mitchem are not far behind at 0.78 and 0.70, 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 fifth in the MAC at 2.04 blocks per set and sixth in the league at 15.50 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 (Oct. 23), Ball State enters the week tied with Creighton and Western Kentucky for the NCAA Division I lead with 22 total victories. In addition, Ball State's .880 (22-3) winning percentage is tied for seventh with Creighton (.880 / 22-3), trailing only Texas (1.000 / 17-0), Louisville (1.000 / 21-0), Western Kentucky (.957 / 22-1), BYU (.955 / 21-1), Pittsburgh (.909 / 20-2) and Wisconsin (.900 / 18-2)
In addition to leading the MAC and ranking 19th nationally with a .273 team hitting percentage, Ball State features three of the top five attackers in the league based on attack percentage … Middle Lauren Gilliland ranks first in the conference and is 29th nationally at .393 … Middle Marie Plitt is third in the MAC and 73rd nationally at .349, while opposite Natalie Mitchem is fifth in the MAC and 110th nationally at .335.
Setter Megan Wielonski enters the CMU series ranked fifth nationally with her 968 total assists, while her 10.52 assists-per-set average is 35th … Wielonski is also putting up big numbers in the backcourt with 14 assist/dig double-doubles this season … In fact, her 250 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 42 service aces, including a career-high seven vs. Ohio (Sept. 30), are first in the league and rank 10th among all NCAA Division I players nationwide.
Already off to a strong start to open the 2021 season, opposite Natalie Mitchem has really picked up her game the last two weeks … Over the last four matches, Mitchem leads the team with a 3.83 kills-per-set average and has hit an impressive .484 (46-2-91) … In fact, she has went errorless in three of the last four matches, including a her .714 (15-0-21) effort in Saturday's win over Miami.
Overall, opposite Natalie Mitchem has smashed double-digit kills in 15 of BSU's 25 matches, including tying her career high with 21 in the win over Toledo (Oct. 19) … Percentage wise, she has hit .400-or-better nine times, including five of the last seven matches … She has also turned in a strong effort at the net this season, averaging 0.70 blocks per set with at least one block in 22 matches, including tying her career high with seven blocks versus Northern Illinois (Oct. 15).
Outside Jaclyn Bulmahn has made her presence felt in the Ball State lineup, ranking second on the squad with a 2.85 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 Thursday's match vs. Central Michigan with 910 career kills, including 251 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.
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 seven matches … Huber has done a solid job in the role, averaging 5.14 digs per set … Defensive specialist Kate Vinson was BSU's libero for the first 10 matches of the season and currently ranks second on the team with a 3.14 digs-per-set average … Natalie Risi took over the role for the next eight matches, and is 12th in the league with 266 total digs … Risi averages 2.89 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 Thursday's match versus Central Michigan with a 963-623-2 (.607) all-time record in women's volleyball in its 50th season of play … In addition, the Cardinals own a 413-212 (.661) all-time record in Mid-American Conference play ... The only program with a better all-time league mark is Western Michigan at 414-211 (.662) … Central Michigan is seventh based on winning percentage at .494 (309-317).
With a 9-0 record at home so far this season, the Cardinals own a 290-93 (.757) all-time record in Worthen Arena … BSU is even more dominate in Worthen Arena in MAC play, with a 212-57 (.788) mark … Central Michigan is 6-22 (.214) all-time in Worthen Arena.
Ball State owns a 49-35 overall lead in the all-time series versus Central Michigan, despite the Chippewas winning three of the last five meetings … During the 2020-21 spring season, the teams split a two-match series in Worthen Arena with the Cardinals earning a 3-2 (14-25, 25-17, 26-24, 23-25, 15-11) victory March 19 and CMU following with a 3-1 (25-20, 21-25, 25-22, 25-20) win the next day (March 20) … Overall, Ball State holds a 26-14 edge in matches played in Muncie, including a 22-6 advantage in Worthen Arena.

Volleyball Closes Regular Season Home Slate With Two vs. CMU

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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