Ball State University
Miami
Volleyball Travels to Miami for Tuesday Action
March 22, 2021 | Women's Volleyball
| Ball State (8-10, 8-10 MAC) at Miami (10-8, 10-8 MAC) | |
| Date/Time | Tuesday, March 23 at 7 p.m. ET |
| Location | Millett Hall |
| ESPN3 | Watch Live |
| Tickets | NONE AVAILABLE |
| Game Notes | Ball State  |  Miami |
| Live Stats | Live Stats |
| Social Media | Twitter  |  Instagram |
THE WEEK AHEAD: The Ball State women's volleyball team closes the regular season this week with three matches on the road ... The first, a Tuesday showdown at Miami which is slated for a 7 p.m. first serve ... From there, the Cardinals visit Eastern Michigan for match on Friday (6 p.m.) and Saturday (4 p.m.)Â
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 at Miami will be carried live on ESPN3, while both matches at Eastern Michigan will be broadcast on ESPN+ ... Live stats will also be available for all three 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:
• After going 2-1 last week, the Cardinals remain alive in the hunt for one of the four spots in the 2020-21 Mid-American Conference Tournament ... However, at 8-10 with just three matches remaining, the Cardinals need to win out and get some help ... Bowling Green (18-0) and Western Michigan (14-4) have already locked up two of the spots, while the Cardinals can not catch Kent State (12-6) ... Ohio (9-7) is currently in the fourth spot, followed by Miami (10-8), Central Michigan (10-9) and Ball State (8-10)
• It was a big defensive weekend for the Cardinals, as five players recorded career highs for digs versus Central Michigan ... In Friday's 3-2 win, it was sophomore middle Marie Plitt (10) and redshirt sophomore setter Esther Grussing (15) ... Saturday, it was sophomore libero Natalie Risi (26), along with freshmen defensive specialists Kate Vinson (16) and Zoe Conway (3).
• Ball State has been just as impressive at the net, registering double-digit team blocks in each of the last five matches ... The Cardinals have averaged 3.29 blocks per set during the span, including a season-high 18.0 last Saturday vs. Central Michigan ... Five players are averaging at least 1.00 blocks per set during the run; sophomore middle Marie Plitt (1.67), freshman middle Lauren Gilliland (1.24), senior outside Kia Holder (1.19), redshirt freshman opposite Cailyn Bolser (1.11) and sophomore opposite Natalie Mitchem (1.00).
SCOUTING BALL STATE:
• Ball State enters Tuesday's match at Miami ranked seventh in the MAC with a .206 attack percentage, while its .196 opponent attack percentage is sixth ... Sophomore middle Marie Plitt is ranked fifth in the MAC with her .332 attack percentage, while senior outside Kia Holder has a team-best 3.25 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 7.21 assists per set ... Freshman Kate Vinson is BSU's other setter, and has seen time as a defensive specialist, averaging 3.41 assists per set ... Freshman middle Lauren Gilliland continues to lead the Cardinals at the net, ranking second in the MAC with her 1.16 blocks-per-set average ... In the backcourt, sophomore defensive specialist Maggie Huber is ninth in the conference with her 4.40 digs-per-set average ... As a team, Ball State is first in the league in blocking (2.46) and sixth in digging (16.82).
SCOUTING MIAMI:Â
• The RedHawks enter the week ranked fourth in the MAC in attack percentage (.232) and seventh in opponent attack percentage (.211) ... Miami has won five of its last seven matches, including rebounding from last Tuesday's loss to Ball State with a weekend sweep of Eastern Michigan ... Senior opposite Sarah Wojick leads the squad with a 2.83 kills-per-set average, while junior outside Sophie Riemersma is second at 2.81 ... Freshman middle Maggie McCrary is hitting a team-high .308 and owns a team-best 42 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 8.88 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 fifth in the MAC at 4.80 digs per set ... As a team, Miami is ninth in the league at 16.15 digs per set and 10th at 1.66 blocks per set.
MAC WEST HONORS:Â
• So far this season, the Ball State women's volleyball program has earned MAC weekly honors a total of five times ... The latest was sophomore middle Marie Plitt who earned MAC West Division Defensive Player of the Weel honors after averaging 2.08 blocks per set last week ... Sophomore libero Maggie Huber who earned 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.
THE SERIES VS. MIAMI:
• Ball State picked up its second consecutive victory over Miami last Tuesday with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-18) win in Worthen Arena ... That followed a 3-1 (25-18, 28-30. 25-23, 25-20) victory over the RedHawks in the 2019 MAC Tournament semifinals on Nov. 23, 2019 ... Prior to that, Miami had won five straight in the series ... BSU is 17-17 all-time in Oxford, but have not won at Miami since the 2010 season.
IN THE MAC:Â
• Ball State enters Tuesday's match at Miami with a 400-209 (.657) all-time record in league play ... The only program with a better all-time league mark is Western Michigan at 403-206 (.662) mark ... Miami is third all-time with its 385-224 (.632) all-time MAC mark.
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 12 of BSU's 18 matches, including a season-high 19 versus Kent State (March 11) ... In fact, going back to the last 10 matches last year, Holder has smashed double-digit kills in 20 of her last 28 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 28 matches, senior outside Kia Holder is averaging 3.18 kills per set and is hitting .208, which has raised her career average to .166 ... 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 three times this season ... Holder has a team-best nine solo blocks this season and has 56 total blocks this year after logging just 41 over her first three seasons ... She also served up her first career service ace versus Kent State (March 12).
BIG IMPACT AT THE NET:
• Freshman middle Lauren Gilliland enters the week ranked second in the MAC and 69th nationally with her 1.16 blocks-per-set average ... In fact, her 78 total blocks (8 solo and 70 assists) are the second-most among MAC players and rank 17th nationally ... In her collegiate debut, Gilliland collected nine total blocks versus Akron (Jan. 22) and tied the mark versus Kent State (March 12) ... She has registered at least two blocks in 17 of BSU's 18 matches, including six-or-more blocks on five occasions.
SPEAKING OF BLOCKS:
• Sophomore middle Marie Plitt was credited with a career-high 11 total blocks (1 solo and 10 assists) in last Saturday's match versus Central Michigan ... It is the most blocks in a match in the MAC so far this season and marks the first time a Ball State player has registered double-digit blocks in a match since Meg Starling collected 10 versus Idaho State on Sept. 8. 2017.
NEARLY NO STOPPING HER:
• On offense, sophomore middle Marie Plitt continues to pace the squad with a .332 (138-27-334) attack percentage, which ranks fifth in the MAC ... She hit a season-best .600 (6-0-10) at Ohio (March 5), and has hit at least .300 in 11 of BSU's 18 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.
RISI AS LIBERO:
• Looking to continue to make an impact while battling injury this season, sophomore Natalie Risi transitioned into the libero position over the last four matches ... She played libero in the final set versus Kent State (March 12) and started at libero in each of BSU's last three matches ... It is not a bad spot for Risi, as she leads Ball State's passers with at least 225 receptions with a .962 (276-for-287) reception percentage ... She has a perfect passer rating in 11 matches, and above a .950 mark in 13 contests ... She also ranks second on the team in digs (186) and digs-per-set average (3.05) ... Risi has seven matches with double-figure digs this year, including a career high 26 digs last Saturday versus Central Michigan (March 20).
DISHING THE ROCK:
• With 75 more assists in the series versus Central Michigan, redshirt sophomore Esther Grussing remains 15th in program history with 972 career assists ... With 36 assists vs. Miami (March 16), she moved past Stacy Jordan's (1982-85) career total of 867 ... Grussing needs 28 more assists to become just the 15th player in program history to reach 1,000 career assists, a total she could get Tuesday at Miami.
MAC PRESEASON POLL:Â
• 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 pointsÂ
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:Â 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.
