Volleyball Battles For Top Spot In The MAC This Weekend

Ball State (17-6; 9-2 MAC) at Bowling Green (14-8; 9-2 MAC) / at Miami (6-16; 1-10 MAC)
Match 24 at Bowling Green	Friday, Oct. 28 at 6 p.m. Live Stats \| ESPN+ \| Tickets
Match 25 at Miami	Saturday, Oct. 29 at 5 p.m. Live Stats \| RedHawks All-Access ($6.95) \| Tickets
Notes	Ball State \| Bowling Green \| Miami
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram

UP THIS WEEK: For the third straight week, the Ball State women's volleyball program will go head-to-head for one of the top spots in the Mid-American Conference, this time battling Bowling Green for the overall league lead Friday at 6 p.m. in BGSU's Stroh Center ... The Cardinals close the week Saturday at Miami with a 5 p.m. first serve.

FOLLOW THE ACTION: Friday's match at Bowling Green will be broadcast live on ESPN+, while Saturday's contest will be streamed live on RedHawks All-Access ($6.95 for 24-hour pass) ... In addition, live stats will be available courtesy of the host institutions ... Live updates from the matches will also be provided on the team's Twitter feed: @BallStateWVB.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES: Ball State holds a 45-20-1 lead in the all-time series versus Bowling Green after toping the Falcons 3-2 (25-23, 29-31, 25-16, 21-25, 15-7) in the championship match of last season's MAC Tournament played Nov. 24 in Worthen Arena ... The Cardinals also claimed a 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-23) win over BGSU in last season's regular season meeting, also played at home ... Overall, the last four matches have been played in Worthen Arena ... The last time Ball State played at the Stroh Center, the Cardinals topped Bowling Green 3-2 (21-25, 25-17, 25-18, 18-25, 15-5) in the championship match of the 2019 MAC Tournament ... BSU is 19-7 all-time in matches played in Bowling Green ... Ball State also owns a 46-39 edge in the all-time series versus Miami, including a 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-13) sweep in the lone meeting last season played Oct. 30 in Worthen Arena ... BSU is 17-18 all-time in Oxford, with Miami earning a 3-2 (25-13, 23-25, 23, 25, 25-22, 15-11) win the last time the teams met in Millett Hall on March 23, 2021.

BALL STATE WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL QUICK HITS:
• In its 51st season of play, Ball State boasts a 988-630-2 (.610) all-time record in women's volleyball ... The Cardinals have captured 11 MAC West Division Championships, nine MAC Regular Season Championships, and eight MAC Tournament Championships ... Ball State made its 10th appearance in the NCAA Tournament last season, earning a first-round victory over Michigan for the third NCAA Tournament win in program history ... BSU has also earned one bid into the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC).

• Ball State enters Friday's match at Bowling Green as the winningest program in league play with a 427-214 (.666) all-time Mid-American Conference record ... Western Michigan is second on the list, five matches behind the Cardinals at 422-219 (.658) ... Bowling Green is fifth all-time based on winning percentage at 370-271 (.577), while Miami is third at 394-247 (.615).

• The Cardinals own an even better record when playing at home, boasting a 303-94 (.763) mark inside Worthen Arena ... Factor in opponents from just the Mid-American Conference and Ball State is 222-57 (.796) when battling in "The Nest" ... No MAC opponent owns a winning record inside Worthen Arena, as the Cardinals have at least a .632 winning percentage against all league schools on its current home floor.

• Speaking of wins, Ball State enters Friday's match at Bowling Green with the longest active winning streak in the MAC at nine matches ... It also ties as the 13th-longest active streak winning streak among all NCAA Division I programs.

• Overall, Ball State's backcourt enters the week as one of the nation's best, ranking first in the MAC and third nationally with a 17.79 digs-per-set average ... Only Tulsa (19.25) and McNeese (18.29) have better averages ... In addition, the Cardinals' 1,619 total digs are also third nationally, trailing only McNeese (1,738) and Chattanooga (1,634).

• Four Ball State student-athletes rank in the top 300 nationally in total digs, led by Maggie Huber in 48th at 380 ... Sophomore setter Megan Wielonski is second on the squad in 180th at 292, while senior outside Natalie Risi is 235th at 263 and senior defensive specialist Havyn Gates is 282nd at 247 ... Overall, Ball State has six regulars averaging at least 2.36 digs per set, led by Huber at 4.18.

• In addition to leading the team with a 4.18 digs-per-set average this season, Maggie Huber has started 18 of BSU's 23 matches at libero ... She has collected double-digit digs in 20 matches, including a season-high 30 in the Oct. 14 win at NIU ... She added 29 digs in this past Friday's win over Western Michigan ... Huber also leads Ball State's primary passers with a .955 reception percentage, with just 19 reception errors in 421 total attempts.

• Havyn Gates served as BSU's starting libero in the other five matches and owns three of BSU's six largest single-match dig totals so far this season ... She collected a Ball State career-high 33 digs in the five-set thriller at Central Michigan (Sept. 24) and scored 24 digs in five-set matches versus Dayton (Sept. 13) and Northern Kentucky (Sept. 16) ... Gates, who registered a career-high 42 digs as a freshman at Indiana Wesleyan in 2019, has 1,687 career digs including 563 at BSU and 1,124 at IWU.

• On offensive, senior middle Marie Plitt enters the week ranked first in the MAC and 19th nationally with a .402 (232-33-495) attack percentage ... That mark includes a program record .833 (15-0-18) rate of success in Ball State's sweep of Arkansas State (Sept. 9) ... So far this season, Plitt has hit .300-or-better in 18 of BSU's 20 matches, including a .467 (8-1-15) effort at No. 10 Purdue (Sept. 17) ... Plitt also enters the week ranked second on the squad with a 2.55 kills-per-set average, including double-digit kills in 12 matches.

• Senior outside Natalie Risi is not far behind, ranking third on the squad with a 2.40 kills-per-set average ... Risi has smashed double-digit kills in a team-high 14 matches this season, including eight of the last nine outings ... Risi has also collected 11 kill/dig double-doubles on the year and ranks third on the squad with a 2.80 digs-per-set average.

• Natalie Risi became just the 18th player in program history to reach 1,000 career digs with her third of 10 digs in the Sept. 3 match versus Mississippi State ... She currently ranks 11th in program history with 1,203 digs ... Risi, who is 19th in program history with 873 career kills, could become just the sixth player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs if she can average 18.2 kills-per-match over the final seven matches of the regular season.

• Speaking of ranking among the program elite in kills, senior opposite Natalie Mitchem enters Friday's match at Bowling Green ranked 12th in program history with 971 career kills ... Marie Plitt also ranks in the top 20, with her 904 career kills placing 17th ... Only 11 players in program history have reached 1,000 career kills while playing for Ball State.

• Megan Wielonski, who earned MAC West Division Setter of the Week honors for the third time this season and seventh time in her career this past week, is picking up right where she left off last season by dishing out 987 total assists so far in 2022 ... The total currently stands as the fourth-most in the nation ... She also ranks 16th nationally with a 10.85 assists-per-set average ... Last season, Wielonski finished the year ranked second nationally with 1,394 total assists ... Over her career, Wielonski has helped the Cardinals hit .300-or-better in 14 of her 57 matches as the program's starting setter, included two of the top four single-match performances in program history.

• Megan Wielonski became just the 16th player in program history to eclipse 1,000 career assists last season, while her 2,381 career assists currently rank 11th on BSU's all-time list … In addition, she became just the third player in program history to record over 1,000 assists as a freshman, joining Brittany McGinnis (1,245 in 2008) and Emily Sallee (1,387 in 1997).

• In addition to being one of the nation's top setters, Megan Wielonski enters the week ranked 26th nationally with 37 service aces ... Last season, she ranked eighth among all NCAA Division I players with 58 aces, including a career-high seven vs. Ohio (Sept. 30, 2021) ... Her 58 aces in 2021 tied as the sixth-most in a single season in Ball State history and were a single season record for a BSU setter, topping Amber Seaman's total of 51 in 2018 ... Overall, her 95 career aces are four shy of breaking into the top 20 in program history.

• With double-digit kills in six of the last seven matches, including a career-high 19 at Toledo last Wednesday, Cait Snyder enters the weekend with a team-leading 3.11 kills-per-set average ... In MAC play, Snyder is averaging 3.57 kills-per-set which is third among all league players ... Snyder has led the Ball State offense in kills in six of the last nine matches, and a team-high eight times so far this season.

• Ball State continues to be one of the nation's top offenses, ranking second nationally in both total kills (1,257) and total assists (1,161) ... In addition, the Cardinals currently rank 42nd among the 334 ranked NCAA Division I programs with a .253 team attack percentage.

Volleyball Battles For Top Spot In The MAC This Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Havyn Gates

Maggie Huber

Natalie Mitchem

Marie Plitt

Natalie Risi

Cait Snyder

Megan Wielonski