Volleyball Welcomes Kent State For Pair Of Matches

Ball State (19-6; 11-2 MAC) hosts Kent State (13-11; 4-9 MAC)
Match 26 hosts Kent State	Thursday, Nov. 3 at 6 p.m. Live Stats \| ESPN+ \| Tickets PROMOTIONS: Match Sponsor: NextHome Elite Real Estate Black Out: Fans are encouraged to wear black to the match Glazed Aces: Free donut holes from Jack's Donuts in The Village w/3-or-more Ball State service aces Title IX Celebration
Match 27 hosts Kent State	Friday, Nov. 4 at 6 p.m. Live Stats \| ESPN+ \| Tickets PROMOTIONS: Senior Night: Ball State will honor its six graduating seniors following the match Movie Night: A free screening of Top Gun: Maverick after the match and senior day festivities Glazed Aces: Free donut holes from Jack's Donuts in The Village w/3-or-more Ball State service aces Title IX Celebration
Notes	Ball State \| Kent State
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram

Ball State Celebrates Title IX
Ball State Athletics is set to commemorate its rich history of success and tradition in women's athletics with its celebration of the 50th anniversary of Title IX.

As we celebrate the success of women in sports, there will be opportunities to support their academic, competitive, career, and personal development. The Women's Athletics Fund, established in 2021, will continue to enhance the mission of Title IX. Invest, Impact and Inspire: https://ballstatesports.com/sports/2021/3/30/cvc-sport-championship-fund.aspx?id=618.

Ball State women's volleyball has won 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.

UP THIS WEEK: With just five matches remaining in the regular season, the Ball State women's volleyball team returns home for the first two versus Kent State ... The Cardinals and Golden Flashes will battle at 6 p.m. on both Thursday and Friday inside Worthen Arena.

FOLLOW THE ACTION: Both matches versus Kent State will be streamed live on ESPN+ ... In addition, live stats will be available courtesy of Ball State Athletics ... Live updates from the matches will also be provided on the team's Twitter feed: @BallStateWVB.

WHERE WE STAND: With just five matches remaining in the regular season, the Cardinals enter the week in first place in the Mid-American Conference with an 11-2 league record ... Ball State holds a one-match lead over both Bowling Green (10-3) and Ohio (10-3) in the overall championship race ... BSU also holds a three-match lead in the MAC West Division over both Toledo (8-5) and Central Michigan (8-5) ... Ball State can secure one of six spots in the upcoming 2022 MAC Volleyball Championship with either one win, or a loss by either Northern Illinois (7-6) or Buffalo (7-6) which are currently tied for the sixth seed.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES: Ball State holds a 42-18 lead in the all-time series versus Kent State, including a 3-0 (25-14, 25-15, 25-10) win in the latest meeting played Sept. 25, 2021, in Kent, Ohio ... However, one night earlier, the Golden Flashes handed the Cardinals what proved to be its only league loss of the 2021 season with a 3-2 (19-25, 13-25, 28-26, 25-19, 17-15) win on Sept. 24 ... BSU reached match point at 24-22 in the third set, and had five total match points in the contest, before ultimately suffering the setback ... Despite the big edge in the all-time series, Kent State has won four of the last five matches, and seven of the last 10 ... BSU holds a 21-7 edge in matches played in Muncie, including a 14-4 mark in Worthen Arena ... Kent State did pick up a win in the last match played in Worthen, topping the Cardinals 3-2 (21-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-14-17-15) on March 11, 2021 ... The Golden Flashes also earned a 3-1 (18-25, 25-19, 26-24, 25-16) win the next day in a contest played in the Jo Ann Gora Recreation Center.

BALL STATE WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL QUICK HITS:
• In its 51st season of play, Ball State boasts a 990-630-2 (.611) 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 Thursday's match vs. Kent State as the winningest program in league play with a 429-214 (.667) all-time Mid-American Conference record ... Western Michigan is second on the list, six matches behind the Cardinals at 423-220 (.658) ... Kent State is ninth all-time based on winning percentage at 240-403 (.373).

• 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 Thursday's match versus Kent State with the longest active winning streak in the MAC at 11 matches ... It also ties as the 11th-longest active 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 17.72 digs-per-set average ... Only Tulsa (18.91) and McNeese (18.52) have better averages ... In addition, the Cardinals' 1,719 total digs are also third nationally, trailing only McNeese (1,871) and Chattanooga (1,722).

• Three Ball State student-athletes rank in the top 250 nationally in total digs, led by senior libero Maggie Huber in 56th at 404 ... Sophomore setter Megan Wielonski is second on the squad and 192nd nationally at 311, while senior outside Natalie Risi is 245th at 287 ... Ball State has five regulars averaging at least 2.33 digs per set, led by Huber at 4.16.

• In addition to leading the team with a 4.16 digs-per-set average, Maggie Huber has started 20 of BSU's 25 matches at libero ... She has collected double-digit digs in 22 matches, including a season-high 30 in the Oct. 14 win at NIU ... Three matches later, she added 29 digs in the Oct. 21 win over Western Michigan ... Huber also leads Ball State's primary passers with a .952 reception percentage, with just 22 reception errors in 457 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 42 digs in a match as a freshman at Indiana Wesleyan in 2019, has 1,694 career digs including 570 at BSU and 1,124 at IWU.

• On offensive, senior middle Marie Plitt enters the week ranked first in the MAC and 15th nationally with a .402 (247-35-527) 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 19 of BSU's 25 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 13 matches.

• Senior outside Natalie Risi is not far behind, ranking third on the squad with a 2.47 kills-per-set average ... Risi has smashed double-digit kills in a team-high 14 matches this season, including eight of the last 11 outings ... Risi has also collected 11 kill/dig double-doubles on the year and ranks third on the squad with a 2.96 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 1,227 digs ... Risi also ranks 18th in program history with 881 career kills and needs 119 more to become just the sixth player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs.

• Speaking of ranking among the program elite in kills, senior opposite Natalie Mitchem enters Thursday's match versus Kent State ranked 12th in program history with 987 career kills ... Marie Plitt also ranks in the top 20, with her 919 career kills placing 15th ... Only 11 players in program history have reached 1,000 career kills while playing for Ball State.

• Megan Wielonski continues to be one of the nation's elite setters, entering the week ranked fourth nationally with 1,052 total assists ... She is also 18th 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 15 of her 59 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 2,446 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 48th 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 eight of the last nine matches, including a career-high 19 at Toledo (Oct. 19), Cait Snyder enters the weekend with a team-leading 3.13 kills-per-set average ... In MAC play, Snyder is averaging 3.54 kills-per-set which is third among all league players ... Snyder has led the Ball State offense in kills in seven of the last 11 matches, and a team-high nine times so far this season.

• Ball State continues to be one of the nation's top offenses, ranking fourth nationally in total kills (1,346) and fifth in total assists (1,239) ... In addition, the Cardinals currently rank 41st among the 334 ranked NCAA Division I programs with a .255 team attack percentage.

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