Volleyball Welcomes Toledo For Regular Season Finale

Ball State (22-7; 14-3 MAC) hosts Toledo (18-10; 11-6 MAC)
Match 30 vs. Toledo	Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 6 p.m. Live Stats \| ESPN+ \| Tickets
Notes	Ball State \| Toledo
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram

UP THIS WEEK: The Ball State women's volleyball team closes the 2022 regular season Wednesday with a 6 p.m. first serve versus Toledo inside Worthen Arena.

FOLLOW THE ACTION: Wednesday's match versus the Rockets 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 one match remaining in the regular season, the Cardinals can lock up at least a share of the 2022 Mid-American Conference regular season championship and hosting rights for the 2022 MAC Championship with a win over Toledo Wednesday ... Ball State enters the match with a 14-3 league record, a first-round tournament bye, and tied with Bowling Green (14-3) for the top spot in the conference ... BSU also holds the tiebreaker versus the Falcons courtesy of its 3-0 sweep at BGSU on Oct. 28 ... Ohio (12-5), Toledo (11-6), Central Michigan (11-6), and Northern Illinois (10-7) currently round out the six-team tournament field ... Buffalo (9-8) is the only other league school in contention for a tournament berth, needing a win versus Akron and an NIU loss at Western Michigan to qualify.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES: Ball State holds a 72-11 lead in the all-time series versus Toledo, including four straight wins ... In the first meeting this season, the Cardinals used a career-high 19 kills from junior outside Cait Snyder to claim at 3-1 (25-21, 25-16, 22-25, 25-22) victory at Savage Arena on Oct. 19 ... BSU holds a 34-4 all-time lead in matches played in Muncie, including a 26-3 mark inside Worthen Arena ... BSU has won four straight meetings on its home floor, with UT last winning in Muncie on Sept. 29, 2016 by a score of 3-1 (17-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-18).

BALL STATE WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL QUICK HITS:
• In its 51st season of play, Ball State boasts a 993-631-2 (.611) all-time record in women's volleyball ... The Cardinals have captured 12 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 Wednesday's match versus Toledo as the winningest program in league play with a 432-215 (.668) all-time Mid-American Conference record ... Western Michigan is second on the list, seven matches behind the Cardinals at 425-222 (.657) ... Toledo is 11th all-time based on winning percentage at 204-442 (.316).

• The Cardinals own an even better record when playing at home, boasting a 305-94 (.764) mark inside Worthen Arena ... Factor in opponents from just the Mid-American Conference and Ball State is 224-57 (.797) 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.

• While Ball State had its 13-match winning streak snapped last Friday at Ohio, it still goes down as one of the longest in program history ... To be exact, the 13-match winning streak is the seventh-longest all-time for the Ball State women's volleyball program ... In addition, Ball State won 13 consecutive sets during the run, which ties as the 14th-longest set winning streak in program history.

• Overall, Ball State's backcourt enters the week as one of the nation's best, ranking first in the MAC and fourth nationally with a 17.61 digs-per-set average ... Only Tulsa (18.51), McNeese (18.35), and Loyola Maryland (17.85) have better averages ... In addition, the Cardinals' 1,955 total digs are seventh nationally, trailing McNeese (2,276), VCU (2,048), Valparaiso (2,043), SEMO (2,012), Chattanooga (1,986), and Houston Christian (1,956).

• Three Ball State student-athletes rank in the top 270 nationally in total digs, led by senior libero Maggie Huber in 43rd at 490 ... Sophomore setter Megan Wielonski is second on the squad and 211th nationally at 347, while senior outside Natalie Risi is 269th at 320

• Ball State has five regulars averaging at least 2.26 digs per set in 2022, with Maggie Huber's 4.41 mark ranking 75th among all NCAA Division I players.

• In addition to leading the team with a 4.41 digs-per-set average, Maggie Huber has started 24 of BSU's 29 matches at libero ... She has collected double-digit digs in 26 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 .956 reception percentage, with just 22 reception errors in 503 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 1,720 career digs including 596 at BSU and 1,124 at IWU.

• On offensive, senior middle Marie Plitt enters the week ranked first in the MAC and 18th nationally with a .402 (288-40-617) 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 22 of BSU's 29 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 2.59 kills-per-set average, including double-digit kills in 14 matches.

• Senior outside Natalie Risi is not far behind, ranking third on the squad with a 2.43 kills-per-set average ... Risi has smashed double-digit kills in 14 matches this season, including eight of the last 15 outings ... Risi has also collected 11 kill/dig double-doubles on the year and ranks third on the squad with a 2.88 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 ninth in program history with 1,260 digs ... Risi also ranks 18th in program history with 902 career kills and needs 98 more to become only the sixth player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs.

• Speaking of 1,000 career kills, senior opposite Natalie Mitchem became just the 12th player in program history to eclipse the mark with her third of a team-high 12 kills in the Nov. 3 sweep of Kent State ... She enters Wednesday's match at Toledo ranked 12th in program history with 1,017 career kills, including double-digit kills in 50 career matches.

• Marie Plitt is also within striking distance of 1,000 career kills ranking 13th in program history with 960 ... She also boasts one of the top attack percentages on Ball State's career list, with her .350 mark ranking third all-time.

• Megan Wielonski continues to be one of the nation's elite setters, entering the week ranked fourth nationally with 1,194 total assists ... She is also 23rd nationally with her 10.76 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 17 of her 63 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 2,588 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 38th nationally with 44 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, Wielonski ranks 16th in program history with 102 career service aces.

• With double-digit kills in 11 of the last 13 matches, including a career-high 19 at Toledo (Oct. 19), Cait Snyder enters the weekend with a team-leading 3.14 kills-per-set average ... In MAC play, Snyder is averaging 3.46 kills-per-set which is third among all league players ... Snyder has led the Ball State offense in kills in nine of the last 15 matches, and a team-high 11 times so far this season.

• Ball State continues to be one of the nation's top offenses, ranking eighth in total kills (1,533) and 11th in total assists (1,410) ... In addition, the Cardinals have the 43rd-best team attack percentage among the 334 ranked NCAA Division I programs at .255.

• The Cardinals have hit .300-or-better in eight matches this season and are a perfect 21-0 when out-hitting opponents.

Volleyball Welcomes Toledo For Regular Season Finale

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Players Mentioned

Havyn Gates

Maggie Huber

Natalie Mitchem

Marie Plitt

Natalie Risi

Cait Snyder

Megan Wielonski