Ball State University Athletics
Volleyball Opens MAC Championship Play Monday
November 20, 2022 | Women's Volleyball
| Ball State (23-7; 15-3 MAC) hosts 2022 MAC Volleyball Championship | |
| Match 31 - MAC Semifinals | Monday, Nov. 21 at 4:30 p.m. Live Stats | ESPN+ | Tickets |
| Match 32 - MAC Championship | Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 4:30 p.m. Live Stats | ESPN+ | Tickets |
| Notes | Ball State | MAC Volleyball Championship Central |
| Social Media | Twitter | Instagram |
UP THIS WEEK: The second season begins Monday for the top-seeded Ball State women's volleyball team which opens play in the semifinals of the 2022 Mid-American Conference Volleyball Championship against the winner of Sunday's quarterfinal match between No. 4 seed Central Michigan and No. 5 Toledo ... Match time is set for 4:30 p.m. inside Worthen Arena.
IN THE MAC VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: Ball State will be making its 33rd appearance in the MAC Volleyball Championships, owning a 36-24 (.600) overall record and eight tournament titles (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2002, 2019, and 2021) ... The Cardinals' 36 tournament wins tie with Ohio for the most in MAC Championship history, while its eight titles are second, trailing only the Bobcats' nine ... Overall, the Cardinals own a 5-2 (.714) record in first round matches, a 12-9 (.650) mark in quarterfinal play, an 11-10 (.524) ledger in semifinal action, and an 8-3 (.727) record in the championship match ... This will be the sixth time Ball State has hosted the MAC Volleyball Championships, with the Cardinals winning four of the previous five it has hosted.
ON THE ALL-TOURNAMENT SQUAD: Ball State ranks second in conference history with both 32 MAC All-Tournament selections and eight MAC Tournament Most Valuable Player award winners ... Only Miami has more selections at 34, while only Ohio has more MVPs at nine ... For their part in guiding the Cardinals to last season's title, Marie Plitt and Megan Wielonski earned all-tournament honors, while Natalie Risi was named the event's MVP.
BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL QUICK HITS:
• In its 51st season of play, Ball State boasts a 994-631-2 (.612) all-time record in women's volleyball ... The Cardinals have captured 12 MAC West Division Championships, 10 MAC Regular Season Championships, and eight MAC Volleyball Championship titles ... 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 concluded the 2022 regular season as the winningest program in league play with a 433-215 (.668) all-time Mid-American Conference record ... Western Michigan is second on the list, seven matches behind the Cardinals at 426-222 (.657).
• The Cardinals own an even better record when playing at home, boasting a 306-94 (.765) mark inside Worthen Arena ... Factor in opponents from just the Mid-American Conference and Ball State is 225-57 (.798) when battling in "The Nest" ... Looking at just MAC Volleyball Championship matches, the Cardinals are an astounding 19-1 (.950) on its current home court ... Overall, 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.
BALL STATE VS. THE MAC IN WORTHEN
| Program | Wins | Losses | BSU W% | Tourny |
| Buffalo | 15 | 0 | 1.000 | 1-0 |
| Akron | 20 | 1 | .952 | 3-0 |
| Toledo | 27 | 3 | .900 | 0-0 |
| EMU | 28 | 5 | .848 | 4-0 |
| CMU | 24 | 6 | .800 | 0-0 |
| Kent State | 16 | 4 | .800 | 0-0 |
| WMU | 25 | 7 | .781 | 3-0 |
| BGSU | 17 | 7 | .708 | >4-0 |
| NIU | 18 | 9 | .667 | 0-0 |
| Miami | 16 | 8 | .667 | 2-0 |
| Ohio | 12 | 7 | .632 | 0-1 |
| *Marshall | 7 | 0 | 1.000 | 2-0 |
| All-Time | 225 | 57 | .798 | 19-1 |
• Ball State was heavily rewarded for its second consecutive MAC regular season title, claiming four All-MAC honors, MAC Setter of the Year, and MAC Coach of the Year ... Sophomore setter Megan Wielonski became just the second player in program history to earn MAC Setter of the Year, joining 2018 selection Amber Seaman, and earned her second straight nod on the All-MAC First Team ... Senior middle Marie Plitt was also named to the All-MAC First Team for the second consecutive season, while junior outside Cait Snyder picked up All-MAC First Team honors for the first time in her career ... Senior opposite Natalie Mitchem also earned All-MAC honors for a second straight season, being named second team after earning first team in 2021 ... Rounding out Ball State's award winners was Kelli Miller Phillips who claimed her second consecutive MAC Coach of the Year honor.
• Ball State enters the MAC Volleyball Championship with a 5-3 record versus the tournament field this season ... In championship play, the Cardinals are 13-8 versus the field, while they are 240-90-1 all-time against opponents it could face starting Monday.
Ball State vs. 2022 MAC Championship Field
| Opponent | 2022 | Tourny | All-Time |
| No. 2 Bowling Green | 1-0 | 8-1 | 46-20-1 (W3) |
| No. 3 Ohio | 1-1 | 2-5 | 42-21 (W1) |
| No. 4 Central Michigan | 0-2 | 0-1 | 51-37 (L2) |
| No. 5 Toledo | 2-0 | 1-1 | 73-11 (W5) |
| No. 6 Buffalo | 1-0 | 2-0 | 28-1 (W14) |
| Overall | 5-3 | 13-8 | 240-90-1 |
• Ball State enters the 2022 MAC Championship on a five-match tournament winning streak ... The Cardinals won all three matches it played in the 2019 event, and went 2-0 as the host last season ... BSU won both championship matches versus Bowling Green in five sets, with the 2019 championship coming at BGSU's Stroh Center ... The longest tournament winning stream in program history is eight matches, when Ball State won two matches each in 1992, 1993, 1994, and 1995 to claim four straight titles.
• Looking at the 2022 season, Ball State is one of the most balanced teams in the nation, ranking seventh nationally in both total digs (1,995) and digs-per-set average (17.50), ranking ninth nationally in both total kills (1,577) and total assists (1,452), and ranking 40th among the 332 ranked NCAA Division I programs with a .256 attack percentage.
• Senior Maggie Huber leads the Cardinals in the backcourt and ranks 80th nationally with a 4.40 digs-per-set average ... Ball State's starting libero in 25 of the team's 30 matches so far this season, she also ranks 38th in the country with 502 total digs ... 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 owns a .949 reception percentage, with just 27 reception errors in 525 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 1,722 career digs including 598 at BSU and 1,124 at IWU.
• On offensive, senior middle Marie Plitt enters the MAC Championship ranked first in the MAC and 15th nationally with a .402 (298-41-633) attack percentage ... That mark includes a program record .833 (15-0-18) rate of success in the sweep of Arkansas State (Sept. 9) ... So far this season, Plitt has hit .300-or-better in 23 of BSU's 30 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 2.61 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 2.44 kills-per-set average ... Risi has smashed double-digit kills in 14 matches this season, including eight of the last 16 outings ... Risi has also collected 11 kill/dig double-doubles on the year and ranks third on the squad with a 2.87 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 1,267 digs ... Risi also ranks 18th in program history with 905 career kills and needs 95 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 the MAC Championship ranked 12th in program history with 1,026 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 970 ... She also boasts one of the top attack percentages on Ball State's career list, with her .35 mark ranking third all-time.
• Megan Wielonski continues to be one of the nation's elite setters, entering the MAC Championship ranked sixth nationally with 1,230 total assists ... She is also 22nd nationally with her 10.79 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 18 of her 64 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 2,624 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 34th nationally with 45 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 is tied for 15th in program history with 103 career service aces.
• With double-digit kills in 13 of the last 16 matches, including a career-high 19 at Toledo (Oct. 19), Cait Snyder enters the MAC Championship with a team-leading 3.18 kills-per-set average ... In MAC play, Snyder is averaging 3.49 kills-per-set which is third among all league players ... Snyder has led the Ball State offense in kills in 10 of the last 16 matches, and a team-high 12 times so far this season.
• The Cardinals have hit .300-or-better in nine matches this season, while breaking the .400 mark on two occasions ... Overall, Ball State is 16-1 in matches where it has hit at least .250 and is a perfect 22-0 when out-hitting opponents.
• Ball State is also an impressive 16-0 when it out-blocks opponents, with 12 of those matches coming in league play.
