Ball State University
Oklahoma
Tennessee Part 2: Women's Volleyball at Lipscomb's LUV Invite
September 01, 2022 | Women's Volleyball
| Ball State (3-0; 0-0 MAC) at LUV Invitational Hosted by Lipscomb | |
| Match 4 vs. Oklahoma (3-0) | Friday, Sept. 2 at 2 p.m. CT Live Stats |
| Match 5 at Lipscomb (2-1) | Friday, Sept. 2 at 7 p.m. CT Live Stats | Watch on ESPN+ |
| Match 6 vs. Mississippi State (2-0) | Saturday, Sept. 3 at 4 p.m. CT Live Stats |
| Tickets Info | Lipscomb Ticket Information |
| Notes | Ball State  |  Oklahoma  |  Lipscomb |  Mississippi State |
| Social Media | Twitter  |  Instagram |
VOLLEYBALL BACK ON THE ROAD: The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to the road this weekend for the LUV Invitational hosted by Lipscomb ... The Cardinals open the two-day event Friday with matches versus Oklahoma (3p ET / 2p CT) and the host Bison (8p ET / 7p CT) ... BSU closes the event Saturday against Mississippi State (4p ET / 3p CT), who like the Cardinals, received votes in this week's AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll.
FOLLOW THE ACTION: Live stats will be available of all three matches this weekend, while Friday's night contest against tournament host Lipscomb will be broadcast live on ESPN+ ... Live updates from the matches will also be provided on the team's Twitter feed: @BallStateWVB.Â
THE ALL-TIME SERIES: Ball State will be playing both Oklahoma and Mississippi State for the first time in women's volleyball ... The Cardinals have battled Lipscomb once before, with the Bison scoring a 3-1 (24-26, 25-15, 25-16, 25-18) victory on Sept. 4, 2015, as part of the Lipscomb Invitational played inside Allen Arena.
FAMILIAR FACES PART 1: Saturday's match versus Mississippi State will see the Cardinals battle a familiar face in associate head coach Fritz Rosenberg ... Rosenberg spent eight seasons on the Ball State staff (2014-21), helping guide the Cardinals to a 145-97 overall record, including an 88-47 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... His expertise helped lead Ball State to a pair of NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship appearances (2019 & 2021), including the program's third-ever first round victory in the 2021 event.
FAMILIAR FACES PART 2: This weekend's tournament will also see current Ball State assistant coach Justin Wells return to the city of Nashville ... Wells spent the previous three seasons coaching at Belmont which is just down the road from Lipscomb, with the two gyms less than 10 minutes apart.
BALL STATE WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL QUICK HITS
• Ball State boasts a 974-624-2 (.609) all-time record in women's volleyball over 50 seasons of play ... 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 received votes for the third straight AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll, picking up seven in the Aug. 29 release after opening the season with a 3-0 record at the USF Opening Weekend Invite ... The Cardinals received 18 votes in the preseason poll, while garnering three in the 2021 final poll.
• Prior to the 2021 AVCA Final Poll, the Cardinals had not received votes in an AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll since earning eight votes on Oct. 31, 2011.
• Speaking of polls, the Ball State women's volleyball program was the unanimous pick to win the Mid-American Conference West Division in the league's annual preseason poll ... The Cardinals earned all 12 first-place votes to win the division and picked up four of the 12 votes to repeat as tournament champion.
2022 MAC West Division Predictions
1. Ball State (12) - 72 points
2. Western Michigan - 55 points
3. Toledo - 49 points
4. Northern Illinois - 32 points
5. Central Michigan - 29 points
6. Eastern Michigan - 15 points
Predicted Tournament Champion: Bowling Green (7), Ball State (4), Western Michigan (1)
• In addition to the team being picked to win the MAC West Division, the Cardinals placed three members on the Preseason All-MAC West Division Team: sophomore setter Megan Wielonski, senior middle Marie Plitt, and senior opposite Natalie Mitchem.
• Ball State opened the 2022 season last Friday with a 3-1 win over a tough South Alabama squad which advanced to the first round of the 2021 NCAA Championship ... It was Ball State's fifth straight win in a season opener, with the streak book ended by wins over the Jaguars ... It also moved the program to 28-23 all-time in its first match of a year.
• Senior outside attacker Natalie Risi was named the MVP of the USF Opening Weekend Invite after registering kill/dig double-doubles in each of the three matches ... She tied for team-high honors with 37 kills in the event, while tying for second with 40 total digs ... For the week, she averaged 2.85 kills and 3.08 digs per set, while hitting .299.
• Sophomore setter Megan Wielonski was named to the USF Opening Weekend Invite All-Tournament Team after leading the Ball State offense to a .286 team attack percentage in the event ... The MAC West Division Setter of the Week as well, Wielonski averaged 10.38 assists per set and collected a pair of assist/dig double-doubles ... In Friday night's win over USF, she was also credited with a career-high 22 digs.
• Rounding out Ball State's all-tournament selections from opening weekend was senior libero Maggie Huber who earned a team-best 54 digs at the USF Opening Weekend Invite ... She led the Cardinals in digs in all three matches, including a season-high 22 in the win over USF (Sept. 26) ... Huber also led Ball State's primary passers with a .968 reception percentage opening weekend, with just one reception error in 31 chances.
• As of matches played through Aug. 31, Ball State enters the LUV Invitational as one of only 74 remaining undefeated teams in NCAA Division I women's volleyball ... Only one other MAC school, Toledo, is currently undefeated as well ... Last season, the Cardinals tied for fourth nationally with 30 overall wins
• Ball State's offense started the season strong, finishing opening weekend with a MAC-best .286 team attack percentage ... The mark currently ranks 41st nationally ... The Cardinals finished the 2021 season with a program record .265 team attack percentage, which ranked 23rd among the 321 NCAA Division I women's volleyball programs.
• Megan Wielonski dished out 135 total assists opening weekend, which currently stands as the 16th-most nationally ... Last season, Wielonski finished the year ranked second nationally with 1,394 total assists ... Overall, she has helped the Cardinals hit .300-or-better in 10 of her 37 matches as the program's starting setter ... Included in that list is a .476 team hitting percentage in the Aug. 27, 2021 sweep of St. Thomas which is the third-best single match team performance in program history.
• Megan Wielonski became just the 16th player in program history to eclipse 1,000 career assists last season, with her 1,529 career assists currently ranking 13th 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 weekend ranked 52nd nationally with seven 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) ... Her 58 aces last season tied as the sixth-most in a single season in program history and were a single season record for a BSU setter, with the previous mark being 51 set by Amber Seaman in 2018.
• Junior middle Lauren Gilliland finished opening weekend with a team-leading .373 attack percentage, including a .400 (11-1-25) rate of success versus William & Mary (Sept. 27) ... The mark currently ranks 135th nationally and is ninth in the MAC ... Last season, Gilliland finished the season ranked first in the MAC and 49th nationally with a .366 hitting mark.
• Lauren Gilliland was also impressive at the net, leading the Ball State defense with 14 total blocks for a 1.08 blocks-per-set average ... She collected a season-high nine total blocks (three solo and six assists) in the win over USF (Aug. 26), which ties as the second-most in a match among MAC players so far this season.
• Senior middle Marie Plitt also turned in a strong opening weekend, tying for the team lead with 37 kills and ranking second on the squad with a .356 attack percentage ... The effort included a season-high 16 kills and a .500 (16-2-28) hitting mark versus William & Mary (Aug. 27) ... Last season, Plitt ranked second in the MAC and 55th nationally with a .360 attack percentage.
• Another key cog in the Ball State offense opening weekend was graduate transfer Addie Halverson who ranked third on the squad with 36 total kills ... The effort included a career-high tying 19 kills in the five-set win at USF (Aug. 26).
