Volleyball Opens MAC Play Friday at Central Michigan

Ball State (8-4; 0-0 MAC) at Central Michigan (7-4; 0-0 MAC)
Match 13 at Central Michigan	Friday, Sept. 23 at 6 p.m. Live Stats \| Watch on ESPN+ \| Tickets
Match 14 at Central Michigan	Saturday, Sept. 24 at 4 p.m. Live Stats \| Watch on ESPN3 \| Tickets
Notes	Ball State \| Central Michigan
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram

LET THE #MACTION BEGIN: The Ball State women's volleyball team opens Mid-American Conference play this weekend with a two-match set at Central Michigan ... The Cardinals and Chippewas will square off at 6 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday at McGuirk Arena.

FOLLOW THE ACTION: Both of this weekend's matches will be broadcast live, with Friday's match on ESPN+ and Saturday's on ESPN3 ... In addition, live stats will be available courtesy of the host Chippewas ... Live updates from the matches will also be provided on the team's Twitter feed: @BallStateWVB.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES: The Cardinals hold a 51-35 lead in the all-time series versus Central Michigan, including earning a pair of 3-1 victories last season ... The last five matches between the two clubs have been played in Muncie, with BSU winning four ... CMU does have a two-match winning streak on its home floor, winning matches on Oct. 11, 2019, and Nov. 2, 2018 ... Overall, the Cardinals are 20-16 all-time in matches played in Mount Pleasant.

BALL STATE WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL QUICK HITS:
• In its 51st season of play, Ball State boasts a 979-628-2 (.609) 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 Central Michigan as the winningest program in league play with a 418-212 (.663) all-time Mid-American Conference record ... Western Michigan is second on the list at 417-213 (.622) ... Central Michigan is seventh based on winning percentage at 311-320 (.493).

• Despite not receiving votes in the last three AVCA Top 25 Coaches Polls, the Cardinals put together a string of three straight polls receiving votes, including the first two of the 2022 season ... Ball State received three votes in the 2021 final poll, 18 in the 2022 preseason poll and seven in the Aug. 29, 2022, 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.

• The Cardinals enter league play with an 8-4 overall record ... Three of BSU's four losses have come at the hands of NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago in first-round participant Mississippi State, second-round qualifier Dayton, and NCAA Regional Finalist Purdue ... The Bulldogs are currently 8-3 on the year and are receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll ... The Flyers are 6-7 with two of its losses coming to top 25 programs and another coming to a team receiving votes in the top 25 ... Purdue is currently ranked 11th in the AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll with a 9-1 record on the year.

• For their play at last weekend's Stacey Clark Classic hosted by Purdue, senior middle Marie Plitt and junior middle Lauren Gilliland earned all-tournament team honors ... Plitt led Ball State with a .341 (18-3-44) attack percentage at the event, while Gilliland was right behind at .319 (18-3-47).

• Marie Plitt enters the weekend ranked third in the MAC and 52nd nationally with a .378 (116-17-262) 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 eight of BSU's 12 matches, including a .467 (8-1-15) effort at No. 10 Purdue last Saturday ... Plitt also enters the weekend as the team leader with a 2.42 kills-per-set average, including double-digit kills in five matches.

• In addition to Marie Plitt's mark versus Arkansas State, the team combined for the third-best single match attack percentage in program history at .478 (49-6-90).

• Ball State enters the weekend as one of the nation's winningest programs, with the team's eight wins tied for 59th nationally ... As of matches played through Sept. 20th, Ball State is also tied for tied for 79th nationally with its .667 winning percentage ... Last season, the Cardinals tied for fourth nationally with 30 overall wins, while its program record .882 winning percentage ranked eighth.

• Megan Wielonski is picking up right where she left off last season, dishing out 487 total assists so far this season ... The total currently stands as the 14th-most in the nation ... She also ranks 44th nationally with a 10.15 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 as a team in 12 of her 46 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 1,881 career assists currently ranking 12th 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 55th nationally with 20 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, topping the 51 served up by Amber Seamanin 2018.

• Lauren Gilliland enters the weekend ranked fifth in the MAC with a .341 (105-16-261) attack percentage ... She has hit .350-or-better five times in 2022, including a season-best .533 (17-1-30) versus Oklahoma (Sept. 2) ... Gilliland's 17 kills versus the Sooners were a career-high, and one of five times she has reached double figures so far this season ... Last season, Gilliland ranked first in the MAC and 49th nationally with a .366 hitting mark.

• On defensive, the Cardinals enter MAC play ranked second in the league with a 16.85 digs-per-set average ... Senior defensive specialist Maggie Huber leads the way and is eighth in the MAC with a 3.52 mark ... Megan Wielonski is second on the squad at 3.13, while senior defensive specialist Havyn Gates is third at 2.91.

• In addition to ranking third on the team with a 2.91 digs-per-set average, Havyn Gates has started as the team's libero for the last three matches ... She registered a Ball State career-high 24 digs in each of her first two starts and is averaging 4.4 digs-per-set as BSU's libero this season.

Volleyball Opens MAC Play Friday at Central Michigan

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Players Mentioned

Havyn Gates

Lauren Gilliland

Maggie Huber

Natalie Mitchem

Marie Plitt

Megan Wielonski