Volleyball Welcomes Eastern Michigan To "The Nest" This Weekend

Ball State (8-6; 0-2 MAC) hosts Eastern Michigan (1-13; 0-2 MAC)
Match 15 hosts Eastern Michigan	Friday, Sept. 30 at 6 p.m. Live Stats \| Watch on ESPN+ \| SL Digital Radio \| Tickets PROMOTIONS: Red Out - Ball State fans are encouraged to wear RED to support the Cardinals. Glazed Aces - If the Cardinals serve up 3-or-more aces, fans will be served FREE DONUT HOLES at Jack's Donuts in Muncie the next day.
Match 16 hosts Eastern Michigan	Saturday, Oct. 1 at 6 p.m. Live Stats \| Watch on Ball State All-Access \| SL Digital Radio \| Tickets PROMOTIONS: Glazed Aces - If the Cardinals serve up 3-or-more aces, fans will be served FREE DONUT HOLES at Jack's Donuts in Muncie the next day.
Notes	Ball State \| Eastern Michigan
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram

BACK IN THE NEST: The Ball State women's volleyball team will play its next four matches in "The Nest", starting this Friday with a 6 p.m. first serve versus Eastern Michigan ... The Cardinals and Eagles will square off again Saturday at 6 p.m.

FOLLOW THE ACTION: Friday's match versus EMU will be broadcast live on ESPN+, while Saturday's will be streamed live on BallStateSports.com ... In addition, live stats will be available courtesy of the host Cardinals ... Live updates from the matches will also be provided on the team's Twitter feed: @BallStateWVB.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES: The Cardinals hold a 60-28 lead in the all-time series versus Eastern Michigan, including sweeping the fall 2021 two-match series in Ypsilanti ... Overall, six of the last seven meetings between the two teams have been at EMU, with BSU last hosting the Eagles on Nov. 15, 2019 ... The Cardinals won that match by a score of 3-1 and have a four-match winning streak versus Eastern Michigan in Worthen Arena ... Overall, Ball State holds a 32-10 advantage in matches played in Muncie, including a 26-5 edge in Worthen Arena.

BALL STATE WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL QUICK HITS:
• In its 51st season of play, Ball State boasts a 979-630-2 (.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 versus Eastern Michigan as the second-winningest program in league play with a 418-214 (.661) all-time Mid-American Conference record ... Western Michigan is first on the list, a half-game ahead of the Cardinals at 419-214 (.662) ... Eastern Michigan is eighth on the list at 273-358 (.433).

• The Cardinals own an even better record when playing at home, boasting a 297-94 (.760) mark inside Worthen Arena ... Factor in opponents from just the Mid-American Conference and Ball State is 216-57 (.791) when battling in "The Nest" ... No MAC program owns a winning record inside Worthen Arena, as the Cardinals own at least a .632 winning percentage against all league schools on its current home floor.

• The Cardinals enter Friday's match versus Eastern Michigan on a bit of a dry spell, losing in each of its last five outings ... Last weekend, Ball State opened MAC play with a pair of losses at Central Michigan ... BSU suffered a 3-1 setback Friday and dropped a tough five-setter to the Chippewas Saturday ... Despite the losses, the Cardinals were able to post some solid defensive numbers, with its 19.11 digs-per-set average ranking first among league programs last weekend ... BSU also served up 20 aces last weekend, including a season-high 13 Saturday.

• Prior to the current run of bad luck, the Cardinals opened the season with wins in eight of its first nine matches, including Power 5 wins over Oklahoma, by a score of 3-1 on Sept. 2, and Alabama, by a score of 3-1 on Sept. 9 ... The only loss during that span was to another Power 5 program in Mississippi State (Sept. 3) which was receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25 Poll at the time of the match.

• Overall, Ball State's backcourt defense ranks first in the MAC and fifth nationally with a 17.21 digs-per-set average ... In addition, the Cardinals 981 total digs are seventh nationally.

• Ball State has three student-athletes ranked in the top 200 in total digs, with senior defensive specialist Maggie Huber leading the way at 190 ... Sophomore setter Megan Wielonski is right behind at 183, while senior libero Havyn Gates is at 181 ... Overall, Ball State has five regulars averaging at least 2.63 digs per set, led by Gates at 3.35.

• In addition to leading the team with a 3.35 digs-per-set average, Havyn Gates has started at libero the last five matches ... She registered a Ball State career-high 33 digs in last Saturday's five-set thriller at Central Michigan and is averaging 4.83 digs-per-set in the off-colored jersey ... Gates, who registered a career-high 42 digs as a freshman at Indiana Wesleyan in 2019, has climbed to ninth in the MAC with her 3.35 digs-per-set average.

• On offensive, senior middle Marie Plitt enters the weekend ranked third in the MAC and 51st nationally with a .370 (142-24-319) 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 10 of BSU's 13 matches, including a .467 (8-1-15) effort at No. 10 Purdue (Sept. 17) ... Plitt also enters the weekend as the team leader with a 2.49 kills-per-set average, including double-digit kills in seven matches.

• Megan Wielonski is picking up right where she left off last season, dishing out 593 total assists so far this season ... The total currently stands as the ninth-most in the nation ... She also ranks 34th nationally with a 10.40 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 48 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 1,987 career assists currently rank 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 26th nationally with 26 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 Seaman in 2018.

• Lauren Gilliland enters the weekend ranked seventh in the MAC with a .322 (123-22-314) 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 six times she has blasted double figure kills so far this season ... Last season, Gilliland ranked first in the MAC and 49th nationally with a .366 hitting mark.

• Ball State continues to be one of the nation's top offenses, ranking 23rd nationally with 761 total kills ... Four different Cardinals have over 100 kills so far this season, led by 142 from Marie Plitt ... In addition, seven different players are averaging at least 2.00 kill per set, while the team ranks 80th nationally with a .237 attack percentage.

Volleyball Welcomes Eastern Michigan To "The Nest" This Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Havyn Gates

Lauren Gilliland

Maggie Huber

Marie Plitt

Megan Wielonski