NIVC Preview: WVB vs. MTSU Set For Thursday

Ball State (16-14) at NIVC First & Second Rounds
Match 31 - vs. MTSU (20-9)	Thursday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT ESPN+ \| Live Stats
Match 32 - NIVC Second Round Clemson (17-13) or Eastern Kentucky (21-8)	Friday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT ESPN+ \| Live Stats
Notes	Ball State \| MTSU \| Clemson \| EKU \| NIVC Tournament Central
Social Media	X (Twitter) \| Instagram

THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL: Ball State will be making its second-ever appearance in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) Thursday, when it travels to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to take on host Middle Tennessee in a 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT first serve at Alumni Memorial Gymnasium ... The site's other first round match, which starts at 4 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. CT, features Clemson and Eastern Kentucky ... The winners will advance to Friday's second round showdown at 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT.

FOLLOW THE ACTION: For fans unable to make it to Murfreesboro, live video and live stats will be available for all three matches in the opening two rounds of the NIVC courtesy of Middle Tennessee ... Links to follow the action will be posted on the Ball State women's volleyball schedule page and on social media when they become available:
https://ballstatesports.com/sports/womens-volleyball/schedule

ABOUT THE NIVC: Produced by Triple Crown Sports, this is the 13th overall season for the NIVC and its sixth in its current format ... The NIVC was held for seven seasons (1989-95) as a 20-team event and was reestablished in 2017 with a 32-team field ... Champions of the current NIVC era include Boston College (2022), UNLV (2021), Georgia Tech (2019), Iowa State (2018) and Ole Miss (2017) ... This will be Ball State's second NIVC appearance, with the first coming in 2018 ... BSU is 0-1 in NIVC play, suffering a 3-1 setback to Valparaiso during the 2018 event.

BALL STATE ALL-TIME: Ball State enters the NIVC with a 1,011-647-2 (.610) all-time record in women's volleyball ... Thanks to its 3-0 sweep of Central Michigan on Sept. 22, the Cardinals became just the 44th program in NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball history to reach 1,000 wins ... All-time, Ball State has captured 12 MAC West Division Championships, 10 MAC Regular Season Championships and eight MAC Volleyball Championship titles ... Ball State has made 11 appearances in the NCAA Tournament, including three of the last five seasons ... BSU has also earned two bids into the NIVC.

IN #MACTION: Ball State finished the 2023 regular season with a 13-5 MAC record to maintain its status as the winningest program in league play with a 446-220 (.670) all-time Mid-American Conference mark ... Western Michigan is second on the list, two matches behind the Cardinals at 444-222 (.667).

THE WORTHEN FACTOR: The Cardinals own an even better record when playing at home, boasting a 318-96 (.768) all-time mark inside Worthen Arena ... Looking at just opponents from the MAC, Ball State is 235-58 (.802) when battling in Worthen Arena ... Overall, no MAC opponent owns a winning record inside Worthen Arena, as the Cardinals have at least a .650 winning percentage against all league schools on its current home floor.

THE ALL-TIME VS. MURFREESBORO TEAMS: Ball State enters the week with a 2-3 all-time record versus teams playing in Murfreesboro ... The Cardinals will be playing host MTSU for the first time in women's volleyball ... Ball State is 1-3 all-time versus Eastern Kentucky with the last meeting being a 3-0 (15-7, 16-14, 15-11) EKU victory Sept. 4, 1983 in Lexington, Kentucky ... BSU holds a 1-0 edge all-time versus Clemson, with the lone meeting being a 3-0 (16-14, 15-11, 15-11) Ball State win Sept. 1, 1995 in Fort Collins, Colorado.

SCOUTING BALL STATE:
• Ball State enters NIVC with a 16-14 (13-5 MAC) record after suffering a 3-2 setback to sixth-seeded Bowling Green in the quarterfinals of the MAC Volleyball Championship on Nov. 18 ... In regular season league play, Ball State's only losses came to MAC regular season champion WMU, MAC East Division Co-Champion Buffalo and tournament fifth seed Toledo ... Prior to league play, the Cardinals faced one of the MAC's toughest non-conference slates, including three programs (No. 17 Creighton, No. 19 Dayton and No. 21 Western Kentucky) currently ranked inside the Top 25 of the AVCA/Taraflex Coaches Poll.
• Ball State is one of the nation's top blocking programs, ranking second in the MAC and 129th nationally with a 2.16 blocks-per-set average ... Freshman middle Camryn Wise has played a large role in those numbers over the last 11 weeks, averaging a league-best 1.12 blocks per set which ranks 95th among all NCAA Division I players.
• On the attacking front, redshirt freshman outside Aniya Kennedy leads the league and ranks 34th nationally with a 4.10 kills-per-set average ... Fifth-year middle Marie Plitt is BSU's top attacker by percentage, boasting a .392 rate of success which is third in the league and 26th nationally.

SCOUTING MIDDLE TENNESSEE:
• The Blue Raiders enter the NIVC with a 20-9 overall record, including an 11-5 mark in Conference USA play ... MTSU suffered a 3-2 setback to FIU in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA tournament.
• Middle Tennessee is one of the nation's top attacking teams, ranking fourth among NCAA Division I programs with a .305 team hitting percentage ... Kaylee Oscarson leads the squad and is 13th nationally with her .411 mark.

SCOUTING CLEMSON:
• The Tigers enter the NIVC with a 17-13 overall record, including an 8-10 ACC mark ... Clemson closed the regular season with a 3-0 win over Virginia Tech on Nov. 22.
• Clemson is led offensively by Kennedy Wagner's 223 kills and 2.37 kills-per-set average ... However, the team has an overall balanced attack with seven attackers recording at least 137 kills and averaging at least 1.39 kills per set.

SCOUTING EASTERN KENTUCKY:
• The Colonels enter the NIVC with a 21-8 overall record, including an 11-5 ASUN mark ... EKU suffered a 3-1 setback to North Florida in the first round of the ASUN Tournament.
• Eastern Kentucky is a balanced squad, ranking 12th nationally with at 14.09 kills per set and 38th nationally at 16.16 digs per set ... In addition, the Colonels are 43rd in the country with a .253 hitting percentage.

BALL STATE QUICK HITS:
• Marie Plitt currently leads the squad and ranks 26th nationally with a .392 (291-42-636) attack percentage ... Her best effort came in the win over Purdue Fort Wayne (Aug. 26) when she smashed 10 kills on 12 swings with one error for a .750 attacking mark ... Plitt also hit .722 (13-0-18) in the win over Kent State (Oct. 27) and .688 (11-0-16) in the victory over Central Michigan (Sept. 21) ... Overall, she has hit .500-or-better in 36 career matches ... In BSU's 18 MAC matches this season, Plitt hit a league-best .448 (195-21-388) and averaged 2.95 kills per set.

• Marie Plitt enters the NIVC atop Ball State's all-time list with a .361 career hitting percentage, just ahead Julie Zilka's (1998-2001) .360 mark ... Plitt has steadily improved each year, hitting .295 as a freshman, .316 as a sophomore, .360 as a junior and a Ball State single season record .404 last year ... She is the first player in program history to hit .400-or-above in a single season.

• Marie Plitt, who became Ball State's all-time leader in sets played at Eastern Michigan (Sept. 30), became the 13th player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills with her first of 10 markers in last season's NCAA Tournament opening round match at No. 16 Marquette ... With 1300 career kills, Plitt currently ranks sixth in program history and needs 63 more to pass Katie Butts' (1999-2002) total of 1,362 for sixth.

• Marie Plitt has also made her presence felt at the net over her career, ranking fifth in program history with 419 career blocks ... She is fifth on Ball State's all-time charts with 335 career block assists, while ranking ninth with 84 solo blocks.

• Fifth-year defensive specialist Havyn Gates has served as starting libero in 29 of Ball State's 30 matches this season, and has now started in the off-colored jersey 34 times in her Ball State career ... She became the 20th player in program history to reach 1,000 career digs at Ball State with her second of a match-high 21 digs versus Northern Illinois (Nov. 10) ... She enters the NIVC with 1,082 digs as a Cardinal ... Throw in her 1,124 digs over her two-year career at Indiana Wesleyan (2019-2020) and she owns 2,206 collegiate digs.

• Havyn Gates collected a season-high 32 digs in Ball State's MAC Volleyball Championship quarterfinal match versus Bowling Green (Nov. 18) ... It was her seventh match this season with 20-or-more digs, raising her career total to 31 including her two seasons at Indiana Wesleyan ... Gates earned a Ball State career-high 33 digs in a five-set thriller at Central Michigan (Sept. 24, 2022), while registering 42 digs in a match as a freshman at Indiana Wesleyan in 2019.

• Megan Wielonski, who currently ranks sixth in program history with 3,919 career assists, has proven to be one of the nation's elite setters ... In fact, her 3,919 career assists currently rank 16th among all active NCAA Division I players ... As a freshman, she finished the 2021 season ranked second nationally with 1,394 total assists ... Her sophomore campaign ended with her ranked fourth nationally with 1,358 total assists in 2022 ... 30 matches into the 2023 season and Wielonski is 26th nationally with 1,166 total assists.

• In addition to being one of the nation's top setters, Megan Wielonski is one of the country's top servers with 139 career aces ... The total currently ranks fifth in program history ... As a freshman, 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 ... Last season, she ranked 55th nationally with 46 service aces, while she has a team-leading 35 aces so far this season.

• Aniya Kennedy enters the NIVC leading the league and ranked 34th nationally with a 4.10 kills-per-set average ... She's even better in league play, with a 4.56 kills-per-set average ... She has smashed double-digit kills in 24 matches, while leading the team in kills in 21 outings ... In BSU's four-set win over Akron (Oct. 13), Kennedy was credited with a career-high 25 kills, a mark she later tied at Western Michigan (Nov. 3).

• In fact, Aniya Kennedy's 25 kills versus Akron (Oct. 13) and at WMU (Nov. 3) are the most for a Ball State player in a match since Kia Holder (2017-20) logged 27 at Eastern Michigan on March 27, 2021 ... In addition, the 25 kills tie as the 10th-most by a MAC player in a match this season and are the fourth-best total by a league attacker in a four-set match ... Kennedy is the first Ball State player to register multiple 20+ kill matches in the same season since Natalie Risi (2019-22) had two as a freshman in 2019 ... In fact, her seven matches with 20-or-more kills this season tie as the eighth-most in a single season in program history and are the most since Sarah Obras (2002-05) registered seven in 2004.

• Madison Buckley has also made a big impact from the attack line, ranking third on the squad at 2.43 kills per set ... Her biggest match came when she blasted a career-high 16 kills versus NIU (Nov. 11) ... She scored 15 kills versus Bowling Green (Nov. 18) in the MAC Championship, while adding 14 at then-No. 20 Creighton (Sept. 1), versus UIC (Sept. 9) and at Buffalo (Oct. 20) ... Buckley has also made her presence felt at the net, ranking second on the team with an 0.81 blocks-per-set average ... She has a team-best 90 total blocks this season, including five solo blocks and 85 block assists.

• Freshman Camryn Wise has found a home in the middle of the court over the last 11 weeks, boasting a team and MAC-leading 1.12 blocks-per-set average ... She has earned at least two blocks in 19 of the 21 matches she has played, including a career-high nine in four-set wins over Akron (Oct. 14) and Ohio (Oct. 28) ... Wise has also aided from the attack line, with 86 kills and a .356 hitting percentage, including a career-high 11 kills at Buffalo (Oct. 21).

• Freshman outside attacker Kendall Barnes has been heating up as of late, including double digit kills in three of BSU's last five matches ... She scored a career-high 14 kills versus NIU (Nov. 10), tallied 11 kills versus Bowling Green (Nov. 18) in the MAC Tournament and earned 10 kills at Western Michigan (Nov. 4).

• Ball State ranks fourth in the MAC and 83rd nationally with at 15.25 digs per set ... Havyn Gates leads the squad and is sixth in the MAC with her 4.15 average ... Megan Wielonski is not far behind, ranking second on the team at 2.47 ... Wielonski is also one dig shy of 1,000 for her career.

Players Mentioned

Kendall Barnes

Madison Buckley

Havyn Gates

Aniya Kennedy

Marie Plitt

Natalie Risi

Megan Wielonski

Camryn Wise

Related Videos