Volleyball Travels To Omaha For Bluejay Invitational

Ball State (2-1; 0-0 MAC) at Bluejay Invitational
Match 4 - No. 20 Creighton (2-1; 0-0 Big East)	Friday, Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT Live Stats \| FloSports (PPV)
Match 5 - UNI (1-2; 0-0 MVB)	Saturday, Sept. 2 at 3:30 p.m. ET / 2:30 p.m. CT Live Stats \| FloSports (PPV)
Match 6 - LSU (1-1; 0-0 SEC)	Sunday, Sept. 3 at 1 p.m. ET / Noon CT Live Stats \| FloSports (PPV)
Notes	Ball State \| No. 20 Creighton \| UNI \| LSU
Social Media	X (Twitter) \| Instagram

THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL: The Ball State women's volleyball team travels to Omaha, Nebraska, to compete in the three-day Bluejay Invitational hosted by Creighton ... The Cardinals will face the 20th-ranked host Bluejay Friday at 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT to open the event ... Up next is a Saturday showdown with UNI at 3:30 p.m. ET / 2:30 p.m. CT ... BSU closes play in the tournament Sunday at 1 p.m. ET / Noon CT versus LSU.

FOLLOW THE ACTION: Fans unable to make their way to D.J. Sokol Arena in Omaha, Nebraska, can follow the action with live video with a paid subscription to FloSports ... Only BSU's match versus Creighton will have announcers, while the remaining contests will have ambient sound ... In addition, live stats will be available for all three matches and updates from the matches will be provided on the team's X feed: @BallStateWVB.

MAC PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATION: For the second straight season, the Ball State women's volleyball program was selected to repeat at the Mid-American Conference West Division champions in the league's annual preseason poll ... The Cardinals received 61 points and 11 of the 12 first-place votes to win the division ... Western Michigan was second with one first place vote and 43 points ... In addition, the Cardinals received five votes to win the MAC Tournament which will be hosted by the league's top seed ... Bowling Green was selected to win the MAC East Division and earned six votes to win the tournament.

PRESEASON HONORS: In addition to the team being picked to win the MAC West Division, fifth-year middle Marie Plitt and junior setter Megan Wielonskihave been named to the preseason All-MAC team ... Both were first team all-conference selections in each of the past two seasons, with Wielonski earning 2021 MAC Freshman of the Year honors and 2022 MAC Setter of the Year accolades.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES: The Cardinals are 4-7 all-time versus teams in this weekend's Bluejay Invitational field.
     - Ball State is 0-1 all-time versus Creighton, with the Bluejays winning the only previous meeting 3-0 (25-22, 25-14, 25-21) in Greeley, Colorado, as part of the Northern Colorado Classic played Sept. 7, 2012.
     - Ball State is 3-4 all-time versus UNI, despite winning the last meeting by a score of 3-1 (25-16, 20-25, 25-20, 25-23) on Aug. 28, 2021, as part of the GBD Invite hosted by Green Bay.
     - Ball State is 1-2 all-time versus LSU, including a 3-0 (15-11, 15-9, 15-13) victory in the latest meeting played Sept. 5, 1997, in Champaign, Illinois, as part of the Illini Classic.

SCOUTING BALL STATE:
• The Cardinals opened the 2023 season by going 2-1 in its own Ball State Invitational last weekend ... BSU secured sweeps of Gonzaga and Purdue Fort Wayne to bookend a 3-1 loss to Oklahoma.
• For their play over the two-day tournament, Marie Plitt and Megan Wielonski were named to the Ball State Invitational All-Tournament Team ... Plitt led the offense with 29 kills and a .431 attack percentage, while Wielonski handed out 10.60 assists per set and ran the offense at a .283 clip over the three matches.
• Fifth-year libero Havyn Gates led the backcourt with a 3.70 digs-per-set average, while senior middle Lauren Gilliland collected 1.00 block per set.

SCOUTING GONZAGA:
• The Bluejay enter the week ranked 20th in the latest AVCA/Taraflex Coaches Poll ... Creighton started the season with sweeps of Loyola and then-No. 16 Purdue at the Reamer Club Xtra Special Premier hosted by the Boilermakers, before closing opening weekend with a 3-2 loss to Duke.
• Creighton turned in a dominating attack opening weekend and currently ranks eighth nationally with a 15.36 kills-per-set average led by Ava Martin at 4.45 and Norah Sis at 4.09.
• The Bluejays also made some solid plays on defense and rank eighth nationally at 19.00 digs per set ... Ellie Bolton leads the way at 4.82.

SCOUTING UNI:
• The Panthers opened the season by going 1-2 at the Western Michigan Tournament, book ending a sweep of Milwaukee with a 3-2 loss to Villanova and a 3-1 setback to the host Broncos.
• Kira Fallert led the UNI offense with a 3.25 kills-per-set average over the first three matches, while Layanna Green hit a team-best .450.
• Erin Powers led the Panthers backcourt and ranks 60th nationally with a 4.75 digs-per-set average ... Olivia Tjernagel led UNI at the net with 18 total blocks for a 1.50 blocks-per-set mark.

SCOUTING LSU:
• The Tigers, who received votes in the latest AVCA/Taraflex Coaches Poll, hosted UCLA for a pair of matches last weekend, opening the season with a 3-2 win, followed by a 3-2 setback to the Bruins.
• LSU averaged 12.20 kills per set over the two matches, paced by Jurnee Robinson at 4.60 which ranks 23rd nationally ... The Tigers also hit .253 as a squad, which is 82nd among all NCAA Division I programs.
• Erin Carmichael and Jade Demps tied for team-high honors with 27 digs apiece last week, boasting 2.70 digs-per-set averages ... At the net, Anita Anwusi registered 11 blocks for a 1.10 blocks-per-set average.

BALL STATE QUICK HITS:
• In its 52nd season of play, Ball State boasts a 997-634-2 (.611) 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 has made 11 appearances in the NCAA Tournament, including three of the last four seasons ... 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 309-96 (.763) mark inside Worthen Arena after last weekend's Ball State Invitational ... Looking at just opponents from the MAC, Ball State is 226-58 (.796) when battling in "The Nest" ... 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.

• Marie Plitt picked up right where she left off last season, hitting a team-best .431 during the Ball State Invitational ... Her best effort came in Saturday evening's win over Purdue Fort Wayne when she smashed 10 kills on 12 swings with one error for a .750 attacking mark ... Plitt also hit .500 in the season opener versus Gonzaga, leading all players in the match with 13 kills.

• Thanks to her solid start to the year, Marie Plitt enters the Bluejay Invitational ranked third on Ball State's all-time list with a .355 career hitting percentage ... Plitt has steadily improved each year, hitting .295 as a freshman, .316 as a sophomore, .360 as a junior, a Ball State single season record .404 last year, and .431 so far this season ... She is the first player in program history to hit .400-or-above in a single season.

• In addition, Plitt became just 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 then-No. 16 Marquette ... With 29 kills so far this season, Plitt needs 97 more kills to break into the top 10 in program history, with Mindy Stanley (1993-96) currently ranking 10th at 1,135.

• Fifth-year defensive specialist Havyn Gates served as Ball State's starting libero in the first three matches this season, and has now donned the off-colored jersey eight times in her Ball State career ... She collected a team-best 37 digs opening weekend and currently ranks seventh in the MAC with a 3.70 digs-per-set average ... Gates collected a season-high 16 digs in Saturday's win over Purdue Fort Wayne (Aug. 26) ... Her Ball State career-high is 33 digs in the five-set thriller at Central Michigan (Sept. 24, 2022) ... Gates, who registered 42 digs in a match as a freshman at Indiana Wesleyan in 2019, has 1,782 career digs including 658 at BSU and 1,124 at IWU.

• Megan Wielonski, who currently ranks eighth in program history with 2,859 career assists, has proven to be one of the nation's elite setters ... In fact, her 2,859 career assists currently rank 21st among all active NCAA Division I players and are 22nd among all active NCAA setters across all divisions (I, II and III) ... As a freshman, she finished the 2021 season ranked second nationally with 1,394 total assists ... Her sophomore campaign saw her ranked fourth nationally with 1,358 total assists in 2022 ... Three matches into the 2023 season and Wielonski is 44th nationally with 106 total assists.

• In addition to being one of the nation's top setters, Megan Wielonski is one of the country's top servers with 110 career aces ... She scored six aces during the Ball State Invitational to tie for 85th nationally ... 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.

•  Cait Snyder started her senior year strong, scoring 11 kills versus Gonzaga (Aug. 25) and a team-high 11 versus Oklahoma (Aug. 26) ... Overall, she has smashed double digit kills in 18 of BSU's last 22 matches, including a career-high 21 in the 2022 MAC Championship semifinal win over Central Michigan (Nov. 21, 2022) ... Snyder has also led the Ball State offense in kills in 14 of the last 22 matches dating back to last season.

• Sophomore opposite Madison Buckley made a big impact opening weekend, starting with a career-high 10 kills in the win over Gonzaga (Aug. 25) ... She followed with eight kills versus Oklahoma (Aug. 26) and nine against Purdue Fort Wayne (Aug. 26) ... Buckley, who ranks sixth in the MAC with a .375 attack percentage this season, tallied just 33 kills in 12 matches as a freshman in 2022.

• Freshman Aniya Kennedy also made the most of her first collegiate weekend, coming in as an outside and smashing four kills versus Oklahoma (Aug. 26) and a career-high nine against Purdue Fort Wayne (Aug. 26) ... She also hit a combined .423 over the two matches, including a .467 effort against the Mastodons.

Volleyball Travels To Omaha For Bluejay Invitational

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Players Mentioned

Madison Buckley

Havyn Gates

Lauren Gilliland

Aniya Kennedy

Marie Plitt

Cait Snyder

Megan Wielonski