Ball State University Athletics
Let The #MACtion Begin; WVB Hosts Central Michigan
September 20, 2023 | Women's Volleyball
| Ball State (3-8; 0-0 MAC) hosts Central Michigan (6-6; 0-0 MAC) | |
| Match 12 - CMU | Thursday, Sept. 21 at 6 p.m. ET ESPN+ | Live Stats | SL Digital Radio Promotions: Red Out - Fans are encouraged to wear red as we look to RED OUT the Chippewas |
| Match 13 - CMU | Friday, Sept. 22 at 6 p.m. ET ESPN+ | Live Stats | SL Digital Radio Promotions: Post Match Autographs |
| Notes | Ball State | Central Michigan |
| Social Media | X (Twitter) | Instagram |
THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL: It is the first week of Mid-American Conference play for the Ball State women's volleyball team which hosts Central Michigan for a two-match series inside Worthen Arena ... The action begins at 6 p.m. Thursday, with fans encouraged to wear red as the Cardinals look to RED OUT the Chippewas ... The teams will battle again Friday at 6 p.m. in the series finale.
FOLLOW THE ACTION: Fans unable to make their way to Worthen Arena, can follow the action with live stats for both matches courtesy of Ball State athletics ... In addition, both matches will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and SL Digital radio ... Updates from the matches will also be provided on the team's X feed: @BallStateWVB.
BALL STATE ALL-TIME: In its 52nd season of play, Ball State boasts a 998-641-2 (.609) 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).
IN #MACTION: 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) ... Central Michigan enters the week in seventh at 323-326 (.498).
THE WORTHEN FACTOR: The Cardinals own an even better record when playing at home, boasting a 309-96 (.763) mark inside Worthen Arena after the Ball State Invitational (Aug. 25-26) ... Looking at just opponents from the MAC, Ball State is 226-58 (.796) when battling in Worthen Arena ... 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.
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 champion 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 Wielonski have 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: Ball State holds a 52-37 lead in the all-time series versus Central Michigan including a 3-1 (23-25, 25-18, 25-23, 25-22) victory over the Chippewas in the semifinals of the 2023 MAC Volleyball Championship played in Worthen Arena on Nov. 21 ... CMU did win the two regular season meetings between the teams last season, played Sept. 23-24 in Mount Pleasant, Michigan ... Overall, Ball State holds a 29-14 edge in matches played in Muncie, including a 25-6 edge in matches played in Worthen Arena ... Ball State has won the last three meetings on its home floor, with CMU's last win in Muncie coming March 20, 2021 by a score of 3-1 (25-20, 21-25, 25-22, 25-20).
SCOUTING BALL STATE:
• The Cardinals closed its pre-conference slate with a 3-0 sweep of East Tennessee State last Saturday ... The win snapped a seven-match losing streak in which the Cardinals battled some of the nation's top teams, including three programs (No. 11 Creighton, No. 23 Dayton and No. 25 Western Kentucky) currently inside the Top 25 of the AVCA/Taraflex Coaches Poll.
• Ball State enters the CMU series as one of the nation's top blocking programs, ranking second in the MAC and 90th nationally with a 2.25 blocks-per-set average ... Senior middle Lauren Gilliland leads the way, ranking sixth in the league at 0.92 block per set, while Marie Plitt is 10th at 0.88.
• On the attacking front, redshirt freshman Aniya Kennedy leads the squad and is ninth in the league with a 3.18 kills-per-set average ... Plitt is BSU's top attacker by percentage, boasting a .316 hitting percentage which is sixth in the league.
SCOUTING CENTRAL MICHIGAN:
• The Chippewas enter the week with a 6-6 overall record after going 1-2 at last weekend's Capital Credit Union Classic hosted by Green Bay ... CMU scored a 3-0 sweep over the host Phoenix, while being swept by Saint Thomas (MN) and South Dakota.
• Central Michigan is one of the nation's top serving teams, ranking second in the MAC and 26th nationally with a 2.00 aces-per-set average ... CMU has served up 98 total aces on the year which ranks 12th nationally, led by 26 aces from Devon Bright which puts her eighth nationally at 0.65 aces per set.
• The Chippewas have a balanced offensive attack with eight players averaging at least 1.40 kills per set, paced by Krystina Kasson at 2.66 ... Claire Ammeraal has set the CMU offense to a .207 hitting percentage and owns one of the league's three triple doubles so far this season with 11 kills, 13 digs and 52 assists in a 3-2 win over Missouri State (Sept. 10).
BALL STATE QUICK HITS:
• After playing its last eight matches on the road, the Cardinals welcome a stop at Worthen Arena this week as Ball State is 28-3 at home over the last three seasons ... In fact, BSU has won its last 18 MAC regular season home matches, with its last regular season MAC home loss coming to the Chippewas March 20, 2021.
• Marie Plitt has picked up right where she left off last season, leading the squad with a .316 (83-16-212) attack percentage so far this season ... 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 .500 in the season opener versus Gonzaga (Aug. 25) and has hit .500-or-better in 29 career matches ... Last time out, Plitt hit .467 (7-0-15) to help lead the Cardinals to a 3-0 win over ETSU (Sept. 16) to help her earn a spot on the Alyssa Cavanaugh Classic All-Tournament Team.
• Thanks to her solid start to the year, Marie Plitt enters Mid-American Conference play ranked third on Ball State's all-time list with a .349 career hitting percentage ... 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.
• 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 No. 16 Marquette ... With 1092 career kills, Plitt needs 43 more 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 has served as Ball State's starting libero in 10 of BSU's 11 matches so far this season, and has now started in the off-colored jersey 15 times in her Ball State career ... She was credited with a season-high 26 digs in the near upset at No. 20 Creighton (Sept. 1) and followed with 22 versus UNI (Sept. 2), giving her 26 career matches with 20-or-more digs ... Gates' 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 1,906 career digs including 782 in her three seasons at BSU and 1,124 over her two-year career at IWU.
• Megan Wielonski, who currently ranks seventh in program history with 3,121 career assists, has proven to be one of the nation's elite setters ... In fact, her 3,121 career assists currently rank 19th 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 saw her ranked fourth nationally with 1,358 total assists in 2022 ... 11 matches into the 2023 season and Wielonski is 99th nationally with 368 total assists.
• In addition to being one of the nation's top setters, Megan Wielonski is one of the country's top servers with 116 career aces ... 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 12 aces so far this season.
• Madison Buckley has made a big impact so far this season, ranking second on the squad with a 2.48 kills-per-set average ... Her biggest match so far came at No. 20 Creighton (Sept. 1) when she smashed a career-high 14 kills, a mark she later tied versus UIC (Sept. 9) ... Buckley started the year with 10 kills in the win over Gonzaga (Aug. 25), her first career match in double figures, and added a team-high 13 kills at Western Kentucky (Sept. 15).
• Aniya Kennedy enters the CMU series as one of the league's top attackers, ranking ninth in the MAC with her team-leading 3.18 kills-per-set average ... She has smashed double-digit kills in six matches, while leading the team in kills in five matches ... Kennedy's best match came versus UNI (Sept. 2) when she smashed a career-high 16 kills, the most for a Ball State student-athlete in a match so far this season and a mark she tied last Saturday versus ETSU.
• Aniya Kennedy became the first Ball State student-athlete to earn league weekly honors this season when she was named the MAC West Division Offensive Player of the Week after the Alyssa Cavanaugh Classic ... Kennedy finished the weekend leading all MAC West Division attackers with a 3.71 kills-per-set average, smashing double-digit kills in both of Ball State's matches ... She also hit an impressive .267 (26-10-60) for the week.
• In addition to leading the squad with a 3.18 kills-per-set average, Aniya Kennedy has been one of Ball State's most efficient attackers, ranking second among BSU's regulars with a .236 hitting percentage ... She led Ball State with a .375 (13-4-24) rate of success versus LSU (Sept. 3), while posting a .467 (9-2-15) effort in the win over Purdue Fort Wayne (Aug. 26) ... Kennedy added a career-best .556 (16-1-27) hitting percentage last time out versus ETSU (Sept. 16).
• Lauren Gilliland has been a force at the net so far this season, leading the squad and ranking sixth in the MAC with a 0.92 blocks-per-set average ... She has collected 24 total blocks on the year, including a team-best six solo blocks ... Gilliland is second among active Cardinals with 319 career blocks, trailing only Marie Plitt's 370 ... Plitt's total is tied for sixth in program history, as she climbed three spots with her eight total blocks at the Alyssa Cavanaugh Classic, while Gilliland ranks 15th.
