Ball State University Athletics
Volleyball Set For Dayton Invitational
September 07, 2023 | Women's Volleyball
| Ball State (2-4; 0-0 MAC) at Dayton Invitational | |
| Match 7 - Wright State (2-4; 0-0 Horizon) | Friday, Sept. 8 at 5 p.m. ET Live Stats |
| Match 8 - UIC (5-2; 0-0 MVC) | Saturday, Sept. 9 at 11 a.m. ET Live Stats |
| Match 9 - Dayton (5-2; 0-0 A-10) | Saturday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. ET Live Stats | ESPN+ |
| Notes | Ball State | Wright State | UIC | Dayton |
| Social Media | X (Twitter) | Instagram |
THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL: The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to the road this weekend for another challenging slate of matches at the Dayton Invitational ... Friday, the Cardinals will square off against Wright State at 5 p.m. in a meeting of programs which played opposite matches in the first round of last season's NCAA Milwaukee Regional ... Saturday, Ball State will battle UIC at 11 a.m. and host Dayton at 7 p.m.
FOLLOW THE ACTION: Fans unable to make their way to the Frericks Center in Dayton, Ohio, can follow the action with live stats for all three matches courtesy of the host Flyers ... In addition, Ball State's Saturday night match at Dayton will be broadcast live on ESPN+ ... Updates from the matches will also 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 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: The Cardinals are 24-26 all-time versus teams in this weekend's Dayton Invitational field.
- Ball State holds a 14-8 lead in the all-time series versus Wright State, including a 3-1 (25-21, 25-20, 26-24, 25-20) road victory Sept. 3, 2021, in the last meeting between the two programs.
- Ball State is 3-9 all-time versus UIC, winning the last three meetings in the series ... The last time the programs met was a 3-0 (25-14, 25-11, 25-14) Cardinals victory Sept. 14, 2013, at the Hawkeye Challenge hosted by Iowa.
- Ball State is 7-9 all-time versus Dayton, with the Flyers winning the last four meetings ... Last season, Dayton earned a 3-2 (17-25, 25-21, 25-17, 23-25, 15-12) victory in Worthen Arena on Sept. 13.
SCOUTING BALL STATE:
• Despite a strong effort, including taking No. 20 Creighton to five sets, Ball State lost all three matches it played at last weekend's Bluejay Invitational ... BSU also suffered a 3-0 setback to UNI, while falling in four to LSU.
• In her first collegiate weekend in the starting rotation, redshirt freshman Aniya Kennedy shined, earning all-tournament honors after leading the Ball State offense with a 3.50 kills-per-set average ... She smashed double-digit kills in all three matches, including a career-high 16 versus UNI.
• Fifth-year libero Havyn Gates leads the Ball State backcourt with a 4.32 digs-per-set average, while senior middle Lauren Gilliland has tallied 0.95 block per set.
SCOUTING WRIGHT STATE:
• While the Raiders are 2-4 on the year, the effort includes a four-set loss at No. 4 Louisville and a 3-0 setback to No. 21 Washington State ... Last weekend, the Raiders swept a Loyola squad which was receiving votes in the AVCA/Taraflex Coaches Poll, while falling in five to Texas A&M and in four at Bowling Green.
• Megan Alders leads a balanced Wright State attack with a 3.32 kills-per-set average, while seven players are averaging at least 1.00 kills per set.
• In the backcourt, the Raiders average 14.00 digs per set, paced by Jenny Wessling at 4.05 ... WSU is also averaging 1.77 blocks per set.
SCOUTING UIC:
• The Flames enter the weekend with a 5-2 mark, with its two losses coming in its last two matches ... The first was a 3-1 setback to an undefeated Western Michigan last Saturday, followed by a 3-1 loss to perennial Big Ten power Illinois Tuesday.
• Ayat Amin leads the UIC attack with a 3.48 kills-per-set average, while Martina Delucchi is right behind at 3.00 ... As a team, the Flames are hitting .266 which ranks 46th nationally.
• UIC is also a solid blocking team, ranking 67th among all NCAA Division I teams with a 2.40 blocks-per-set average ... Zahria Woodard leads the squad in that category at 1.48 blocks per set ... In the backcourt, Jaclyn Oblena has a team-best 3.60 digs-per-set average.
SCOUTING DAYTON:
• The Flyers, who received votes in the latest AVCA/Taraflex Coaches Poll, are 5-2 on the year and coming off a 3-2 setback at No. 2 Louisville on Wednesday ... UD's other loss was another 3-2 setback to No. 12 Marquette.
• Dayton is another strong attacking team, ranking 62nd nationally with a .253 hitting percentage ... Lexie Almodovar leads the squad with a 4.03 kills-per-set average.
• Karissa Kaminski has a team-best 4.40 digs-per-set average, while Amelia Moore leads the team at the net with a 1.10 blocks-per-set average.
BALL STATE QUICK HITS:
• In its 52nd season of play, Ball State boasts a 997-637-2 (.610) 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 the 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 has picked up right where she left off last season, leading the squad with a .366 (48-7-112) 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.
• Thanks to her solid start to the year, Marie Plitt enters the Dayton Invitational ranked third on Ball State's all-time list with a .353 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, Marie 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 1057 career kills, Plitt needs 78 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 all six matches so far this season, and has now donned the off-colored jersey 11 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 1,840 career digs including 716 at BSU and 1,124 at IWU.
• Megan Wielonski, who currently ranks seventh in program history with 2,966 career assists, has proven to be one of the nation's elite setters ... In fact, her 2,966 career assists currently rank 21st 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 ... Six matches into the 2023 season and Wielonski is 59th nationally with 213 total assists.
• In addition to being one of the nation's top setters, Megan Wielonski is one of the country's top servers with 112 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 eight aces so far this season.
• Sophomore opposite Madison Buckley has made a big impact so far this season, ranking second on the squad with a 2.41 kills-per-set average ... Her biggest match so far came at No. 20 Creighton (Sept. 1) when she smashed a career-high 14 kills ... She started the year with 10 kills in the win over Gonzaga (Aug. 25), her first career match in double figures.
• In addition to leading the squad with a 3.44 kills-per-set average, Aniya Kennedy has been one of Ball State's most efficient attackers, ranking second on the team and sixth in the MAC with a .302 hitting percentage ... Last time out, she led Ball State with a .375 (13-4-24) rate of success versus LSU (Sept. 3) ... Her career-best was .467 (9-2-15 in the win over Purdue Fort Wayne (Aug. 26).
• Lauren Gilliland has been a force at the net so far this season, leading the squad with 21 total blocks, including six solo stuffs ... She is second among active Cardinals with 316 career blocks, trailing only Marie Plitt's 351 ... Plitt's total is 11th in program history, while Gilliland ranks 15th.
