WVB Set For Weekend Series at Central Michigan

Ball State (7-6; 0-2 MAC) at Central Michigan (12-3; 3-0 MAC) & Miami (6-7; 0-2 MAC)
Match 14 at Central Michigan	Friday, Oct. 4 at 6 p.m. Live Stats \| ESPN+
Match 15 at Central Michigan	Saturday, Oct. 5 at 4 p.m. Live Stats \| ESPN+
Match 16 at Miami	Tuesday, Oct. 8 at 6:30 p.m. Live Stats \| ESPN+
Notes	Ball State \| Central Michigan \| Miami
Social Media	X (Twitter) \| Instagram

THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL: The Ball State women's volleyball team opens the road portion of its 2024 MAC schedule with a two-match series at Central Michigan this weekend ... The Cardinals and Chippewas will play at 6 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday ... Ball State will also play a Tuesday contest at Miami in its first of two midweek #MACtion match ups with the RedHawks.

FOLLOW THE ACTION: All three matches will be broadcast live on ESPN+ ... In addition, live stats will be provided courtesy of each host institution ... Updates from the matches will also be provided on the team's X feed and Instagram story: @BallStateWVB.

BALL STATE ALL-TIME: The Ball State enters Friday's match at Central Michigan with a 1019-654-2 (.609) all-time record in women's volleyball ... Ball State became just the 44th program in NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball history to reach 1,000 wins with a sweep of Central Michigan on Sept. 22, 2023 ... All-time, 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 five seasons ... BSU has also earned two bids into the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC).

BALL STATE IN THE MAC: Despite an 0-2 start to league play this season, Ball State maintains its status as the winningest program in league play with a 446-222 (.668) all-time Mid-American Conference mark ... Western Michigan is second on the list, one match behind the Cardinals at 445-223 (.666) ... Central Michigan is currently seventh at 335-335 (.500), while Miami is fourth at 396-272 (.593).

THE WORTHEN FACTOR: The Cardinals boast a 319-98 (.765) all-time mark inside Worthen Arena ... Looking at just opponents from the MAC, Ball State is 235-60 (.797) when battling in Worthen Arena ... Overall, no MAC opponent owns a winning record inside Worthen Arena, as the Cardinals have at least a .630 winning percentage against all league schools on its current home floor.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES VS. CMU: Ball State holds a 54-37 edge in the all-time series versus Central Michigan, including three straight wins ... The last meeting saw the Cardinals claim a 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-16) victory over the Chippewas in Worthen Arena on Sept. 22, 2023 for the 1,000th win in program history ... Ball State also holds a 20-18 edge in matches played in Mount Pleasant despite CMU winning the last four meetings on its home court.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES VS. MIAMI: Ball State holds a 48-39 lead in the all-time series versus Miami, including three straight wins ... The latest meeting saw the Cardinals earn a 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-11) victory at Millett Hall on Oct. 6, 2023 ... In fact, Ball State has won the last two matches on the RedHawks' home court and own a 19-18 edge all-time in matches played in Oxford, Ohio ... Miami's last win on its home court was a 3-2 (25-13, 23-25, 23, 25-25-22, 15-11) on March 23, 2021, in the COVID spring season.

SCOUTING BALL STATE:
• Ball State enters Friday's match at Central Michigan with a 7-6 (0-2 MAC) record after opening league play with a pair of losses to Bowling Green last weekend ... After dropping a five-set thriller last Friday, the Cardinals were swept in Saturday's rematch
• The Cardinals continue to be one of the nation's most dangerous offenses, ranking first in the Mid-American Conference and 45th nationally with a .252 attack percentage ... The mark includes a .271 rate of success against then-No. 7 Penn State, which is the second-best hitting mark against the Nittany Lions so far this season ... Ball State has hit .300-or-better in three matches this year, including a season-high .341 rate of success at Butler (Sept. 19).
• Along with its solid attack percentage, the Cardinals rank 92nd nationally with a 13.02 kills-per-set average ... Ball State has four players averaging at least 2.00 kills per set: freshman outside Carson Tyler (3.13), redshirt sophomore outside Aniya Kennedy (3.06), junior middle Madison Buckley (2.24) and graduate middle Aayinde Smith (2.02).

SCOUTING CENTRAL MICHIGAN:
• The Chippewas enter Friday's showdown with a 12-3 (3-0 MAC) record after picking up a 3-0 sweep at Eastern Michigan Tuesday ... CMU opened league play last weekend with a pair of sweeps at Miami.
• CMU is nearly as solid on offense as the Cardinals, ranking second in the league and 77th nationally with a .237 hitting percentage ... In addition, the Chippewas are 30th nationally with a 13.66 kills-per-set average.
• Central Michigan is even better of defense, ranking first in the league and seventh nationally with a .136 opponents hitting percentage ... The effort is aided by the nation's 21st-ranked backcourt which averages 16.93 digs per set.

SCOUTING MIAMI:
• The RedHawks enter the weekend with a 6-7 (0-2 MAC) record after suffering a pair of 3-0 setbacks to Central Michigan last weekend ... Prior to hosting Ball State Tuesday, Miami will play a pair of matches at Eastern Michigan Friday and Saturday.
• The RedHawks enter the week as one of the league's top blocking teams, ranking third in the MAC and 108th nationally with a 2.24 blocks-per-set average ... Gentry Warrick leads the way with a 1.31 average which is second in the MAC and 46th nationally.
• Miami is even more dangerous from the service line, ranking leading the league and ranking ninth nationally with a 2.13 aces-per-set average ... The RedHawks have served up 96 total aces this season.

BALL STATE QUICK HITS:
• With her 50 assists in the five-set win over Wright State (Sept. 20), Megan Wielonski climbed two spots into third on Ball State's career assists list ... She enters the week with 4,495 career assists which is currently third among active NCAA Division I players ... Western Michigan's Logan Case is first at 5,592 (with the benefit of an extra COVID season), while Colorado State's Emery Herman is second at 4,659 ... Wielonski has ranked in the top 15 nationally in assists in each of her first three seasons: second (1,394) in 2021, fourth (1,359) in 2022 and 13th (1,269) in 2023.

• In addition to being one of the nation's top setters, Megan Wielonski is one of the country's top servers with 161 career aces ... The total, which includes a team-high 17 aces so far this season, currently ranks 12th among active NCAA Division I players and is the most for any active student-athlete from the Mid-American Conference ... 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 also 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 ... In 2022, she ranked 55th nationally with 46 service aces, while she had a team-leading 40 aces last season ... The program record for career aces is 191 set by Stacy Jordan (1982-85).

• Megan Wielonski has also shined in the backcourt over her Ball State career, becoming just the 21st player in program history to register over 1,000 career digs in BSU's NIVC victory at Middle Tennessee (Nov. 30, 2023) ... She has 120 total digs so far this season, raising her career total to 1,141 which is 13th in program history ... Overall, she has accumulated double-digit digs in 59 career matches which is tied for 10th in program history and gives her 59 career assist/dig double-doubles.

• Aniya Kennedy has continued to shine on offense for the Cardinals, ranking second on the squad with a 3.06 kills-per-set average ... Last season, she finished the year ranked 32nd nationally with a 4.12 kills-per-set average ... Kennedy has smashed double-digit kills in 30 career matches, including four so far this season, and led the team in kills in 26 outings.

• Including her season-high 20 kills at Florida Atlantic (Aug. 31), Aniya Kennedy has smashed 20-or-more kills in nine career matches ... The total ranks eighth in program history ... Last season, she registered a career-high 25 kills in two matches - versus Akron (Oct. 13, 2023) and at WMU (Nov. 3, 2023) - which were the most kills for a BSU player in a match since Kia Holder (2017-20) logged 27 at Eastern Michigan on March 27, 2021 ... In addition, Kennedy was the first Cardinal to register multiple 20+ kill matches in the same season since Natalie Risi (2019-22) had two as a freshman in 2019.

• Freshman outside Carson Tyler has smashed a team-leading 144 kills so far this season, including 20-or-more kills in four matches ... Her best effort was a career-high 25-kill effort to help lead Ball State to a 3-2 victory over Wright State (Sept. 20) ... Tyler is now one of just 20 players in program history to register 20-or-more kills in at least four career matches ... She is also just the 14th different player in program history to have four-or-more such matches in a single season.

• Typically a six-rotation player for the Cardinals, Carson Tyler is also third on the team with 75 digs for a 1.63 digs-per-set average ... She also leads Ball State's primary passers with a .956 reception percentage, successfully passing 260 of the 272 serves she has faced.

• Freshman libero Sophie Ledbetter has shined in her first five weeks of collegiate action, leading the squad and ranking 10th in the MAC with a with a 3.78 digs-per-set average ... The effort includes a career-high 27 digs in the win over James Madison (Sept. 6), 21 digs in the sweep of Southern Indiana (Sept. 14) and 20 digs in the sweep of Bryant (Aug. 30) ... Ledbetter also boasts a .935 reception percentage, including perfect marks in seven of BSU's 13 matches.

• Graduate middle Aayinde Smith has been a big addition for the Ball State front line, ranking fourth on the squad with 2.05 kills per set, while leading the squad with a 1.00 blocks-per-set average ... A two-time All-CAA Second Team selection in her four years at Towson, Smith also owns a .332 attack percentage which ranks fifth among MAC players.

• Sophomore middle Gwen Crull has also made her presence known at the net, collecting 21 blocks over 21 sets for a 1.00 blocks-per-set average of her own ... She has tallied a BSU career high four total blocks on three occasions, including last Friday's match versus her previous program Bowling Green.

• Junior Madison Buckley has played a big role in the Ball State offense as of late, smashing double-digit kills in five of the last six matches ... It started with a season-high 13 kills versus Southern Indiana (Sept. 14) and 11 against Indiana (Sept. 14) ... Throw in three matches with 10 kills and a team-high 11 kills versus Bowling Green last Saturday and Buckley has registered double digit kills in six matches this season and 19 times over her collegiate career.

• Ball State turned in one of the best defensive efforts in program history versus Bryant (Aug. 30), limiting the Bulldogs to a -.020 (24-26-99) attack percentage ... It was the lowest attacking mark for a Ball State opponent since the 2018 campaign when the Cardinals held Grambling to a -.061 (18-23-82) rate of success on Aug. 31 ... That same season, the Ball State defense limited North Dakota State to a -.018 (23-25-114) hitting mark on Sept. 7.

• For the team's solid work in the classroom, Ball State was one of a record number of more than 1,400 collegiate and high school volleyball teams to earn the 2023-24 AVCA Team Academic Award sponsored by INTENT ... The Cardinals, who claimed the honor for the eighth straight season and the 14th time overall, finished the 2023-24 academic year with a 3.63 team GPA ... Of Ball State's 18 countable student-athletes, 17 maintained at least a 3.07 GPA during the academic year.

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Players Mentioned

Madison Buckley

Gwen Crull

Aniya Kennedy

Sophie Ledbetter

Aayinde Smith

Carson Tyler

Megan Wielonski