Volleyball Travels To Northern Illinois for Pair of Weekend Matches

Ball State (12-8; 5-4 MAC) at Northern Illinois (3-16; 1-8 MAC)
Match 21 at Northern Illinois	Friday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. (ET) / 6 p.m. (CT) Live Stats \| ESPN+
Match 22 at Northern Illinois	Saturday, Oct. 26 at 5 p.m. (ET) / 4 p.m. (CT) Live Stats \| ESPN+
Notes	Ball State \| Northern Illinois
Social Media	X (Twitter) \| Instagram

THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL: The Ball State women's volleyball team closes the month of October with a pair of matches at Northern Illinois this weekend ... The Cardinals and Huskies will battle at 7 p.m. (ET) / 6 p.m. (CT) Friday and 5 p.m. (ET) / 4 p.m. (CT) Saturday.

FOLLOW THE ACTION: Both matches this weekend will be broadcast live on ESPN+ ... In addition, live stats will be provided courtesy of Northern Illinois ... 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 its weekend series at Northern Illinois with a 1024-656-2 (.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 5-4 start to league play this season, Ball State maintains its status as the winningest program in league play with a 451-224 (.668) all-time Mid-American Conference mark ... Western Michigan is second on the list, two matches behind the Cardinals at 449-226 (.665) ... Northern Illinois is currently third all-time based on winning percentage at 309-216 (.589).

THE WORTHEN FACTOR: The Cardinals boast a 320-99 (.764) all-time mark inside Worthen Arena ... Looking at just opponents from the MAC, Ball State is 236-61 (.795) 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 ... Ball State's next home opponent will be Eastern Michigan (Nov. 1-2) who is 5-28 (.152) all-time in matches played in Worthen Arena.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES VS. NORTHERN ILLINOIS: Ball State holds a slim 40-38 edge in the all-time series versus the Huskies after winning the last six meetings ... Last season, the Cardinals earn a pair of hard-fought wins over NIU at home, starting with a 3-1 (25-17, 23-25, 25-15, 26-24) victory on Nov. 10 ... The following night was even closer, with Ball State earning a 3-2 (25-14, 21-25, 25-11, 19-25, 15-11) triumph ... The Cardinals have also won the last three matches played at Victor E. Court, with NIU's last home win in the series coming Sept. 22, 2018, by a score of 3-1 (25-23, 25-18, 22-25, 25-21) ... Overall, the Cardinals are 13-21 all-time in matches played in DeKalb.

SCOUTING BALL STATE:
• Ball State enters the weekend series at NIU with a 12-8 (5-4 MAC) record after picking up wins at Ohio (3-2) and Kent State (3-0) last weekend ... The Cardinals have won four of its last five Mid-American Conference matches, with the lone setback in the run being a 3-1 setback to league leader Buffalo on Oct. 12.
• The Cardinals continue to be one of the nation's most dangerous offenses, ranking first in the Mid-American Conference and 37th nationally with a .255 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 five matches this year, including a season-high .446 rate of success versus Akron (Oct. 11).
• Along with its solid attack percentage, the Cardinals rank 72nd nationally with a 2.39 blocks-per-set average ... Graduate middle Aayinde Smith leads the Cardinals at the net with 83 total blocks, ranking fifth in the MAC and 137th nationally with a 1.11 blocks-per-set average ... Sophomore middle Gwen Crull boasts a team-best 1.17 average over 42 sets, while junior middle Madison Buckley is second on the squad with 56 total blocks.

SCOUTING NORTHERN ILLINOIS:
• The Huskies enter the weekend series versus Ball State with a 3-16 (1-8 MAC) record after being swept by Western Michigan on the road Tuesday ... NIU also suffered a 3-2 setback at Eastern Michigan and were handed a 3-0 loss at Central Michigan last weekend.
• NIU enters the weekend as one of the league's top digging teams, ranking third in the MAC and 86th nationally with a 15.45 digs-per-set average ... Crew Hoffmeier leads the Huskies backcourt with a 4.93 digs-per-set average which ranks first among all MAC players and 20th among all NCAA Division I players.
• Northern Illinois' ability to keep the ball in play has it ranked rank second in the MAC and 17th nationally with a 37.85 attacks-per-set average ... Leading the way for the NIU offense is Ava Grevengoed who is first in the MAC and 77th nationally at 10.47 attacks per set, helping her average 2.92 kills per set.

BALL STATE QUICK HITS:
• With her 34 assists in the five-set win at Central Michigan (Oct. 4), senior setter Megan Wielonski climbed one spot into second on Ball State's career assists list ... She enters the weekend with 4,699 career assists which is currently third among active NCAA Division I players ... Western Michigan's Logan Case is first at 5,841 (with the benefit of an extra COVID season), while Colorado State's Emery Herman is second at 4,915 ... 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 174 career aces ... The total, which includes a team-high 30 aces so far this season, is currently tied for 11th 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 193 total digs so far this season, raising her career total to 1,214 which is 12th in program history ... Overall, she has accumulated double-digit digs in 62 career matches which is ninth in program history and gives her 62 career assist/dig double-doubles.

• Redshirt sophomore outside Aniya Kennedy has continued to shine on offense for the Cardinals, ranking second on the squad with a 3.03 kills-per-set average so far this season ... Last season, she finished the year ranked 32nd nationally with a 4.12 kills-per-set average ... Kennedy has smashed double-digit kills in 36 career matches, including 10 so far this season, and led the team in kills in 28 career outings.

• Including her season-high 20 kills at Florida Atlantic (Aug. 31) and at Central Michigan (Oct. 5), Aniya Kennedy has smashed 20-or-more kills in 10 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 234 kills so far this season, including 20-or-more kills in five matches ... Her best effort was a career-high 25-kills to help lead Ball State to a 3-2 victory over Wright State (Sept. 20) ... Tyler is now one of just 14 players in program history to register 20-or-more kills in at least five career matches ... She is also just the 10th different player in program history to have five-or-more such matches in a single season.

• A six-rotation player for the Cardinals, Carson Tyler is also third on the team with 124 digs for a 1.72 digs-per-set average ... She recorded her first career kill/dig double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs at Central Michigan (Oct. 5), while adding her second in last Friday's win at Ohio with 16 kills and 10 digs ... Tyler also leads Ball State's primary passers with a .954 reception percentage, successfully passing 413 of the team-high 433 serves she has faced.

• Junior outside Katie Egenolf turned in the best performance of her collegiate kill last weekend, averaging 4.00 kills per set and hitting .441 to help lead Ball State to wins at Ohio (3-2) and Kent State (3-0) ... She started with a career-best 17 kills versus the Bobcats, while also hitting .424 (17-3-33) ... She also turned in a perfect reception percentage in 24 attempts against Ohio, while collecting eight digs, one ace and one solo block ... Egenolf followed with another strong performance versus the Golden Flashes, smashing 15 kills while hitting .462 (15-3-26) ... She also tallied nine more digs and two more solo blocks in the win.

• Freshman libero Sophie Ledbetter has shined in her first season of collegiate action, leading the squad with a with a 3.41 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 .939 reception percentage, including perfect marks in 11 of BSU's 20 matches.

• Aayinde Smith has been proven to be a big addition for the Ball State front line, ranking fourth on the squad with 1.87 kills per set, while adding a 1.11 blocks-per-set average ... She has at least one block in all 20 of BSU's matches, including tying her career-high with 10 total blocks (two solo and eight assists) versus Buffalo (Oct. 12)... A two-time All-CAA Second Team selection over her four-year playing career at Towson, Smith also owns a .297 attack percentage which ranks 10th among MAC players.

• Aayinde Smith turned in the best attacking night of her collegiate career in the three-set victory over Akron (Oct. 11), when she connected for a program record .917 (11-0-12) rate of success ... The previous record for attack percentage for a player with between 10 and 14 attempts in a match was .900 (9-0-10) set by Deb Wehman in 1980 and later tied by Rhonda Gardemann in 1993 ... In addition, the record for a player with at least 15 attempts is currently .833 (15-0-18) set by Marie Plitt in 2022.

• Overall, the Ball State offense shined in the win versus Akron (Oct. 11), which was also the team's first match in a 6-2 this season ... Megan Wielonski and sophomore Lindsey Green combined to helped the Cardinals connect for a .446 (48-7-92) attack percentage which is the sixth-best team mark in program history and the best since Ball State hit .478 (49-6-90) versus Arkansas State on Sept. 9, 2022 ... In addition, the .446 effort is the best by a Mid-American Conference squad this season.

• Since joining the lineup in the 6-2, Lindsey Green has turned in several strong performances, including registering her first career double-double with 19 assists and 12 digs versus Buffalo (Oct. 12) ... Her 19 assists versus the Bulls also marked the first time in her career Green has led the Cardinals in a match in assists.

• Madison Buckley has played a big role in the Ball State offense as of late, smashing double-digit kills in seven of the last 13 matches ... She produced a season-high 14 kills versus Buffalo (Oct. 12), while starting the run with 13 kills versus Southern Indiana (Sept. 14) ... Overall, Buckley has registered double digit kills in eight matches this season and 21 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.

Volleyball Travels To Northern Illinois for Pair of Weekend Matches

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Players Mentioned

Madison Buckley

Gwen Crull

Katie Egenolf

Lindsey Green

Aniya Kennedy

Sophie Ledbetter

Marie Plitt

Aayinde Smith

Carson Tyler

Megan Wielonski