Volleyball Closes Regular Season With Pair of Matches vs. Western Michigan

Ball State (19-8; 12-4 MAC) hosts Western Michigan (16-11; 12-4 MAC)
Match 28 vs. Western Michigan	Friday, Nov. 15 at 6 p.m. (ET) Live Stats \| ESPN+
Match 29 vs. Western Michigan	Saturday, Nov. 15 at 5 p.m. (ET) Live Stats \| ESPN+
Notes	Ball State \| Western Michigan
Social Media	X (Twitter) \| Instagram

THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL: The Ball State women's volleyball team closes out the 2024 regular season with a pair of home matches versus Western Michigan this weekend ... The Cardinals and Broncos will play at 6 p.m. Friday and 5 p.m. Saturday in Worthen Arena.

PROMOTIONS: Friday's match versus Western Michigan will be Greek Night and the Ball State Greek organization with the largest attendance will receive a free pizza party courtesy of Ball State Athletics ... Saturday's match will be senior night for the Cardinals, with the program's four seniors being honored at the conclusion of the contest ... Free t-shirts will be available for the first 200 fans and, with the contest being played immediately following the Ball State men's basketball game versus Indiana State, fans attending the basketball game can stick around and watch the women's volleyball match for FREE.

FOLLOW THE ACTION: Both matches this weekend will be broadcast live on ESPN+ ... In addition, live stats will be provided courtesy of Ball State Athletics ... Updates from the matches will also be provided on the team's X feed and Instagram story: @BallStateWVB.

BALL STATE ALL-TIME: Ball State enters its weekend with a 1031-656-2 (.611) 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: With a 12-4 start to league play this season, Ball State maintains its status as the winningest program in league play with a 458-224 (.672) all-time Mid-American Conference mark ... Western Michigan is second on the list, two matches behind the Cardinals at 456-226 (.669).

THE WORTHEN FACTOR: The Cardinals boast a 323-99 (.765) all-time mark inside Worthen Arena ... Looking at just opponents from the MAC, Ball State is 239-61 (.797) when battling in its current home gym ... 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, including a 25-7 (.781) advantage versus Western Michigan.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES VS. WESTERN MICHIGAN: Ball State holds a 55-50 lead in the all-time series versus WMU despite the Broncos picking up a pair of wins on its home floor last season ... The latest meeting was a 3-0 (25-20, 28-26, 27-25) Western Michigan victory on Nov. 4, 2023 ... Ball State had won five straight in the series prior to last season, and has won the last seven meetings on its home court ... WMU's last win in Muncie was a 3-1 (25-21, 25-18, 25-27, 27-25) victory Oct. 3, 2015 ... Overall, BSU holds a 30-15 advantage on its home court.

SCOUTING BALL STATE:
• Ball State enters Friday's match versus Western Michigan with a 19-8 (12-4 MAC) record after sweeping Miami on Tuesday ... The Cardinals are currently on a nine-match and 25-set winning streak, having won each of its last eight matches via sweeps ... Both Ball State's eight-match sweep streak and 25-set winning streak are program records ... The previous record for consecutive sweeps was seven to start the 2010 campaign, while the prior record for consecutive sets won was 23 from Nov. 3 to Nov. 27, 1993 ... Ball State has also won 16 consecutive sets on the road which is another program record, topping the run of 15 from Oct. 8 to Nov. 4, 1994.
• The Cardinals continue to be one of the nation's most dangerous offenses, ranking first in the Mid-American Conference and 23rd nationally with a .267 attack percentage ... The mark includes a .271 rate of success against then-No. 7 Penn State, which is the third-best hitting mark against the Nittany Lions so far this season ... Ball State has hit .300-or-better in nine matches this year, including a season-high .446 rate of success versus Akron (Oct. 11).
• Along with its solid attack percentage, the Cardinals rank 57th nationally with a 2.47 blocks-per-set average ... Graduate middle Aayinde Smith leads the Cardinals at the net with 114 total blocks, ranking third in the MAC and 80th nationally with a 1.19 blocks-per-set average ... Sophomore middle Gwen Crull boasts a 1.15 average over 54 sets, while junior middle Madison Buckley is second on the squad with 75 total blocks.

SCOUTING WESTERN MICHIGAN:
• The Broncos enter the weekend with a 16-11 (12-4 MAC) record and are also on a nine-match winning streak ... WMU has won its last five matches via sweeps, including a pair of home victories over Miami last weekend.
• Western Michigan is one of the nation's top kill producing squads, ranking first in the MAC and 31st nationally at 13.76 kills per set ... Keona Salesman leads the squad and is seventh in the MAC with a 3.25 kills-per-set average, while four other Broncos average at least 2.25 kills per set.
• The WMU offense is set up by fifth-year senior Logan Case who ranks second in the nation with an 11.65 assists-per-set average ... In addition, her 1,095 total assists are fifth among all NCAA Division I setters ... Overall, the Broncos rank 15th nationally with a 13.07 assists-per-set average.

BALL STATE QUICK HITS:
• With her 34 assists in the five-set win at Central Michigan (Oct. 4), senior setter Megan Wielonski climbed into second on Ball State's career assists list ... She enters the weekend with 4,842 career assists which is currently third among active NCAA Division I players ... Western Michigan's Logan Case is first at 6,146 (with the benefit of an extra COVID season), while Colorado State's Emery Herman is second at 5,166 ... 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 188 career aces ... The total, which includes 44 aces this season, is currently tied for 10th among active NCAA Division I players and is the most for any active student-athlete from the MAC ... As a freshman, Wielonski 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 251 total digs so far this season, raising her career total to 1,272 which is 10th in program history ... She needs 22 more digs to pass Natalie Risi's (2019-22) career total of 1,293 for ninth on BSU's all-time list ... Overall, Wielonski has accumulated double-digit digs in 65 career matches which is ninth in program history and gives her 65 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 2.89 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 37 career matches, including 11 so far this season, and led the team in kills in 29 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 305 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 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 168 digs for a 1.81 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 the five-set win at Ohio (Oct. 18) and her third in the first sweep of Eastern Michigan (Nov. 1) ... Tyler also leads Ball State's primary passers with a .959 reception percentage, successfully passing 532 of the team-high 555 serves she has faced.

• Freshman libero Sophie Ledbetter earned MAC Defensive Player of the Week honors for the first time in her career for her effort in guiding the Cardinals to a pair of sweeps at Toledo ... She led all league players with a 5.67 digs-per-set average for the week, registering 34 total digs ... She started with 14 digs on Friday night and followed with 20 on Saturday afternoon to help limit the Rockets to a .149 attack percentage for the weekend.

• Overall, Sophie Ledbetter has shined in her first season of collegiate action, leading the squad with a with a 3.47 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 on two occasions ... Ledbetter, who has recorded double digit digs in a team-high 18 matches this season, also boasts a .937 reception percentage, including perfect marks in 14 of BSU's 27 matches.

• Aayinde Smith has been proven to be a big addition for the Ball State front line, ranking fourth on the squad with 1.84 kills per set, while adding a team-best 1.19 blocks-per-set average ... She has at least one block in all 27 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 enters the weekend with 400 career blocks, with 286 coming during her time with the Tigers and 114 so far this season at Ball State.

• 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 second-best by a Mid-American Conference squad this season, trailing only Western Michigan's mark of .453 versus Miami this past Friday.

• 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 ... Green would collect her second career double-double in last Friday's sweep at Toledo, dishing out 21 assists and collecting a career-high 13 digs.

• Since switching to the 6-2, Ball State's offense has turned it up a notch, connecting for a .307 attack percentage over the last 11 matches, compared to a .243 mark in the first 16 ... The Cardinals have hit .300-or-better six times during the run, with its lowest rate of success being a .200 mark versus Buffalo (Oct. 12) ... Ball State's attackers are averaging 1.35 kills-per-set more in the 6-2, while the team is averaging 1.28 more assists per set.

• 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 Closes Regular Season With Pair of Matches vs. Western Michigan

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Players Mentioned

Madison Buckley

Gwen Crull

Lindsey Green

Aniya Kennedy

Sophie Ledbetter

Marie Plitt

Aayinde Smith

Carson Tyler

Megan Wielonski