Ball State University
Toledo
Volleyball Opens MAC Championship Play Friday vs. Toledo
November 21, 2024 | Women's Volleyball
| No. 3 Ball State (20-9; 13-5 MAC) at MAC Volleyball Championship hosted by Bowling Green | |
| Match 30 vs. No. 6 Toledo (17-13; 10-8 MAC) | Friday, Nov. 22 at 6:30 p.m. (ET) Live Stats |  ESPN+ |
| Match 31 vs. No. 2 Central Michigan (24-6; 15-3 MAC) | Saturday, Nov. 23 at 6:30 p.m. (ET) Live Stats |  ESPN+ |
| Match 32 vs. MAC Championship Match | Sunday, Nov. 24 at 4 p.m. (ET) Live Stats |  ESPN+ |
| Notes | Ball State |  Toledo  |  Central Michigan  |  MAC Championship Central |
| Social Media | X (Twitter)Â | Â Instagram |
THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL: The No. 3 seed Ball State women's volleyball team opens postseason play Friday when it battles No. 6 seed Toledo in the 6:30 p.m. quarterfinal match of the 2024 MAC Women's Volleyball Championship ... It is the second quarterfinal match of the day, with the winner advancing to face No. 2 seed Central Michigan Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ... The entire tournament will be hosted by No. 1 seed Bowling Green and will be played at the Stroh Center.
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FOLLOW THE ACTION:Â All five MAC Women's Volleyball Championship matches will be broadcast live on ESPN+ ... In addition, live stats will be provided by Bowling Green athletics ... Updates from the matches will also be provided on the team's X feed and Instagram story: @BallStateWVB.
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IN THE MAC CHAMPIONSHIPS:Â Ball State will be making its 35th all-time appearance in the MAC Volleyball Championships in 2024, owning a 37-26 (.587) overall record and eight tournament titles (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2002, 2019 and 2021) ... The Cardinals' 37 tournament wins are tied as the most in MAC Championship history, while its eight titles are second, trailing only Ohio's nine ... Overall, the Cardinals own a 5-2 (.714) record in first round matches, a 12-10 (.545) mark in quarterfinal play, an 12-10 (.545) ledger in semifinal action and an 8-4 (.667) record in the championship match ... Ball State has advanced to the championship match in three of the last five tournaments.
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ON THE ALL-TOURNAMENT SQUAD:Â Ball State is currently for first in conference history with 34 MAC All-Tournament selections ... The Cardinals are also second all-time with eight MAC Tournament Most Valuable Player award winners ... Only Ohio has more MVPs at nine, while Miami also has 34 All-Tournament honorees.
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BALL STATE ALL-TIME:Â Ball State enters the MAC Championship with a 1032-657-2 (.611) all-time record in women's volleyball ... Ball State became 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).
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BALL STATE IN THE MAC:Â With a 13-5 league mark in 2024, Ball State maintained its status as the winningest program in league play with a 459-225 (.671) all-time Mid-American Conference mark ... Western Michigan is second on the list, two matches behind the Cardinals at 457-227 (.668).
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THE ALL-TIME VS. THE TOURNAMENT FIELD:Â Ball State enters the MAC Volleyball Championship with a 4-5 record versus the tournament field this season ... In MAC Championship play, the Cardinals are 15-10 versus the field, including a 5-2 mark in championship matches ... Overall, Ball State is 262-129-1 all-time against opponents in the event, staring with a 76-12 mark against Friday's quarterfinal opponent No. 6 seed Toledo.
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Ball State vs. 2024 MAC Championship Field
| Opponent | 2024 | Tournament | Championship | All-Time |
| No. 1 Bowling Green | 0-2 | 8-3 | 4-1 | 47-24-1 (L3) |
| No. 2 Central Michigan | 1-1 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 55-38 (L1) |
| No. 4 Western Michigan | 1-1 | 3-5 | 1-1 | 56-51 (L1) |
| No. 5 Buffalo | 0-1 | 2-0 | 0-0 | 28-4 (L3) |
| No. 6 Toledo | 2-0 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 76-12 (W2) |
| Overall | 4-5 | 15-10 | 5-2 | 262-129-1 |
VS. TOLEDO IN 2024: Ball State swept the two regular season meetings with Toledo by scores of 3-0 (25-23, 25-14, 25-19) on Nov. 8 and 3-0 (25-21, 25-13, 25-20) on Nov. 9 at the Rockets' Savage Arena ... The Cardinals hit .307 over the two matches, while limiting the UT attack to a .149 rate of success ... Five Ball State attackers averaged at least 2.00 kills per set over the two matches, paced by freshman outside Carson Tyler at 3.17 ... Freshman libero Sophie Ledbetter earned MAC Defensive Player of the Week honors after averaging 5.67 digs per set over the two matches, while graduate middle Aayinde Smith registered a 1.50 blocks-per-set average.
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VS. CENTRAL MICHIGAN IN 2024: The Cardinals and Chippewas split the two regular season meetings this season in Mount Pleasant, with Ball State winning the first 3-2 (25-23, 17-25, 25-22, 18-25, 16-14) on Oct. 4 and Central Michigan winning the second 3-2 (19-25, 25-21, 25-21, 23-25, 15-9) ... The Cardinals held a .211 to .194 advantage from the attack line over the two matches, while also out-blocking CMU 3.20 to 2.00 ... Sophomore middle Gwen Crull led the Cardinals at the net with a 1.60 blocks-per-set average, while redshirt sophomore opposite Aniya Kennedy averaged a team-best 3.70 kills per set ... CMU held a 14.10 to 12.60 edge in digs per set over the two matches, while also out-acing the Cardinals by a 16 to 9 margin.
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SCOUTING BALL STATE:
• Ball State enters the MAC Volleyball Championship with a 20-9 (13-5 MAC) record after splitting a pair of matches versus Western Michigan last weekend ... BSU started with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-12, 25-18) sweep on Friday to up its winning streak to 10 matches and extend its sweep streak to nine and its overall set winning streak to 28, both program records ... Unfortunately, the Broncos ended all three streaks Saturday with a 3-2 (25-18, 21-25, 22-25, 25-20, 15-9) win ... Ball State has still 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 .269 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 10 matches this year, including a season-high .446 rate of success versus Akron (Oct. 11).
• Along with its solid attack percentage, the Cardinals rank 43rd nationally with a 2.52 blocks-per-set average ... Aayinde Smith leads the Cardinals at the net with 129 total blocks, ranking second in the MAC and 54th nationally with a 1.24 blocks-per-set average ... Gwen Crull boasts a 1.11 average over 62 sets played, while junior middle Madison Buckley is second on the squad with 80 total blocks for a 0.79 average.
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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 MAC Championship with 4,895 career assists which is currently fourth among active NCAA Division I players ... Western Michigan's Logan Case is first at 6,235 (with the benefit of an extra COVID season), while Colorado State's Emery Herman is second at 5,247 and Minnesota's Melani Shaffmaster is third at 4,925 ... Wielonski 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.
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• In addition to being one of the nation's top setters, Megan Wielonski is one of the country's top servers with 190 career aces ... The total, which includes 46 aces this season, is currently 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).
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• 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 268 total digs so far this season, raising her career total to 1,289 which is 10th in program history ... She needs five 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.
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• Redshirt sophomore outside Aniya Kennedy has continued to shine on offense for the Cardinals, ranking second on the squad with a 2.81 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.
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• 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.
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• Freshman outside Carson Tyler has smashed a team-leading 329 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.
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• A six-rotation player, Carson Tyler is also third on the team with 193 digs for a 1.91 digs-per-set average ... She recorded her first career kill/dig double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs at Central Michigan (Oct. 5) and has added four more since, including both matches versus Wester Michigan last weekend ... In fact, she was credited with a career-best 15 digs in Saturday's outing versus the Broncos ... Tyler also leads Ball State's primary passers with a .960 reception percentage, successfully passing 574 of the team-high 598 serves she has faced.
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• Sophie Ledbetter has shined in her first season of collegiate action, leading the squad with a with a 3.55 digs-per-set average ... The effort includes five matches with 20-or-more digs, paced by a career-high 27 in the win over James Madison (Sept. 6) ... Ledbetter, who has recorded double digit digs in a team-high 20 matches this season, also boasts a .940 reception percentage, including perfect marks in 15 of BSU's 29 matches.
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• Aayinde Smith has been proven to be a big addition for Ball State, ranking fourth on the squad with 1.82 kills per set, while adding a team-best 1.24 blocks-per-set average ... She has at least one block in all 29 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 415 career blocks, with 286 coming during her time with the Tigers and 129 so far this season at Ball State ... The 129 total blocks tie as the 20th-most in a single season in program history
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• 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.
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• 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.
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• 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 the Friday sweep at Toledo (Nov. 8), dishing out 21 assists and collecting a career-high 13 digs.
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• Since switching to the 6-2, Ball State's offense has turned it up a notch, connecting for a .316 attack percentage over the last 13 matches, compared to a .243 mark in the first 16 ... The Cardinals have hit .300-or-better seven times during the run, with its lowest rate of success being a .200 mark versus Buffalo (Oct. 12) ... In fact, BSU also hit over .400 three times in the last 13 matches, including the .446 versus Akron (Oct. 11), a .432 mark versus Western Michigan (Nov. 15) and a .402 effort versus Miami (Nov. 12) ... Ball State's attackers are averaging 1.55 kills-per-set more in the 6-2, while the team is averaging 1.52 more assists per set.
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• 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 ... Overall, the Cardinals have limited opponents to a sub .150 attack percentage 12 times this season, including a season-low .117 effort for Western Michigan last Friday.
