Friday, November 22
Bowling Green, Ohio
6:30 p.m.
Ball State University
21-9,13-5MAC
3
vs
0
Toledo
17-14,10-8MAC
1
2
3
F
Toledo
16
11
22
0
Ball St.
25
25
25
3
Photo by: Brayden Goins / Ball State Athletics
Volleyball Advances in MAC Championship with Sweep of Toledo
November 22, 2024 | Women's Volleyball
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - - The third-seeded Ball State women's volleyball team opened the 2024 Mid-American Conference Volleyball Championship with a dominating 3-0 (25-16, 25-11, 25-22) sweep of sixth-seeded Toledo Friday evening at the Stroh Center.Â
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With the win, the Cardinals (21-9) advance to Saturday's 6:30 p.m. semifinal match versus No. 2 seed Central Michigan. In addition, the sweep of the Rockets (17-14) extended Ball State's program record consecutive road set victory streak to 19.
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Key to the victory was Ball State's service pressure which yielded nine aces and kept the Toledo backcourt off balance the entire night.
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"Serving is always relevant and going to play a huge part in our game," head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said. "We need to put pressure on people and keep them off the net. Toledo put a totally different lineup on the court than they have all year, and I thought we kept them a balance with our serves. They were not able to run their offense as freely as I'm sure they would have liked, and our pressure played a huge role and will continue to do so for the rest of tournament."
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Perhaps the biggest ace came early in the second set, when senior setter Megan Wielonski gave BSU a 3-1 edge with her second of four aces in the match. It was her program record 192nd career ace, topping the previous mark of 191 set by Stacy Jordan (1982-85). She finished the night with 194 career aces and is four shy of breaking into the top 10 in MAC history.
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"Megan has been a phenomenal server all four years, and I am very happy for her because I know how badly she wanted the record," Phillips said. "She serves bullets and there have been so many times in the last couple matches I thought one was going to go down, but someone makes a miracle save. She is one of the toughest servers I have ever seen, and obviously it's in the record books to show all the good things she has done with her serve."
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In addition to the strong serving, the Cardinals' offense was also on point, connecting for a .330 (43-11-97) rate of success led by 12 kills and a .400 (12-2-25) attack percentage from freshman outside Carson Tyler.
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Overall, the Ball State offense was very well balanced with five players registering at least six kills in the sweep. Redshirt sophomore opposite Aniya Kennedy was second on the squad with eight, while junior opposite Madison Buckley added seven and graduate middle Aayinde Smith and junior outside Katie Egenolf blasted six each.
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Along with her four aces, Wielonski dished out 19 assists and added seven digs, while sophomore setter Lindsey Green added 16 assists and four digs as Ball State continued to shine in the 6-2 offense.
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In the backcourt, freshman libero Sophie Ledbetter tied for match-high honors with 11 digs, while also adding her first career kill to make the score 21-14 in the opening set.
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Ball State also held a 6.0-to-3.0 edge in total blocks, with a match-high four from Buckley and three from Smith.
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Taylor Alt led the Toledo offense with 13 kills, while Grace Freiberger tied Ledbetter for match-high honors with 11 digs. Overall, the Ball State defense limited the Toledo attack to a .168 (34-17-101) hitting mark.
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With the win, the Cardinals (21-9) advance to Saturday's 6:30 p.m. semifinal match versus No. 2 seed Central Michigan. In addition, the sweep of the Rockets (17-14) extended Ball State's program record consecutive road set victory streak to 19.
Â
Key to the victory was Ball State's service pressure which yielded nine aces and kept the Toledo backcourt off balance the entire night.
Â
"Serving is always relevant and going to play a huge part in our game," head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said. "We need to put pressure on people and keep them off the net. Toledo put a totally different lineup on the court than they have all year, and I thought we kept them a balance with our serves. They were not able to run their offense as freely as I'm sure they would have liked, and our pressure played a huge role and will continue to do so for the rest of tournament."
Â
Perhaps the biggest ace came early in the second set, when senior setter Megan Wielonski gave BSU a 3-1 edge with her second of four aces in the match. It was her program record 192nd career ace, topping the previous mark of 191 set by Stacy Jordan (1982-85). She finished the night with 194 career aces and is four shy of breaking into the top 10 in MAC history.
Â
"Megan has been a phenomenal server all four years, and I am very happy for her because I know how badly she wanted the record," Phillips said. "She serves bullets and there have been so many times in the last couple matches I thought one was going to go down, but someone makes a miracle save. She is one of the toughest servers I have ever seen, and obviously it's in the record books to show all the good things she has done with her serve."
Â
In addition to the strong serving, the Cardinals' offense was also on point, connecting for a .330 (43-11-97) rate of success led by 12 kills and a .400 (12-2-25) attack percentage from freshman outside Carson Tyler.
Â
Overall, the Ball State offense was very well balanced with five players registering at least six kills in the sweep. Redshirt sophomore opposite Aniya Kennedy was second on the squad with eight, while junior opposite Madison Buckley added seven and graduate middle Aayinde Smith and junior outside Katie Egenolf blasted six each.
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Along with her four aces, Wielonski dished out 19 assists and added seven digs, while sophomore setter Lindsey Green added 16 assists and four digs as Ball State continued to shine in the 6-2 offense.
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In the backcourt, freshman libero Sophie Ledbetter tied for match-high honors with 11 digs, while also adding her first career kill to make the score 21-14 in the opening set.
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Ball State also held a 6.0-to-3.0 edge in total blocks, with a match-high four from Buckley and three from Smith.
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Taylor Alt led the Toledo offense with 13 kills, while Grace Freiberger tied Ledbetter for match-high honors with 11 digs. Overall, the Ball State defense limited the Toledo attack to a .168 (34-17-101) hitting mark.
Team Stats
UT
BSU
Kills
34
43
Errors
17
11
Attempts
101
97
Hitting %
.168
.330
Points
37.0
58.0
Assists
31
41
Aces
0
9
Blocks
3
6
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
OPP
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's Volleyball
DS
/ Women's VolleyballMH
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's Volleyball
S
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