Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Butler
WVB Visits Butler Thursday, Hosts Wright State Friday
September 18, 2024 | Women's Volleyball
| Ball State (5-4) at Butler / hosts Wright State | |
| Match 10 - at Butler (2-7) | Thursday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. Live Stats | YouTube |
| Match 11 - hosts Wright State (7-2) | Friday, Sept. 20 at 6 p.m. Live Stats | ESPN+ |
| Notes | Ball State | Butler | Wright State |
| Social Media | X (Twitter) | Instagram |
THE WEEK AHEAD: The Ball State women's volleyball team closes the pre-conference portion of the regular season this week with a match at Butler Thursday (7 p.m.) and its regular season home opener versus Wright State on Friday (6 p.m.).
FOLLOW THE ACTION: Thursday's contest at Butler will be streamed on YouTube, while Friday's match versus Wright State will be broadcast live on ESPN+ ... In addition, live stats will be provided for both matches by the host institution ... Live updates from the matches will also be provided on the team's X feed and Instagram story: @BallStateWVB.
THIS WEEK'S BALL STATE PROMOTIONS: The Cardinals will be looking to RED OUT the Raiders on Friday night in its 2024 regular season home opener, in addition to passing out FREE rally towels to the first 400 fans and raffling off a FREE 55-inch TV... In addition, fans will be treated to a post-match autograph session on the Worthen Arena concourse.
MAC PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATION: With no divisions for the first time since the 1996 season, the Ball State women's volleyball team received 98 points in the league's annual coaches poll, trailing only Western Michigan (121) and Bowling Green (102) ... With coaches unable to vote for their own teams, WMU earned 11 of the 12 votes to win the MAC regular season title, with BGSU claiming the other ... The Broncos, who also received votes in the 2024 AVCA Preseason Coaches Poll, was also selected as the favorite to win the MAC Volleyball Championship with nine votes, followed by the Falcons (2) and the Cardinals (1).
PRESEASON HONORS: In addition to the team rankings, the MAC announced its annual Preseason All-MAC Team ... Representing Ball State are senior setter Megan Wielonski and redshirt sophomore outside Aniya Kennedy ... Wielonski earns Preseason All-MAC honors for the third consecutive season after claiming All-MAC First Team accolades for the third straight year ... Kennedy earns a nod on the Preseason All-MAC team for the first time in her career after a stellar 2023 campaign which saw her claim both First Team All-MAC and MAC Freshman of the Year honors.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES: Ball State is 31-15 all-time versus this week's opponents, starting with a 17-6 mark versus Butler ... The Bulldogs have won the last two meetings between the two programs, including a 3-2 (25-15, 25-12, 22-25, 19-25, 15-6) win in the latest meeting on Sept. 16, 2017, at Hinkle Fieldhouse ... Ball State holds a 14-9 lead in the all-time series versus Wright State, with the Raiders securing a 3-1 (26-24, 25-14, 29-31, 25-18) win on Sept. 8, 2023, at the Dayton Tournament.
SCOUTING BALL STATE:
• Ball State enters the week with a 5-4 record after going 2-1 at last weekend's Indiana Invitational ... The Cardinals swept both Chicago State and Wright State, before falling top points short of a reverse sweep against the host Hoosiers.
• The Cardinals continue to be one of the nation's most dangerous offenses, ranking first in the Mid-American Conference and 30th nationally with a .267 attack percentage ... The mark includes a .271 rate of success against then-No. 7 Penn State, which is the best hitting mark against the Nittany Lions so far this season ... Ball State has hit .300-or-better in two matches so far this season, including a season-high .333 rate of success versus Bryant (Aug. 30).
• Ball State has also made some major strides at the net this season, ranking fourth in the league and 112th nationally with a 2.23 team blocks-per-set average ... Graduate middle Aayinde Smith is currently seventh in the league and 228th nationally at 1.00 blocks per set ... Sophomore middle Gwen Crull also has a 1.00 block per set average, but has not played enough sets to be ranked nationally.
SCOUTING BUTLER:
• The Bulldogs enter the week with a 2-7 overall record after going 0-3 at last weekend's GCU Classic ... Butler was swept by Pacific on Friday, lost a five-set heartbreaker at Grand Canyon on Saturday, and fell 3-1 to Portland State on Sunday ... The Bulldogs lone wins on the season were back-to-back victories over Indiana State by scores of 3-0 and 3-1.
• One area the Bulldogs have excelled so far this season is at the net ... The squad ranks second in the Big East and 48th nationally with a 2.53 blocks-per-set average ... The effort is paced by Grace Boggess who ranks 95th nationally at 1.19 blocks per set ... Destiny Cherry is not far behind, ranking 209th at 1.03.
• Abby Maesch leads the Butler attack with a 3.41 kills-per-set average, while Elise Ward is not far behind at 3.20 ... Their effort has helped the squad post a .154 hitting percentage so far this season.
SCOUTING WRIGHT STATE:
• The Raiders, who have made appearances in each of the last two NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championships, enter the week with a 7-2 mark and are receiving votes in the latest AVCA Division I Coaches Poll ... Last week, WSU went 3-0 at the Sports Imports Classic hosted by Ohio State with 3-1 wins over Buffalo, No. 20 Miami and the host Buckeyes.
• The Wright State offense enters the week ranked second nationally with a 14.77 kills-per-set average, while its .247 hitting percentage is 65th ... Mya Ayro leads the squad with a 4.13 kills-per-set average, which is 42nd nationally, while Sam Ott is 122nd at 3.55.
• The Raiders are also a solid serving team, ranking 49th nationally at 1.94 aces per set ... The squad has 60 aces on the year, with Jenny Wessling ranking 68th nationally with 16 of those aces ... Wessling also ranks 62nd among all NCAA Division I players with a 4.45 digs-per-set average, earning 138 total digs so far this season.
BALL STATE QUICK HITS:
• With her 50th of 57 assists in the win over James Madison (Sept. 6), Megan Wielonski climbed to fifth on Ball State's career assists list ... She enters the week with 4,338 career assists which is currently third among active NCAA Division I players ... Western Michigan's Logan Case is first at 5,436 (with the benefit of an extra COVID season), while Colorado State's Emery Herman is second at 4,475 ... 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 154 career aces ... The total, which includes 10 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.
• 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 76 total digs so far this season, raising her career total to 1,097 which is 17th in program history ... Overall, she has accumulated double-digit digs in 57 career matches which is 12th in program history and gives her 57 career assist/dig double-doubles.
• Aniya Kennedy has picked up right where she left off last season, leading the Ball State offense with 90 kills and a 3.33 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 added her name to the 20+ kill list by smashing a career-high 21 kills in the four-set win over James Madison (Sept. 6) ... She tied the mark in last Saturday's 3-2 setback at Indiana ... Throw in a team-high 12 kills versus then-No. 7 Penn State and Tyler has registered double digit kills in three career matches ... The effort helps her rank second on the squad with 79 kills and a 2.63 kills-per-set average.
• Typically a six-rotation player for the Cardinals, Carson Tyler is also third on the team with 48 digs for a 1.60 digs-per-set average ... She also leads Ball State's primary passers with a .958 reception percentage, successfully passing 159 of the 166 serves she has faced.
• Freshman libero Sophie Ledbetter has shined in her first three weeks of collegiate action, leading the squad and ranking fourth in the MAC with a with a 4.66 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 .927 reception percentage, including perfect marks in six of BSU's nine matches.
• Graduate middle Aayinde Smith has been a big addition for the Ball State front line, tying for third on the squad with 2.20 kills per set, while tying for team-high honors with 1.00 blocks per set ... A two-time All-CAA Second Team selection in her four years at Towson, Smith also owns a .368 attack percentage which ranks fourth among MAC players.
• Junior Madison Buckley turned in her best weekend of the season at the Indiana Invitational, ranking second on the squad with 30 kills for a 2.73 kills-per-set average ... The effort included a season-high 13 kills versus Southern Indiana (Sept. 14) and 11 kills against the host Hoosiers (Sept. 14) ... Buckley has registered double digit kills in three matches so far this season, giving her 16 such matches over her collegiate career.
• Looking at the entire Ball State defense, the Cardinals limited Bryant (Aug. 30) 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.
