Let The #MACtion Begin, WVB Hosts Bowling Green This Weekend

Ball State (7-4; 0-0 MAC) hosts Bowling Green (5-6; 0-0 MAC)
Match 12 - vs. Bowling Green	Friday, Sept. 27 at 6 p.m. Live Stats \| ESPN+ Promotions: Dollar Night w/$1 Hot Dogs & $1 Popcorn ... Free t-shirts for the first 400 students
Match 13 vs. Bowling Green	Saturday, Sept. 28 at 4 p.m. Live Stats \| ESPN+ Promotions: Volley Cards Club & Camper Day ... Free post-match clinic for Volley Cards Club members ... Free admission for 2024 women's volleyball campers.
Notes	Ball State \| Bowling Green
Social Media	X (Twitter) \| Instagram

READY FOR SOME #MACTION: It's the first week of Mid-American Conference play for the Ball State women's volleyball team which hosts Bowling Green for a two-match series inside Worthen Arena ... The teams will take the new Taraflex court at 6 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday.

PROMOTIONS: Ball State Athletics is partnering with the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and the Muncie Mission for Women's Empowerment Weekend from Sept. 27-29 ... As part of the partnership, Muncie Mission will collect donations of women's health products at entry points of all Ball State home venues ... Items collected will be distribution as part of the mission's ministry work with homeless shelters, and addiction and recovery centers ... Fans can also make donations online at: https://BallStateSports.com/WomensEmpowerment
Volleyball-Only Promotions
- Friday: Dollar Night w/$1 Hot Dogs & $1 Popcorn ... Free t-shirts for the first 400 students
- Saturday: Volley Cards Club & Camper Day ... Free post-match clinic for Volley Cards Club members ... Free admission for 2024 women's volleyball campers.

FOLLOW THE ACTION: Both of this weekend's matches versus Bowling Green will be broadcast live on ESPN+ ... Ball State Sports Link will produce both events and have a 15-minute pre-match show starting at 5:45 p.m. Friday and 3:45 p.m. Saturday ... Live stats will be provided courtesy of Ball State Athletics ... Live updates from the matches will also be provided on the team's X feed and Instagram story: @BallStateWVB.

THE WORTHEN FACTOR: After last Friday's win over Wright State, the Cardinals boast a 319-96 (.769) all-time mark inside Worthen Arena ... Looking at just opponents from the MAC, Ball State is 235-58 (.802) when battling in Worthen Arena ... Overall, no MAC opponent owns a winning record inside Worthen Arena, as the Cardinals have at least a .650 winning percentage against all league schools on its current home floor.

MORE FROM THE HOME FRONT: Last Friday's win over Wright State also helped Ball State improve to 38-3 in Worthen Arena over the past four seasons (Fall 2021-2024) ... In addition, the Cardinals have won its last 27 MAC regular season home matches, with its last regular season MAC home loss coming to Central Michigan on March 20, 2021.

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 holds a 47-22-1 lead in the all-time series which dates back to a 1-1 (15-8, 14-16) tie on Oct. 13, 1978 ... Last season, the Cardinals scored a 3-1 (25-21, 25-20, 21-25, 25-21) victory over the Falcons on Oct. 7 in Bowling Green, while BGSU countered with a 3-2 (25-21, 25-13, 26-28, 26-28, 16-14) victory in the quarterfinals of the MAC Championships on Nov. 18 in Kalamazoo, Michigan ... Ball State holds a 20-13 advantage in matches played in Muncie, Indiana, including a 17-8 edge in Worthen Arena ... However, the Falcons did earn a 3-2 (23-25, 25-23, 25-23, 23-25, 15-9) in its last trip to Worthen Arena for the title match of the 2022 MAC Championships on Nov. 22, 2022.

SCOUTING BALL STATE:
• Ball State enters Mid-American Conference play with a 7-4 record after opening the home portion of its 2024 season with a 3-2 victory over Wright State last Friday ... The Cardinals played its first 10 regular season matches on the road, including earning a sweep at Butler last Thursday.
• The Cardinals continue to be one of the nation's most dangerous offenses, ranking first in the Mid-American Conference and 31st nationally with a .267 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 three matches this year, including a season-high .341 rate of success at Butler (Sept. 19).
• Along with its solid attack percentage, the Cardinals rank 60th nationally with a 13.34 kills-per-set average ... Ball State has four players averaging at least 2.00 kills per set in: redshirt sophomore outside Aniya Kennedy(3.33), freshman outside Carson Tyler (3.11), junior middle Madison Buckley (2.16) and graduate middle Aayinde Smith (2.05).

SCOUTING BOWLING GREEN:
• The Falcons enter MAC play with a 5-6 overall record after suffering a pair of setbacks to Ohio State in a home-and-home series last weekend ... BGSU took a set in last Friday's match up on its home court, the Stroh Center, while being swept in Columbus.
• Among common opponents, both teams earned 3-0 sweeps over Chicago State, while BGSU picked up a 3-1 win over Wright State compared to Ball State's five-set victory.
• BGSU's Alexis Mettille enters the weekend as one of the nation's top attackers, ranking first in the MAC and 42nd nationally with a .403 hitting percentage ... She is also one of the league's top blockers, ranking sixth in the MAC at 1.00 blocks per set.
• Bowling Green also features one of the nation's top servers, with Lauryn Hovey ranking 13th nationally with 25 aces, while her 0.66 aces-per-set average is eighth among all NCAA Division I players.

BALL STATE IN THE MAC:
• Ball State finished the 2023 regular season with a 13-5 MAC record to maintains its status as the winningest program in league play with a 446-220 (.670) all-time Mid-American Conference mark ... Western Michigan is second on the list, two matches behind the Cardinals at 444-222 (.667) ... Bowling Green is currently fifth at .581 (387-279).

BALL STATE QUICK HITS:
• With her 50 assists in last Friday's win over Wright State, Megan Wielonski climbed two spots into third on Ball State's career assists list ... She enters the week with 4,422 career assists which is currently third among active NCAA Division I players ... Western Michigan's Logan Case is first at 5,519 (with the benefit of an extra COVID season), while Colorado State's Emery Herman is second at 4,563 ... 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 157 career aces ... The total, which includes 13 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 ... 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 103 total digs so far this season, raising her career total to 1,124 which is 14th in program history ... Overall, she has accumulated double-digit digs in 58 career matches which is 12th in program history and gives her 58 career assist/dig double-doubles.

• Aniya Kennedy has picked up right where she left off last season, leading the Ball State offense with 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 has smashed a team-leading 118 kills so far this season, including 20-or-more kills in three matches ... The latest was a career-high 25-kill effort to help lead Ball State to a 3-2 victory over Wright State (Sept. 20) ... Tyler is now one of just 25 players in program history to register 20-or-more kills in at least three career matches ... She is also just the 16th different player in program history to have three-or-more such matches in a single season.

• Typically a six-rotation player for the Cardinals, Carson Tyler is also third on the team with 62 digs for a 1.63 digs-per-set average ... She also leads Ball State's primary passers with a .951 reception percentage, successfully passing 212 of the 223 serves she has faced.

• Freshman libero Sophie Ledbetter has shined in her first four weeks of collegiate action, leading the squad and ranking fifth in the MAC with a with a 4.11 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 .932 reception percentage, including perfect marks in seven of BSU's 11 matches.

• Graduate middle Aayinde Smith has been a big addition for the Ball State front line, ranking fourth on the squad with 2.05 kills per set, while leading the squad with a 1.03 blocks-per-set average ... A two-time All-CAA Second Team selection in her four years at Towson, Smith also owns a .332 attack percentage which ranks fifth 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) ... Throw in 10 kills versus James Madison (Sept. 6) and in last Friday's win over Wright State and Buckley has registered double digit kills in four matches so far this season, giving her 17 such matches 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 ... Ball State currently ranks fourth in the MAC and 136th nationally with a .195 opponents attack percentage.

• 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.

Let The #MACtion Begin, WVB Hosts Bowling Green This Weekend

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Madison Buckley

Aniya Kennedy

Sophie Ledbetter

Aayinde Smith

Carson Tyler

Megan Wielonski