Women's Volleyball Continues #MACtion At Bowling Green

Ball State (11-8; 7-0 MAC) at Bowling Green (12-7, 6-1 MAC)
Match 20 - at Bowling Green	Thursday, Oct. 16 at 6 p.m. ET ESPN+ \| Live Stats
Match 21 - at Bowling Green	Friday, Oct. 17 at 6 p.m. ET ESPN+ \| Live Stats
Notes	Ball State \| Bowling Green
Social Media	X (Twitter) \| Instagram

THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL: The Ball State women's volleyball team closes the first half of the 2025 Mid-American Conference season this week with a pair of matches at defending MAC regular season champion Bowling Green ... The Cardinals and the Falcons are slated to square off at 6 p.m. both Thursday and Friday at the Stroh Center.

FOLLOW THE ACTION: Fans unable to attend this week's matches in person have several ways to follow the #MACtion ... Both contests will be broadcast live on ESPN+ ... Live stats will be available courtesy of Bowling Green athletics ... Updates from the matches will also be provided on the team's X feed and Instagram story: @BallStateWVB.

MAC PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATION: Ball State women's volleyball team received 102 points in the league's annual coaches' poll, trailing only defending regular season champion Bowling Green (119) ... With coaches unable to vote for their own teams, BGSU earned 10 of the 12 votes to win the MAC regular season title, with the Cardinals claiming the other two ... The Falcons were also selected as the favorite to win the MAC Volleyball Championship with 10 votes, while Buffalo and Central Michigan each garnered one vote.

PRESEASON HONORS: In addition to the team rankings, the MAC announced its annual Preseason All-MAC Team ... Representing Ball State are sophomore outside Carson Tyler and sophomore libero Sophie Ledbetter ... Tyler was named the 2024 MAC and AVCA Midwest Region Freshman of the Year after ranking first on the team and seventh in the league with a 3.34 kills-per-set average last season ... Ledbetter earned a nod on the 2024 MAC All-Freshman team after leading the squad and ranking 10th in the MAC with a 3.68 digs-per-set average.

BALL STATE ALL-TIME: Ball State enters Thursday's match at Bowling Green with a 1045-666-2 (.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 six seasons ... BSU has also earned two bids into the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC).

WHEN IN WORTHEN: The Cardinals boast a 328-103 (.761) all-time record inside Worthen Arena, including an 84-41 (.672) mark against non-conference foes and a 244-62 (.797) ledger versus league foes ... 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 ... Up next in Worthen will be Ohio (Oct. 24-25) who is 7-13 (.350) all-time in the building.

BALL STATE IN THE MAC: With a perfect 7-0 record in MAC play this season, Ball State maintains its status as the winningest program in league play with a 466-225 (.674) all-time MAC mark ... Western Michigan is second on the list, five matches behind the Cardinals at 461-230 (.667), while this week's opponent Bowling Green is currently third at 409-282 (.592).

MORE ABOUT THE 7-0 START TO #MACtion: The 2025 season marks the eighth time in program history the Cardinals have won at least its first seven MAC matches of the year ... The last time was in 2023 when Ball State got off to a 9-0 start, on its way to a 15-3 league finish ... The Cardinals have boasted two perfect MAC seasons, going 18-0 in 1993 and 17-0 in 1994 ... BSU also won the first 10 matches of the 1997 campaign, the first nine matches in 2000, the first eight matches in 2002 and the first seven in 2001.

SCOUTING BALL STATE:
• The Cardinals enter the week with an 11-8 overall record, including a perfect 7-0 mark in Mid-American Conference play ... The lone remaining undefeated team in #MACtion, Ball State earned a 3-0 sweep at Miami Tuesday, before picking up a pair of home wins over Toledo by scores of 3-2 on Friday and 3-1 on Saturday.
• Thanks to its 3-0 record last week, the Cardinals climbed 26 spots in the latest NCAA RPI Rankings, coming in at 51 this week after ranking 77th in the initial rankings ... Ball State is the highest ranked MAC team, with Bowling Green coming in second at 85.
• Ball State enters the week as one of the nation's top terminating teams, ranking second nationally with 1,053 total kills ... Only Towson has more kills than the Cardinals at 1,087 ... 336 of Ball State's kills, which is third nationally, have come from the arm of sophomore outside Carson Tyler who also ranks first in the MAC and 27th nationally with a 4.36 kills-per-set average.
• In addition, the Cardinals lead the MAC and rank 42nd nationally with a .259 team attack percentage ... Junior middle Camryn Wise is first in the league and 66th nationally with a .373 rate of success, while junior setter Lindsey Green ranks 61st nationally with 586 total assists and owns a 7.71 assists-per-set average.

SCOUTING BOWLING GREEN:
• The Falcons enter the week with a 12-7 overall record, including a 6-1 mark in MAC play ... After opening last week with a 3-1 setback at Toledo, Bowling Green responded with a 3-1 Thursday victory and a 3-0 Friday win at Northern Illinois.
• Bowling Green ranks second in the MAC in the NCAA RPI Rankings at 85, also climbing 26 spots from its initial ranking of 111 ... BGSU's best win so far this season is a 3-1 victory over No. 82 Stephen F. Austin on Sept. 12.
• The Falcons enter the week as one of the nation's top defensive teams, ranking 51st nationally with a 2.48 blocks-per-set average, while limiting opponents to a .171 attack percentage which is 30th nationally ... In fact, BGSU's 178.5 total blocks are ninth among all NCAA Division I programs.
• Bowling Green has three players ranked in the top 230 nationally in blocks-per-set average, led by Kendall Williams in 91st at 1.21 ... Helen Wilford is 141st at 1.11, while Jessica Andrews is 228th at 1.02.
• The Cardinals currently hold a 47-24-1 lead in the all-time series versus Bowling Green despite three straight wins by the Falcons ... Last season, BGSU swept a two-match series in Worthen Arena by scores of 3-2 (20-25, 25-18, 30-28, 17-25, 15-11) on Sept. 27 and 3-0 (25-12, 25-23, 25-13) on Sept. 28 ... Ball State's last win in the series was a 3-1 (25-21, 25-20, 21-25, 25-21) win at the Stroh Center Oct. 7, 2023 ... BSU is 21-7 all-time in matches played in Bowling Green.

BALL STATE QUICK HITS:
• Sophomore outside Carson Tyler has been one of the nation's top attackers so far this season, ranking third nationally with 336 kills for a MAC-best 4.36 kills-per-set average ... She has reached double-digit kills in all 19 matches so far this season, including a career-high 29 kills in last Friday's win over Toledo (Oct. 10), 28 kills versus Cincinnati (Sept. 18), 26 kills versus James Madison (Sept. 14) and 21 kills at UConn (Sept. 5) ... Last season, Tyler averaged 3.34 kills per set to become the first player in program history to earn AVCA Midwest Region Freshman of the Year accolades.

• With double-digit kills in all 19 matches this season, Carson Tyler has raised her career total to 41 matches ... She needs two more matches in double figures to break into the top 20 in program history at 43 ... In addition, Tyler is one of just nine players in program history to register 20-or-more kills in at least 10 career matches, with last Friday's match versus Toledo being her 11th.

• A six-rotation player, Carson Tyler is currently second on the squad with 194 digs this season ... She has recorded kill/dig double-doubles in 11 matches this season, with her latest coming in last Friday's 3-2 win over Toledo ... Tyler registered career-high 19 digs in the win at Marquette (Sept. 12) and collected 18 versus Cal Poly (Aug. 31) and James Madison (Sept. 14) ... Tyler also leads Ball State's primary passers with a .968 reception percentage, successfully passing 419 of the 433 serves she has faced ... Tyler also led the Cardinals' primary passers with a .963 reception percentage last season by successfully passing 650 of the team-high 675 serves she faced.

• Graduate outside Noelle VanOort has made quite an impact during her first seven weeks playing for the Cardinals, smashing 241 total kills, collecting 157 digs and hitting .244 (241-77-673) ... A member of the Golden Gopher Invitational All-Tournament Team, VanOort has tallied double digit kills in 15 of BSU's 19 matches, including a season-high 20 kills twice ... Throw in 97 matches with double-figure kills during her career at Indiana Tech and VanOort has been credited with at least 10 kills in 112 collegiate matches ... She has also raised her collegiate total to 11 matches with 20+ kills, including a 20/20 effort Nov. 5, 2022, with 23 kills and 25 digs versus Siena Heights.

• Noelle VanOort has been just as solid on defense through the first seven weeks, earning double-digit digs seven times, including a season-high 23 vs. Cincinnati (Sept. 18) ... The effort has raised her career total to 97 matches with double-digit digs, including her 90 at Indiana Tech ... It also helped her raise her collegiate kill/dig double-double total to 74, including six with Ball State and 68 with the Warriors.

• Prior to arriving at Ball State, Noelle VanOort finished her four-year playing career at Indiana Tech (2021-24) as a two-time NAIA Third Team All-American ... Her 1,724 career kills ranked second in program history, while her 1,648 career digs were sixth ... She also set the program standard with 282 career service aces ... She has continued to find success in her first five weeks playing for the Cardinals and enters the week with 1965 kills, 1805 digs and 293 aces over her collegiate career.

• With 20 kills each in the Aug. 31 match versus Cal Poly, Noelle VanOort and Carson Tyler became the first Ball State duo to record 20-or-more kills in the same match since the 2007 season ... Brittany May and Julie Breivogel were the last players to do so with 21 and 20 kills, respectively, in an Oct. 5, 2027 match versus Western Michigan.

• Sophomore libero Sophie Ledbetter paces the Ball State defense with 309 digs and a 4.01 digs-per-set average this season ... The total currently ranks second among MAC defenders, while the average is third ... Ledbetter has recorded double-digit digs in 17 of BSU's 19 matches, upping her career total to 40 ... The effort includes a career-high tying 27 digs versus Eastern Kentucky (Sept. 20) and 26 digs in the season-opener versus St. Thomas (Aug. 29).

• Sophie Ledbetter earned her first collegiate double-double versus Cal Poly (Aug. 31), handing out 10 assists to go along with her 14 digs.

• Junior Lindsey Green and freshman Reese Axness have combined to lead the Ball State offense to a .259 attack percentage so far this season which is first in the MAC and 42nd nationally ... The mark includes a .284 rate of success over the team's seven MAC matches ... Green, who dished out a career-high 51 assists twice this season, currently ranks eighth in the MAC with a 7.71 assists-per-set average, with her 586 total assists ranking 61st nationally ... She also leads the squad with 22 service aces ... Axness, meanwhile, enters the week with a 4.37 assists-per-set average and has served up 10 aces.

• Junior middle Gwen Crull has turned up the offensive heat over the last four weeks, reaching double-digit kills for the first six times in her collegiate career ... Her best match came last Tuesday at Miami (Oct. 7), when she smashed a career-high 13 kills and hit .522 (13-1-23) ... She has also collected 12 kills on two occasions; vs. Cincinnati (Sept. 18) and at Akron (Sept. 26) ... During Ball State's current seven-match winning streak, Crull is second on the squad with a .420 (56-9-112) attack percentage, which ranks third in the MAC during the span ... She also leads the squad with a 0.82 blocks-per-set average this season, including a team-high 11 solo blocks.

• Junior middle Camryn Wise enters the week leading the Mid-American Conference with a .373 attack percentage ... She has hit .300-or-better in 13 of the team's 19 matches, paced by a season-high .579 (12-1-19) rate of success at Marquette (Sept. 12) ... Looking at just league matches, Wise's mark jumps up to .423 with just five errors on 97 swings, to go along with 46 kills ... Wise has hit at least .385 in six MAC outings, starting with a .545 (6-0-11) effort at Buffalo (Sept. 25).

• Sophomore Tiffany Snook is starting to find her grove on the right side, ranking third on the squad in league play with 63 kills and a 2.42 kills-per-set average ... The effort included a career-high 17 kills and a .433 (17-4-30) attack percentage in last Friday's win over Toledo (Oct. 10) ... She also secured 11 kills at Akron (Sept. 26) and has registered at least six kills in all seven of Ball State's league matches.

• Ball State has stepped up its game from the service line since starting league play, averaging 1.48 aces per set in #MACtion ... Six different players have served up at least one ace in league play, led by eight apiece from Reese Axness, Sophie Ledbetter and Carson Tyler ... Ball State averaged just 1.12 aces per set prior to MAC play.

• Roster Update: Senior opposite Madison Buckley and redshirt junior outside attacker Aniya Kennedy will both miss the 2025 season as medical redshirts … Buckley was a 2024 First Team All-MAC selection after ranking second on the team in total blocks (90.0) and third in total kills (276) last season … Kennedy, the 2023 MAC Freshman of the Year and First Team All-MAC selection, ranked second on the squad with 279 kills last season and chipped in 43 total blocks.

Women's Volleyball Continues #MACtion At Bowling Green

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Players Mentioned

Reese Axness

Madison Buckley

Gwen Crull

Lindsey Green

Aniya Kennedy

Sophie Ledbetter

Tiffany Snook

Carson Tyler

Noelle VanOort

Camryn Wise