Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Central Michigan
Women's Volleyball Closes Regular Season vs. Central Michigan
November 11, 2025 | Women's Volleyball
| Ball State (19-9; 15-1 MAC) hosts Central Michigan (9-19; 6-10 MAC) | |
| Match 29 - hosts Central Michigan | Thursday, Nov. 13 at 6 p.m. ET ESPN+ | Live Stats PROMOTIONS: Student-Athlete Night |
| Match 30 - hosts Central Michigan | Friday, Nov. 14 at 6 p.m. ET ESPN+ | Live Stats PROMOTIONS: Senior Night |
| Notes | Ball State | Central Michigan |
| Social Media | X (Twitter) | Instagram |
THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL: The Ball State women's volleyball team closes the 2025 regular season this week with a pair of home matches versus Central Michigan ... The Cardinals and Chippewas will square off Thursday and Friday at 6 p.m. inside Worthen Arena.
THIS WEEK'S PROMOTIONS: Thursday's match will serve as Student-Athlete Night, with the Cardinals honoring all members of fellow Ball State Athletics teams in attendance ... Friday is senior night, with Ball State honoring Christyn Ashby, Katie Egenolf and Noelle VanOort during a special post-match ceremony.
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 Ball State ... Updates from the matches will also be provided on the team's X feed and Instagram story: @BallStateWVB.
CURRENTLY IN THE MAC: Ball State clinched the 2025 MAC regular season championship and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming MAC Volleyball Championship hosted by Bowling Green (Nov. 21-23) with last Thursday's sweep at Eastern Michigan ... BSU clinched the outright league title Friday, moving to 15-1 in MAC play with its 3-1 victory over the Eagles ... This past week also saw Western Michigan (12-4 MAC) and Ohio (11-5 MAC) lock in their spots into the MAC tournament ... Toledo is currently the No. 4 seed at 10-6, while Miami sits at No. 5 at 9-7 ... Akron and Bowling Green are tied for the sixth and final spot at 8-8.
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 versus Central Michigan with a 1053-667-2 (.612) 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, 11 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 330-104 (.760) all-time record inside Worthen Arena, including an 84-41 (.672) mark against non-conference foes and a 246-63 (.796) 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 ... Ball State closes out its 2025 home slate Nov. 13-14 with back-to-back matches versus Central Michigan which is 6-27 all-time in Worthen Arena.
BALL STATE IN THE MAC: With a 15-1 record in MAC play this season, Ball State maintains its status as the winningest program in league play with a 474-226 (.677) all-time MAC mark ... Western Michigan is second on the list, five matches behind the Cardinals at 469-231 (.670), while this weekend's opponent Central Michigan is seventh at 353-348 (.504).
ABOUT THE 10-0 START TO #MACtion: While it's season-long 10-match winning streak came to an end vs. Ohio (Oct. 25), Ball State's 10-0 start to MAC play tied as the third-best league start in program history ... The Cardinals also won its first 10 conference matches of the 1997 campaign ... Ball State has also gone undefeated in league play twice, boasting an 18-0 mark in 1993, followed by a 17-0 record in 1994.
SCOUTING BALL STATE:
• The Cardinals enter the final week of the regular season with a 19-9 overall record, including a 15-1 record in Mid-American Conference play ... Ball State clinched the 2025 MAC regular season championship and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming MAC Volleyball Championship with a pair of wins at Eastern Michigan last week.
• Ball State remains the top-ranked MAC squad in the latest NCAA RPI Rankings, coming in at 52 this week, one spot better than last week ... The Cardinals were 77th in the initial RPI rankings on Oct. 5 and climbed to as high as 45th in the Oct. 19 release.
• Ball State enters the CMU series as one of the nation's top terminating teams, ranking second nationally with 1,485 total kills ... Only Towson (1,537) has more kills than the Cardinals ... 462 of Ball State's kills, which is sixth nationally, have come from the arm of sophomore outside Carson Tyler who also ranks first in the MAC and 39th nationally with a 4.20 kills-per-set average.
• In addition, the Cardinals lead the MAC and rank 30th nationally with a .260 team attack percentage ... Junior middle Camryn Wise is first in the league and 27th nationally with a .399 rate of success, while junior setter Lindsey Green ranks 106th nationally with 794 total assists and owns a 7.28 assists-per-set average.
SCOUTING CENTRAL MICHIGAN:
• The Chippewas enter the week with a 9-19 overall record, including a 6-10 mark in MAC play ... Last week, Central Michigan suffered a pair of home losses to Miami by scores of 3-2 and 3-1 to fall into a tie for eighth in the league standings.
• Central Michigan ranks 10th in the MAC in the latest NCAA RPI Rankings at 241, dropping four spots from last week ... CMU was ranked as high as 203rd in the Oct. 26 RPI rankings with its best win being a 3-1 victory over No. 92 High Point on Aug. 29.
• The Chippewas enter the week ranked fourth in the MAC with a .213 attack percentage, led by Brooklyn Conner who is second in the league with a .343 rate of success ... Conner has hit .300-or-better in 15 of the 24 matches she has played this season.
• From an attacking standpoint, Taylor Cripe leads the CMU offense with 256 total kills, while Natalia Rejment has a team-best 3.43 kills-per-set average ... Their effort has helped Central Michigan rank seventh in the MAC with a 12.37 kills-per-set average.
• The Cardinals currently hold a 56-38 lead in the all-time series versus Central Michigan, including a hard-fought 3-2 victory in the semifinals of the 2024 MAC Volleyball Championship last season ... The teams also split a pair of regular season matches in Mount Pleasant last season, with each team earning a five-set win ... Ball State holds a 31-14 advantage in the all-time series, including a 26-7 lead in matches played inside Worthen Arena ... CMU's last win in Worthen was a 3-1 victory March 20, 2021.
BALL STATE QUICK HITS:
• Sophomore outside Carson Tyler has been one of the nation's top attackers so far this season, ranking sixth nationally with 462 kills for a MAC-best 4.20 kills-per-set average ... She has reached double-digit kills in 26 matches so far this season, including a career-high 29 kills versus Toledo (Oct. 10) and 28 kills versus Cincinnati (Sept. 18) ... Tyler's 462 total kills are currently the 10th-most in a single season in program history ... 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 both matches at Eastern Michigan last weekend, Carson Tyler took over sole possession of 16th in program history with double-digit kills in 48 career matches ... She has 26 such matches this season, while collecting 22 her freshman campaign ... 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 her 20 kills at Eastern Michigan (Nov. 7) being her 13th which is sixth on BSU's all-time list.
• A six-rotation player, Carson Tyler is currently second on the squad with 286 digs ... She has recorded kill/dig double-doubles in 16 matches this season, with her latest coming last Friday at Eastern Michigan ... Tyler registered a 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 .966 reception percentage, successfully passing 647 of the team-high 670 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 for the Cardinals, ranking second on the squad with 310 total kills, while adding 199 digs and hitting .218 ... A member of the Golden Gopher Invitational All-Tournament Team, VanOort has tallied double-digit kills in 18 of BSU's 28 matches, including a season-high 20 kills twice ... Throw in 97 matches with double-figure kills during her four-year career at Indiana Tech and VanOort has been credited with at least 10 kills in 115 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 this season, 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.
• Noelle VanOort reached a career milestone in the Oct. 28 victory over Miami, smashing the 2,000th kill of her collegiate career ... The moment came midway through the second set when her third blast of the match gave BSU a 12-6 edge ... Prior to arriving at Ball State, VanOort finished her four-year playing career at Indiana Tech (2021-24) as a two-time NAIA Third Team All-American and ranked second in program history with 1,724 kills ... Add 310 kills so far at Ball State and her career total stands at 2,034 ... She has also collected 1,847 digs and served up 295 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 438 digs and a 3.98 digs-per-set average this season ... Her total ranks second among all MAC defenders, while her average is third ... In fact, the 438 digs rank 20th on Ball State's single-season digs list ... Ledbetter has recorded double-digit digs in 25 of BSU's 28 matches this season, upping her career total to 48 ... 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 .260 attack percentage this season which is first in the MAC and 30th nationally ... The mark includes a .272 rate of success over the team's 16 MAC matches ... Green, who became the 17th player in program history to reach 1,000 career assists at Kent State (Oct. 31), currently ranks ninth in the MAC with a 7.28 assists-per-set average ... She also leads the squad with 39 service aces ... Axness, meanwhile, enters the week with a 4.43 assists-per-set average and has served up 13 aces.
• Junior middle Gwen Crull has turned up the offensive heat over the last nine weeks, reaching double-digit kills for the first eight times in her collegiate career ... Her best match came 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) ... Since the start of MAC play, Crull is second on the squad with a .391 (126-25-258) attack percentage, which ranks second in the MAC during the span ... She also leads the squad with a 0.86 blocks-per-set average this season, including a team-high 15 solo blocks.
• Junior middle Camryn Wise enters the week leading the Mid-American Conference with a .399 attack percentage ... She has hit .300-or-better in 22 of the team's 28 matches, paced by a .579 (12-1-19) rate of success at Marquette (Sept. 12) ... Looking at just league matches, Wise's mark jumps up to .441 with just 14 errors on 245 swings, to go along with 122 kills ... Wise has hit at least .385 in 13 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, smashing 118 kills and hitting .272 in MAC play ... The effort includes a career-high 17 kills and a .433 (17-4-30) attack percentage versus Toledo (Oct. 10) ... She also secured 11 kills at Akron (Sept. 26) and has at least six kills in 12 of Ball State's 16 league matches.
• 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.
