Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Semifinals
Volleyball Heads To Bowling Green for MAC Championship
November 20, 2025 | Women's Volleyball
| Ball State (21-9; 17-1 MAC) at MAC Volleyball Championships hosted by Bowling Green | |
| Match 31 - MAC Semifinals | Saturday, Nov. 22 at 4 p.m. ET ESPN+ | Live Stats |
| Match 32 - MAC Championship Match | Sunday, Nov. 23 at 4 p.m. ET ESPN+ | Live Stats |
| Notes | Ball State | Tournament Central |
| Social Media | X (Twitter) | Instagram |
THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL: The No. 1 seed Ball State women's volleyball team opens postseason play Saturday when it battles either No. 4 Toledo or No. 5 Miami in the 4 p.m. semifinal match of the 2025 MAC Volleyball Championship ... The winner advances to Sunday's championship match which will also be played at 4 p.m. ... The tournament is hosted by No. 6 Bowling Green and will be played at the Stroh Center.
FOLLOW THE ACTION: All five MAC Women's Volleyball Championship matches will be broadcast live on ESPN+ ... In addition, live stats will be provided by Bowling Green athletics ... Updates from the matches will also be provided on the team's X feed and Instagram story: @BallStateWVB.
BALL STATE ALL-TIME: Ball State enters the 2025 MAC Volleyball Championship with a 1055-667-2 (.613) 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).
BALL STATE IN THE MAC: With a 17-1 record in Mid-American Conference play this season, Ball State maintains its status as the winningest program in league play with a 476-226 (.678) all-time MAC mark ... Western Michigan is second on the list, six matches behind the Cardinals at 470-232 (.670).
IN THE MAC CHAMPIONSHIP: Ball State will be making its 36th all-time appearance in the MAC Volleyball Championships in 2025, owning a 39-27 (.591) overall record and eight tournament titles (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2002, 2019 and 2021) ... The Cardinals' 39 tournament wins are second in MAC Championship history as are its eight titles are second ... Overall, the Cardinals own a 5-2 (.714) record in first round matches, a 13-10 (.565) mark in quarterfinal play, an 13-10 (.565) ledger in semifinal action and an 8-5 (.615) record in the championship match ... Ball State has advanced to the championship match in four of the last six tournaments.
ON THE ALL-TOURNAMENT SQUAD: Ball State ranks first in league history with 36 MAC All-Tournament selections ... The Cardinals are also second all-time with eight MAC Tournament Most Valuable Player award winners.
THE ALL-TIME VS. THE TOURNAMENT FIELD: Ball State enters the MAC Volleyball Championship with an 8-1 record versus the tournament field this season, with the lone loss coming to Ohio (Oct. 25) ... In MAC Championship play, the Cardinals are 21-19 versus this season's field in the event, including a 7-4 mark in championship matches ... Overall, Ball State is 282-149-1 all-time against opponents in the event.
Ball State vs. 2025 MAC Championship Field
Opponent 2025 Tournament Championship All-Time
No. 2 Western Michigan 1-0 3-6 1-2 57-52 (W1)
No. 3 Ohio 1-1 2-5 0-1 45-22 (L1)
No. 4 Toledo 2-0 2-1 0-0 79-12 (W3)
No. 5 Miami 2-0 6-4 2-0 52-39 (W7)
No. 6 Bowling Green 2-0 8-3 4-1 49-24-1 (W2)
Overall 8-1 21-19 7-4 282-149-1
SCOUTING BALL STATE:
• The Cardinals enter the MAC Volleyball Championships with a 21-9 overall record, including a 17-1 record in Mid-American Conference play ... Ball State clinched the 2025 MAC regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming MAC Volleyball Championship with its win at Eastern Michigan (Nov. 6).
• Ball State remains the top-ranked MAC squad in the latest NCAA RPI Rankings, coming in at 55 this week, down three spots from the previous 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 is one of the nation's top terminating teams, ranking second nationally with 1,580 total kills, one back of national leader Southeast Missouri State (1,581) ... 491 of Ball State's kills, which is eighth nationally, have come from the arm of sophomore outside Carson Tyler who also ranks first in the MAC and 39th nationally with a 4.23 kills-per-set average.
• In addition, the Cardinals lead the MAC and rank 31st nationally with a .262 team attack percentage ... Junior middle Camryn Wise is first in the league and 33rd nationally with a .393 rate of success, while junior setter Lindsey Green ranks 112th nationally with 840 total assists and owns a 7.30 assists-per-set average.
LET AWARDS SEASON BEGIN:
• The Ball State women's volleyball team kicked off awards season with a BANG, as seven members of the program earn MAC postseason honors
• Sophomore Carson Tyler became just the fourth player in program history, and first since the 1999 season, to earn MAC Player of the Year honors ... She was also named First Team All-MAC for the second consecutive season ... The 2024 MAC Freshman of the Year, Tyler is only the second Ball State player to ever earn MAC Player of the Year and MAC Freshman of the Year accolades, joining Emily Sallee.
• For their role in guiding the Ball State offense to a league-best .274 attack percentage in league play, junior Lindsey Green and freshman Reese Axness were named the MAC Setters of the Year ... It is the third time Ball State has claimed the league's top setter award and the first time in MAC history a 6-2 pair has earned the honor.
• After guiding the Ball State women's volleyball team to a 17-1 league record despite the loss of three projected starters to injury before the start of the season, Kelli Miller Phillips was named the MAC Coach of the Year ... It is the third time Phillips has earn the league's top coaching award, as she also claimed the honor in 2021 and 2022.
• In addition to Tyler, junior middle Gwen Crull, sophomore libero Sophie Ledbetter and junior middle Camryn Wise earned First Team All-MAC honors ... Ball State's four First Team All-MAC honors were the most for a league program this season and tie as the most in program history with the 2021 squad ... Crull, Ledbetter and Wise are all first-time All-MAC honorees.
BALL STATE QUICK HITS:
• Sophomore outside Carson Tyler has been one of the nation's top attackers so far this season, ranking eighth nationally with 491 kills for a MAC-best 4.23 kills-per-set average ... She has reached double-digit kills in 28 matches, including a career-high 29 kills versus Toledo (Oct. 10) and 28 kills versus Cincinnati (Sept. 18) ... Tyler's 491 total kills are currently the eighth-most in a single season in program history, with the 498 by Sarah Obras in 2002 being next on the list to catch ... Only five players in program history have reached 500 kills in a season, with Obras' total of 695 in 2003 standing as the single-season record ... Megan Hammons is the only player to do it twice, ranking second (569 in 2000) and third (549 in 1999) on BSU's all-time list.
• With double-digit kills in both matches vs. Central Michigan last weekend, Carson Tyler took over sole possession of 15th in program history with double-digit kills in 50 career matches ... She has 28 such matches this season, which ties as the third-most in a single season in program history, 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 305 digs ... She has recorded kill/dig double-doubles in 17 matches this season, with her latest coming last Thursday versus Central 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 688 of the team-high 712 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 329 total kills, while adding 202 digs and hitting .222 ... A member of the Golden Gopher Invitational All-Tournament Team, VanOort has tallied double-digit kills in 19 of BSU's 30 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 116 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 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 329 kills so far at Ball State and her career total stands at 2,053 ... She has also collected 1,850 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 464 digs and a 4.00 digs-per-set average ... Her dig total ranks second among all MAC defenders, while her average is third ... In fact, the 464 digs rank 20th on Ball State's single season digs list ... Ledbetter has recorded double-digit digs in 27 of BSU's 30 matches this season, upping her career total to 50 which is tied for 18th on BSU's all-time list ... 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 .262 attack percentage this season which is first in the MAC and 31st nationally ... The mark includes a .274 rate of success over the team's 18 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 7.30 assists-per-set average ... She also leads the squad with 41 service aces ... Axness, meanwhile, enters the weekend with a 4.46 assists-per-set average and has served up 13 aces.
• Junior middle Camryn Wise enters the weekend leading the Mid-American Conference and ranked 33rd nationally with a .393 attack percentage ... She has hit .300-or-better in 23 of the team's 30 matches, paced by a .667 (6-0-9) effort at Bowling Green (Oct. 17) and a .579 (12-1-19) rate of success at Marquette (Sept. 12) ... Looking at just league matches, Wise's mark jumps up to .425 with just 18 errors on 275 swings, to go along with 135 kills ... Wise has hit at least .385 in 14 MAC outings, starting with a .545 (6-0-11) effort at Buffalo (Sept. 25).
• Junior middle Gwen Crull has been just as solid in the middle for the Cardinals, reaching double-digit kills for the first eight times in her collegiate career over the last nine weeks ... 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 and in the league with a .384 (136-28-281) attack percentage ... She also leads the squad with a 0.84 blocks-per-set average this season, including a team-high 16 solo blocks.
• Sophomore Tiffany Snook is starting to find her grove on the right side, smashing 135 kills and hitting .281 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 14 of Ball State's 18 league matches.
• 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 gone undefeated in league play twice, boasting an 18-0 mark in 1993, followed by a 17-0 record in 1994.
• 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.
