Ball State University
Eastern Michigan
Volleyball Travels to EMU for Thursday and Friday #MACtion
November 05, 2025 | Women's Volleyball
| Ball State (17-9; 13-1 MAC) at Eastern Michigan (12-15; 4-10 MAC) | |
| Match 27 - at Eastern Michigan | Thursday, Nov. 6 at 6 p.m. ET ESPN+ | Live Stats |
| Match 28 - at Eastern Michigan | Friday, Nov. 7 at 6 p.m. ET ESPN+ | Live Stats |
| Notes | Ball State | Eastern Michigan |
| Social Media | X (Twitter) | Instagram |
THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL: The Ball State women's volleyball team closes the road portion of its 2025 regular season schedule with two matches at Eastern Michigan ... The Cardinals and Eagles will battle at 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday at the Gervin GameAbove 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 Eastern Michigan ... Updates from the matches will also be provided on the team's X feed and Instagram story: @BallStateWVB.
CURRENTLY IN THE MAC: With its 13-1 league mark, Ball State owns a three-match lead in the MAC standings, with Western Michigan currently second at 10-4 ... The Cardinals can clinch at least a share of the MAC regular season title with one win, or one Broncos loss over the remaining four matches ... Toledo and Ohio are tied for third at 9-5, with the Rockets holding the head-to-head tiebreaker ... Akron, Bowling Green and Miami are in a three-way tie for the final two spots at 7-7 ... The top six teams in the final league standings advance to the 2025 MAC Volleyball Championship held Nov. 21-23 at Bowling Green's Stroh Center.
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 Eastern Michigan with a 1051-667-2 (.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, 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 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 13-1 record in MAC play this season, Ball State maintains its status as the winningest program in league play with a 472-226 (.676) all-time MAC mark ... Western Michigan is second on the list, five matches behind the Cardinals at 467-231 (.676), while this weekend's opponent Eastern Michigan is eighth at 291-406 (.418).
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 week with a 17-9 overall record, including an 13-1 record in Mid-American Conference play ... Ball State went 3-0 last week, with a Tuesday win over Miami and a two-match weekend sweep at Kent State.
• Ball State remains the top-ranked MAC squad in the latest NCAA RPI Rankings, coming in at 53 this week, three spots 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 EMU series as one of the nation's top terminating teams, ranking second nationally with 1,381 total kills ... Only Towson (1,401) has more kills than the Cardinals ... 430 of Ball State's kills, which is fifth nationally, have come from the arm of sophomore outside Carson Tyler who also ranks first in the MAC and 40th nationally with a 4.17 kills-per-set average.
• In addition, the Cardinals lead the MAC and rank 38th nationally with a .258 team attack percentage ... Junior middle Camryn Wise is first in the league and 35th nationally with a .390 rate of success, while junior setter Lindsey Green ranks 100th nationally with 746 total assists and owns a 7.31 assists-per-set average.
SCOUTING EASTERN MICHIGAN:
• The Eagles enter the week with an 12-15 overall record, including a 4-10 mark in MAC play ... Last week, EMU swept Central Michigan at home Tuesday, before dropping a pair of weekend matches at Akron by scores of 3-2 and 3-0.
• Eastern Michigan ranks 11th in the MAC in the latest NCAA RPI Rankings at 245, holding steady at the spot for the second straight week ... EMU was ranked as high as 201st in the Oct. 12 RPI rankings with its best win coming being a 3-1 victory over No. 120 Valparaiso on Sept. 5.
• Eastern Michigan boasts one of the nation's top backcourts, ranking second in the MAC and 58th nationally with a 15.41 team digs-per-set average ... EMU's 1,587 total digs are 10th nationally, led by 372 from Surabhi Srinivasan and 262 from Ava Siefke.
• The Eagles have also been solid at the net, ranking third in the MAC and 107th nationally with a 2.27 blocks-per-set average ... Hatteras Welker leads the squad, is second in the MAC and 67th nationally with her 1.23 average ... In addition, Welker's 124 total blocks are second among all MAC players and eighth nationally.
• The Cardinals currently hold a 66-28 lead in the all-time series versus Eastern Michigan, including eight straight wins ... Ball State is 24-18 all-time in matches play in Ypsilanti, including four straight wins ... EMU's last victory in the series was a 3-2 (25-21, 25-23, 23-25, 19-25, 15-13) win on its home court on March 27, 2021, during the COVID19 spring season ... In its last trip to the Gervin GameAbove Center, Ball State earned a pair of sweeps Sept. 29 - Sept. 30, 2023.
BALL STATE QUICK HITS:
• Sophomore outside Carson Tyler has been one of the nation's top attackers so far this season, ranking fifth nationally with 430 kills for a MAC-best 4.17 kills-per-set average ... She has reached double-digit kills in 24 matches so far this season, including a career-high 29 kills versus 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 both matches at Kent State last weekend, Carson Tyler took over sole possession of 17th in program history with double-digit kills in 46 career matches ... She has 24 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 24 kills at Bowling Green (Oct. 16) being her 12th which is tied for sixth all-time.
• A six-rotation player, Carson Tyler is currently second on the squad with 260 digs ... She has recorded kill/dig double-doubles in 14 matches this season, with her latest coming last Friday at Kent State ... 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 .962 reception percentage, successfully passing 587 of the 610 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 playing for the Cardinals, smashing 295 total kills, collecting 188 digs and hitting .218 (295-107-863) ... A member of the Golden Gopher Invitational All-Tournament Team, VanOort has tallied double-digit kills in 18 of BSU's 26 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 295 kills so far at Ball State and her career total stands at 2,019 ... She has also collected 1,836 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 410 digs and a 3.98 digs-per-set average this season ... Her total ranks second among all MAC defenders, while her average is third ... Ledbetter has recorded double-digit digs in 23 of BSU's 26 matches, upping her career total to 46 ... 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 .258 attack percentage this season which is first in the MAC and 38th nationally ... The mark includes a .270 rate of success over the team's 14 MAC matches ... Green, who became the 17th player in program history to reach 1,000 career assists last Friday at Kent State, currently ranks ninth in the MAC with a 7.31 assists-per-set average ... She also leads the squad with 37 service aces ... Axness, meanwhile, enters the week with a 4.39 assists-per-set average and has served up 13 aces.
• Junior middle Gwen Crull has turned up the offensive heat over the last eight 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 .402 (110-20-224) attack percentage, which ranks third in the MAC during the span ... She also leads the squad with a 0.83 blocks-per-set average this season, including a team-high 13 solo blocks.
• Junior middle Camryn Wise enters the week leading the Mid-American Conference with a .390 attack percentage ... She has hit .300-or-better in 20 of the team's 26 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 .429 with just 14 errors on 210 swings, to go along with 104 kills ... Wise has hit at least .385 in 11 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, tying for fourth on the squad in league play with 104 kills for a 2.04 kills-per-set average ... 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 10 of Ball State's 14 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.
