Photo by: BSU Photo Services
Women's Basketball's NCAA Tournament Berth Highlights Successful 2024-25 Cardinals Sports Year
June 02, 2025 | Baseball, Field Hockey, Football, General, Men's Basketball, Men's Golf, Men's Swimming and Diving, Men's Tennis, Men's Volleyball, Softball, Women's Basketball, Women's Golf, Women's Swimming and Diving, Women's Tennis, Women's Volleyball, Cross Country, Gymnastics, Soccer, Track & Field, Cardinal Varsity Club
Celebrating our great achievements in 2024-25, performances by four sports programs highlighted Cardinal success by finishing among the top three teams in final conference standings.
Â
Ball State's women's basketball team completed a historic season by reaching the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in program history. Ball State faced Ole Miss in the NCAA first round in Waco, Texas, reaching the NCAA Tournament field of 64 after winning both the MAC regular season and tournament. Along the way, the Cardinals swept every major MAC postseason award while recording a 27-8 record – 16-2 in the MAC – and boasting the league's coach of the year (Brady Sallee), player of the year (Ally Becki) and defensive player of the year (Marie Kiefer). Becki and Kiefer both were on the MAC's all-defensive team and Becki was named the MAC Tournament MVP. Nationally, Becki was a semifinalist for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year award. Sallee's starting lineup was led by a core four of senior starters who chose to remain at Ball State, bucking the current trend of transfers in college sports.
Â
Finishing second in the MAC was the men's golf team, earning a top-two finish in the league for the third consecutive season. Following a MAC Championship and NCAA regional bid in 2024, the Cardinals rallied on the final day of the MAC tournament this year to finish in second place and mark the first time since 1978-80 that Ball State finished in the top two for three straight years. Three senior starters – Kash Bellar, Ali Khan and Braxton Kuntz – left indelible marks on the Ball State program, and junior Carter Smith earned second-team All-MAC honors. Following the season, Khan was selected to play in the PGA Works, a prestigious PGA college championship for minority student-athletes.
Â
A third-place MAC finish was earned by the women's volleyball team that finished 22-10 overall and was the No. 3 seed in the MAC Tournament. Madison Buckley, Aayinde Smith and Carson Tyler all earned first-team All-MAC accolades and Tyler was named as the league's freshman of the year. Tyler and senior Megan Wielonski were named to the MAC All-Tournament Team after the Cardinals reached the championship game against Western Michigan.
Â
Just two weeks ago, the baseball Cardinals entered the MAC Tournament as the No. 3 seed, too. Registering at least 30 wins for the 19th straight season under Rich Maloney, they finished 36-22 while winning at least 35 games for the sixth consecutive year. In March, Maloney earned the 1,000th win of his 30-year career, becoming the 10th active coach in America with 1,000 career wins for Division I programs. Four Cardinals earned first-team All-MAC recognition – Blake Bevis, Dylan Grego, Nick Husovsky and Keegan Johnson; with Jacob Hartlaub and Alex Richter receiving a nod on the second team.
Â
The softball program finished right behind baseball in diamond action. The softball Cardinals improved from last year's sixth-place finish and an appearance in the MAC championship game with a 33-18 record and fourth-place MAC finish before an exit in the semifinals of the conference tournament. Catcher McKayla Timmons was named both the MAC Player of the Year and the inaugural recipient of MAC Defensive Player of the Year in softball. She and shortstop Maia Pietrzak both were honored as first-team All-MAC selections.
Â
Outside of top team finishes, several Ball State individuals excelled on a national level.
Â
In gymnastics where the Cardinals were a No. 4 seed in the MAC Championships, Ashley Szymanski and Zoe Middleton both were selected as individual participants in NCAA regional competition, though Middleton was injured and could not compete. The MAC champ in the uneven bars, Szymanski was named the MAC's Specialist of the Year, earning MAC Championships all-tournament honors alongside vault champion Suki Pfister.
Â
While her male counterparts reached an NCAA regional in 2024, in 2025 it was women's golfer Jasmine Driscoll who was the individual winner of the MAC women's championship. She earned a bid to the NCAA Regional in Lexington, Kentucky.
Â
Men's volleyball star Patrick Rogers was named an honorable mention All-American by the AVCA while leading the Cardinals to a 17-13 finish.
Â
Perhaps Ball State's most decorated individual competitor was four-time track All-American Jenelle Rogers who earned her fourth honor while finishing seventh in the pentathlon at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in March. She is one of just three student-athletes in program history to garner as many as four All-American awards. Not to be outdone, Kenli Nettles captured the MAC's outdoor heptathlon championship to mark the fifth consecutive time a Cardinal has won the event. She took part in NCAA first-round competition in the 400-meter hurdles at the end of May, and she was one of 24 heptathlon finalists invited to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, in early June.
Â
As has become the norm of late, Ball State's athletic successes were eclipsed only by academic excellence in the classroom.
Â
In May, the NCAA announced its scores for the Academic Progress Rate (APR) for the 2023-24 academic calendar, and for the third time in four years the Cardinals matched a department record with a 992 mark. The Cardinals' single-year rate eclipsed average rates reported for all Division I schools (989), all FBS institutions (990) and other programs in the MAC (989).
Â
Last November, when the NCAA announced another academic metric, the Graduation Success Rate (GSR), Ball State student-athletes claimed a 93 percent rate which matched an institutional record for the second straight year. It reflects the fifth straight year that Ball State has eclipsed a 90 percent rate and at least matched its program record.
Â
For the first time, all 19 sports registered a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better in both the fall 2024 and spring 2025 semesters. The 2024-25 full year student-athlete cumulative GPA was 3.46. Highlighting individual accolades, Peyton Bennett (women's golf) has been named a Fulbright Scholar finalist and Emma Hilton (women's swimming) was selected as a Ball State Top 10 Student in March 2025.
Â
Â
Â
Ball State's women's basketball team completed a historic season by reaching the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in program history. Ball State faced Ole Miss in the NCAA first round in Waco, Texas, reaching the NCAA Tournament field of 64 after winning both the MAC regular season and tournament. Along the way, the Cardinals swept every major MAC postseason award while recording a 27-8 record – 16-2 in the MAC – and boasting the league's coach of the year (Brady Sallee), player of the year (Ally Becki) and defensive player of the year (Marie Kiefer). Becki and Kiefer both were on the MAC's all-defensive team and Becki was named the MAC Tournament MVP. Nationally, Becki was a semifinalist for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year award. Sallee's starting lineup was led by a core four of senior starters who chose to remain at Ball State, bucking the current trend of transfers in college sports.
Â
Finishing second in the MAC was the men's golf team, earning a top-two finish in the league for the third consecutive season. Following a MAC Championship and NCAA regional bid in 2024, the Cardinals rallied on the final day of the MAC tournament this year to finish in second place and mark the first time since 1978-80 that Ball State finished in the top two for three straight years. Three senior starters – Kash Bellar, Ali Khan and Braxton Kuntz – left indelible marks on the Ball State program, and junior Carter Smith earned second-team All-MAC honors. Following the season, Khan was selected to play in the PGA Works, a prestigious PGA college championship for minority student-athletes.
Â
A third-place MAC finish was earned by the women's volleyball team that finished 22-10 overall and was the No. 3 seed in the MAC Tournament. Madison Buckley, Aayinde Smith and Carson Tyler all earned first-team All-MAC accolades and Tyler was named as the league's freshman of the year. Tyler and senior Megan Wielonski were named to the MAC All-Tournament Team after the Cardinals reached the championship game against Western Michigan.
Â
Just two weeks ago, the baseball Cardinals entered the MAC Tournament as the No. 3 seed, too. Registering at least 30 wins for the 19th straight season under Rich Maloney, they finished 36-22 while winning at least 35 games for the sixth consecutive year. In March, Maloney earned the 1,000th win of his 30-year career, becoming the 10th active coach in America with 1,000 career wins for Division I programs. Four Cardinals earned first-team All-MAC recognition – Blake Bevis, Dylan Grego, Nick Husovsky and Keegan Johnson; with Jacob Hartlaub and Alex Richter receiving a nod on the second team.
Â
The softball program finished right behind baseball in diamond action. The softball Cardinals improved from last year's sixth-place finish and an appearance in the MAC championship game with a 33-18 record and fourth-place MAC finish before an exit in the semifinals of the conference tournament. Catcher McKayla Timmons was named both the MAC Player of the Year and the inaugural recipient of MAC Defensive Player of the Year in softball. She and shortstop Maia Pietrzak both were honored as first-team All-MAC selections.
Â
Outside of top team finishes, several Ball State individuals excelled on a national level.
Â
In gymnastics where the Cardinals were a No. 4 seed in the MAC Championships, Ashley Szymanski and Zoe Middleton both were selected as individual participants in NCAA regional competition, though Middleton was injured and could not compete. The MAC champ in the uneven bars, Szymanski was named the MAC's Specialist of the Year, earning MAC Championships all-tournament honors alongside vault champion Suki Pfister.
Â
While her male counterparts reached an NCAA regional in 2024, in 2025 it was women's golfer Jasmine Driscoll who was the individual winner of the MAC women's championship. She earned a bid to the NCAA Regional in Lexington, Kentucky.
Â
Men's volleyball star Patrick Rogers was named an honorable mention All-American by the AVCA while leading the Cardinals to a 17-13 finish.
Â
Perhaps Ball State's most decorated individual competitor was four-time track All-American Jenelle Rogers who earned her fourth honor while finishing seventh in the pentathlon at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in March. She is one of just three student-athletes in program history to garner as many as four All-American awards. Not to be outdone, Kenli Nettles captured the MAC's outdoor heptathlon championship to mark the fifth consecutive time a Cardinal has won the event. She took part in NCAA first-round competition in the 400-meter hurdles at the end of May, and she was one of 24 heptathlon finalists invited to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, in early June.
Â
As has become the norm of late, Ball State's athletic successes were eclipsed only by academic excellence in the classroom.
Â
In May, the NCAA announced its scores for the Academic Progress Rate (APR) for the 2023-24 academic calendar, and for the third time in four years the Cardinals matched a department record with a 992 mark. The Cardinals' single-year rate eclipsed average rates reported for all Division I schools (989), all FBS institutions (990) and other programs in the MAC (989).
Â
Last November, when the NCAA announced another academic metric, the Graduation Success Rate (GSR), Ball State student-athletes claimed a 93 percent rate which matched an institutional record for the second straight year. It reflects the fifth straight year that Ball State has eclipsed a 90 percent rate and at least matched its program record.
Â
For the first time, all 19 sports registered a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better in both the fall 2024 and spring 2025 semesters. The 2024-25 full year student-athlete cumulative GPA was 3.46. Highlighting individual accolades, Peyton Bennett (women's golf) has been named a Fulbright Scholar finalist and Emma Hilton (women's swimming) was selected as a Ball State Top 10 Student in March 2025.
Â
Â
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Basketball
/ Men's Golf
OF/1B/P
/ Baseball
OPP
/ Women's Volleyball
/ Women's Golf
INF
/ Baseball
P
/ Baseball
MF
/ Field Hockey
UTIL
/ Baseball
P
/ Baseball
/ Men's Golf
/ Women's Basketball
/ Men's Golf
AA
/ Gymnastics
Multis
/ Track & Field
AA
/ Gymnastics
INF
/ Softball
INF
/ Baseball
Multis/Jumps
/ Track & Field
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
MH
/ Women's Volleyball
/ Men's Golf
AA
/ Gymnastics
UT
/ Softball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's VolleyballBaseball // 5 AM Workouts
Tuesday, August 26
Ball State Director of Athletics Jeff Mitchell discusses the NCAA vs. House Settlement
Tuesday, July 01
Director of Athletics Jeff Mitchell discusses NCAA vs. House Settlement & Bill Richards Thank You
Friday, June 27
Baseball // Day 1 MAC Tournament Recap: Win vs. EMU
Thursday, May 22