Ball State University
St. Thomas
Volleyball Opens Season Friday at Golden Gopher Invitational
August 28, 2025 | Women's Volleyball
| Ball State (0-0) at Golden Gopher Invitational | |
| Match 1 - vs. St. Thomas (0-0) | Friday, Aug. 29 at 4 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. CT B1G+ | Live Audio |  Live Stats |
| Match 2 - at No. 11 Minnesota (0-1) | Saturday, Aug. 30 at 6 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. CT B1G+ | Live Audio |  Live Stats |
| Match 3 - vs. Cal Poly (0-0) | Sunday, Aug. 31 at Noon ET / 11 a.m. CT B1G+ | Live Audio |  Live Stats |
| Notes | Ball State |  St. Thomas  |  Minnesota  |  Cal Poly |
| Social Media | X (Twitter)Â | Â Instagram |
THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL: The Ball State women's volleyball team opens its 54th season of play Friday when it battles St. Thomas (4 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. CT) in the opening match of the Golden Gopher Invitational ... Over the course of the three-day event, the Cardinals will also battle host and 11th-ranked Minnesota Saturday (6 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. CT) and Cal Poly Sunday (Noon ET / 11 a.m. CT).
FOLLOW THE ACTION: Fans unable to make their way to Maturi Pavilion this weekend have several ways to follow the action ... All three Ball State matches will be broadcast live on B1G+ ... In addition, live audio will be available on The Varsity Network and live stats will be available online courtesy of Minnesota ...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 2025 season with a 1034-658-2 (.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).
BALL STATE IN THE MAC: With a 13-5 league record in 2024, Ball State maintained its status as the winningest program in league play with a 459-225 (.671) all-time Mid-American Conference mark ... Western Michigan is second on the list, two matches behind the Cardinals at 457-227 (.668).
ALL-TIME VS. THE TOURNAMENT FIELD: Ball State is a combined 2-3 all-time versus teams in the Minnesota Tournament field ... Ball State won the only previous meeting versus St. Thomas, earning a 3-0 (25-22, 25-10, 25-13) sweep of the Tommies in its second match of the 2021 season played Aug. 27 at Green Bay ... Ball State is 1-3 all-time versus Minnesota, with the then-No. 4 Gophers topping the Cardinals 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-12) in the latest meeting played Sept. 7, 2013, in Maturi Pavilion ... Ball State will be facing Cal Poly for the first time in women's volleyball Sunday.
SCOUTING BALL STATE:
• Ball State finished the 2024 season with a 22-10 overall record, including a 13-5 MAC mark ... The Cardinals earned the third seed in the 2024 MAC Volleyball Championship, ultimately advancing to the championship match where it lost to fourth-seeded Western Michigan.
• The Cardinals return four starters and its libero from last season's squad, which helped earn them the No. 2 spot in the 2025 MAC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
• Ball State was one of the nation's top offenses last season, ranking first in the MAC and 25th nationally with a .267 hitting percentage ... Carson Tyler led the way, blasting 3.34 kills per set to rank seventh in the league, helping her earn First Team All-MAC honors and both MAC and AVCA Midwest Region Freshman of the Year accolades.
• The Cardinals were also strong on defensive, limiting opposing teams to a .192 hitting mark ... Ball State held opponents to .149-or-lower attack percentages in 12 matches, going 12-0 in those contests.
SCOUTING ST. THOMAS:
• St. Thomas finished the 2024 season with an 18-10 overall record, including a 10-6 mark in the Summit League ... The Tommies are entering its first season as a postseason tournament eligible program after a four-year transition period into NCAA Division I ... Ironically, Ball State was the first program St. Thomas faced in its four-year transition period to DI at the 2021 GBD Invite hosted by Green Bay.Â
• The Tommies were picked to finish third in the 2025 Summit League Preseason Coaches' Poll, its highest preseason ranking since joining the league in 2021.
• Both setter Morgan Kealy and middle hitter Megan Wetter were named to the Summit League's Players to Watch list.
SCOUTING MINNESOTA:
• Minnesota enters the weekend ranked 11th in the 2025 AVCA Division I Preseason Coaches' Poll ... The Gophers opened the year Monday with a 3-1 (25-23, 21-25, 25-21, 25-21) setback to No. 9 Texas A&M at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
• Three Gophers finished the opening match with double-digit kills, led by Julia Hanson with 16 ... Zeynep Palabiyik earned a match-high 15 digs, while Minnesota finished the match hitting .242 as a squad ... Setter Stella Swenson led the team in both assists (39) and total blocks (5).
• Minnesota finished the 2024 season ranked 17th nationally with a 2.69 blocks-per-set average, while holding opponents to a .175 hitting percentage which was 38th nationally.
SCOUTING CAL POLY:
• Cal Poly finished the 2024 campaign with a 22-9 overall record and won the Big West regular season championships with a 14-4 league mark ... The overall effort included a conference-best 10-3 record in road matches.
• The Mustangs were picked to finish second in the 2025 Big West Preseason Coaches' Poll and garnered five first-place votes.
• Both setter Emme Bullis and middle hitter Chloe Leluge were named to the seven-player Big West Preseason Coaches Team.
• Cal Poly finished the 2024 season ranked 48th nationally with a .249 team hitting percentage, led by Leluge who ranked 69th nationally with a .356 rate of success.
BALL STATE QUICK HITS:
• For her play during her debut season, Carson Tyler became the first player in program history to earn AVCA Midwest Region Freshman of the Year accolades ... Tyler, who also earned a spot on the Midwest All-Region Honorable Mention squad, led the Ball State offense and ranked seventh in the MAC with a 3.34 kills-per-set average ... Her 374 total kills were the most among league freshman and ranked seventh among all league attackers.
• Carson Tyler smashed double-digit kills in 22 matches for the Cardinals last season, including six with 20-or-more ... Her best effort was a career-high 25 kills to help lead Ball State to a 3-2 victory over Wright State (Sept. 20) ... Tyler is one of just 12 players in program history to register 20-or-more kills in at least six career matches ... She is also just the eighth different player in program history to have six-or-more such matches in a single season.
• A six-rotation player, Carson Tyler ranked third on the team with 220 digs for a 1.96 digs-per-set average last season ... She recorded her first career kill/dig double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs at Central Michigan (Oct. 5) and finished the campaign with six ... Tyler collected a career-best 15 digs versus Western Michigan (Nov. 16) and led Ball State's primary passers with a .963 reception percentage over the course of the 2024 season ... Overall, Tyler successfully passed 650 of the team-high 675 serves she faced last season.
• Sophie Ledbetter shined in her first season of collegiate action, leading the squad with a with a 3.68 digs-per-set average in 2024 ... The effort included six matches with 20-or-more digs, paced by a career-high 27 in the win over James Madison (Sept. 6) ... Ledbetter, who recorded double-digit digs in a team-high 23 matches last season, also boasted a .941 reception percentage, including perfect marks in 17 of BSU's 32 matches.
• Last season, the Ball State offense shined over the last 16 matches when it added Lindsey Green to the mix by switching to a 6-2 ... It started with a season-high .446 (48-7-92) attack percentage versus Akron (Oct. 11) which is the sixth-best team mark in program history ... Overall, Ball State connected for a .293 attack percentage over the last 16 matches, compared to a .243 mark in the first 16 ... The Cardinals hit .300-or-better eight times during the run ... In fact, BSU also hit over .400 three times in the final 16 matches of 2024 ... Ball State's attackers averaged 1.11 kills and 1.21 assists per set more in the 6-2.
• Lindsey Green turned in several strong performances down the stretch run in 2024, including registering her first career double-double with 19 assists and 12 digs versus Buffalo (Oct. 12) ... Her 19 assists versus the Bulls also marked the first time in her career Green led the Cardinals in a match in assists ... Green would collect her second career double-double in the Friday sweep at Toledo (Nov. 8), dishing out 21 assists and collecting a career-high 13 digs ... Green, who recorded a career-high 24 assists in the MAC Championship semifinal victory over Central Michigan (Nov. 23), averaged 4.92 assists and 1.72 digs per set during her time on court, while serving up 21 aces.
• Aniya Kennedy has been another big arm for the Cardinals over her career, smashing double-digit kills in 38 career matches ... The 2023 MAC Freshman of the Year, Kennedy is eighth in program history with 20+ kills in 10 career matches, including a career-high 25 vs. Akron (Oct. 13, 2023) ... She finished the 2023 season ranked 32nd nationally with a 4.12 kills-per-set average, while ranking second on the squad with a 2.74 mark last season.
• The Cardinals returning roster also features 2024 First Team All-MAC selection Madison Buckley, who ranked third on the squad in both kills (2.46) and blocks (0.80) per set last season ... Overall, Buckley has connected for double-digit kills in 26 career matches, while securing at least one block in 66 of her 76 career matches played.
• One new face on the outside is graduate transfer Noelle VanOort who 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 ... Over 146 career matches for the Warriors, VanOort registered double-digit kills in 97, double-digit digs in 90 and tallied 68 kill/dig double-doubles ... She had nine matches with 20+ kills and seven with 20+ digs, including a 20/20 effort Nov. 5, 2022, with 23 kills and 25 digs versus Siena Heights.
• Ball State was one of the nation's top blocking teams last season, ranking 53rd nationally with a 2.45 blocks-per-set average ... A key part of the Cardinals wall was middle Gwen Crull who ranked fifth in the MAC with a 1.10 blocks-per-set average ... Crull earned at least one block in 22 outings last season, led by a career-high 10 total blocks at Central Michigan (Oct. 5).
