Volleyball Opens #MACtion Thursday at Buffalo

Ball State (4-5) at Buffalo / at Akron
Match 13 - at Buffalo (3-6; 0-0 MAC)	Thursday, Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. ET ESPN+ \| Live Stats
Match 14 - at Akron (7-4; 0-0 MAC)	Friday, Sept. 26 at 6 p.m. ET ESPN+ \| Live Stats
Notes	Ball State \| Buffalo \| Akron
Social Media	X (Twitter) \| Instagram

THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL: It is the start of #MACtion for the Ball State women's volleyball team which opens league play Thursday with a 6 p.m. first serve at Buffalo ... The Cardinals will then travel to Akron for a 6 p.m. showdown Friday.

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 the host institutions ... 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 Thursday's match at Buffalo with a 1038-666-2 (.609) 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 324-103 (.759) all-time mark inside Worthen Arena, including an 84-41 (.672) record against non-conference foes and a 240-62 (.795) mark  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 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).

SCOUTING BALL STATE:
• The Cardinals enter the week with a 4-8 overall record after going 0-3 last weekend ... Ball State bookended a 3-0 setback to then-No. 11 Purdue (Sept. 19) with five-set losses to Cincinnati (Sept. 18) and Eastern Kentucky (Sept. 20).
• Ball State enters the week as one of the nation's top terminating teams, ranking 12th nationally with 667 total kills ... 217 of those kills, which is fourth nationally, have come from the arm of sophomore outside Carson Tyler who also ranks second in the MAC and 40th nationally with a 4.25 kills-per-set average.
• In addition, the Cardinals lead the MAC and rank 75th nationally with a .245 team attack percentage ... Junior middle Camryn Wise is second in the league and 121st nationally with a .351 rate of success, while junior setter Lindsey Green ranks 37th nationally with 404 total assists and owns an 8.08 assists-per-set average.

SCOUTING BUFFALO:
• The Bulls enter Thursday's match with a 3-6 overall record after going 0-2 at last weekend's Duquesne/Robert Morris Invite ... Buffalo suffered 3-0 losses to both host institutions.
• Buffalo enters the week ranked third in the MAC with a .220 hitting percentage, led by a .333 rate of success from Maddie Mitchell who averages 1.10 kills per set ... Manoela Forlin leads the offense at 3.63 kills per set which has her ranked sixth in the league.
• The Bulls are also fifth in the MAC in blocking (2.03 per set) and sixth in serving with 1.73 aces per set ... Buffalo has three players with double-digit aces through nine matches, while Tehya Shaw has a team-best 22.0 blocks for a 0.76 per-set average.
• While the Bulls have won the last three meetings, the Cardinals maintain a 28-4 advantage in the all-time series ... However, Buffalo swept both meetings the last time the Cardinals traveled to Alumni Arena with back-to-back five-set wins on Oct. 20 and Oct. 21, 2023 ... Ball State is 12-3 all-time in matches played in Buffalo ... Last season, the Bulls earned a 3-1 victory in Muncie on Oct. 12.

SCOUTING AKRON
• Akron enters the start of MAC play with a 7-4 overall record and will host Miami on Thursday before facing the Cardinals Friday ... Last week, the Zips earned a 3-1 Thursday win at Youngstown State and a 3-0 Friday home win over Cleveland State.
• The Zips have been solid from the service line so far this season, ranking 76th nationally with 75 total aces for a 1.74 per-set average ... Vanessa Del Real leads the way with her 0.58 aces-per-set mark ranking 20th among all NCAA Division I players ... Overall, Del Real has served up 25 of the team's 75 aces
• Akron also ranks 96th nationally in kills per set, led by Maureen Mathews who is fourth in the league and 80th nationally at 3.88 kills per set ... Delaney Gash is not far behind, ranking seventh in the MAC at 3.53 kills per set.
•  Ball State owns a 42-5 lead in the all-time series versus Akron, including seven straight wins ... The Cardinals own a 17-4 record in matches played in Akron, including a 3-0 sweep in its last trip to James A. Rhodes Arena on Oct. 8, 2021 ... The Zips' last win in the series was a 3-2 victory on its home court Sept. 28, 2019 ... Last season, Ball State swept Akron in an Oct. 11 showdown in Worthen Arena.

BALL STATE QUICK HITS:
• Graduate outside Noelle VanOort made quite an impact during her first four weeks playing for the Cardinals, smashing 165 total kills, collecting 122 digs and hitting .268 (165-51-425) ... A member of the Golden Gopher Invitational All-Tournament Team, VanOort has smashed double digit kills in 10 of BSU's 12 matches, including a season-high 20 kills twice ... She has also been credited with six kill/dig double-doubles ... The effort helped her raise 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.

• Prior to arriving at Ball State, Noelle VanOort 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 ... She has continued to find success in her first four weeks playing for the Cardinals with double-digit kills in 10 of the 12 outings ...  The effort upped her career total to 107 collegiate matches with double-digit kills.

VanOort Career Tracker
Kills: 1889
Digs: 1770
Aces: 293

• Noelle VanOort has been just as solid on defense through the first four weeks, 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.

• Sophomore outside Carson Tyler has been even more impressive over the first four weeks, smashing 217 total kills for a team-high 4.25 kills-per-set average ... The effort includes a career-high 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.

•  Carson Tyler has smashed double-digit kills in all 12 matches for the Cardinals so far this season, raising her career total to 34 ... She has secured 20+ kills in 10 of those matches and is one of just nine players in program history to register 20-or-more kills in at least 10 career matches.

• A six-rotation player, Carson Tyler is currently second on the squad with 130 digs this season ... She has recorded kill/dig double-doubles in seven matches so far this season, with her latest coming versus Cincinnati (Sept. 18) which she tallied a career-high 28 kills and 12 digs ... She registered career-high 19 digs in the win at Marquette (Sept. 12) and score 18 versus Cal Poly (Aug. 31) and James  Madison (Sept. 14) ... Tyler also leads Ball State's primary passers with a .969 reception percentage this seasons, successfully passing 282 of the 291 serves she faced ... Tyler led the Cardinals' primary passers last season with a .963 reception percentage by successfully passing 650 of the team-high 675 serves she faced.

• 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 195 digs and a 3.82 digs-per-set average so far this season ... The dig total currently ranks third among MAC defenders, while the average is fourth ... Ledbetter has recorded double-digit digs in 11 of BSU's 12 matches, upping her career total to 34 ... The effort includes a career-high tying 27 digs in last Saturday's match versus Eastern Kentucky 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 in the outing.

• Junior Lindsey Green and freshman Reese Axness have combined to lead the Ball State offense to a .245 attack percentage so far this season which is first in the MAC and 75th nationally ... Green, who dished out a career-high 51 assists twice this season, currently ranks eighth in the MAC with an 8.08 assists-per-set average, with her 404 total assists ranking 37th nationally ... She also leads the squad with 15 service aces ... Axness, meanwhile, enters the week with a 3.97 assists-per-set average and has served up a pair of aces.

• Sophomore transfer middle/opposite Tiffany Snook turned in one of the best matches of her collegiate career versus Cal Poly (Aug. 31), smashing a career-high 16 kills while connecting for a .481 (16-3-27) rate of success ... It was her 10th collegiate match with double-digit kills, including nine in her lone season at Memphis, and was three kills more than her previous career high of 13 at Southern Illinois Sept. 6, 2024.

• Junior middle Gwen Crull turned up the offensive heat last weekend, reaching double-digit kills for the first two times in her collegiate career ... She started with a career-high 12 kills versus Cincinnati (Sept. 18) and followed with 11 two matches later versus Eastern Kentucky (Sept. 20) ... Crull also leads the Ball State defense with a 0.76 blocks-per-set average.

• 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.

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Players Mentioned

Reese Axness

Madison Buckley

Gwen Crull

Lindsey Green

Aniya Kennedy

Sophie Ledbetter

Tiffany Snook

Carson Tyler

Noelle VanOort

Camryn Wise