Ball State University
Colgate
Volleyball Travels East For UConn Challenge
September 04, 2025 | Women's Volleyball
| Ball State (1-2) at UConn Challenge | |
| Match 4Â - vs. Colgate (2-1) | Friday, Sept. 5 at 10:30 a.m. ET UConn+Â | Â Live Stats |
| Match 5 - at UConn (3-0) | Friday, Sept. 5 at 4:30 p.m. ET UConn+Â | Â Live Stats |
| Match 6Â - vs. South Dakota (2-1) | Saturday, Sept. 6 at 11:30 a.m. ET UConn+Â | Â Live Stats |
| Notes | Ball State | Colgate | UConn | South Dakota |
| Social Media | X (Twitter)Â | Â Instagram |
THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL: The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to action Friday when it battles both Colgate (10:30 a.m.) and UConn (4:30 p.m.) on the first day of the UConn Challenge ... The Cardinals close the event Saturday with an 11:30 a.m. start versus South Dakota.
FOLLOW THE ACTION: Fans unable to make their way to the UConn Volleyball Center this weekend have several ways to follow the action ... All three Ball State matches will be broadcast live on UConn+ ... In addition, live stats will be available online courtesy of UConn ... 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 1035-660-2 (.610) 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 1-2 all-time versus the UConn Challenge Field ... Ball State won the lone previous meeting versus the host Huskies with a 3-1 (31-29, 30-26, 22-230, 30-28) victory in the New Hampshire Tournament Sept. 6, 2003 ... South Dakota won both previous meetings versus the Cardinals, with the latest being a 3-1 (25-13, 21-25, 26-24, 25-19) victory Sept. 3, 2016 at the Omaha Classic ... Ball State will be facing Colgate for the first time in women's volleyball Friday.
SCOUTING BALL STATE:
• Ball State opened the 2025 season by going 1-2 at the Golden Gopher Classic hosted by No. 11 Minnesota ... After opening the season with a 3-2 victory over St. Thomas, the Cardinals suffered a 3-0 setback to the nationally ranked Gophers and a 3-2 loss to Cal Poly.
• Despite the losses, Ball State still turned in solid numbers on offense, ranking third in the MAC and 85th nationally with a .251 hitting percentage opening weekend ... The Cardinals 13.56 kills-per-set average was 68th nationally, with sophomore outside Carson Tyler and graduate student outside Noelle VanOort tied for 101st nationally at 3.85 kills per set.
• Sophomore libero Sophie Ledbetter turned in a solid effort in the backcourt over Ball State's three matches in Minneapolis, collecting 50 total digs for a 3.85 digs-per-set average ... The effort has her ranked sixth in the MAC and 149th nationally.
SCOUTING COLGATE:
• The Raiders started its season with a 3-0 setback at Colorado State last Friday in Fort Collins, before heading to Greeley to earn wins over Northern Colorado (3-0) and Washington (3-2).
• Colgate turned in a solid effort at the net in its first three matches of the season, ranking second among Patriot League teams and 62nd nationally with a 2.55 blocks-per-set average ... Lal Akin set the ton at the net, racking up an astonishing 1.64 block per set, including three solo blocks and 15 block assists for 18 total blocks.
• Milan Bayless led the Raiders offense with a 3.60 kills-per-set average, while Tiana Owens was right behind with a 2.73 average ... Combined, the pair accounted for 66 of the team's 108 kills opening weekend.
SCOUTING UCONN:
• The Huskies opened the year by going 3-0 at the Bearcat Classic hosted by Binghamton ... UConn bookended a thrilling 3-2 victory over the host Bearcats with sweeps of Lehigh and Fordham.
• UConn was highly impressive from the attack line opening weekend, ranking 14th nationally with a .324 hitting percentage ... Audrey Rome led the way, ranking third nationally with a .667 hitting percentage with 31 kills on 45 swings with just one attack error.
• The Huskies were also solid from the service line, tallying 25 aces over its first three matches with its 2.27 aces-per-set average ranking 29th nationally ... Grace Maria led the way, ranking 34th nationally at 0.73 aces per set.
SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA
• The Coyotes enter the UConn Challenge with a 2-1 record after opening the season with a 3-1 setback to an Oregon team which received votes in the top 25 poll, before earning wins over Montana State (3-2) and Prairie View A&M (3-0).
• South Dakota average 13.17 kills per set opening weekend, with five different attackers averaging at least 2.08 ... Lauren Medeck led the way with 41 total kills and a 3.42 average, while Ava Ball and Amanda Loschen each scored 28 kills and Morgan Bode collected 25.
• On the defensive front, the Coyotes ranked 59th nationally with a 15.83 digs-per-set average, led by Kamryn Farris and her 4.67 average ... Farris also led USD with eight service aces for a 0.67 aces-per-set average which is 57th nationally.
BALL STATE QUICK HITS:
• Graduate transfer outside Noelle VanOort made quite an impact opening weekend, smashing 50 total kills, collecting 28 digs and hitting .333 (50-12-114) to earn all-tournament honors at the Golden Gopher Invitational ... In fact, she earned kill/dig double-doubles in both five-set matches while also blasting 20 kills in each of those contests ... 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 continued to find success in her first weekend with the Cardinals with double-digit kills in all three outings and has now smashed double-digit kills in 100 collegiate matches.
VanOort Career Tracker
Kills: 1774
Digs: 1676
Aces: 285
• Noelle VanOort was just as solid on defense opening weekend, earning double-digit digs versus both St. Thomas (Aug. 29) and Cal Poly (Aug. 30) with 10 and 15, respectively ... The effort raised her career total to 92 matches with double-digit digs, including her 90 at Indiana Tech ... It also helped her raise her collegiate kill/dig double-double total to 70, including her 68 with the Warriors.
• Sophomore outside Carson Tyler was just as impressive on offense opening weekend, earning 50 kills of her own for a 3.85 kills-per-set average ... The effort included a season-high 20 kills versus Cal Poly (Aug. 31) ... 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 25 matches for the Cardinals, including seven 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, 2024) ... Tyler is one of just 11 players in program history to register 20-or-more kills in at least seven career matches.
• A six-rotation player, Carson Tyler ranked second on the team for the Cardinals opening weekend with 31 total digs ... She recorded kill/dig double-doubles in both five-set matches last weekend, raising her career total to seven ... Tyler also led Ball State's primary passers with a .932 reception percentage opening weekend, successfully passing 69 of the 74 serves she faced ... Tyler also led the Cardinals primary passers last season with a .963 reception percentage by successfully passed 650 of the team-high 675 serves she faced.
• With 20 kills each in last Sunday's match versus Cal Poly (Aug. 31), 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 paced the Ball State defense with 50 digs and a 3.85 digs-per-set average last weekend ... The effort ranked sixth among MAC defenders opening weekend and 149th nationally ... She recorded double-digit digs in all three matches, upping her career total to 26 ... The effort also included a season-high 26 digs in the season-opener versus St. Thomas (Aug. 29), one shy of her career-high 27 digs set last season versus James Madison (Sept. 6, 2024).
• Sophie Ledbetter turned in a career first in Sunday's match versus Cal Poly (Aug. 31), earning her first collegiate double-double by handing out 10 assists to go along with her 14 digs in the outing.
• Junior Lindsey Green helped guide the Ball State offense with a 97 total assists opening weekend, including a career-high 44 assists versus Cal Poly (Aug. 31) ... Green currently ranks eighth in the MAC with a 7.46 assists-per-set average, while combining with freshman Reese Axness to lead the Ball State offense to a .251 hitting percentage which is third in the league.
• Sophomore transfer middle 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.
