Three Conference Champs, 9 of 19 Teams in Top Four Highlight Cardinals' Success in 2025-26

Photo by: Ball State University Creative Services

Three Conference Champs, 9 of 19 Teams in Top Four Highlight Cardinals' Success in 2025-26

May 27, 2026 | Baseball, Field Hockey, Football, 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

2025-26 ATHLETICS YEAR IN REVIEW

A year after receiving the Mid-American Conference's Cartwright Award last August as the league's top overall program for 2024-25, success repeated itself in 2025-26 as the Cardinals won multiple championships and sustained its commitment to academic excellence and community engagement.

Reflecting that competitive excellence, nine out of 19 Ball State sports teams finished among the top four teams in their respective conferences, with three earning conference championships: women's volleyball, women's basketball and men's volleyball. Those three titles helped boost a championships scorecard to 18 league crowns over the past six calendar years. Historians need to go back a quarter-century to find the last time Cardinals' sports teams captured that many championships, claiming 19 over five years from 1999 to 2003. Here's a recap:

**    This year's highlight, from a team-success standpoint, was authored by men's volleyball. Under the leadership of first-year head coach Mike Iandolo, the Cardinals were ranked in the nation's top 10 for much of the season and not only won the regular season crown in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, but swept the conference tournament at Worthen Arena. In the very first year with NCAA Regional sites in men's volleyball, the Cardinals hosted a raucous crowd and five-game thriller at Riverview Health Arena in Noblesville (during graduation weekend) and defeated No. 4-ranked Pepperdine in the regional final. The Cardinals reached the NCAA Final Four in Los Angeles where they fell to UC Irvine, but not before Iandolo was tabbed as national coach of the year, and five stars earned All-America honors, including first-teamer Patrick Rogers and second-team selection Lucas Machado. Iandolo and Rogers also earned honors as the MIVA coach and player of the year.

**    The women's volleyball program was another that captured its league title, winning the Mid-American Conference crown for the third time since 2021. Following a 17-1 mark in the conference, coach Kelli Miller Phillips was honored with her third MAC Coach of the Year honor and sophomore Carson Tyler became the fourth player in program history to be named MAC Player of the Year. Junior Lindsey Green and freshman Reese Axness were named MAC Setters of the Year, with Axness also earning a spot on the all-freshman team. Tyler, Gwen Crull, Sophie Ledbetter and Camryn Wise all earned first-team All-MAC accolades.

**    Women's basketball followed suit four months later, finishing 16-2 in the MAC and earning back-to-back MAC regular season titles for the first time 2002 and 2003. Bree Salenbien and Tessa Towers each earned first-team All-MAC honors, and newcomer Aniss Tagayi secured spots on the All-MAC freshman and defensive teams. Towers was nationally ranked in field goal percentage and Grace Kingery ranked among the country's top 3-point shooters.

**    Outside of those three conference championships, Joanna Saleem's gymnastics squad flirted with the MAC title and even NCAA team qualification, but instead sent five individual gymnasts to the NCAA Lexington Regional. After the Cardinals finished second at the MAC Championships, Mary Rose Bellan, Delaney McMahon, Zoe Middleton, Ava Molina and Ashley Szymanski each represented Ball State in the regional, marking the ninth consecutive year Ball State has sent gymnasts to an NCAA regional site.

**    The women's swim and dive team finished third at the MAC Championships, claiming what was the program's first top-three finish since 1998! Senior Peyton Kelly ruled the pool in 2026, claiming the MAC's Most Outstanding Senior and Most Outstanding Swimmer awards, and qualifying for the NCAA Championships in Atlanta in three different events – 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke. She set program records in each event, and later was honored as Ball State's female honoree with the MAC's Medal of Excellence. On top of Kelly's success, head coach J Agnew was named the MAC Coach of the Year after his program earned its best finish in nearly three decades.

**    Agnew, who directs both the men's and women's aquatic programs, saw the men's team finish fifth in the Missouri Valley Conference for the second straight year, with a glimpse of future success with Ryan Farmer earning mention as the league's freshman diver of the year.

**    Similarly, the women's tennis team finished sixth in the MAC, but returns one of the league's most experienced doubles teams with Sarah Shahbaz and Isabel Tanjuatco as seniors next year and playing as a twosome for three straight years. They turned heads last fall while advancing to the ITA Masters Championship in November. They were crowned as MAC indoor doubles champions in October.

**    Four different programs finished fourth in the MAC in 2025-26, highlighted by first-year coaches leading improved programs in soccer and men's tennis.

**    Andy Stoots led the Cardinals to a 10-7-3 record on the pitch. The Cardinals downed Kent State in the first round of the MAC Championship then absorbed a heart-breaking 1-0 loss in the semifinals to top-seeded Western Michigan. Senior Addie Chester was named the MAC Forward of the Year, and the future looks bright for Stoots' charges, with Jordyn Klaasen and Lexi Watkins both named to the league's all-freshman team.

**    First-year coach Gene Orlando had similar results on the men's tennis court, helping the Cardinals to a fourth-place finish in the league before bowing to Buffalo in the MAC Tournament semifinals. Jacks Lancaster was named first-team All-MAC, Broc Fletcher won the league's sportsmanship award and Andrei Caragea was named All-MAC second team and MAC Freshman of the Year.

**    Another fourth-place finish came in outdoor track & field which hosted the MAC Championships in May, and sent four different athletes into NCAA competition. Kenli Nettles won the heptathlon for the second year in-a-row. She also won the indoor pentathlon in February, and will advance to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon, for the second straight season, in June. Nettles also earned regional qualification in the 400-meter hurdles, and will be joined at the regional site by MAC 100-meter hurdles champion Lapri Ratney and MAC high jump champ Malina Miller. Freshman Nina Garner was named the MAC's Freshman Field Performer of the Year in indoor track, and joins Miller in the regional high jump field of 48.

**    On the links, women's golf was led by an All-MAC second-teamer Sabrina Langerak while finishing fourth at the MAC Championships. The Cardinals finished 2025-26 with the lowest single-season stroke average in program history at 299.24, bettering a mark of 301.66 just a year ago. In fact, men's and women's golf programs both set all-time records in the past year for single-round, 36-hole and 54-hole scoring. The men's team ended a streak of three straight top-two finishes in the MAC, but enjoyed an All-MAC second-team season by freshman Luke Johnston. Johnston and fellow freshmen Samuel Harris and Brody Sorrell posted the Cardinals' top three stroke averages

**    Ball State qualified for the MAC Baseball Tournament for the 12th straight time the tournament has been hosted. A 2026 highlight was Brendan Garza's no-hitter against Ohio on March 27. It was the first no-hitter by a Ball State pitcher since 2019. Earlier in the year, he hurled a two-hit shutout at Hawaii.

**    A new Cardinals coaching hire came in March, with former USC and SMU associate head coach, Chris Capko, named to lead the men's basketball program. The Cardinals finished tied for seventh in the MAC last year, missing the MAC Tournament by merely a tiebreaker. Capko's vision, experience and enthusiasm already has been realized by Ball State's transfer class being touted among the top mid-major successes nationally. Capko helped a resurgent SMU program reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017, by receiving their first at-large bid since 1993. SMU was lauded last year for landing the nation's fourth-ranked recruiting class. He has been heralded not only for recruiting accomplishment at both SMU and USC, but for helping develop 11 NBA players across career stops at Marshall, Stetson, Georgia Southern, USC, Florida International and SMU.

**    Transfer success has followed the Ball State football program, too. The Cardinals' upcoming second season under head coach Mike Uremovich is promising, following a recruiting campaign in which the Cardinals were ranked No. 2 in the MAC among transfer prospects. The Cardinals made a one-game improvement over 2024, and saw defensive end Nathan Voorhis share the MAC lead in sacks. Voorhis later signed a free agent contract with the NFL's New York Jets. Another step towards improvement in 2026 can make Ball State bowl-eligible for the first time in five years.

**    Other sports seeking improvement next year are softball, field hockey and cross country programs, each with heavy reliance on freshmen in 2025-26. Jade Vandevoorde earned an All-MAC Freshman Team award in field hockey and outfielder Paige Kelley collected the same in softball. A depleted cross country team was led almost entirely by freshmen, and should be considerably stronger next fall with freshmen Emily Decker and Kaitlyn Kauppila shining in distance competition during the spring track season.

CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS, ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Ball State athletic venues underwent significant upgrades and improvement, too. A resurfaced Ball State track, at the Briner Sports Complex, plus Worthen Arena's new Taraflex flooring system for volleyball, were facility enhancements in the past two years, enabling Ball State to host championship events and excel competitively. New surfaces were installed within the past year for football, soccer, baseball and softball, with field hockey scheduled for next year. Construction continues on $9 million clubhouse projects for baseball's Shebek Stadium and the Ball State Softball Stadium, and the unveiling of the new, $8 million Eric Foss Championship Performance Center is scheduled for August.

Academically, Ball State set records again. The Cardinals set program records for NCAA Academic Progress Rate with a 994 and NCAA Graduation Success Rate of 94%. Ball State's 3.482 department-wide GPA in the spring was mere percentage points off a 3.49 record-GPA recorded in both spring and fall 2025.

In the community, Ball State coaches, staff, and students contributed over 2,000 hours of service to Muncie, Delaware County and East Central Indiana. The Muncie Mission, Habitat for Humanity, Secret Families Christmas Charity, Dance Marathon and the Challenge League continue to be great local partners for engagement.