Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Notre Dame
WVB Opens Season Friday at Notre Dame
August 26, 2026 | Women's Volleyball
| Ball State (0-0; 0-0 MAC) at Notre Dame Tournament | |
| Match 1 - at Notre Dame (0-0) | Friday, Aug. 28 at 6:30 p.m. ET ACCNX | Live Stats |
| Match 2 - vs. Xavier (0-1) | Saturday, Aug. 29 at 3 p.m. ET Live Stats |
| Notes | Ball State | Notre Dame | Xavier |
| Social Media | X (Twitter) | Instagram |
THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL: After a pair of exhibition outings, the Ball State women's volleyball team officially opens the 2026 season Friday when it travels to Notre Dame for a 6:30 p.m. first serve versus the Fighting Irish on ACCNX ... The Cardinals close opening weekend Saturday afternoon at Purcell Pavilion with a 3 p.m. match up versus Xavier.
FOLLOW THE ACTION: Along with live video for Friday's season opener at Notre Dame, live stats will be available for both Ball State matches at Purcell Pavilion ... Updates from the matches will also be provided on the team's X feed and Instagram story: @BallStateWVB.
MAC PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATIONS: The Ball State women's volleyball team was picked to finish second in the league in the MAC's annual preseason coaches' poll ... The defending regular season champion Cardinals earned 91 points and three first place votes, trailing only defending tournament champion Toledo (92 points / seven first place votes) ... The Rockets also had a slight edge over Ball State in the MAC Women's Volleyball Championship projections, earning six votes to the Cardinals' five.
PRESEASON ALL-MAC: Ball State placed three student-athletes on the Preseason All-MAC Team ... Representing the squad were senior middles Gwen Crull and Camryn Wise, along with junior defensive specialist/libero Sophie Ledbetter ... All three were First Team All-MAC selections last season after helping guide the Cardinals to the league's regular season title with a 17-1 MAC ledger.
BALL STATE ALL-TIME: Ball State enters the 2026 season with a 1055-668-2 (.612) 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 Mid-American Conference West Division Championships, 11 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 17-1 record in Mid-American Conference play last season, Ball State maintains its status as the winningest program in league play with a 476-226 (.678) all-time MAC mark ... Western Michigan is second on the list, six matches behind the Cardinals at 470-232 (.670).
AT THE MAC CHAMPIONSHIP: Ball State made its 36th all-time appearance in the MAC Volleyball Championship in 2025 ... The Cardinals have a 39-28 (.582) overall record in the event and have claimed eight tournament titles (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2002, 2019 and 2021) ... The Cardinals' 39 tournament wins are second in MAC Championship history as are its eight titles are second ... Overall, the Cardinals own a 5-2 (.714) record in first round matches, a 13-10 (.565) mark in quarterfinal play, an 13-11 (.542) ledger in semifinal action and an 8-5 (.615) record in the championship match ... Ball State has advanced to the championship match in four of the last six tournaments.
WHEN IN WORTHEN: The Cardinals boast a 332-104 (.761) all-time record inside Worthen Arena, including an 84-41 (.672) mark against non-conference foes and a 248-63 (.797) ledger versus league foes ... 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.
SCOUTING BALL STATE:
• The Ball State women's volleyball team returns four starters and its libero from last season's squad which produced a 21-10 overall record and won the MAC regular season championship with a 17-1 league mark ... Included on the list of returners are 2025 First Team All-MAC honorees Gwen Crull, Sophie Ledbetter and Camryn Wise.
• With a strong presence in the middle, thanks in part to Crull and Wise, the Cardinals led the MAC and ranked 32nd nationally with a .258 attack percentage ... In fact, Wise led all MAC players and ranked 23rd nationally with a .398 rate of success, while Crull was third in the league and 118th nationally at .340.
• The Cardinals also return the setting duo of Lindsey Green and Reese Axness who were named the 2025 MAC Setters of the Year for their roles in running the Ball State offense ... A four-time MAC Setter Pair of the Week, Green averaged 7.30 assists per set, while Axness averaged 4.44 ... Overall, the Cardinals ranked first in the MAC and 43rd nationally with 12.67 assists per set, while its 1,533 total assists were 20th nationally ... The effort helped Ball State finish the year as one of the nation's top terminating teams, ranking 25th nationally with 1,651 total kills.
• Ball State finished the season as the top-ranked MAC squad in the NCAA RPI Rankings, coming in at 56 ... The Cardinals were 77th in the initial RPI rankings on Oct. 5 and climbed to as high as 44th on Oct. 17.
BALL STATE QUICK HITS:
• Libero Sophie Ledbetter paced the Ball State defense with 483 digs and a 3.99 digs-per-set average last season ... Her dig total ranked second among all MAC defenders, while her average was third ... In fact, the 483 digs ranked 20th on Ball State's single season digs list.
• Sophie Ledbetter recorded double-digit digs in 28 of BSU's 31 matches last season, upping her career total to 51 which is tied for 17th on BSU's all-time list ... The effort includes a career-high tying 27 digs versus Eastern Kentucky (Sept. 20) 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.
• Lindsey Green and Reese Axness combined to lead the Ball State offense to a .258 attack percentage last season which is first in the MAC and 32nd nationally ... The mark included a .274 rate of success over the team's 18 MAC matches ... Green, who became the 17th player in program history to reach 1,000 career assists at Kent State (Oct. 31), finished the season ranked ninth in the MAC with a 7.30 assists-per-set average ... She ranked second on the squad with 42 service aces ... Axness, meanwhile, finished the season with a 4.44 assists-per-set average and served up 13 aces.
• Middle Camryn Wise finished the 2026 season leading the Mid-American Conference and ranked 23rd nationally with a .398 attack percentage ... She has hit .300-or-better in 24 of the team's 31 matches, paced by a .667 (6-0-9) effort at Bowling Green (Oct. 17) and a .579 (12-1-19) rate of success at Marquette (Sept. 12) ... Looking at just league matches, Wise's mark jumped up to .425 with just 18 errors on 275 swings, to go along with 135 kills ... Wise hit at least .385 in 14 MAC outings, starting with a .545 (6-0-11) effort at Buffalo (Sept. 25).
• Gwen Crull was just as solid in the middle for the Cardinals, reaching double-digit kills for the first eight times in her collegiate career last season ... Her best match came at Miami (Oct. 7), when she smashed a career-high 13 kills and hit .522 (13-1-23) ... She also collected 12 kills on two occasions; vs. Cincinnati (Sept. 18) and at Akron (Sept. 26) ... In MAC play, Crull ranked second on the squad and in the league with a .384 (136-28-281) attack percentage ... She also lead the squad with a 0.86 blocks-per-set average last season, including a team-high 17 solo blocks.
• Tiffany Snook found her grove on the right side during league play, smashing 135 kills and hitting .281 ... The effort includes a career-high 17 kills and a .433 (17-4-30) attack percentage versus Toledo (Oct. 10) ... She also secured 11 kills at Akron (Sept. 26) and has at least six kills in 14 of Ball State's 18 league matches.
• While it's season-long 10-match winning streak came to an end vs. Ohio (Oct. 25), Ball State's 10-0 start to MAC play tied as the third-best league start in program history ... The Cardinals also won its first 10 conference matches of the 1997 campaign ... Ball State has gone undefeated in league play twice, boasting an 18-0 mark in 1993, followed by a 17-0 record in 1994.
• During its 17-1 league run last season, the Cardinals went a perfect 9-0 on the road, which tied as the second-longest road winning streak in program history ... The only better stretch was 10 straight road wins from Sept. 7, 2013 to Sept. 28, 2013.
