Volleyball Tops Xavier in Four to Complete Weekend Sweep

Saturday, August 29

South Bend, IN

3 p.m.

Ball State University

2-0,0-0MAC

Xavier

0-2,0-0Big East

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Xavier	19	25	22	22	1
Ball St.	25	21	25	25	3

The Ball State women's volleyball team celebrates a point in Saturday's win over Xavier.

Photo by: Shane DiMantova - Ball State Athletics

Volleyball Tops Xavier in Four to Complete Weekend Sweep

August 29, 2026 | Women's Volleyball

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SOUTH BEND, Ind. - - Four players reached double-digit kills and the Ball State women's volleyball team hit .271 (64-19-166) as a team to top Xavier by a score of 3-1 (25-19, 25-21, 25-22-25-22) Saturday afternoon at Purcell Pavilion.

One day after topping in-state foe and ACC member Notre Dame in five, the Cardinals (2-0) remained perfect on the year by knocking off a Musketeers (0-2) squad which finished the 2025 season 27th in the NCAA RPI Rankings and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

"This weekend was a really strong start for our squad," head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said. "We were tested in a lot of different ways and were able to find a way to stay tough! I love the resilience and mental toughness shown to stay the course and trust ourselves. That's tough to do early and it's definitely a good building point."

Helping lead the charge for the Cardinals against Xavier was fifth-year senior Madison Buckley who smashed 11 kills, hit .566 (11-1-18) and threw in five block assists for good measure. It was Buckley's first match in double digits since Nov. 23, 2024, as she missed the 2025 campaign due to injury.

Junior outsides Audrey Geer and Ava Smith added 13 kills apiece, with Geer also logging her first double-double of the season by chipping in 14 digs. It was the 14th double-double of Geer's collegiate career, with the first 13 coming in her two seasons at Marshall.

Rounding out Ball State's attackers in double figures was junior opposite Tiffany Snook with 11 and a .226 (11-4-31) rate of success. While they did not reach double figures, senior middles Camryn Wise and Gwen Crull smashed nine and seven kills, respectively. Crull hit .467 (7-0-15), and added a match-high six block assists, while Wise connected at a .333 (9-3-18) clip.

"Buckley and Snook really stepped up this match and gave us a huge offense lift," Phillips said. "It's crucial for us to have balance in order to beat strong teams."

Ball State's backcourt was once again led by junior libero Sophie Ledbetter who was credited with 23 digs. With the effort, Ledbetter raised her career digs total to 951 and is 49 shy of becoming the 22nd player in program history to reach 1,000 career digs.

"Sophie was really big for us all weekend," Phillips added. "She was a steady presence and made some clutch game-saving plays that were huge on the weekend."

The Cardinals' setting duo of senior Lindsey Green and sophomore Reese Axness dished out a combined 53 assists, with 32 from Green and 21 from Axness. Green was also credited with 14 digs for her 11th career double-double.

Overall, the Cardinals limited the Musketeers offense to a .205 (55-22-161) attack percentage and held a 75-to-73 edge in digs and a 8.0-to-6.0 advantage in total blocks.

On the other side of the net, Charlotte Moriarty led the Xavier attack with 16 kills and added 11 digs for a double-double of her own. Kelsey Nieson led all players with 27 digs.

The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to action Thursday when it battles Western Kentucky at 6 p.m. in its first of three matches at Tru by Hilton Beavercreek Invitational hosted by Wright State.