Volleyball Sweeps A-10 Preseason Favorite Dayton, Moves To 4-0

Friday, September 4

Fairborn, OH

3 p.m.

Ball State University

4-0,0-0MAC

Dayton

3-2,0-0Atlantic 10

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Ball St.	25	25	25	3
Dayton	19	23	23	0

The Ball State women's volleyball team celebrates a point in the Sept. 4, 2026 win over Dayton.

Photo by: Shane DiMantova - Ball State Athletics

Volleyball Sweeps A-10 Preseason Favorite Dayton, Moves To 4-0

September 04, 2026 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score PDF Box Score

FAIRBORN, Ohio - - The Ball State women's volleyball team hit a season-high .304 (47-13-112) to earn a 3-0 (25-19, 25-23 25-23) sweep of Dayton Friday afternoon in its second match of the Tru by Hilton Beavercreek Invitational hosted by Wright State at the Nutter Center.

"We put a big focus on starting strong and being very intentional about applying pressure early as we knew how dynamic Dayton is," head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said. "I thought we did a great job of being the aggressor and that led to a good start."

In sweeping the Atlantic 10 preseason favorite, the Cardinals (4-0) were led by another solid performance from junior outside Audrey Geer who collected 12 kills and 10 digs for her third consecutive double-double.

"Audrey has been a big-time playmaker for us," Phillips continued. "She's consistent, plays her butt off, and is so fun to watch. She's just going to keep getting better too!"

It was the second straight match Ball State defeated a team receiving votes in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25 Coaches Poll as the Flyers (3-1) earned 25 votes this past Monday.

While Geer was the only Cardinals attacker in double figures, junior opposite Tiffany Snook continued her solid start to the season with eight kills and a .368 (8-1-19) rate of success. Meanwhile, junior outside Ava Smith added nine kills, nine digs and BSU's lone solo block of the outing.

While she only had five kills and a .364 (5-1-11) hitting mark, senior middle Gwen Crull provided a big lift for Ball State early, serving tough for the Cardinals in an 8-0 run in the opening set.

Dishing the rock were the setting duo of senior Lindsey Green and Reese Axness, who have led the Cardinals to .300-or-better hitting marks in back-to-back matches. Green led all players with 26 assists, while Axness added 16. Both would also collect seven digs, while Axness served up three aces, including one to end the second set.

"The setters got really tough today," Phillips exclaimed! "I have really high expectations for them, and they keep rising to the challenge. You can see our setter-hitter connections continuing to develop and our ability to have three and four hitters consistently in rhythm puts a ton of pressure on opponents."

Also putting pressure on opponents has been the defensive play of junior libero Sophie Ledbetter who collected a team-best 13 digs Friday. The effort raised her career total to 982, leaving her 18 shy of becoming the 22nd player in program history to reach 1,000 career digs.

More big performances in the backcourt came from Geer and Smith, as the duo were both perfect in serve receive on 24 attempts season. That helped limit the Flyers to two aces.

Looking at the other side of the net, the Dayton offense was paced by 16 kills from Sidney Sparda and 10 from Kamryn Hunt. Lily Barry finished with a match-high 16 digs.

The Ball State women's volleyball team closes play in the Tru by Hilton Beavercreek Invitational Saturday afternoon with a 4 p.m. match versus host Wright State. The contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+.