Volleyball Heads To Marquette For Weekend Tournament

Ball State (2-4) at Marquette Tournament
Match 7 - at Marquette (3-1)	Friday, Sept. 12 at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT ESPN+ \| Live Stats
Match 8 - vs. Milwaukee (0-6)	Saturday, Sept. 13 at 4 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. CT YouTube Live \| Live Stats
Match 9 - vs. James Madison (2-4)	Sunday, Sept. 14 at 2 p.m. ET 1 7 p.m. CT YouTube Live \| Live Stats
Notes	Ball State \| Marquette \| Milwaukee \| James Madison
Social Media	X (Twitter) \| Instagram

THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE VOLLEYBALL: The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to the road this weekend for three matches at the Marquette Tournament ... The Cardinals start the event with an 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT first serve versus the host Golden Eagles on Friday ... Ball State will play neighboring Milwaukee Saturday (4 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. CT) and James Madison Sunday (2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT).

FOLLOW THE ACTION: Fans unable to make their way to the Al McGuire Center this weekend have several ways to follow the action ... Friday's match versus host Marquette will be carried live on ESPN+, while Ball State's other two matches will be carried on YouTube ... Live stats for all three matches will be available online courtesy of Marquette ... 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 the Milwaukee Tournament with a 1036-662-2 (.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: The Ball State women's volleyball team is a combined 3-2 all-time versus teams it will face this weekend at the Marquette Tournament ... The Cardinals and Golden Eagles have met twice, with each club earning a win ... The last meeting came in the opening round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament (Dec. 1, 2022) at the Al McGuire Center with a then-No. 16 ranked Marquette earning a 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-17) victory ... Ball State and Milwaukee have also split a pair of matches all-time, with the Panthers earning a 3-0 (30-28, 30-10, 30-22) victory in the latest meeting Sept. 1, 2006 at the Bama Bash ... The Cardinals picked up a 3-1 (27-25, 25-27, 25-20, 25-17) win over James Madison in the only previous meeting play Sept. 6, 2024, at the Kentucky Invitational.

SCOUTING BALL STATE:
• Ball State enters the weekend with a 2-4 overall record after winning its opening matches in both the Golden Gopher Invitational and the Top Dogs Challenge ... Both victories came in five-set thrillers.
• Despite its 2-4 record, Ball State enters the week as one of the nation's top terminating teams, ranking 49th nationally with 323 total kills ... 103 of those kills have come from the arm of sophomore outside Carson Tyler who ranks third in the MAC and 51st nationally with a 4.12 kills-per-set average.
• Sophomore libero Sophie Ledbetter has also turned in a solid effort in the backcourt for the Cardinals, ranking fifth in the MAC and 102nd nationally with a 4.04 digs-per-set average ... Meanwhile, the defense as a whole ranks 106th nationally with 331 total digs.

SCOUTING MARQUETTE:
• The Golden Eagles enter the week with a 3-1 overall record and are receiving votes in the latest AVCA Division I Women's Volleyball Coaches Poll ... In its last time out, Marquette earned a 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-19) victory over Western Kentucky on Friday, Sept. 5.
• Marquette enters the week as one of the nation's top blocking teams, ranking 34th among the 344 NCAA Division I programs with a 2.72 blocks-per-set average ... Three Golden Eagles enter the week averaging at least 1.00 blocks per set, paced by Keira Schmidt who is 50th nationally at 1.39.
• The Marquette attack features one of the nation's most dominant attackers in Natalie Ring ... Ring enters the weekend ranked sixth in the nation with a 4.94 kills-per-set average and is also solid from the service line, ranking 50th nationally at 0.61 aces per set.

SCOUTING MILWAUKEE:
• The Panthers enter the weekend with a 0-6 overall record, including a 3-0 (25-7, 25-15, 25-11) setback at No. 6 Wisconsin on Tuesday.
• On the defensive front, Kara Erdmann leads the Milwaukee backcourt and is 64th nationally with a 4.42 digs-per-set average ... She has collected 84 total digs on the season, including a season-high 23 vs. South Alabama (Sept. 7).
• At the net, Josie Noble leads the Panthers and is 207th nationally with a 1.06 blocks-per-set average ... Natalie Schmitz is the team's top attacker with a 2.89 kills-per-set average, while Sam Vanda is next up at 2.05.

SCOUTING JAMES MADISON
• The Dukes enter the weekend with a 2-4 overall record after going 2-1 its home tournament last weekend ... After picking up a 3-0 win over Bellarmine and a 3-1 victory over Princeton, JMU closed the event with a 3-1 loss versus Lehigh.
• James Madison enters the weekend as one of the nation's top terminating teams, ranking 30th nationally with a 13.96 kills-per-set average ... The effort is paced by Kennedy Louisell who is second among all NCAA Division I players with her 5.30 kills-per-set average.
• At the net, Ayen Nhial leads the Dukes with a 1.32 blocks-per-set average, which is 69th nationally ... She is also 61st nationally with 29 total blocks through six matches.

BALL STATE QUICK HITS:
• Graduate transfer outside Noelle VanOort made quite an impact during her first two weekends with the Cardinals, smashing 88 total kills, collecting 54 digs and hitting .314 (88-22-210) ... A member of the Golden Gopher Invitational All-Tournament Team, VanOort has smashed double digit kills in five matches this season, including a season-high 20 kills twice, while collecting three kill/dig double-doubles ... 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 two weekends with the Cardinals with double-digit kills in five of the six outings ... The effort upped her career total to 101 collegiate matches with double-digit kills.
VanOort Career Tracker
Kills: 1862
Digs: 1702
Aces: 288

• Noelle VanOort has been just as solid on defense through the first two weekends, earning double-digit digs three times, including a season-high 15 vs. Cal Poly (Sept. 31) ... The effort has raised her career total to 93 matches with double-digit digs, including her 90 at Indiana Tech ... It also helped her raise her collegiate kill/dig double-double total to 71, including three with Ball State and 68 with the Warriors.

• Sophomore outside Carson Tyler has been just as impressive over the first two weeks, smashing 103 total kills for a team-high 4.12 kills-per-set average ... The effort includes a season-high 21 kills at UConn (Sept. 5) ... 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 all six matches for the Cardinals so far this season, raising her career total to 28 ... She has secured 20+ kills in eight of those matches, including a career-high 25 kills to help lead Ball State to a 3-2 victory over Wright State (Sept. 20, 2024) last season ... Tyler is one of just nine players in program history to register 20-or-more kills in at least seven career matches.

• A six-rotation player, Carson Tyler is currently tied for second on the squad with 55 digs this season ... She has recorded kill/dig double-doubles in three matches so far this season, raising her career total to eight ... Tyler also leads Ball State's primary passers with a .949 reception percentage this seasons, successfully passing 148 of the 156 serves she faced ... Tyler led the Cardinals' primary passers last season with a .963 reception percentage by successfully passing 650 of the team-high 675 serves she faced.

• With 20 kills each in the Aug. 31 match versus Cal Poly, 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 paces the Ball State defense with 101 digs and a 4.04 digs-per-set average so far this season ... The average ranks sixth among MAC defenders so far this season and is 104th nationally ... She has recorded double-digit digs in all six matches, upping her career total to 29 ... The effort includes 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 earned her first collegiate double-double versus Cal Poly (Aug. 31), handing out 10 assists to go along with her 14 digs in the outing.

• Junior Lindsey Green and freshman Reese Axness have combined to lead the Ball State offense to a .228 attack percentage so far this season ... Green, who dished out a career-high 44 assists versus Cal Poly (Aug. 31), currently ranks ninth in the MAC with a 6.84 assists-per-set average ... She also leads the squad with nine service aces ... Axness, meanwhile, enters the weekend with a 3.71 assists-per-set average and has served up a pair of aces.

• Sophomore transfer middle/opposite 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.

• Roster Update: Senior opposite Madison Buckley and redshirt junior outside attacker Aniya Kennedy will both miss the 2025 season as medical redshirts … Buckley was a 2024 First Team All-MAC selection after ranking second on the team in total blocks (90.0) and third in total kills (276) last season … Kennedy, the 2023 MAC Freshman of the Year and First Team All-MAC selection, ranked second on the squad with 279 kills last season and chipped in 43 total blocks.

Volleyball Heads To Marquette For Weekend Tournament

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Players Mentioned

Reese Axness

Madison Buckley

Lindsey Green

Aniya Kennedy

Sophie Ledbetter

Tiffany Snook

Carson Tyler

Noelle VanOort