Much to the delight of Ball State’s healthy volleyball fan population, Ball State Women’s Volleyball played this weekend.
It had been 273 days since the Cardinals’ last competitive match — a loss in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship to Clemson — when they took the court in the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Invitational.
Over the two-day tournament, Ball State took home two wins and a loss while heavily rotating its squad and giving looks to incoming players.
Game One
The Cardinals faced off against Seton Hall on Friday morning, sweeping the Pirates in consecutive sets (25-21, 25-16, 25-19). Ball State was consistently in control throughout the match, despite rotating the lineup around. Head coach Kelli Miller Phillips featured a mix of youth and veteran experience throughout and utilized 14 players.
Of those 14, nine players were credited with at least one kill and 11 earned at least one block.
“We were playing pretty well in the first two matches and were able to get some various rotations in,” Phillips said. “Our depth is going to lend — hopefully — positive notes for us.”
Sophomore middle hitter Camryn Wise was the standout player in the victory, notching a match-high nine kills despite only playing in the final two sets. Wise, who was named to the 2023 All Mid-American Conference (MAC) Freshman Team, hit a .818 on the day, a new career high.
“(Wise) was somebody who got her opportunity there in set two and really capitalized,” Phillips said. “She played well the entire weekend every time she got her opportunities.”
Senior setter Megan Wielonski picked up where she left off after her All-MAC 2023 season, serving four of the Cardinal’s eight service aces in the sweep while dishing out 31 assists.
Wielonski’s efforts allowed a number of Ball State hitters to succeed, including transfer Aayinde Smith. The graduate student middle hitter had six kills and three blocks on the day.
Reigning MAC Freshman of the Year Aniya Kennedy had eight kills in the win while sophomore outside hitter Kendall Barnes grabbed six kills as well.
Game Two
After a dominant display in its opening match, Ball State continued its momentum with another sweep; this time over Bryant (25-15, 25-17, 25-12) in the evening matchup.
It was a suffocating display, with the Cardinals limiting the Bulldogs to a -.020 hitting percentage.
Sophie Ledbetter recorded 20 digs in the victory, marking the first collegiate match the freshman defensive specialist has done so. Ledbetter had 13 digs against Seton Hall and tallied 10 of her 20 digs in the opening set against Bryant.
Fellow freshman defensive specialist Elizabeth Tabeling contributed another 10 digs in the victory as well. In fact, with freshman outside hitter Carson Tyler rotating in, the Cardinal back row was freshmen for most of the weekend.
“Between Elizabeth, Sophie and Carson, those guys were passing the majority of the balls for us,” Phillips said. “I thought they did a really good job for their first time out. Those guys got tested (and) responded well.
We’re going to have some young pieces in the ball control standpoint, but Sophie did a great job defensively, especially the first few days. Hopefully, that’s something she can build on, as well as those other freshmen, going into next weekend and beyond.”
On offense, Ball State hit a .333 percentage, spearheaded by Smith with nine kills and a .533 hitting percentage. Other attacking standouts were Kennedy with five kills and two blocks and junior opposite hitter Madison Buckley with seven kills and two blocks.
Wielonski stayed hot from the service line, adding three more aces to bring her career total to 151. She sits third in program history for service aces.
Similar to Seton Hall, Phillips continued to rotate the lineup around, with 15 different players seeing playing time.
Game Three
Day two of the FAU Invitational was unable to live up to the success of day one, with Ball State falling in straight sets to FAU (25-12, 26-24, 25-20). While the first set was a lopsided affair, the Cardinals kept in close in the remaining two sets and stayed competitive throughout, including a 20-kill match from Kennedy.
“Whenever you play the home team, and certainly for the championship, they’re going to be ready to play,” Phillips said. “We had talked about that, but it’s different when you have the majority of (your team) that have not experienced that wearing a Cardinal uniform.”
It was the ninth time in Kennedy’s career that she had scored 20 kills in a match. She finished the day with a .361 attack percentage. She led all attackers over the tournament with 33 kills.
Buckley contributed five kills in the loss, with Wise adding four more. The contributions proved in vein as FAU hit .385 as a team and had four players notch eight or more kills. The Owls also recorded 10 aces in the match to Ball State’s one.
Defensively, Wielonski led Ball State with nine digs while Smith helped hold the net with four blocks.
“(It’s about) experience. When you feel it, it’s way different than us talking about it,” Phillips said. “I think the biggest thing we can take from it is that experience and learn how to respond differently.
That’s why you’re going to keep playing people. That’s why, as your freshmen and newcomers continue to get more and more comfortable, you want to be playing your best at the end of the season. You use each and every weekend to build toward that."
Ball State continues its non-conference slate in Lexington, Kentucky, next weekend for the three-day Kentucky Invitational. The Cardinals will play James Madison first Sept. 6, with first serve scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
Contact Daniel Kehn with comments at daniel.kehn@bsu.edu or on X @daniel_kehn.
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