Mid-American Conference

MAC East Offensive Player of the Week
Tia Jimerson, Ohio, Middle Blocker
Freshman – Sugar Hill, GA/Norcross
Freshman middle blocker Tia Jimerson (Sugar Hill, Ga.) helped the Ohio volleyball team (10-12, 4-4 MAC) split a pair of home matches against Mid-American Conference West Division foes last weekend at the Convocation Center. She hit a team-best .400 and ranked second on the team with 31 kills (3.88 per set). She also recorded three assisted blocks (0.38 per set) and three digs (0.38 per set). Jimerson hit .441 and led the match with 19 kills as Ohio pushed the match to five sets but ultimately fell to Toledo, 3-2 (17-25, 25-21, 25-22, 22-25, 19-17), on Friday (Oct. 13). She also tallied an assisted block and three digs. Jimerson then hit at a .346 rate with 12 kills and also had two assisted blocks as the Bobcats swept MAC West Division favorite Ball State, 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-18), in front of over 500 fans on the program's 2017 Dig Pink night on Saturday (Oct. 14).
 
MAC West Offensive Player of the Week
Rachel Vidourek, Toledo, Middle Hitter
Senior – Oxford, Ohio/Talawanda
Only Rocket to tally double-digit kills over the weekend (16 against Ohio, 12 against Kent State)…Led the team with 3.5 kills per set…Toledo has won five of its last six matches, during which she has hit .355 and averaged 2.67 kills per set…The Rockets had 24.0 total blocks against Ohio and Kent State, Vidourek accounted for 15.0 of them…coming into the weekend she was hitting .339, second in the MAC, and her .394 hitting percentage in conference play was the highest.
 
MAC East Defensive Player of the Week
Katie Kidwell, Bowling Green, Middle Blocker
Freshman – Watseka, Ill./Watseka Community
At the net, freshman Katie Kidwell continued to be a defensive force for the Bowling Green squad, as she totaled 18.0 blocks in a pair of conference victories. A native of Watseka, Ill., Kidwell led the team both nights, as she earned one solo block and seven block assists for 8.0 against the Eastern Michigan offense, before putting up 10.0 in the sweep of Central Michigan. With the one solo block and nine block assist for a total of 10.0 against the Chippewas, Kidwell marked just one shy of her career-best of 11.0 blocks (at Kent State, Sept. 29). Kidwell’s performance helped the Falcons go on an early 4-0 run at the start of the third set as she jumped for back-to-back blocks, while the Falcons posted a total of 16.0 team blocks on the night, which ties their season-high (16.0 at Kent State, Sept. 29). Additionally, Kidwell marked an error-free reception, as well as a strong .238 hitting percentage on the weekend.

MAC West Defensive Player of the Week
Maurissa Leonard, Toledo, Libero
Junior – Oregon, Ohio/St. Ursula
She now has 1,505 digs in her career, just 18 away from moving into second place all-time in school history…Toledo has won five of its last six matches, during which she has averaged 5.96 digs per set…recorded her ninth and tenth 20+ dig performances of the season over the weekend…coming into the weekend she ranked fifth in the conference in digs per set, raised her season average from 5.03 to 5.23 this weekend…named MAC West Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 5.

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Other Nominees: 

Kate Avila, Ball State, Libero
Sophomore – Yorktown, Ind./Yorktown
Sophomore libero Kate Avila turned in her best statistical weekend of the season, leading the Ball State defense with a 6.86 digs-per-set average and logging a perfect reception percentage in 30 attempts. In Friday’s win at Kent State, Avila led all players with a season-high 28 digs over four sets for a 7.00 digs-per-set average. She also successfully passed all 18 serves she faced and dished out a pair of assists. She follows with 20 digs (6.67 per set) and a perfect 12-for-12 reception effort Saturday at Ohio. Avila has collected at least 20 digs in three consecutive matches, giving her seven matches with 20-or-more digs this season. With the pair of 20 dig matches last week, Avila moved into a tie for sixth in program history with 20-or-more digs in 16 career matches. She also raised her career dig total to 876 which is 38 shy of breaking into the top 20 in program history.
 
Larra Bickelhaupt, Buffalo, Libero
Junior – Cape Coral, Fla./Oasis-Hillsborough CC
Junior libero Larra Bickelhaupt led the Bulls to one of their best weekends of the season with home victories over Northern Illinois and Western Michigan.  Bickelhaupt had 18 digs in the three-set win over Northern Illinois as she averaged 6.00 per set.  She also tied for the team lead with three service aces.  In the win over Western Michigan, she added 17 more digs, leading a group of five UB players in double figures in digs.  Bickelhaupt added her first kill of the season as well.  She leads the Bulls with 274 digs and is tied for the team lead with 25 aces.
 
Rachel Bontrager, Western Michigan, Outside Hitter
Freshman – Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso
Rachel Bontrager had two double-doubles on the weekend as WMU earned a tough road split against Akron and Buffalo. In the 3-1 win against the Zips she had 11 kills and 12 digs for her sixth double-double of the season. Against Akron she went a perfect 20-for-20 on serve receipts. In WMU’s 3-1 loss to the Bulls she had 13 kills and 12 digs for her team-best seventh double-double of the season. Bontrager was once again perfect on serve receipts at 31-for-31. On the weekend, she averaged 3.0 kills per set and 3.0 digs per set.
 
Taylor Daignault, Miami, Outside Hitter
Sophomore – Newark, Ohio/Newark Catholic
Daignault did a little bit of everything as a six-rotation player for the RedHawks last weekend as she led the team to a pair of wins. She led Miami with 23 kills, an average of 3.29 per set. She was second with 24 digs, an average of 3.43 per set. Daignault had a double-double with 14 kills and 11 digs in a four-set win over Central Michigan. She followed that up by just missing a double-double with nine kills and 13 digs in straight-set victory over Eastern Michigan the next night. Combined with her three blocks, Daignault scored a team-leading 25.5 points last weekend, an average of 3.64 points per set.
 
Challen Geraghty, Kent State, Libero
Senior – Louisville, KY/Holy Cross
Libero Challen Geraghty climbed three more spots to fifth on the Mid-American Conference career digs list over the weekend, totaling 50 digs (7.14/set) in matches against MAC West Co-leaders Ball State and Toledo to bring her career total to 2,268. Geraghty tallied an incredible 29 digs, which are tied for the fourth-most in a three-setter in the country this season entering the weekend, against a Rockets offense that ranked fourth in the MAC in hitting percentage in league matches on Saturday. The senior recorded 21 digs on Friday against a high-powered Cardinals attack that led the MAC in kills per set and ranked second in hitting percentage during league play. Geraghty has recorded at least 20 digs in six straight matches.

Celena Kanagin, Bowling Green, Middle Blocker/Right Side
Sophomore – Spring Grove, Ill./Richmond Burton
In the 3-1 comeback win over Eastern Michigan, sophomore Celena Kanagin led the Bowling Green squad with 15 kills against the Eagles, which ties her career-high mark (vs. Northern Illinois, Sept. 23 and vs. Seton Hall, Sept. 16). It was also the second consecutive double-digit kill match for the Spring Grove, Ill. native, while she hit a team-high of .371 on the night. Kanagin followed up the performance by again hitting a team-high of .368 as she tallied seven kills in the sweep of Central Michigan. The Falcons ran a clean offense against the Chippewas that only sacrificed a team-low of eight errors, with the help of Kanagin who had an error-free attack. A well-rounded presence at the net, Kanagin continued to put up a strong blocking game in which she averaged 1.00 blocks per set. On the season, Kanagin’s 165 kills leads the Bowling Green squad, while she has the best hitting percentage of the five Falcons with 100+ kills this season.
 
Maeve McDonald, Miami, Libero
Senior – Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids
McDonald kept the Miami defense rolling as they earned two more victories last weekend. She had 44 digs in only seven sets, an impressive 6.29 digs per set average. And she showed why she isn’t served at often. She was a perfect 29-for-29 on reception attempts. Against Central Michigan, she had 19 digs in the four-set win. She improved upon that in the sweep of Eastern Michigan, recording 25 digs in only three sets. She also contributed two service aces.
 
Scout McLerran, Buffalo, Setter
Sophomore – Friendsville, Tenn./Webb School
Sophomore Scout McLerran led the Bulls to their best offensive weekend of the season as UB hit over .300 in both matches this past weekend. McLerran averaged 12.57 assists per set in wins over Northern Illinois and Western Michigan, who was leading the MAC West entering the match.  McLerran began the weekend with 35 assists and four kills in an easy 3-0 win over the Huskies, while she added an ace and two blocks.  The Bulls hit a season-high .327 in the win.  She then put up dominating numbers in the four-set win over Western Michigan as she dished out 53 assists, while recording four kills over her own with no errors on seven attempts.  Defensively, she chipped in with 12 digs and had two blocks in each match.  McLerran leads the Bulls with season with 765 assists.
 
Macy Reihing, Ohio, Libero
Freshman – Lexington, KY/Tates Creek
Freshman libero Macy Reihing (Lexington, Ky.) helped the Ohio volleyball team (10-12, 4-4 MAC) split a pair of home matches against Mid-American Conference West Division foes last weekend at the Convocation Center, leading the team with 52 digs (6.50 per set) and adding six assists (0.75 per set) and a service ace (0.12 per set). Reihing totaled a team-high 25 digs and also had a service ace and two assists as Ohio pushed the match to five sets but ultimately fell to Toledo, 3-2 (17-25, 25-21, 25-22, 22-25, 19-17), on Friday (Oct. 13). She followed that performance up by achieving a career-high by leading the match with 27 digs as the Bobcats swept MAC West Division favorite Ball State, 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-18), in front of over 500 fans on the program's 2017 Dig Pink night on Saturday (Oct. 14). She also chipped in four assists. Reihing’s passing helped Ohio hit at a .278 clip as a team against the Cardinals.
 
Meg Wolowicz, Northern Illinois, Middle Blocker
Junior –Manitowoc, Wis./Manitowoc Lincoln
Meg Wolowicz led NIU with 27 kills, hitting .333, and eight blocks as the Huskies split a pair of matches against Buffalo and Akron. In the weekend opener at Buffalo, the junior from Manitowoc, Wis., tied for the team lead with nine kills and three blocks, averaging three kills and one block per set against the Bulls. Against the Zips, Wolowicz once again led the Huskies in kills as she collected 18 with just four errors while hitting .378. Wolowicz also posted five blocks as the Huskies bettered the Zips in five sets. Wolowicz finished the weekend averaging 3.38 kills and 4.31 points per set.