Mid-American Conference

MAC East Offensive Player of the Week
Olivia Rusek, Miami, Outside Hitter
Senior - Skokie, Ill./Niles West
Rusek had a pair of fantastic matches in leading Miami to two 3-0 wins over the weekend. She had 26 total kills and a .400 attack percentage for the week. Rusek showed her defensive prowess in a six-rotation role as she finished with 20 digs, an average of 3.33 per set. With her four blocks and one service ace, Rusek was responsible for 29.5 points in only six sets, an average of 4.92 per set. Against Kent State, Rusek had a double-double of 17 kills and 15 digs in only three sets. She made only two attack errors in 30 attempts for a .500 attack percentage. She finished with nine kills, five digs and two blocks in the 3-0 win over Ohio on Saturday.
 
MAC West Offensive Player of the Week
Jordan Bueter, Central Michigan, Outside Hitter
Senior - South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian
Central Michigan (15-11, 7-7 MAC) is on a five-match winning streak as the Chippewas defeated Northern Illinois and Western Michigan. CMU topped the Huskies, 3-1, on Friday night and then posted a 3-0 sweep over the Broncos on Saturday. Senior Jordan Bueter led the Chippewas offensively as she recorded 34 kills and 20 digs. The South Bend, Ind. native posted a .273 hitting percentage and four assists. On Friday, Bueter garnered a team-high 19 kills in four sets. The following day, the senior had 15 kills and 14 digs in the sweep over WMU. Bueter leads the team in kills (388) and service aces (37).
 
MAC East Defensive Player of the Week
Maeve McDonald, Miami, Libero
Senior - Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids
McDonald continued to set new records in leading Miami to a perfect record over the week. She and the RedHawk defense held opponents to a .068 attack percentage as Miami took all six sets it played. McDonald recorded 39 digs on the week for an impressive average of 6.50 digs per set. Against Kent State on Friday, she had 21 digs. She followed that up with 18 digs in the sweep of Ohio Saturday. While teams purposely serve away from her, McDonald had a perfect 1.000 reception percentage on her 16 chances over the week.
 
MAC West Defensive Player of the Week
Kate Avila, Ball State, Libero
Sophomore - Yorktown, Ind./Yorktown
Sophomore libero Kate Avila continued her impressive defensive run by averaging 6.14 digs per set in wins over Toledo and at Akron last week to help the Cardinals take over sole possession of the top spot in the MAC West Division. In Thursday’s win over Toledo, Avila led all players with a match-high 26 digs. With her fourth dig of the night, she became the 17th player in program history to reach 1,000 career digs. She is also the third-fastest player in program history to reach 1,000 career digs, doing so in just 57 career matches. In Saturday’s match at Akron, Avila strung together a seven-point service run midway through the second set to help the Cardinals eventually win the frame 25-23. Avila, who led all players with 17 digs in the match, also put together a late run in the opening set to tie the score at 22 with one of her three aces on the night.
 

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Other Nominees:
 
Annie Beasley, Toledo, MH/OH
Senior - Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North
Hit .564 during the weekend with 22 kills combined between the matches at Ball State and Buffalo…39 attack attempts over the weekend and did not commit a single attack error…against the Cardinals she had 10 kills and hit .526, while also tallying five total blocks…in the five-set win over the Bulls she had 12 kills and three total blocks…was a perfect 4-for-4 attacking in the third set at UB that Toledo won 25-23 to go up 2-1…hitting .369 in conference play and .363 overall this season…has hit .367 and averaged 1.00 blocks per set in UT victories this season…has now hit at least .500 in five matches this season and she is hitting .416 with 2.62 kills per set in her last 10 matches…the Rockets are never out of a match on the road with her in the lineup; she is hitting .423 in road matches this season...on pace to break the single-season school record for hitting percentage (.336, Dakota Hawkins in 2013).
 
Ellie Dunn, Ball State, OH
Junior - Sugar Grove, Ill./Kaneland
Junior outside Ellie Dunn led the Ball State offense with a 4.43 kills-per-set average last week, helping the Cardinals take over sole possession of the top spot in the MAC West Division. In Thursday’s win over Toledo, Dunn led a quartet of Ball State players in double figures with a match-high 15 kills. However, it was her dig on the final point of the third set that kept the play alive and led to Toledo's attack error to end the frame in a crucial 31-29 set victory which turned the tide for Ball State. Dunn finished the match with five digs and three block assists. In Saturday’s win at Akron, Dunn smashed a match-high 16 kills. After being limited to just one kill in the opening set, Dunn blasted seven in the second and eight in the third, while connecting for a .316 (16-4-38) rate of success for the contest. She also secured a pair of digs and a block assist.
 
Challen Geraghty, Kent State, Libero
Senior - Louisville, Ky./Holy Cross
Senior libero Challen Geraghty recorded 53 digs (6.62 /set) to lead Kent State to a .136 opponent hitting percentage in road matches against MAC co-leaders Bowling Green and Miami. Geraghty matched her career-high with 39 digs against the Falcons, which were 11 more than any other player in the match, and had at least 9 digs in three sets. The Golden Flashes collected 12 more digs than a BG team that entered the weekend fourth in the nation in digs per set while holding the Falcons to their lowest hitting percentage (.103) during the conference season. Geraghty tallied 14 digs Friday at Miami. The two-time All-MAC First Team honoree enters the final weekend of the season with 2,394 digs and needs just seven to crack the NCAA Division I all-time top-25.
 
Tia Jimerson, Ohio, MB
Freshman - Sugar Hill, Ga./Norcross
Freshman middle blocker Tia Jimerson (Sugar Hill, Ga.) put together another big weekend to help the Ohio volleyball team (14-14, 8-5 MAC) go 1-1 on the road against the top two teams in the Mid-American Conference East Division. She hit .439 for the weekend with a team-high 29 kills (3.62) and leading the squad with 12 total blocks (three solo, nine assisted; 1.50 per set). Jimerson put up huge numbers as Ohio clawed back from a six-point deficit in the fifth set to stun Bowling Green, 3-2 (25-17, 15-25, 25-20, 15-25, 17-15), last Friday (Nov. 3) at the Stroh Center, leading the match with 21 kills and adding a team-high seven total blocks (one solo, six assisted). She hit .556 in the victory with just one attack error. Jimerson then hit .238 with eight kills and compiled a team-high five total blocks (two solo, three assisted) as Ohio suffered a 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-13) sweep at the hands of archrival Miami on Saturday (Nov. 4) in a 'Battle of the Bricks' matchup at Millett Hall.
 
Mallory Rajewski, Eastern Michigan, Setter
Junior - Midland, Mich./Midland
Mallory Rajewski put together an all-around dominating performance at the setter position in Eastern Michigan’s 2-0 weekend. The junior averaged 10.5 assists per set, finishing with 63 total, and 4.00 digs per set, finishing with 24, in the two sweeps of Western Michigan and Northern Illinois. The Midland, Mich. native also added 10 total kills (1.67 per set) with an attack percentage of .444. Her seven kills against WMU marked both a season and career-best for the setter. Rajewski has now surpassed the 700-assist plateau this season, playing the majority of the year as one of two setters in the Eagles’ 6-2 system. She is just 18 assists shy of 2,000 for her career, and reached the 800 dig mark for her career this weekend. Her play helped the Eagles stay alive in the MAC Tournament picture with just two matches to play.
 
Kallie Seimet, Bowling Green, Libero
Junior - Oregon, Ohio/Clay
Junior libero Kallie Seimet earned her ninth 30+ dig match of the year when she got behind 34 against Ohio. Her team-high of 28 on Saturday in the 3-2 win over Kent State marked her 19th 20+ dig match of the season, while she continues to lead the nation with her 6.81 digs per set average. Additionally, Seimet now tallies 1,490 career digs through her three seasons with the Falcons, which ranks fifth overall in Bowling Green volleyball program history. This season, Seimet’s 681 digs also ranks second in program history.
 
Jordan Smith, Eastern Michigan, Outside Hitter
Junior - Solon, Iowa/Solon
Jordan Smith provided one of her best all-around performances of her season in Eastern Michigan’s 2-0 weekend. The junior outside hitter averaged 4.33 kills per set, finishing with 26 total, and 3.00 digs per set, finishing with 18, in the two sweeps of Western Michigan and Northern Illinois. The Solon, Iowa native averaged 13 kills and nine digs in the two victories, and also hit at a .266 clip. Her .344 attack percentage against WMU was her highest on the season. Smith has now surpassed the 300-kill mark in her career for the second time and is just eight digs away from a 300-300 season. Her play helped the Eagles stay alive in the MAC Tournament picture with just two matches to play.
 
Meg Wolowicz, NIU, Middle Blocker
Junior - Manitowoc, Wis./Manitowoc Lincoln
NIU junior middle blocker Meg Wolowicz averaged 1.14 blocks per set in NIU’s matches against Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan. On Friday against Central Michigan, the Manitowoc, Wis., native collected four blocks in four set, along with eight kills while hitting .261. The following night against Eastern Michigan, Wolowicz recorded four blocks in just three sets, while also adding nine kills. Wolowicz finished the weekend with 2.43 kills per set and a .255 hitting percentage. Wolowicz entered the weekend ranked fourth in the MAC in blocks per set in conference play.