Mid-American Conference

MAC East Offensive Player of the Week
Andrea Mitrovic, Buffalo, Outside Hitter
Sophomore – Mississauga, Ontario/Silverthorne Academy
Sophomore Andrea Mitrovic led the Bulls offensively in their two road victories this past weekend as UB won at Western Michigan and Northern Illinois. On Friday, Mitrovic had 19 kills in the win over the Broncos, Buffalo’s first ever victory in Kalamazoo.  She followed that up on Saturday evening with another 20/20 match as she had 26 kills and 23 digs in the victory over Northern Illinois.  It was the third time this season that she has had at least 25 kills in a match. Mitrovic also had her best night of the year from the service line as she finished with five service aces. Overall, Mitrovic averaged just under 6.4 points per set this weekend.  She leads Buffalo in kills this year with 327.
 
MAC West Offensive Player of the Week
Rachel Bontrager, Western Michigan, Outside Hitter
Sophomore -Valparaiso, Indiana/Valparaiso
Bontrager guided the Broncos to a 1-1 record over the weekend with a tight four-set loss against Buffalo and a sweep of Akron. Bontrager led WMU with 38 kills, averaging a team-high 5.43 per set and ranked second on the team with a .370 attack percentage. The sophomore outside hitter also was tied for the team lead over the weekend with two service aces. On Friday against Buffalo, Bontrager collected her ninth double-double of the season with 23 kills to go along with 13 digs. In the sweep over Akron, Bontrager registered a team-high 15 kills and hit a team-high .423. Bontrager currently ranks 21stin the NCAA in total kills, 13thin total attacks and 13thin points. She also ranks 28thin the NCAA in attacks per set. 
 
MAC East Defensive Player of the Week
Katie Kidwell, Bowling Green, Middle Blocker
Sophomore – Wateska, Illinois/Wateska Community
Katie Kidwell could be seen doing it all in this past weekend’s pair of road matches in Michigan. Offensively, the middle blocker totaled 21 kills throughout both matches for a weekend average of .321 in hitting efficiency. Defensively, the sophomore set a new career high in total blocks, after posting 10 block assists versus CMU. Over the weekend, Kidwell registered 14 total blocks and nine digs. 
 
MAC West Defensive Player of the Week
Alyssa LaFace, Eastern Michigan, Libero
Senior – Allen Park, Michigan/Allen Park
Senior Alyssa LaFace once again proved stout on the defensive side of the ball for Eastern Michigan, amassing 60 digs in two matches against MAC East leaders Miami and Bowling Green, averaging 6.67 digs per set. LaFace’s 33 digs against BGSU marked the fifth time this season the senior has had 30+ digs in a match, while her digs per set mark was the highest over the weekend for the MAC West. The Allen Park, Mich. native also added a pair of aces and five assists in the two matches.
 
MAC East Setter of the Week
Scout McLerran, Buffalo, Setter
Junior – Friendsville, Tennessee/Webb School
Junior setter Scout McLerran averaged 10.22 assists per set as she helped guide the Bulls to a pair road victories at Western Michigan and Northern Illinois. On Friday evening, McLerran had 42 assists in the win over the Broncos, while adding six digs and three blocks.  On Saturday evening, McLerran had 50 assists in the five-set victory over NIU.  She also had her best day from the service line with four aces to go along with 11 digs and two blocks.
 
MAC West Setter of the Week
Amber Seaman, Ball State, Setter
Junior – Carmel, Indiana/Brebeuf
Junior setter Amber Seaman had another outstanding week running the Ball State offense, averaging 12.29 assists per set and running the offense to a combined .267 (100-30-262) attack percentage in wins over Ohio (Oct. 12) and Kent State (Oct. 13). On top of her strong setting performance, the Carmel, Indiana, native served up nine total aces on the week, while averaging 1.29 blocks per set and 2.00 digs per set. Seaman opened the week by guiding the Cardinals to their first home win over Ohio since the 2010 season by dishing out 46 assists and serving up a career-high six aces in the four-set victory. She also tallied five block assists in the match, while earning eight digs and a kill. She followed by leading the Ball State offense to a .360 (49-9-111) attack percentage in a sweep of Kent State, handing out 40 assists in the match while guiding a trio of Cardinals to double-digit kills. She also served up three more aces in the victory, while collecting four more blocks (two solo and two assists) and six more digs.
 

 
Other Nominees
Ellie Dunn, Ball State, Outside Hitter
Senior – Sugar Grove, Illinois/Kaneland
Senior outside attacker Ellie Dunn led the Ball State offense with a 4.57 kills-per-set average last week, blasting match-highs of 19 kills versus Ohio (Oct. 12) and 13 kills in a sweep of Kent State (Oct. 13). In the win over the Bobcats, Dunn also collected 15 digs for her eighth double-double of the season and also served up an ace and logged a block assist. In the win over the Golden Flashes, Dunn added seven digs, two aces and a block assist.
 
Erin Gardner, Kent State, Libero
Freshman – Avon, Ohio/Avon
Erin Gardner continued her stellar play in the back row by averaging 6.86 digs per set in helping Kent State to a 1-1 weekend to conclude the first half of the conference season. Gardner tallied a match-high 29 digs Friday night at Toledo, helping hold the Rockets under a .115 hitting percentage in three of four sets. She also matched her career-high with seven assists and recorded an ace for match point. Gardner added a match-high 19 digs at Ball State on Saturday.  Her 383 digs on the season are the third-most by a freshman in Kent State history.
 
Cassie Haut, Eastern Michigan, Middle Blocker
R-Junior – Monreo, Michigan/St. Mary Catholic Central
Redshirt junior Cassie Haut proved to be a game changer on offense for Eastern Michigan, knocking out 16 kills against Miami with a hitting percentage of .481, and coming back against Bowling Green with 14 kills and an attack percentage of .297. While the rest of the Eagles hit just .159 for the weekend, Haut finished with a .375 mark. The Monroe, Mich. native added good blocking numbers to her attack power, finishing with eight total blocks (one solo, seven assist) in the two matches.
 
Alex Haffner, Kent State, Setter
R-Freshman – Lee’s Summit, Missouri/Lee’s Summit North
Junior setter Scout McLerran averaged 10.22 assists per set as she helped guide the Bulls to a pair road victories at Western Michigan and Northern Illinois. On Friday evening, McLerran had 42 assists in the win over the Broncos, while adding six digs and three blocks.  On Saturday evening, McLerran had 50 assists in the five-set victory over NIU.  She also had her best day from the service line with four aces to go along with 11 digs and two blocks.
 
Abigail Huser, Miami, Libero
Sophomore -Westfield, Indiana/Westfield
Huser led the Miami defense with an incredible 43 digs in two road victories last weekend, an average of 6.14 digs per set. It began on Friday at Eastern Michigan where despite not playing in first two sets, she still racked up 21 digs in the final three, an average of 7.00 per set. She then added 22 digs in the 3-1 victory over Central Michigan on Saturday. Huser wore the libero shirt in every set she played. She made only one reception error in 37 attempts over the weekend.
 
Miranda Karlen, NIU, Libero
Sophomore – Evansville, Wisconsin/Evansville
Karlen averaged 5.38 digs per set this weekend as NIU went 1-1 against Akron and Buffalo. The sophomore opened the weekend with 16 digs in the Huskies’ sweep of Akron. On Saturday night, Karlen had a match-high 27 digs in NIU’s five-set loss to Buffalo.
 
Melissa Kolurbasi, Kent State, Opposite
Freshman – Istanbul, Turkey/Stagg
Melissa Kolurbasi delivered clutch swings for kills on back-to-back points to give Kent State a 25-24 lead in the fourth set and help hold off a feisty Toledo team for its first true road victory of the season on Friday. Kolurbasi tied her career-high with 13 kills in the match and added six kills Saturday at first-place Ball State. The freshman from Istanbul, Turkey averaged 2.71 kills per set and had a .245 hitting percentage for the weekend. Kolurbasi is hitting a team-best .246 during conference play.
 
Maurissa Leonard, Toledo, Libero
Senior – Oregon, Ohio/St. Ursula Academy
Averaged 5.22 digs/set over the weekend; tallied 21 against Kent State and 26 in the win over Ohio…Started the match against the Bobcats with nine digs in the first set…Perfect 25-for-25 in reception attempts against OU… .966 reception percentage over the weekend…Has earned two MAC West Defensive Player of the Week awards this season…Became the 15thplayer in MAC history to reach 2,000 career digs last weekend (currently has 2,063).
 
Katelyn Meyer, Bowling Green, Outside Hitter
Freshman – Pemberville, Ohio/Eastwood
Freshman outside hitter Katelyn Meyer went into double digit kills in BGSU’s matches against CMU and EMU. Meyer totaled 26 kills in eight sets for a weekend average of .205 in hitting efficiency. In Bowling Green’s difficult win over Eastern Michigan, Meyer’s 16 kills set a new career high for the freshman. 
 
Mary Murphy, Western Michigan, Setter
Senior – Wilmington, Illinois/Joliet Catholic
Murphy recorded another stellar weekend for the Broncos registering 87 assists, averaging a staggering 12.43 assists per set as the Broncos dropped a tight four-set match to Buffalo before sweeping Akron. For the third time this season, Murphy recorded back-to-back matches of 40 or more assists and now has nine matches in which she has done so. Against Buffalo on Friday, Murphy needed just five digs to notch her fourth double-double of the season with 47 assists and five digs. Overall, Murphy ranks third in the MAC with 9.72 assists per set and ranks 53rdin the NCAA in total assists. 
 
Margaret Payne, Miami, Middle Hitter
Junior – Bloomfield Hills, Michigan/Cranbrook Kingswood
Payne was dominant in leading Miami to two road wins last weekend. She finished with 30 kills, an average of 3.33 per set. She made only five errors in 60 attempts for an impressive attack percentage of .417. Payne also continued to average at least a block per set, assisting on nine in two matches. On Friday, she had 13 kills and five blocks as Miami came from behind to take down Eastern Michigan in five sets. She was even better on Saturday against Central Michigan, recording 17 kills and four blocks. Payne scored 34.5 points in the two matches, an average of 3.83 per set.
 
Morgan Seaman, Miami, Setter
Sophomore – Carmel, Indiana/Carmel
Seaman helped lead Miami to an important 2-0 record on the road last weekend. As part of the RedHawks’ 6-2 system she was responsible for setting up middle hitter Margaret Payne, who had 30 kills and a .417 attack percentage in the two matches. Seaman recorded 47 assists on the weekend, an average of 5.22 per set. She had 19 in win over Eastern Michigan and 28 in only four sets in victory over Central Michigan. Her serve helped keep opponents in check all weekend long and she was able to record three aces in the two matches.
 
Kaley Smith, Western Michigan, Libero/Defensive Specialist
Sophomore – Mendon, Michigan/Mendon
Over the weekend against Buffalo and Akron, sophomore Kaley Smith led the Broncos with 41 digs, averaging 5.86 digs per set. The sophomore libero also registered seven assists on the weekend including four on Friday night at Buffalo. In as sweep of Akron on Saturday night, Smith recorded a new career-high with 24 digs. It was the third time this season that Smith has registered at least 20 digs in a match.  

Meg Starling, Ball State, Middle
R-Senior – Hopkinsville, Kentucky/University Heights
Redshirt senior middle Meg Starling led another dominating Ball State effort at the net, averaging 1.43 blocks per set in wins over Ohio (Oct. 12) and Kent State (Oct. 13) last weekend. She recorded six total blocks (2 solo and 4 assists) in the win over the Bobcats, while adding four blocks (1 solo and 3 assists) in the victory over the Golden Flashes. On offense, Starling averaged 2.43 kills per set in the pair of wins, with five kills and a .267 (5-1-15) attack percentage against Ohio and 12 kills and a .455 (12-2-22) rate of success against Kent State.
 
Carly Townsend, Toledo, Setter
Senior – Germantown, Wisconsin/Germantown
Averaged 10.22 assists/set this past weekend…Tallied 51 in the five-set win over Ohio…41 assists on Friday night against Kent State…Has reached 50 assists five times this season…Entered the weekend ranked fourth in the MAC in assists/set and fifth in assists in MAC play…Averaging 9.52 assists per set in MAC play…Also has at least two blocks in eight of her last nine matches.
 
Meg Wolowicz, NIU, Middle Blocker
Senior – Manitowoc, Wisconsin/Manitowoc
Wolowicz reached 1,000 career kills this weekend as NIU split matches against Akron and Buffalo at Victor E. Court. The senior had 17 kills and hit .324 in the Huskies’ sweep of Akron Friday night. On Saturday, Wolowicz had 18 kills and two aces while hitting .250. Her seventh kill of the match against the Bulls was the 1,000thof her career. Wolowicz averaged 4.38 kills per set this weekend with a .280 hitting percentage.