Mid-American Conference

MAC East Offensive Player of the Week
Jaime Kosiorek, Ohio, Outside Hitter
R-Senior - Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenton
Kosiorek put together a big weekend for Ohio (9-14, 4-6 MAC), hitting at .419 clip with a team-high 37 kills (4.62 per set). She also ranked second on the team with four service aces (0.50 per set) and 29 digs (3.62 per set). Kosiorek broke the program record for career service aces in the rally scoring era in a 3-0 sweep of Western Michigan last Friday (Oct. 19) at the Convocation Center, recording three to bring her career total to 163. She also led the match with 13 kills and a career-best .619 hitting percentage and achieved a double-double with 13 digs. The following day in a tough five-set loss to Northern Illinois at the Convo, Kosiorek hit .340 with a season-high 24 kills to lead the team and posted another double-double with a season-high 16 digs.
 
MAC West Offensive Player of the Week
Cassie Haut, Eastern Michigan, Middle Blocker
R-Junior – Monroe, Michigan/St. Mary Catholic Central
Redshirt junior Cassie Haut was a stalwart on the offensive side of the ball for Eastern in its 1-1 weekend, pounding out 30 total kills and hitting a whopping .500 in seven sets. The Monroe, Mich. native had 17 kills while hitting .344 in the weekend’s opener at Buffalo and followed that up with a 13-kill performance while hitting a personal-record .812 for the match. Haut upped her already-MAC-best attack percentage to .384 over the two matches, and now has her points per set mark at 3.84 for the season.
 
MAC East Defensive Player of the Week
Kristina Nieves, Buffalo, Middle Blocker
Junior – Ringwood, New Jersey/Passaic County Technical Institute
Nieves led the Bulls defensively this past weekend as she averaged 1.75 blocks per set as UB split its two matches. Nieves had a double-double in the win over Eastern Michigan as she finished with 11 kills and 10 blocks, including two solo blocks.  She was strong both defensively and offensively as she added 11 kills, hitting .320 for the match.  On Saturday against Central Michigan, Nieves added four more blocks, while she also finished with six kills and no errors, hitting .500 for the night.  On the season, Nieves is averaging just under 1.00 block per set.
 
MAC West Defensive Player of the Week
Alyssa LaFace, Eastern Michigan, Libero
Senior – Allen Park, Michigan/Allen Park
Senior Alyssa LaFace had another stellar performance for Eastern Michigan over the weekend, putting up a total of 49 digs in its two games for a 7.00 digs per set mark. The Allen Park, Mich. native did not commit a single error in 32 reception chances, upped her season digs per set total to 6.13, and tallied her sixth 30+ dig game of the season with her 35-dig output against Buffalo.
 
MAC East Setter of the Week
Alex Haffner, Kent State, Setter
R-Freshman – Lee’s Summit, Montana/Lee’s Summit North
Alex Haffner averaged 11.22 assists per set, 2.00 digs per set and 1.11 points per set to lead a short-handed Kent State team that was without its top two kills per set leaders to a home weekend sweep. Haffner made good decisions throughout the weekend, as the Golden Flashes hit .264 as a team and had four players total 24 or more kills over the two matches. She recorded a career-high 61 assists which is the fourth-most during seventh-year head coach Don Gromala's tenure and added 12 digs for her 10th double-double of the season in Friday’s 3-2 victory over Northern Illinois. Haffner added 40 assists, six digs and a career-high six kills Saturday in a 3-1 win against Western Michigan.
 
MAC West Setter of the Week
Mallory Rajewski, Eastern Michigan, Setter (R-Senior – Midland, Michigan/Midland)
Riley Taylor, Eastern Michigan, Setter (Junior – Indianapolis, Indiana/Perry Meridian)
Redshirt senior Mallory Rajewski and junior Riley Taylor orchestrated the Eastern Michigan offense beautifully over the weekend, dolling out a combined 52 assists in the four-set loss at Buffalo, and distributing 36 in the Eagles’ three-set rout of Akron. The two averaged 12.57 assists for the weekend, upping their season average to 12.02, but were also able to contribute on the offense with the attack, finishing with 1.00 kills per set while hitting .429. The pair also provided stout defense, putting up 5.43 digs per set. Overall, the two contributed to a weekend in which the Green and White hit .268 as a whole, including an outstanding .354 output at Akron.

 
Other Nominees
Grace Balensiefer, NIU, Setter
Freshman – Lafayette, Indiana/McCutcheon
Balensiefer averaged 8.80 assists per set this weekend as NIU split a pair of five-set matches at Kent State and Ohio. On Friday night, the freshman setter had 28 assists and 12 digs as the Huskies rallied from two sets down to force a fifth set at Kent State. She then had another career night in Saturday’s 3-2 win at Ohio. Balensiefer became the first NIU setter since 2015 to have at least 60 assists in a match and added a career-high 20 digs for her ninth double-double of the season.
 
Zoe Birnbrich, Toledo, Middle Hitter
Junior – Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman
Hit above .300 in both matches this weekend, including a 19-kill, .429 hitting effort against Miami…Now has eight 15+ kill performances this season and she has hit above .400 eight times as well…Tallied eight kills on 13 attempts with just one error in the third set victory against the RedHawks; Four kills and hit .333 in the first set win at Bowling Green…Played four straight sets this weekend without committing an attack error: the final three sets and BGSU and the first set at Miami…Hitting .314 in MAC play with 2.92 kills per set.
 
Kendall Braate, Central Michigan, Setter (Freshman – Bryon Center, Michigan/Bryon Center)
Grace Butler, Central Michigan, Setter (Sophomore – Hawthorn Woods, Illinois/Carmel)
 
Ellie Dunn, Ball State, Outside Hitter
Senior – Sugar Grove, Illinois/Kaneland
Senior outside attacker Ellie Dunn had an outstanding weekend on both offense and defense to help the Cardinals maintain the top spot in the Mid-American Conference West Division. On offense, Dunn averaged 4.38 kills per set and hit .225 (35-12-102) for the week. She scored 20 kills in BSU’s five-set loss to MAC-leading Miami, while following with 15 kills in the sweep of then-MAC East Division co-leader Bowling Green. She also served up an ace in the win over the Falcons. On defense, Dunn averaged an impressive 4.00 digs per set and added a 1.12 blocks per set average for good measure. She logged kill/dig double-doubles in both matches over the weekend, starting with 18 digs at Miami. She followed with 14 digs in the sweep of the Falcons. Dunn also logged nine total blocks on the weekend, with five versus the RedHawks and four against the Falcons. Both her 4.00 digs-per-set average and her 1.12 blocks-per-set average were well above her season averages, with her blocking mark more than doubling her season average.
 
Erin Gardner, Kent State, Libero
Freshman – Avon, Ohio/Avon
Erin Gardner helped Kent State sweep its weekend opponents with a team-high average of 4.56 digs per set. Gardner tallied 22 digs, including six in the fifth set, in Friday’s five-set victory over Northern Illinois. She added a match-high 19 digs and five assists on Saturday as the Golden Flashes took down Western Michigan in four sets. Gardner was key in Kent State’s terrific serve-receive effort, going perfect in her 57 opportunities. Her 424 digs on the season are the third-most by a freshman in Kent State history.
 
Abigail Huser, Miami, Libero
Sophomore -Westfield, Indiana/Westfield
Huser helped lead the defense to a 2-0 record last weekend and sole possession of first place in the MAC. She was the starting libero in both matches and recorded 43 digs, an average of 6.14 digs per set. After getting 13 digs in the victory over Ball State on Friday, Huser set a new career high with an impressive 30 digs in a four-set win over Toledo on Saturday.
 
Megan Kern, Central Michigan, Libero
Junior – Lagrange, Illinois/Lyons Township
 
Melissa Kolurbasi, Kent State, Opposite
Freshman – Istanbul, Turkey/Anabilim Anatonlian
Melissa Kolurbasi had the best weekend of her collegiate career, averaging 2.78 kills per set with a .396 hitting percentage. Kolurbasi posted career-high with 14 kills and a .387 hitting percentage in Friday’s 3-2 victory against Northern Illinois. The following night, she bested that with a new career-high hitting percentage of .409 while totaling 11 kills in Kent State’s 3-1 win over Western Michigan. The freshman from Istanbul, Turkey has recorded double-figure kills in three of the last four matches. Kolurbasi is hitting a team-best .287 during conference play.
 
Maurissa Leonard, Toledo, Libero
Senior – Oregon, Ohio/St. Ursula Academy
Twenty-eight digs each in the matches at Bowling Green and Miami over the weekend…Led all players in digs in the match against the Falcons…Eight digs in each of the first three sets against the RedHawks…Ten digs in the third set against BGSU…Averaging 6.01 digs/set this season, 5.67 in MAC play…2,140 career digs after this weekend…Seven matches this season in which she has averaged at least 7.00 digs per set
 
Scout McLerran, Buffalo, Setter
Junior – Friendsville, Tennessee/Webb School
Junior setter Scout McLerran averaged 12.25 assists per set over the weekend as the Bulls split a pair of matches.  In UB’s four-set win over Eastern Michigan, McLerran had 51 assists in the marathon victory. McLerran also added 12 digs and two kills in the win over Eastern Michigan.  On Saturday evening, McLerran added 47 more assists and seven digs against Central Michigan.
 
Amber Seaman, Ball State, Setter
Junior – Carmel, Indiana/Brebeuf
Junior setter Amber Seaman turned in another pair of solid performances over the weekend, helping keep the Cardinals in first place in the MAC West Division by handing out 10.88 assists-per-set, including 39 assists in Saturday’s sweep of then-MAC East Division co-leader Bowling Green. Seaman started the week with 48 assists and 12 digs for her fourth double-double of the season in Friday’s five-set loss at MAC-leading Miami. She also served up a pair of aces and secured five kills in the victory. In Saturday’s sweep of the Falcons, Seaman averaged 13.00 assists per set, while adding four digs and a kill. In addition, Seaman tallied five total blocks on the week, with three at Miami and two at BGSU.
 
Courtney Simons, Miami, Middle Hitter
Senior – McCordsville, Indiana/Brebeuf
Simons had the best weekend of her career as she led Miami to a pair of victories that gave it sole possession of first place in the MAC. After never having more than seven kills in a match during her first 3 and a half seasons with the RedHawks, she put down a total of 26 in two matches. She made only seven errors in 46 attempts for an attack percentage of .413. Simons began the weekend with a career-high 16 kills to help lead Miami to a come-from-behind victory over MAC West Division leader Ball State. She had a fantastic .565 attack percentage and also contributed two blocks. Simons followed that up with another 10 kills in a four-set win over Toledo on Saturday. She scored 27.0 points over the weekend, an average of 3.00 points per set.
 
Kallie Seimet, Bowling Green, Libero
Senior – Oregon, Ohio/Clay
Throughout a big weekend in which the Bowling Green Falcons faced rival school Toledo and MAC West Leaders, Kallie Seimet remained calm and cool, and played perfect matches from her end, having no receive errors against two very tough opponents. Seimet registered 27 digs versus Toledo, and 26 digs versus Ball State, for an impressive weekend average of 7.57 digs per set. Despite being the libero, Seimet had a “kill” against Toledo, after digging for a ball and redirecting it into an empty space of the opponent’s side.
 
Kalina Smith, Central Michigan, Outside Hitter
Sophomore – Powell, Wyoming/Campbell Country
Smith recorded a career-high 21 kills in Friday’s five set loss at Akron and a career-best .517 hitting percentage in Saturday’s 3-1 win at Buffalo. 
 
Meg Wolowicz, NIU, Middle Blocker
Senior – Manitowoc, Wisconsin/Manitowoc
Wolowicz had back-to-back matches with at least 20 kills this weekend as NIU split five-set matches at Kent State and Akron. The senior had 20 kills in the Huskies’ 3-2 loss at Kent State Friday night. Eleven of her kills came in sets three and four as NIU rallied from two sets down to force a fifth set. On Saturday, Wolowicz led all players with 24 kills as NIU won 3-2 at Ohio. She hit .293 in the match and added 16 digs for her fourth double-double of the season.