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 five-set matches this past weekend.  In a tough five-set loss at Miami on Friday night, Mitrovic had a match-high 28 kills, hitting .228 for the match.  In the win over Bowling Green, Mitrovic added 17 more kills and she finished with 16 digs as she notched another double-double.  For the weekend, Mitrovic averaged 4.50 kills per set.
 
MAC West Offensive Player of the Week
Ellie Dunn, Ball State, Outside Hitter
Senior – Sugar Grove, Illinois/Kaneland
Senior outside attacker Ellie Dunn had an outstanding weekend averaging 3.83 kills per set and hitting .309 (23-6-55) in sweeps of MAC West Division rivals Northern Illinois (Oct 26) and Western Michigan (Oct 27). Her biggest kill of the weekend came at the 23-12 mark of the opening set Friday versus the Huskies, when she blasted her 1,000th career kill off the NIU block to become just the 11th player in program history to reached 1,000 career kills and the first since the 2009 season. Dunn finished the match with 14 kills and was just as impressive on defense with 15 digs. In Saturday’s win over the Huskies, Dunn led the Ball State offense with nine kills and added seven digs and three total blocks.
 
MAC East Defensive Player of the Week
Erin Gardner, Kent State, Libero
Freshman – Avon, Ohio/Avon
Erin Gardner averaged 5.25 digs per set to help Kent State conclude its homestand with a 3-1 record. In addition to tallying 28 digs, Gardner recorded her second match-winning ace of the season on Saturday against Central Michigan. She added 14 digs in Thursday’s ‘Dig for a Cure’ match vs. Ohio. Gardner’s 466 digs rank eighth on Kent State’s single-season digs list.
 
MAC West Defensive Player of the Week
Kate Avila, Ball State, Libero
Junior – Yorktown, Indiana/Yorktown
Ball State junior libero Kate Avila averaged 6.00 digs-per-set and posted a .967 (29-for-30) reception percentage in sweeps of Northern Illinois (Oct. 26) and Western Michigan (Oct. 27) last weekend. In the win over the Huskies, Avila collected 14 digs and earned a perfect reception percentage in 16 attempts. She followed with 22 digs and a .929 (13-for-14) reception percentage in the sweep of the Broncos. Overall, her play in the back court helped limit Ball State’s opponents to a combined .096 attack percentage for the week. 
 
MAC East Setter of the Week
Vera Giacomazzi, Ohio, Setter
Sophomore – San Vendemiano, Italy/Liceo Scientifico G. Marconi
Giacomazzi led Ohio (11-14, 6-6 MAC) with 81 assists (13.50 per set) last weekend as the Bobcats swept both Kent State and Eastern Michigan. She distributed 43 assists as the Bobcats earned a road win over the Golden Flashes last Thursday (Oct. 25), then notched 38 assists in the victory over the Eagles at home at the Convocation Center.
 
MAC West Setter of the Week
Amber Seaman, Ball State, Setter
Junior – Carmel, Indiana/Brebeuf
Junior setter Amber Seaman turned in another pair of solid performances over the weekend, leading the Cardinals to sweeps of MAC West Division rivals Northern Illinois (Oct 26) and Western Michigan (Oct 27) by averaging 11.17 assists per set and running the offense at a combined .237 clip. In Friday’s sweep of the Huskies, Seaman dished out 37 assists and guided the offense to a .374 attack percentage, which ties as the team’s third-best hitting mark of the season. She also served up a pair of aces and tallied two block assists. Saturday’s sweep of the Broncos was a milestone night for Seaman, who became just the sixth player in program history to reach 3,000 career assists and just the 19th player in BSU annals to serve up 100 career aces. She finished the night with 30 assists, raising her career total to 3,023, and a pair of aces, upping her career total to 101. She also collected 12 digs in the win for her fifth double-double of the season, while also adding three block assists.
 

 
Other Nominees
Grace Balensiefer, NIU, Setter
Freshman – Lafayette, Indiana/McCutcheon
Balensiefer averaged 8.43 assists per set as the Huskies split matches at Ball State and Toledo this weekend. The freshman setter started the week with 30 assists and seven digs at Ball State Friday night. She then had 29 assists and two blocks in NIU’s four-set win at Toledo.
 
Larra Bickelhaupt, Buffalo, Libero
Senior – Cape Coral, Florida/Oasis
Senior libero Larra Bickelhaupt was all over the floor defensively for the Bulls this past weekend as they split a pair of five-set matches on the road at the top two teams in the MAC East. On Friday at Miami, Bickelhaupt had 25 digs, while also recording just one reception error on 44 attempts. Bickelhaupt also got involved offensively with six assists and a kill.  On Saturday, Bickelhaupt helped lead UB to a five-set road win at Bowling Green as she notched 25 more digs in the victory over the Falcons.  For the weekend, Bickelhaupt averaged 5.10 digs per set.
 
Gaby Harper, Miami, Outside Hitter
Freshman – Caledonia, Michigan/Caledonia
Harper continued to show perform as one of the best all-around players in the MAC despite being only a freshman. She had 29 kills in Miami’s two wins, an average of 3.62 per set. She added 28 digs, an average of 3.50 per set. And for good measure she contributed five blocks, an average of 0.62 per set. In a big five-set win over Buffalo on Friday, Harper recorded a double-double with 17 kills and an impressive 20 digs. She also had three blocks (one solo and two assisted). Harper followed that up by nearly getting another double-double the next night against Akron. She had 12 kills and eight digs in only three sets. She made only two errors in 23 attempts for an attack percentage of .435. Harper had a .296 attack percentage for the week and was perfect in all 32 reception attempts she saw. She scored an impressive 32.0 points in the two matches, an average of 4.00 per set.
 
Abigail Huser, Miami, Libero
Sophomore -Westfield, Indiana/Westfield
Huser had a nearly perfect weekend defensively in leading Miami to two wins and upping its win streak to nine consecutive matches. She had 40 digs, an average of 5.00 digs per set. That included an impressive 27 digs in the five-set come-from-behind victory over Buffalo on Friday. She added six assists and a service ace in that win. Huser followed that up with 13 digs in a straight set victory over Akron on Saturday. Huser was perfect in 34 reception attempts over the two matches.
 
Miranda Karlen, NIU, Libero
Sophomore – Evansville, Wisconsin/Evansville
Karlen led NIU with 5.86 digs per set this weekend at Ball State and Toledo. The sophomore led the match at Ball State last Friday with 16 digs and three aces. On Saturday night, Karlen had 25 digs as the Huskies won at Toledo 3-1. It was her eighth match this season with at least 25 digs.
 
Maurissa Leonard, Toledo, Libero
Senior – Oregon, Ohio/St. Ursula Academy
29 digs and three service aces in the five-set win over Western Michigan…Tallied 13 digs in the second set against the Broncos, a set that Toledo won 25-23…Just one reception error in 29 attempts against WMU…18 digs and four aces against NIU, also had a reception percentage of .935…Reception percentage of .952 in MAC contests this season…Averaging 5.93 digs per set this year…20+ digs in nine MAC matches.
 
Stephanie Olman, Ohio, Right Side Hitter
Senior – Maumee, Ohio/Anthoy Wayne
Olman hit .395 for the weekend and tied for the team lead with 20 kills (3.33 per set) to help the Ohio volleyball team (11-14, 6-6 MAC) sweep a pair of matches. Olman hit at a .571 clip and led the Bobcats with 12 kills in a 3-0 victory at Kent State last Thursday (Oct. 25).
 
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 had another strong weekend as a setting duo despite Eastern Michigan going 0-2. The pair dished out 54 assists against Central Michigan while also collecting 19 digs, and followed it up with a 25-assist, 17-dig performance at Ohio. The two setters averaged 11.29 assists per set over the two matches, and also put up 5.14 digs per set.
 
Macy Reihing, Ohio, Defensive Specialist/Libero
Sophomore – Lexington, Kentucky/Tates Creek
Reihing led Ohio (11-14, 6-6 MAC) with 30 digs (5.00 per set) last weekend as the Bobcats earned a pair of sweeps. She did not commit a reception error in 37 attempts. Reihing tallied 15 digs in both the win at Kent State last Thursday (Oct. 25) and the victory over Eastern Michigan on Saturday (Oct. 27).
 
Morgan Seaman, Miami, Setter
Sophomore – Carmel, Indiana/Carmel
With the help of their sophomore setter Morgan Seaman, the RedHawks increased their win streak to nine with a pair of victories this past weekend. As part of Miami’s 6-2 system she had a team-leading 43 assists, an average of 5.38 per set. Seaman again showed her importance defensively, recording a double-double with 27 assists and 10 digs in the big 3-2 win over Buffalo on Friday. She followed that up with 16 more assists and four digs against Akron in a straight set win on Saturday, while captaining the team to a .286 attack percentage.
 
Danie Tyson, Kent State, Middle Blocker
Freshman – South Holland, Illinois/Chicago Christian
Danie Tyson helped Kent State conclude its homestand with a 3-1 record by leading the offense with 3.06 points and 2.62 kills per set. Tyson hit better than .300 in both matches and posted a .333 hitting percentage for the week. She led the Golden Flashes with nine kills in Thursday’s ‘Dig for a Cure’ match vs. Ohio. Tyson added 12 kills and five total blocks in Saturday’s victory over Central Michigan.