Setter of the Week Added to Volleyball Weekly Awards
East Offensive Player of the Week
Andrea Mitrovic, Buffalo, OH
Sophomore – Mississauga, Ontario/Silverthorne Institute
Sophomore Andrea Mitrovic has a pair of dominating performance this past weekend as she was named to the All-Tournament at the Blue and White Classic. Mitrovic has back-to-back 20-kill performances, beginning with 20 kills in the win over Seton Hall where she completed the double-double with 15 digs. Mitrovic followed that performance up on Saturday against North Dakota State with 22 kills. She hit .390 for the two matches as she had just 10 combined errors on 82 swings this weekend.
West Offensive Player of the Week
Ellie Dunn, Ball State, OH
Senior -Sugar Grove, Illinois/Kaneland
Senior outside hitter Ellie Dunn was named to the Dayton Invitational All-Tournament Team after leading the Ball State offense with a 3.83 kills per set average and hitting .336 over the course of opening weekend. Dunn registered double-digit kills in all three matches, starting with a season-high 17 in the win over South Alabama. She followed with 16 kills versus tournament host Dayton and added 13 in the sweep of Marshall. Her kill totals versus South Alabama and Marshall was also match-highs. Dunn was just as impressive on defense, recording a career-high 10 digs versus both South Alabama and Dayton for her first two career double-doubles. She finished the weekend with a 2.33 digs-per-set average and also led Ball State’s primary passers with a .967 (59-for-61) reception percentage. In addition, Dunn served up her first three career service aces against Dayton.
East Defensive Player of the Week
Taylor Sharrits, Akron, DB
Sophomore – Concord, Ohio/Lake Catholic
Sophomore libero Taylor Sharrits was named to the Fullerton/Riverside Classic All-Tournament team after averaging a team-best 6.07 digs per set, 85 digs. Sharrits led the back-row defense in all three matches, including a career-high 32 digs to help Akron to a 3-2 victory over Cal State Fullerton in the season opener.
West Defensive Player of the Week
Maurissa Leonard, Toledo, L
Senior – Oregon, Ohio/Sr. Ursula
Averaged 6.67 digs per set over the weekend…Tallied 31 digs in the season opener against Northern Kentucky, 22 against Notre Dame, and 27 against Weber State…Averaged 9.33 digs/set in sets won over the weekend…Just three reception errors in 68 attempts…Now just 16 digs away from becoming Toledo’s all-time career leader in digs.
East Setter of the Week
Scout McLerran, Buffalo, Setter
Junior – Friendsville, Tennessee/Webb School
Junior setter Scout McLerran led the Bulls to a 3-0 record this weekend as she played all 11 sets as the team’s primary setter. McLerran averaged 12.18 assists per set in the perfect week for the Bulls. It began on Friday morning against Niagara when she had 43 assists in a three-set win over the Purple Eagles. She added 47 assists in the victory against Big East foe Seton Hall and she finished the weekend with 44 assists against North Dakota State. Offensively, McLerran also hit .600 in two of the three matches for the Bulls as she finished with just one hitting error. McLerran completed the weekend with 18 total digs, including nine against Niagara.
West Setter of the Week
Amber Seaman, Ball State, Setter
Junior – Carmel, Indiana/Brebeuf
Junior setter Amber Seaman earned Dayton Invitational All-Tournament Team honors after leading the Ball State offense to a .231 attack percentage over the weekend, dishing out 117 assists for a 9.75 assists-per-set average … Ball State hit a season-best .385 (48-11-96) in the victory over Marshall, marking the team's best attack percentage in a match since a .396 (45-7-96) effort in a sweep of Buffalo on Sept. 30, 2017 … Seaman also led all Ball State players with five aces over the weekend, while logging five total blocks and registering 20 digs.
Other Nominees
Kate Avila, Ball State, Libero
Junior – Yorktown, Indiana/Yorktown
Junior libero Kate Avila was credited with double-digit digs in all three matches of the Dayton Invitational, and has now reached double figures in 32 consecutive matches and 61 times over her career. Her 28 digs versus Dayton were the seventh-best single match total in her career. Avila has played in all 256 sets over her Ball State career, playing the last 252 as the team’s libero.
Grace Balensiefer, NIU, Setter
Freshman – Lafayette, Indiana/McCutcheon
Balensiefer averaged over five assists per set this weekend, leading NIU in assists in each match at the NIU Invitational. In her debut Friday night, Balensiefer dished out 30 assists with two aces and eight digs. On Saturday, she recorded her first career double-double with 28 assists and 11 digs against Xavier. She wrapped up the weekend with 14 assists and seven digs against Oklahoma.
Larra Bickelhaupt, Buffalo, L
Senior – Cape Coral, Florida/Oasis
Senior libero Larra Bickelhaupt was named the Most Valuable Player at the Blue and White Classic this past weekend as she helped the Bulls to a perfect 3-0 record. Bickelhaupt led the Bulls with 41 digs, including 20 digs in the win over Big East foe, Seton Hall. Bickelhaupt was one of UB’s best passers this weekend as she had just one receiving error on 58 total chances. Bickelhaupt also added 14 assists and seven service aces, including four against Seton Hall.
Zoe Birnbrich, Toledo, MH
Junior -Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman
Hit a team-best .359 in the season-opening Golden Dome Invitational…16 kills in the season opener against Northern Kentucky, also had two solo blocks and five block assists in that match…Just seven attack errors in 64 attempts…Tallied one solo block and two block assists in each of the two Saturday matches against Notre Dame and Weber State…Nine kills against Weber State.
Rachel Bontrager, Western Michigan, OH
Junior – Valparaiso, Indiana/Valparaiso
Rachel Bontrager was named to the UMKC Invitational All-Tournament team after leading the Broncos in kills in each of the three matches. On Saturday against South Dakota State, Bontrager recorded her first double-double of the season with 20 kills and 10 digs. Against SDSU, Bontrager also collected four blocks to go along with three service aces. After the weekend, Bontrager leads the MAC with 4.36 kills per set.
Lindsay Dauch, Miami, Libero
Junior – Bloomfield Hills, Michigan/Bloomfield Hills
Dauch earned the libero shirt for all three matches at Miami’s home tournament over the weekend. She led the RedHawks with 40 digs, an average of 4.00 digs per set. She helped the Miami defense to hold opponents to only a .211 attack percentage on the weekend. Dauch recorded 14 digs against Saint Louis and 19 digs in five set match versus Santa Barbara. She had seven digs in first two sets against Cincinnati before an injury forced her out of the rest of the match. Dauch made only one reception error in 34 attempts for a .971 reception percentage.
Kathryn Ellison, Kent State, OH
Freshman – Novi, Michigan/Novi
Kathryn Ellison opened her collegiate career with All-Tournament Team honors at the North Texas Invitational. Ellison was Kent State’s top offensive option in all three matches and finished the weekend with averages of 3.83 points and 3.33 kills per set to go with a .254 hitting percentage. The freshman outsider hitter tallied 11 kills, 3 block assists and 2 aces to lead the Golden Flashes to a 3-0 sweep of Grambling State in the season opener. Ellison then recorded her first collegiate double-double with 12 kills and 13 digs against Nicholls, another 3-0 sweep. In the championship match of the tournament, she posted a team-high 7 kills.
Maddie Fogg, Toledo, Setter
Freshman – Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty
Registered 51 assists in her collegiate debut against Northern Kentucky; also had 14 digs…Recorded her second double-double of the weekend against Weber State, in which she had 45 assists and 12 digs…Six kills and three block assists against Northern Kentucky.
Cassie Haut, Eastern Michigan, MB
RJunior – Monroe, Michigan/St. Mary Catholic Central
Haut was named to the St. John’s Kaiser Classic All-Tournament team for her outstanding weekend performance. The redshirt junior had double-digit kill efforts in all three matches she played in, averaging 3.64 kills per set at an exceptional .466 attack percentage. The Monroe, Mich. native set a new personal-best in terms of attack percentage with her .652 mark (15 kills, 0 errors, 23 attempts) against Central Connecticut State, topping her mark she set against UT Martin during the 2015 season (12 kills, 0 errors, 19 attacks, .632%). Haut also averaged 4.0 blocks per match (1.09 per set), turning aside a season-high five in the Eagles’ five-set loss to the Big East’s St. John’s. The middle blocker also held the top mark for her position in the MAC West in total kills (40) and kills per set (3.64), while adding a second-best for blocks per set (1.09) and third-best for total blocks (12).
Jasmine Kemp, NIU, MB
Freshman – DeKalb, Illinois/DeKalb
Kemp led NIU with 14 blocks this weekend in the NIU Invitational against DePaul, Xavier, and Oklahoma. The freshman had five rejections in her Huskie debut against DePaul on Aug. 24, adding six kills while hitting .545. After having two blocks against Xavier, Kemp had seven against Oklahoma to close the tournament. Five of her seven blocks came in the second set of that match which NIU won 25-17, the only set the Sooners dropped on the weekend.
Sammi Labolle, Western Michigan, MB
Freshman -Sandwich, Illinois/Sandwich
In her collegiate debut against Austin Peay at the UMKC Invitational, Labolle had seven kills with a .385 attack percentage and two blocks. Labolle nearly matched her previous performance against UMKC, collecting a career-high four blocks (2 solo, 2 assists) to go along with four digs and six kills. Against South Dakota State, Labolle earned three blocks and matched her career high with seven kills in the 3-1 victory for the Broncos.
Mary Murphy, Western Michigan, Setter
Senior - Wilmington, Illinois/Joliet Catholic
On the weekend at the UMKC Invitational, Murphy registered 91 assists including a 29 assists performance against Austin Peay and a 45-assist outing against South Dakota State. Against SDSU, Murphy notched her first double-double of the season with 45 assists and 13 digs as the Broncos won their first match of the season. Murphy also collected eight blocks on the weekend, which ranks as the third most on WMU. With 91 kills, Murphy now ranks 4thall-time at WMU in career assists.
Margaret Payne, Miami, MH
Junior – Bloomfield Hills, Michigan/Cranbrook Kingswood
Payne earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team at the Miami Best Western Sycamore Inn Invitational this past weekend. She was the RedHawks’ leading hitter with 13 kills, an average of 2.69 per set. She made only seven attack errors in 66 attempts for an impressive hitting percentage of .424. Payne contributed at the net with nine total blocks in the three matches. She put down nine kills in helping lead Miami to sweep of Saint Louis. She finished with 12 more against UCSB. In the five-set victory over Cincinnati, Payne had 14 kills and had a .480 attack percentage for the match. She scored 40.5 points over the weekend, an average of 3.12 points per set.
Mallory Rajewski, Eastern Michigan, Setter
RSenior -Midland, Michigan/Midland
Named to the St. John’s Kaiser Classic All-Tournament team after leading Eastern Michigan to a 3-1 record to start the season. The Redshirt senior set a new career-high for assists in a three-set match, distributing 40 in the Eagles’ sweep of Central Connecticut State. The total ties the mark for fifth-most assists in a three-set match since the modern statistical era began (2008). The Midland, Mich. native added 15 assists against the Blue Devils and another 17 against tournament host St. John’s, giving her double-doubles in two of the three matches she played in on the weekend. Overall, EMU hit .275 as a team in matches that Rajewski played in, including a .303 mark against Fordham.
Ashley Richardson, Akron, MB
Junior -Doylestown, Ohio/Chippewa
Junior middle blocker Ashley Richardson set a new career high of 15 kills to help the Zips to a 3-1 win over Montana. Richardson also posted 10 kills against Eastern Washington. The junior averaged a .359 hitting percentage over the course of a three-match weekend.
Morgan Seaman, Miami, Setter
Sophomore – Carmel, Indiana/Carmel
Seaman had a fantastic week as part of Miami’s 6-2 setter system in helping lead from the back row. She had a team-leading 73 assists, an average of 5.62 per set. She also came up huge defensively with 35 digs, an average of 2.69 per set. That included a team-high 18 digs in leading the RedHawks to a come-from-behind five-set win over rival Cincinnati on Saturday. Seaman led Miami in digs in every match at its home tournament, recording 21 against Saint Louis in three sets, 29 against UC Santa Barbara and 23 against Cincinnati. She had two double-doubles on the weekend (assists and digs).
Jordan Smith, Eastern Michigan, OH
Senior – Solon, Iowa/Solon
Jordan Smith was named to the St. John’s Kaiser Classic after one of her best four-match stretches during her career. The senior had double-digit kill efforts in three of four matches she played in, falling short against Manhattan having only played one set. The Solon, Iowa, native averaged 3.92 kills per set, 2.08 digs per set, and had a .273 attack percentage over the weekend. Smith’s .433 attack percentage against Fordham, where she finished with 15 kills and eight digs, was a career-best for single match attack percentage. She added a season-high 17 kills against St. John’s, and earned her first double-double of the year with 13 digs.
Emily Weigand, Akron, Setter
Sophomore – Burton, Ohio/Notre Dame Cathedral Latin School
Sophomore setter Emily Weigand dished out 107 set assists, 7.64 assists per set, in the Zips three matches at the Fullerton/Riverside Classic. Weigands opening weekend of the 2018 season was highlighted with a team-best 45 assists to help the Zips to a 3-2 victory over Montana. The Burton, Ohio native also tied her career high of 13 digs in Akron's win over Cal State Fullerton.
Meg Wolowicz, NIU, MB
Senior – Manitowoc, Wisconsin/Manitowoc Lincoln
Wolowicz was named to the NIU Invitational All-Tournament Team after leading the Huskies with 3.77 kills per set and a .240 hitting percentage. She set two career-highs on Saturday. Wolowicz put down 24 kills against Xavier, then had a career-high nine digs against Oklahoma.
