Mid-American Conference

MAC East Offensive Player of the Week
Margaret Payne, Miami, Middle Hitter
Senior – Bloomfield, Michigan/Cranbrook Kingswood
Senior middle hitter Margaret Payne’s consistent attack helped Miami to a pair of victories this past week. She had 21 kills in two matches, an average of 2.62 kills per set. She added eight blocks (one solo, seven assisted), an average of 1.00 blocks per set. Payne made only five errors in 40 attempts, hitting .400 for the week. She started with six kills and three blocks to help the RedHawks to a 3-0 sweep of Bowling Green on Thursday. She followed that up with a season-high 15 kills in Miami’s thrilling 3-2 victory over Northern Illinois Saturday. She hit .542 for the match. For the week Payne scored 25.5 points, an average of 3.19 points per set.
 
MAC West Offensive Player of the Week
Cassie Haut, Eastern Michigan, Middle Blocker/Right Side
R-Senior - Monroe, Michigan/Monroe
Redshirt senior Cassie Haut, the reigning MAC Tournament MVP and All-MAC selection, was impressive for Eastern as they hosted a Friday-Saturday doubleheader, Oct. 11-12, against Toledo, and Ball State, Respectively. Haut paced EMU with 16 kills in its four-set win over MAC West foe Toledo, before again leading EMU with 21 kills one night later, a tough five-set loss to Ball State. Overall, Haut finished the weekend with a .378 hitting percentage. Her .329 season hitting average is good for eighth in the Mid-American Conference.
 
MAC East Defensive Player of the Week
Dahlias Bouyer, Ohio, Middle Blocker
R-Sophomore – Brownstown, Michigan/Romulus
Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Dahlias Bouyer was stellar on both offense and defense in Ohio’s two road wins last weekend. Bouyer had seven blocks in each of her four set matches, including three solo stuffs against Akron and two against Buffalo. Seven blocks tied her career best. In the win over the Zips, Bouyer had 10 kills and didn’t commit an error while hitting a red hot .625. Bouyer had eight kills in the victory over Buffalo and had 18 total kills with an attacking clip of .441 over the weekend. Bouyer averaged 1.75 blocks per set and 2.25 kills last weekend. 
 
MAC West Defensive Player of the Week
Kalina Smith, Central Michigan, Outside Hitter
Junior – Powell, Wyoming/Campbell County
Junior outside hitter Kalina Smith turned in a stellar week on defense as the Chippewas claimed home victories over Ball State and Toledo and ran their win streak to 11-straight. The Powell, Wyo., native racked up 45 digs over the two- game stretch finishing with a career-high 26 in Friday’s 3-1 win over the Cardinals and followed it up with 19 in a five-set victory over the Rockets on Saturday. Smith also chipped in at the net with seven total blocks on the weekend. She also continued as a key contributor on the CMU attack totaling 27 kills. 
 
MAC East Setter of the Week
Morgan Seaman, Miami, Setter (Junior - Carmel, Indiana/Carmel)
Louise Comerford, Miami, Setter (Sophomore – Belleville, Illinois/Althoff Catholic)
Miami’s 6-2 setter combination of junior Morgan Seaman and sophomore Louise Comerford combined to help Miami to one of its better offensive weeks of the season in two victories last week. They each finished with 46 assists on the weekend. Their combined total of 92 assists averaged 11.50 assists per set. Each was equally important in each victory. Against Bowling Green on Thursday, both Seaman and Comerford recorded 18 assists apiece. On Saturday in a dramatic five-set win over NIU, they tied again for the assist lead, each recording 28. Seaman had a double-double with 11 digs in the Falcon match. She averaged 2.12 digs per set over the week. Comerford had 12 digs and averaged 1.50 digs per set.
 
MAC West Setter of the Week
Kendall Braate, Central Michigan, Setter (Sophomore – Byron Center, Michigan/Byron Center)
Grace Butler, Central Michigan, Setter (Junior – Hawthorn Hills, Illinois/Carmel Central)
Central Michigan 6-2 setter pairing Grace Butler and Kendall Braate helped lead the Chippewas to another 2-0 weekend of conference play and their 11th-striaght win defeating Ball State and Toledo at home. Butler, a junior from Hawthorn Woods, Ill., led the Chippewas with 30 assists in Friday’s 3-1 win over the Cardinals and followed it up with 25 assists in Saturday’s five-set victory over the Rockets. Braate, a sophomore from Byron Center, Mich., posted 24 assists against Ball State but led the team with 27 against the Rockets on Saturday. 
 

  
Other Nominees
Grace Balensiefer, NIU, Setter
Sophomore – Lafayette, Indiana/McCutcheon
Balensiefer averaged 7.30 assists per set as NIU split five-set matches against Western Michigan and Miami… The sophomore had her fourth double-double of the season in the Huskies win at Western Michigan Thursday night with 35 assists and 15 digs, adding a pair of aces… Had 38 assists and two blocks against Miami Saturday night.
 
Paige Beck, Buffalo, Libero
Sophomore – Toledo, Ohio/Sylvania Northview
Sophomore Paige Beck led the Bulls defensively in the two matches this past weekend.  On Friday night, she averaged just under six digs a set with 17 in a three-set contest against Kent State.  Beck then added 20 more digs on Saturday night against the Ohio Bobcats.  She also added three service aces this past weekend, including two against the Golden Flashes.  She chipped in seven assists.
 
Morgan Copley, Kent State, Opposite
Freshman – Aurora, Ohio/Aurora
Morgan Copley posted 2.86 kills per set and a .356 hitting percentage to lead Kent State to a split on the third weekend of Mid-American Conference competition. Copley totaled 20 kills and hit at a .333 clip or better in both of the Golden Flashes’ matches. In addition to eight kills in Friday’s match at Buffalo, she had a big swing that led to an overpass and easy putaway for teammate Savannah Matthews to end a five-point UB run that gave Kent State a 22-20 lead in the opening set of the 3-0 victory. Copley added 12 kills in a rivalry contest Saturday night.
 
Erin Gardner, Kent State, Libero
Sophomore – Avon, Ohio/Avon
Erin Gardner averaged 4.71 digs per set during the third weekend of Mid-American Conference competition. Gardner posted 14 digs Friday at Buffalo and added a match-high 19 digs Saturday at Akron.
 
Alex Haffner, Kent State, Setter
R-Sophomore – Lee’s Summit, Missouri/Lee’s Summit North
Alex Haffner posted averages of 11.57 assists and 2.00 digs per set as Kent State returned to a 5-1 offense this past weekend. Haffner was also an aggressive attacker, registering 1.57 kills per set and a .526 hitting percentage. She logged 38 assists and a career-best seven kills while running an efficient Golden Flashes offense that hit at a .336 clip to sweep Buffalo on Friday. Haffner recorded a double-double with 43 assists and 11 digs Saturday at Akron.
 
Abigail Huser, Miami, Libero
Junior – Westfield, Indiana/Westfield
Huser led a Miami defense in two wins this past week in which the RedHawks held opponents to .093 attack percentage and forced 58 attack errors. She finished with 36 digs, an average of 4.50 per set. Huser started her week with 11 digs in a sweep against Bowling Green. She followed with a season-high 25 digs to help Miami knock off Northern Illinois in five sets.
 
Miranda Karlen, NIU, Libero
Junior – Evansville, Wisconsin/Evansville
Karlen averaged 4.70 digs per set as NIU split five-set matches against Western Michigan and Miami… The sophomore libero had a season-high 25 digs in the win at Western Michigan Thursday night, adding a pair of aces and six assists… She had 21 digs against Miami Saturday night, marking the first time this season Karlen has had back-to-back 20-dig efforts.
 
Scout McLerran, Buffalo, Setter
Senior – Friendsville, Tennessee/Webb School
Senior Scout McLerran had one of her best matches of the season on Saturday night against the Ohio Bobcats as McLerran finished with a season-best 62 assists in the five-set match.  McLerran helped lead the Bulls to a performance where they hit .291 against Ohio. She also finished with 15 digs in the match.  On Friday night, McLerran was part of a 6-2 offense and chipped in 19 assists before taking over the primary setting duties on Saturday evening.
 
Rhyen Neal, Toledo, Libero
Junior – Yorktown, Indiana/Yorktown
Rhyen Neal averaged 3.89 digs/set last weekend in matches at Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan. She helped the Rockets push MAC-leading CMU to five sets on Saturday, tallying 20 digs against the Chippewas. She recorded seven digs in the second set and four digs plus a service ace in the third set, both of which Toledo won. Neal has double-digit digs in all six MAC matches this season and has reached that benchmark in all but three contests this year.
 
Lexi Nordmann, Buffalo, Middle Blocker
Junior – DeWitt, Michigan/DeWitt
Junior Lexi Nordmann was extremely efficient for the Bulls during their two matches this weekend as she hit .389 from the middle.  On Friday night, Nordmann had eight kills and just one error as she hit .467 against the Golden Flashes.  On Saturday, Nordmann finished with nine kills in a five-set match against Ohio, registering just two errors.  Nordmann also paced the Buffalo blocking attack with five against the Bobcats.  She leads Buffalo this season in hitting percentage at .310.
 
Ashley Richardson, Akron, Middle Blocker
Senior – Doylestown, Ohio/Chippewa
Ashley Richardson did a solid job offensively this weekend for the Zips. In the loss to Ohio, she finished with 11 kills and a .310 hitting percentage while adding 3 blocks. In the win over Kent State, she finished with 13 kills and 0 errors, good for a team-high .464 hitting percentage. She also added 4 blocks. 
 
Lisbeth Rosario-Martinez, Central Michigan, Middle Blocker
Junior – Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Arizona Western CC
Junior middle blocker Lisbeth Rosario-Martinez had an outstanding week offensively this past week as the Chippewas gathered a pair of home wins over Ball State and Toledo and ran their win streak to 11-straight. On Friday’s 3-1 victory over the Cardinals, the Santo Domingo, D.R., native, posted a team-best .483 hitting percentage to go along with a season-high 16 kills. She followed it up with a 15-kill performance in Saturday’s five-set win over the Rockets. Rosario-Martinez also along chipped in at the net with six total blocks on the weekend. 
 
Camille Schomer, Eastern Michigan, Libero
Senior - Rochester, Michigan/Oakland Christian
Senior Camille Schomer was instrumental for the Eastern Michigan University volleyball in its Friday-Saturday doubleheader against Toledo, and Ball State, Oct. 11-12. Against Toledo, Schomer recorded 23 digs, and had just one reception error. The Rochester native followed up her impressive start to the weekend with a 12 dig, one reception error showing just one day later, Oct. 12, against Ball State. For the weekend, Schomer averaged 3.89 digs per set, and has just 0.22 errors per set.

Taylor Sharrtis, Akron, Defensive Specialist
Junior – Concord, Ohio/Lake Catholic
Taylor Sharrits continues to pace the back-row defense well. She finished with 37 digs and 7 assists on the weekend, good enough for 4.63 digs per set and .88 assists per set. 
 
Riley Taylor, Eastern Michigan, Setter
Senior – Indianapolis, Indiana/Perry Meridian
For the second straight week, senior Riley Taylor was impressive for the Eagles, who picked up a MAC win over Toledo, Oct. 11, before falling in a five-set heartbreaker to Ball State, Oct. 12. After tallying 50 assists in four sets against Toledo, which marked her second consecutive 50-assist match, the Indianapolis native added 47 more assists just one night later, Oct. 12, against Ball State. In her last 17 sets played, Taylor is average a whopping 11.41 assists per set. In each of the last two weeks, she has tied her career-best in assists, and her 7.65 assist per set average in 2019 is good for eight-best in the league. 
 
Sydnee VanBeek, Ball State, Middle Blocker
Senior – St. John, Illinois/Illiana Christian
Senior middle Sydnee VanBeek turned in a solid all-around weekend for the Ball State women’s volleyball program, leading the team on both offense and defense. She averaged a team-best 3.56 kills per set and hit a team-high .300 (32-11-70) on offense, while pacing Ball State at the net with 1.33 blocks per set. In Friday’s match at Central Michigan, VanBeek led the Cardinals with 13 kills, hit .357 (13-3-28), secured three block assists and recorded a season-high five digs. In Saturday’s win at Eastern Michigan, VanBeek smashed a team-best and season-high 19 kills, hit .262 (19-8-42) after leading the offense with 42 attempts from the middle, tied her career-high with nine total blocks (one solo and eight assists) and collected three digs.
 
Kennedy Wallace, NIU, Middle Blocker
Junior – Kansas City, Kansas/Piper
Kennedy Wallace hit .318 this week as NIU split five-set matches against Western Michigan and Miami… Hit .333 with 11 kills and six blocks against Miami Saturday night. 
 
Emily Weigand, Akron, Setter
Junior – Burton, Ohio/Notre Dame Cathedral Latin School
Emily Weigand is coming off an excellent weekend of volleyball. In the loss to Ohio, she finished with 43 assists and 8 kills, good enough for a .412 hitting percentage. She also added 2 aces, 16 digs and 2 block assists. She followed that up with an even better performance against rival Kent State. In that match, she once again finished with 43 assists and 5 kills, with a .417 hitting percentage. On top of that, she added 4 aces, 12 digs, and 5 blocks. Her great ball-distribution and success running the offense against Kent State propelled Akron to a .300 hitting percentage for the match.