Courtesy of MAC Sport Information Departments
Akron 3, Miami 0
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio – Akron volleyball was able to increase its winning streak to nine games, defeating Miami (OH.) in straight sets (25-22, 25-21, 25-18) on Saturday evening. The win marks the first victory over Miami in seven years (2012). It also marks the Zips' first 4-0 league start since 2010.
With the win, the Zips improve to 11-4 (4-0 MAC), while the RedHawks fell to 7-8 (2-2 MAC).
"I continue to be impressed with our maturity and composure. You combine those things with playing fairly consistently at a good level, it shows that we have the ability to be a competitive team in this league" said head coach Tom Hanna.
On the offensive side, juniors Shelby Fulmer (Perrysburg, Ohio) and Alexis Adleta (West Chester, Ohio) led the way with 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Setter Emily Weigand (Burton, Ohio) dished out 27 assists while adding 3 kills of her own.
Defensively, junior libero Taylor Sharrits (Concord, Ohio) paced the back-row defense with 11 digs, while senior Ashley Richardson (Doylestown, Ohio) had a strong match at the net with 7 total blocks (two solo, five assists).
The Zips began the first set on a high note, opening with three consecutive points, thanks to an error by the RedHawks, followed by a kill by Fulmer and a block by seniors Elya Karsner (Frankfort, Ky.) and Richardson. With Akron later holding a 15-12 lead, it was able to rattle of three more consecutive points, thanks to kills by Richardson and Weigand, as well as a block by Richardson and Adleta.
The RedHawks made a late push to decrease the lead to 23-22, however after a service error placed Akron at set point, a kill by Richardson clinched the first-set victory, 25-22.
The second set was a hard-fought battle that involved nine ties. After much back-and-forth scoring early, Miami was able to take a 12-8 lead over the Zips. Akron would respond in a great way, taking six of the next seven points, putting it back on top, 14-13.
After tying the game on the next couple side outs, the Zips were able to take the lead and hold on for the remainder of the set, taking it 25-21.
Akron came out firing in the third set, which began with an ace by Sharrits. After rattling off four more points, the Zips found themselves up 5-0, prompting a timeout by the RedHawks. The lead for the Zips continued to grow, reaching its high point with the Zips ahead by 10 (18-8).
A kill by Adleta eventually clinched the set, 25-18, and ultimately the match.
Ball State 3, Western Michigan 1
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. - - Freshman opposite Allison Hamaker blasted a career-high 19 kills and the Ball State offense remained smoking hot in a 3-1 (25-20, 25-15, 22-25, 25-18) victory over Mid-American Conference West Division rival Western Michigan Saturday night in Worthen Arena.
The Cardinals (9-7; 3-1 MAC), who have won 12 straight league matches in Worthen Arena dating back to the 2017 season, finished the night with a .224 (
63-22-183) team attack percentage and closed out the weekend hitting at a .283 (
113-31-289) clip.
"I think we came out playing really aggressive," head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said. "That was a focus of ours, to make sure we were in attack mode from the very beginning. I thought our service pressure was strong and that helped our blocking presence. I also thought our offense was clicking the majority of the night, and for the most part, we were in a good rhythm."
In addition to her career-high 19 kills, Hamaker led Ball State's attackers with a .500 (19-4-30) hitting percentage. She was not the only freshman to score in double figures, however, as outsides Natalie Risiand Natalie Mitchem added 15 and 13 kills, respectively.
"Allison had another level of go to her, and she was really fired up," Phillips said about her leading attacker. "She knows we need her to hit at a high level. She did a great job of being aggressive and hitting smart shots. She's getting more and more confident every match she's out there and we need that. I thought we had a lot of hitters doing a really good job, but Allison was definitely on fire tonight."
Leading the offense to its second consecutive solid performance was senior setter Amber Seaman who dished out 48 assists, scored four kills of her own, collected nine digs and served up two of the team's three aces.
Defensively, senior libero Kate Avila led the Cardinals with 22 digs, raising her career total to 1,934. She is now three digs shy of passing Catie Fredrich's (2010-13) career mark of 1,936 for third on Ball State's career charts. In addition, freshmen defensive specialists Maggie Huber and Chloe Rickenbach were credited with 16 digs apiece, helping the Cardinals to an 84-78 edge in the category.
"Amber did a really good job of getting the ball where we needed it," Phillips said. "I also thought our backcourt made a lot of good hustle plays. Overall we had several people with double-digit digs, and I thought we executed the game plan really well from a backcourt standpoint."
In addition to out-digging the Western Michigan defense, the Cardinals were able to limit the Bronco's offense to a .172 (
50-21-169) rate of success and slow down the league's leading attacker Rachel Bontrager; holding her to 17 kills and a .137 (17-10-51) attacking mark.
The Ball State women's volleyball team returns to the road for its next four conference matches, starting Friday (Oct. 11) with a 7 p.m. showdown at MAC-leading Central Michigan. The Chippewas enter the contest with a 14-2 (4-0 MAC) record and on a nine-match winning streak.
Bowling Green 3, Buffalo 0
Box Score
Bowling Green, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University volleyball program picked up a sweep over the Buffalo Bulls at the Stroh Center on Saturday (Oct. 5). Led by a team effort, the Falcons jumped out to a quick 10-2 lead in the first set, setting the tone for the entirety of the match. The win moves the Orange and Brown to 3-1 within the MAC while holding a 9-7 overall record.
Set Scores
Set 1 - Bowling Green 25, Buffalo 19
Set 2 - Bowling Green 25, Buffalo 14
Set 3 - Bowling Green 25, Buffalo 20
Play-By-Play Notes
Bowling Green jumped out to a quick 10-2 lead in the first set, holding close to an eight point lead for most of the set.
The Falcons used the hot start in the first set to propel them to a 1-0 advantage. In the set, there was only one tied score and no lead changes as BGSU controlled the entire set.
The Orange and Brown began the second set down 5-0, but a 4-0 run put them right back in the set.
Using the momentum built from the run, the Falcons dominated the second set from there, picking up a 2-0 lead on the day.
Trailing, Bowling Green used a 4-0 run to retake the lead in the third set, 14-13.
In the third set, Victoria Iacobelli entered for the Falcons, marking her first action since 2017 after overcoming an injury sustained prior to the start of last season. Iacobelli would log one dig and one assist in the appearance.
The Falcons would ultimately win the set, and clinch the match sweep in doing so, by a score of 25-20.
Strong Individual Performances
Jacqueline Askin filled the stat sheet for the Falcons on the night, leading the team in kills with 13 while also tying her season-high for service aces with three. Six of her 13 kills came in the first set, helping to set the tone.
Paulina Iacobelli and Katie Kidwell also tied season-high marks for service aces. Iacobelli tallied two while Kidwell notched one.
Julia Walz added two service aces of her own along with one from Kerstie Shaw to give the team nine over the course of the three-set match. Walz also led the team in digs with 14.
Back in the kills column, Katelyn Meyer totaled 12 on the night with a .435 hitting percentage on 23 attempts. As a team, the Falcons hit .309.
Leading the team in assists, Isabelle Marciniak logged 33 while also tying a season-high in kills with five.
Central Michigan 3, Kent State 1
Box Score
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Nine straight, and a second perfect weekend in the Mid-American Conference.
The Central Michigan volleyball team defeated Kent State in four sets on Saturday at McGuirk Arena to win its ninth straight game, and stay unbeaten in the MAC. CMU is 14-2, 4-0 MAC. Kent State is 7-9, 0-4.
After dropping the first set 23-25, CMU took the final three, 25-19, 25-23, 25-16.
Kalina Smith provided a power kill on the final point of the third set, and CMU would use that momentum to win the fourth. The Chippewas never trailed in the final set.
"Once she gets kills like that, you get chills," CMU setter Grace Butler said of Smith. "Having such a big kill at the end of the set brings a lot of momentum to the next one."
Smith finished with a team-high 14 kills on a .290 attack percentage. She also had 13 digs
Savannah Thompson added 13 kills, along with 12 digs, for the Chippewas. After sitting out the entire nonconference schedule with an injury, Thompson has found herself playing a pivotal role for in conference play.
"It's great to be back out there with the girls," Thompson said. "Your role is important no matter whether you're injured or not. I'm just glad I can fulfill a different role right now out on the court.
"Being out there, with those girls, it just shows how much we've grown from last year. Being back out there is something exciting and I can't wait to see what's next."
Butler posted a team-high 28 assists, while Kendall Braate added 20. The Butler-Braate duo has been named the MAC Setter of the Week in each of the past two weeks, and they have proven to be one of the best setting duos in the conference.
"It helps that we're really close and we're good friends as well," Butler said. "We support each other. When she's in I'm going to support what she does (and vice versa). We'll help each other out and tell each other which hitter is hot, and which sets we should run. It's nice having someone that will support you, even though we're sharing time."
Megan Kern led the Chippewas in digs with 26, while Lisbeth Rosario-Martinez had three aces.
CMU had an attack percentage of .236 for the game, compared to Kent State's .170. CMU also had six aces, four of them in the fourth set.
CMU will be back at home next weekend at McGuirk Arena for a pair of MAC games.
Eastern Michigan 3, Ohio 1
Box Score
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University (6-10) volleyball team came into the game having lost seventeen straight to conference rival Ohio University (10-7) and left with a hard-fought victory. The Eagles won the first two sets with scores of 28-26 and 25-17, their first set wins over Ohio since 2017. However, the Bobcats didn't back down taking the third set 25-18 before ultimately dropping the fourth set 25-21. The EMU triumph marks its first conference win this season.
Senior Riley Taylor (Indianapolis, Ind.– Perry Meridian) finished the game with 12 digs and a season-high 50 assists, helping her surpass 2,000 assists in her illustrious career. She now sits with a monumental 2,016 assists on her resume.
Redshirt freshman Raeven Chase (Toronto, Ontario– Michael Power St. Joseph Catholic) posted a dominant performance generating 15 kills and 17.5 points – both of which were career highs. Her efficiency with the ball was also impressive boasting a hitting percentage of .882.
On the defensive end, junior Franki Strefling (Niles, Mich.– Buchanan) and Chase dominated in front of the net each producing five blocks. Meanwhile freshman Samantha Basham (Granville, Ohio– Newark Catholic) added to the offensive effort with a career-high two serving aces and 10.5 points on the day.
The Eagles ended the game with a hitting percentage of .267 to the Bobcats .211. EMU also protected their side of the court tallying 11.0 blocks to Ohio's 8.0 and 71 digs to 58.
Northern Illinois 3, Toledo 1
Box Score
TOLEDO, OH – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team put three players in double-figure kills and had nine blocks Saturday night in a 3-1 (25-23, 18-25, 28-26, 25-13) win over the Toledo Rockets at Savage Arena.
"We did a better job of controlling what we could control," said head coach Ray Gooden. "I thought we did a really good job from the service line. We've improved on our serve receive and first contacts which put us in system more. I think probably the coolest part is we were able to battle through some adversity and work together as a group."
Peyton Tilly (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) led the Huskies with 15 kills, hitting .281 in the match. Kaitlyn Bell (De Soto, Kan./De Soto) added 14 kills as Kennedy Wallace (Kansas City, Kan./Piper) had 12 kills with a match-high six blocks. Setter Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) posted a double-double with 50 assists and 10 digs, adding four kills and tying a career-high with four blocks.
NIU (5-13, 2-2 MAC) erased an early 5-1 deficit in set one with a 6-1 run capped by kills from Balensiefer and Bell to take a 9-7 lead. After Toledo tied the set 13-13, a Wallace kill started a 4-1 Huskies run that put NIU in front 17-14. The Rockets then got a kill from Ryann Jaqua to spark a 6-1 run that gave Toledo a 20-18 advantage. NIU trailed 23-21 when a service error put the Huskies on serve 23-22. Wallace followed that with a solo block to tie the set at 23. Tilly then put down a kill to give the Huskies set point at 24-23, which the Huskies converted with a block by Wallace and Balensiefer to give NIU the first set 25-23.
Toledo (7-9, 0-4) bounced back in the second set by taking five of the first six points. The Rockets' lead grew to seven at 9-2 on a Jaqua service ace and a Zoe Birnbrich kill. NIU took advantage of some Toledo errors to get back in the set, with a pair of Tilly kills getting the Huskies within four at 15-11. The Huskies got within four points at 17-13 before a pair of errors helped Toledo go on a 5-2 run to take a 22-15 lead. The Rockets took the set 25-18, hitting .333 to tie the match at one set all.
The Huskies bounced back from a 4-1 deficit early in the third set, using a 5-1 run capped off by a Samantha Juarez (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) ace to take a 6-5 lead. Kills by Olivia Vance and Chloee Kleespies kickstarted a 7-1 Rockets run that put Toledo up 13-8. Trailing 16-11, NIU got kills from Tilly and Amanda Krahl (Pearland, Texas/Appalachian State) along with a block to get within two at 16-14. Toledo was up 22-20 when a pair of Wallace kills sparked a 4-1 NIU run that gave the Huskies set point at 24-23. Toledo fought off the set point to tie the set, and eventually had a set point of its own when a Kleespies kill and an NIU error put the Rockets up 26-25. The Huskies tied the set on a Balensiefer kill, then won the set on a Krahl kill and a Balensiefer ace to win the set 28-26 and go up 2-1 in the match.
NIU broke a 3-3 tie in the fourth with three kills from Bell to take a 7-4 lead. The Huskies' lead grew to five when back-to-back kills by Tilly and Bell made the score 12-7. NIU led 14-10 when a block by Bell and Jasmine Kemp (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) started a four-point run to give the Huskies an 18-10 lead. The Huskies ran away with the final set, hitting .394 with three blocks while holding Toledo to an .083 mark. NIU won seven of the last nine points with a Wallace kill capping a 25-13 win in the fourth set and the 3-1 win in the match.
"We were able to find a lot of positives and string points along," Gooden said about the clinching fourth set. "I thought Amanda Krahl came in and did a really good job serving in spots to allow us to have positive runs. I think our rhythm really helped us put a lot of pressure on the Rockets."
The Huskies hit .235 for the match, holding Toledo to a .208 mark. NIU held a 65-63 advantage in digs led by Miranda Karlen's (Evansville, Wis./Evansville) match-high 19. Birnbrich led Toledo with 16 kills as setter Megan Beasley had 44 assists and 13 digs.
