Miami 3, Buffalo 0
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio - In its season-opening match, the Miami University volleyball team (1-0 Overall/Mid-American Conference) put together an impressive performance as the RedHawks downed the Buffalo Bulls (0-1 Overall/MAC) in three sets--25-18, 25-22, 25-10. With the win, Miami head coach Carolyn Condit captured her 750th career win. 

Miami and Buffalo went back-and-forth to start the first set. Buffalo closed within three, 15-12, but Miami rattled off four straight points to pushe its lead to seven, 19-12 and rolled to the 25-18 win in the opening set. 

Buffalo took an early 5-4 lead in the second set. After an 11-11 tie, Miami went on a 6-1 spurt to open up a 17-12 lead. Buffalo continued to battle back but was unable to overcome the RedHawks, who took the second set, 25-22. 

The RedHawks set the tone early in the third set by going on a seven point run, taking a dominant 9-2 lead. Buffalo managed just eight more points for the rest of the set, as the RedHawks claimed the match with a 25-10 win in the third set. 

 
Western Michigan 3, Toledo 2
Box Score
TOLEDO, Ohio – Opening up the spring 2021 season on the road the Western Michigan volleyball team defeated Toledo in a thrilling five sets (28-26, 19-25, 26-24, 16-25, 15-9) on Friday night inside Savage Arena.

The Broncos were led by senior outside hitter and preseason All-MAC performer Rachel Bontrager. Bontrager posted her first double-double of the season with 16 kills to go along with 10 digs. Bontrager recorded a .227 attack percentage against the Rockets and had three blocks and one assist. It's the 35^th double-double consisting of kills and digs in Bontrager's career.

Behind Bontrager was sophomore Maggie King with 15 kills, three shy of her career-high. In her Bronco debut freshman Andelyn Simkins nearly notched a double-double with 11 digs, seven kills and one block. Fellow freshman Abi Wilcoxson was tied for the team lead with three blocks while recording five kills.

Freshman Logan Case also neared a double-double with a career-high 47 assists to go along with nine digs. The freshman setter also had a team-high three service aces.
Senior Kaley Smith matched Case with three service aces. Redshirt junior Janell Williams had a team-high .375 attack percentage with six kills and one block.

Western Michigan had just a .122 attack percentage to Toledo's .178. Both Toledo and WMU ended the match with 68 digs while WMU had seven service aces to Toledo's five.

It's the second straight season Western Michigan won its opening match of the season and has an overall record of 1-0 and 1-0 in Mid-American Conference play. The Broncos will match-up with the Rockets once again inside Savage Arena on Saturday, Jan 23. First serve is set for 5:00 p.m.

 
Bowling Green 3, Northern Illinois 2
Box Score
Bowling Green, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University volleyball program took the court for the first time in well over 400 days and came out with a five set victory over Northern Illinois on Friday night (Jan. 22). The Falcons took the first two sets before the Huskies battled back to force a fifth set. In the fifth, the Falcons led nearly wire-to-wire with no lead changes, but seven ties in the set. The win puts the Falcons at 1-0 to begin the season. They will return to the court tomorrow (Jan. 23) to face Northern Illinois with a 5 p.m. first serve. 

For the Falcons, Petra Indrova was able to register the first double-double of the season for the Falcons with 16 kills and 10 digs. The match marks just her second career double-double after logging one as a freshman last season. 
 
Starting at setter, Hanna Laube was able to tally 51 assists, a new career-high. She was also able to add eight digs to her line for a near double-double. On the attack, Katelyn Meyer landed the most kills with 20, her first of the season after having six a season ago. As for digs, Julia Walz led the way with 20, also her first of the season after doing so 18 times during the 2019 season.
The Falcons also had three different players log a pair of block assists, being Katie Kidwell, Alexis Mettille and Indrova.

The Orange and Brown also landed nine aces as a team having two from each of Alex Laboy, Katrin Trebichavska and Indrova. Kidwell, Walz and Kerstie Shaw all had one apiece as well. In total, Bowling Green had four freshmen see the court, including having all four start the fourth set.Laboy tallied two aces and seven digs while Jaden Walz registered six assists and five digs. Trebichavska landed 17 kills and two aces along with eight digs. Rounding out the freshmen was Mettille who had two kills, three digs and two block assists. 

 
Ball State 3, Akron 0
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. -- If there was any rust on the Ball State women's volleyball side of the net Friday night at Worthen Arena, it came off quickly as the Cardinals (1-0, 1-0 Mid-American Conference) opened the delayed 2020-21 season with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-13, 25-12) sweep of Akron.
 
In picking up its 10th straight win over a MAC opponent, Ball State turned in a dominating performance on both offense and defense, out-hitting the Zips (0-1, 0-1 MAC) by a .254 to .023 margin.

Under the direction of acting head coach Fritz Rosenberg, who is taking over the duties for head coach Kelli Miller Phillips who is currently on maternity leave, the Cardinals were able to spread the ball nicely thanks to the play of freshman setter Kate Vinson (Yorktown, Ind./Yorktown).
 
In leading the offense to a .254 rate of success, Vinson dished out 36 assists and helped six different Cardinals get at least two kills each, while also scoring two of her own. She also tallied  eight digs and her first career service ace.
 
Offensively, senior outside hitter Kia Holder (Valparaiso, Ind./Morgan Township) did not miss a beat, registering a match-high 10 kills on 33 swings. She also tallied four total blocks, including the only solo block of the night for either squad.
  
Aside from Holder's 10 kills, sophomore opposite Natalie Mitchem (Bolingbrook, Ill./Boilingbrook) tallied eight markers, while sophomore outside hitter Natalie Risi (Clarkston, Mich./Notre Dame Preparatory) and sophomore middle Marie Plitt (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) added seven each.
 
Vinson's debut was not the only big one for a Ball State freshman, however, as middle Lauren Gilliland (Coldwater, Ohio/Coldwater) dominated at the net with nine total blocks. She also scored four kills and hit .364.
 
In the backcourt, sophomore Maggie Huber (Loveland, Ohio/Ursuline Academy) led Ball State with 18 digs as the team's starting libero, while Risi finished the night with 14 in a solid all-around performance.

The Cardinals and Zips will square off again Saturday at 6 p.m. in Worthen Arena. While general public attendance is currently prohibited at Ball State Athletics events, fans can still watch the game on ESPN+ or listen to the match on Sports Link Digital radio.