Thursday’s Volleyball Results
Bowling Green 3, Ohio 1
Central Michigan 3, Buffalo 1
Northern Illinois 3, Ball State 0
Miami 3, Western Michigan 1
 
Stories courtesy of MAC Sports Information Departments
 
 
Bowling Green 3, Ohio 1
Box Score
 
Bowling Green, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University volleyball program picked up their ninth win of the season against Ohio on Thursday night (Feb. 18) marking the first four-set match of the season for the Falcons.
 
The win puts the Orange and Brown at 9-0 so far this season, the second best start to a season over the last 10 years of BGSU Athletics with the 2011 volleyball team's 12-0 start being the only one better.
As a team, the Falcons landed nine aces in the match, tying the season-high that was previously logged in the five-set match against Northern Illinois. 

The Falcons saw a few different near record performances and it began on the attack with Jacqueline Askin who made 64 attack attempts, just 12 off the program record. Askin, however, did land 21 of those attacks for a new season-high and just one shy of her career-high. The total is also just the second 20-kill outing of the season for the Falcons and is a team-high for the season. 

Julia Walz also came close to two program records on the night. For starters, Walz tallied 38 digs in the contest, her third time this season topping 20 digs while also tying her career-high and being just seven off of the program record for four sets. Walz also landed four aces on the night, just two shy of the program record while also being a career-high. 

Petra Indrova tallied 16 kills in the match, tied with Katelyn Meyer for the second-most on the team. Indrova also registered 12 digs for her fifth double-double of the season. 

From the setter position, Hanna Laube totaled 45 assists on the night, averaging over 11 assists per set after entering the night averaging 11.64 assists per set, the 10th best mark in the nation. Laube also logged nine digs, just one away from what would have been her second double-double of the season. 

For the third consecutive match, Madelynn Luebcke tallied at least six block assists, hitting the mark exactly in the contest. In just three matches played this season, Luebcke already has 20 total blocks. 

As for MAC play, the 9-0 beginning is the second best as well over the last 10 years of BGSU Athletics with just the 2011-12 women's basketball team having a better conference start at 10-0.
 
The Falcons and Bobcats will be back on the court at the Stroh Center tomorrow night (Feb. 19) at 5 p.m. to conclude the two-match series. The match will also be available to stream on ESPN+. 

 
Central Michigan 3, Buffalo 1
Box Score
 
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Central Michigan volleyball team posted a season-best .264 hitting percentage on Thursday in taking a four-set Mid-American Conference victory from Buffalo at the Bulls' Alumni Arena.
 
CMU won the first two sets, 25-21, 27-25, and the fourth, 25-21 in improving to 4-5 both overall and in the league. Buffalo, which won the third set, 25-18, is 0-9.
 
Savannah Thompson had 16 kills on a .256 hitting percentage and three aces to lead the Chippewas.
 
Lisbeth Rosario-Martinez hit at .588 and finished with 12 kills on 17 swings for CMU. Sierra Gray added nine kills.
 
Hannah Warners led CMU's defense with 18 digs, while setters Grace Butler and Kamryn Olson finished with 23 and 20 assists, respectively.

The Chippewas were much better defensively, handling Buffalo's serves and setting up their offense from there, Gawlik said.
 
Buffalo finished with a .289 hitting percentage, a number that was buoyed by its .355 in the third set. The Chippewas out-hit the Bulls in each of the other three sets.
 
The Chippewas got a big contribution off the bench from freshman Elly Medendorp, who had four kills on five attempts. It was the third appearance of the season for Medendorp and it was in keeping with Gawlik's convention in 2021 of getting younger, less-experienced players on the floor to see what they do. The teams are scheduled to complete their two-match MAC series on Friday (2 p.m.).
 

Northern Illinois 3, Ball State 0
Box Score
 
MUNCIE, IN – The Northern Illinois University volleyball team won its second straight match Thursday night, sweeping the Ball State Cardinals 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-20) at Worthen Arena.
 
It's the Huskies first sweep of Ball State since 2016. Sophomore Kaitlyn Bell (De Soto, Kan./De Soto) tied a career-high with 16 kills and set new career-highs with five blocks and a .536 hitting percentage. Kennedy Wallace (Kansas City, Kan./Piper), Jasmine Kemp (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) and JoDee Kovanda (Lockport, Ill./West Florida) all contributed four blocks. Setter Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) had a double-double with 34 assists and 13 digs, adding a pair of aces.

The Huskies hit .209 and held Ball State to .131, the lowest hitting percentage NIU has allowed this season. NIU held a 9.5-7.5 block advantage and a 59-52 edge in digs. The Huskies also had a season-high seven aces.
 
Ball State (5-4, 5-4 MAC) had four players with six kills with Marie Plitt hitting .500. Gilliland also had six kills and five blocks.
 
NIU and Ball State wrap up their series Friday afternoon at 1 p.m.
 
 
Western Michigan 3, Miami 1
Box Score
 
OXFORD, Ohio—A balanced offensive attack and sharp defensive effort propelled the Miami University volleyball team to a 3-1 win against the Western Michigan Broncos on Thursday evening in Millett Hall.
 
The RedHawks notched a 25-14, 25-19, 15-25, 26-24 win to move to 4-3 on the season and also in Mid-American Conference play. The MAC West Division-leading Broncos drop to 6-3.

Two service aces by senior Abigail Huser helped Miami to an early 9-5 lead. After the Broncos collected two points, Miami went on a 9-0 flurry, powered by two service aces from senior Morgan Seaman and a pair of kills apiece from freshman Maggie McCrary and senior Sarah Wojick, to extend its lead to 18-7. Hitting .409 in the opening stanza, the RedHawks cruised to the 25-14 win in the first set.

The Broncos took an early 6-3 lead in the second set, but Miami chiseled away and knotted the game at 7-7 off a big solo block by Wojick. The RedHawks took their first lead of the set at 9-8 off Seaman's third service ace off the match. The teams exchanged punches until the RedHawks turned a two-point deficit into a three-point advantage off a balanced offensive attack that produced a 5-0 run to take a 20-17 lead. The RedHawks did not look back, taking a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-19 win in the second set.

The teams went back and forth through the early stages of the third set. WMU pulled out to an 8-5 lead, but Miami fired right back to knot things up at eight apiece with help from two block assists by freshman Abby Stratford who teamed up with sophomore Lindsay Taylor and Wojick on the blocks. The Broncos rattled off five unanswered points to push ahead 13-8. Miami closed within two, 16-14, but WMU went finished the third set on a 9-1 run to post a 25-15 win.

Two kills from sophomore Allyson Severance and a block from Maggie McCrary helped Miami open up a quick 4-1 lead. The Broncos came back to knot the set at six apiece and took their first lead at 9-8. The teams traded blows until the RedHawks claimed an 18-14 lead. Miami pushed ahead to a 24-21 advantage, but the Broncos did not back down and knotted things at 24-24. Kills by Taylor and junior Sophie Riemersma iced the match for the RedHawks with a 26-24 set four win.

Miami returns to the court on Friday, Feb. 19 to take on Western Michigan in the second game of the two-game series. Match time is scheduled for 6 p.m. The RedHawks will honor their four seniors during Friday's match.