Saturday’s Volleyball Results
Bowling Green 3, Akron 1
Central Michigan 3, Ball State 1
Toledo 3, Buffalo 1
Kent State 3, Northern Illinois 0
Miami 3, Eastern Michigan 1
Western Michigan 3, Ohio 2
 
Stories courtesy of MAC Sports Information Departments
 
 
Bowling Green 3, Akron 1
Box Score
Central Michigan 3, Ball State 1
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. – A must-win. And everybody stepped up.
 
Savannah Thompson had 21 kills to lead four Chippewas in double figures on Saturday as CMU took a 25-20, 21-25, 25-22, 25-20 Mid-American Conference volleyball victory from Ball State at the Cardinals' Worthen Arena.
 
The win lifted CMU to 10-9 and kept it squarely in the mix for one of four league-tournament berths with just three regular-season matches to go. It was also a good rebound after CMU's five-set loss to the Cardinals on Friday.
 
Anna Erickson had 12 kills and Lisbeth Rosario-Martinez and Elly Medendorp finished with 10 each. Kendall Braate collected 28 digs, leading five Chippewas who reached double digits in that category.
 
The 10 kills for Medendorp, a freshman, were a career high. She also had seven of the Chippewas' 11 blocks. That was also a career best.
 
Her performance came one day after another CMU freshman, Kamryn Olson, posted a rare triple-double.
 
Thompson, a junior, had eight of her 21 kills in the fourth and final set. Three came during a 6-0 Chippewa spurt to open the set, and she recorded kills on the final two points of the match.
 
Ball State recorded 18 blocks in the match, the second-highest total by a MAC team this season. Still, the Chippewas were able to overcome.
 
The Chippewas go to Eastern Michigan on Tuesday, March 23 (6 p.m.). The Eagles (7-9) are one of those teams that is battling with CMU for a spot in the league tournament. EMU topped the Chippewas in five sets last week at McGuirk Arena.
 
 
Toledo 3, Buffalo 1
Box Score
TOLEDO, Ohio – The University of Toledo women's volleyball team defeated Buffalo in four sets on Saturday (25-10, 21-25, 27-25, 25-22) to complete the weekend sweep.

"This was the type of effort we have been looking for all year," head coach Jason Oliver said. "The leaders on this team really held us together and did a lot of the little things that allowed us to perform better for two days. Hopefully we are starting to mature into a team that can be consistent when it matters."

Toledo dominated the first set on Saturday, winning 25-10 to take a 1-0 lead, then the Bulls knotted the match at 1-1 after winning the second stanza. Toledo won a long third set, 27-25, before closing out the match with a fourth-set victory.

Freshman Taylor Alt capped off her terrific weekend with 22 kills, 10 digs, and three blocks. Senior Chloee Kleespies added 15 kills, five blocks, and hit .433 to help the cause in her final match at Savage Arena. Sophomore Ryann Jaqua led all players with 18 kills, and freshman Payton Morman collected 41 assists. Sophomore Olivia Vance tallied eight kills and four blocks.

After the match, the Rockets honored five student-athletes during its Senior Day ceremony. Caleigh Barhorst, Chloee Kleespies, Rhyen Neal, Emma Swope, and Elise Wilcox.

The Rockets wrap up their regular season next week with a Tuesday night contest at Bowling Green before visiting Akron next weekend.
 
 
Kent State 3, Northern Illinois 0
Box Score
KENT, Ohio – Kent State closed its 2021 spring volleyball home schedule by defeating Northern Illinois, 3-0 (26-24, 27-25, 27-25), on Saturday afternoon at the M.A.C. Center.

The Golden Flashes (12-6) were able to shake off a pair of five-set losses over the previous four days and made enough plays on the crucial points to win three close sets. Junior Melissa Kolurbasi led the offense with 12 kills, and sophomore Morgan Copley was right behind with 11. Redshirt junior Alex Haffner had a team-high 23 assists and freshman Amelia Perdue added 15 assists. The setting duo combined for 14 digs.

Wearing the libero jersey at the start of the contest for the first time, Kaeleigh Stang tallied 18 digs on Senior Day. Sophomore Savannah Matthews and Maluhia Ma'a contributed 12 and 11 digs, respectively. Junior Lana Strejcek assisted on all eight of Kent State's blocks. Seeing her most front row action of the season, Ma'a posted career-highs with seven kills and four blocks.
The Flashes will finish the season with three road matches next week, beginning with a rematch against Ohio on Tuesday.
 
 
Miami 3, Eastern Michigan 1
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio—For the first time since the opening weekend of the season, the Miami University volleyball team (10-8 overall/Mid-American Conference) completed a two-match weekend sweep, defeating Eastern Michigan University (7-10 overall/MAC) on Saturday night at Millett Hall in four sets, 21-25, 25-17, 25-15, 25-22.

The first set was a back-and-forth battle with neither team leading by more than two until Eastern Michigan rattled off three-straight points to turn a 22-21 edge into a 25-21 win in the opening set. Junior Sophie Riemersma accounted for eight of the RedHawks' 15 kills in the opening set, while senior Avarie Powell notched five kills.

After a 7-7 tie in the second set, Miami used a 7-0 run, fueled by four kills from senior Sarah Wojick, to push ahead to a 14-7 advantage. The RedHawks extended their lead to nine three times, the last coming at 22-13. Back-to-back kills by sophomore Allyson Severance iced the set for the Red and White, 25-17.

The RedHawks used an 8-2 run, highlighted by service aces from senior Abigail Huser and Severance to push ahead to a 14-7 lead and cruised to the 25-15 win in the third set. Powell had four kills to account for four of Miami's last five points, while junior Gaby Harper clinched the set for MU with a kill. The RedHawks connected on 16 of 32 attacks with just one error to hit an impressive .469 in the set.

Neither team led by more than two in the fourth set until the Eagles took a 15-12 lead. Miami battled back to take an 18-17 lead off a block by Powell and Severance. The teams continued to trade blows. Kills from Harper and freshman Abby Stratford, followed by a Powell service ace handed Miami a 23-21 advantage. Another kill from Harper and an EMU attack error handed Miami the match with a 25-22 win in the second set.

Powell led Miami with 16 kills, hitting an impressive .438 for the night, while adding five blocks.

Severance tallied 14 kills, also hitting an impressive .438, and making no attack errors. She also tied a career high in service aces with four and set a career high with 14 digs.

Wojick tallied 10 kills, 14 digs and four blocks.

Huser notched 21 digs, while Harper added 13.

Senior Morgan Seaman amassed 55 assists.

The RedHawks round out a three-match home stretch, hosting Ball State at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 23 in the final regular-season home match for Miami.
 

Western Michigan 3, Ohio 2
Box Score
ATHENS, Ohio – The Western Michigan volleyball team rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat Ohio in five sets (25-23, 13-25, 13-25, 25-23, 15-6) on Saturday afternoon inside the Convocation Center.

The Broncos picked up their first win at Ohio in the regular season since 2010 and clinched a spot in the Mid-American Conference Tournament hosted by MAC Regular Season Champion Bowling Green, April 2-3. With a record of 14-4 Western Michigan has already clinched the MAC West Title, its first since 2012.

On the road this season WMU has an 9-2 record, it's best road record since winning 10 games during the 2015 campaign.

The Broncos had three players with double-digit kills with two double-doubles against the Bobcats. Senior outside hitter Rachel Bontrager registered her fifth straight double-double and ninth this season with 21 kills and 11 digs. Bontrager has now recorded double digit kills in 15 straight matches and had a staggering .462 hitting percentage against Ohio.

Joining Bontrager with her second straight double-double was freshman Logan Case with 54 assists and 13 digs. It was the fifth double-double of the season for Case and the sixth straight match Case had over 40 assists and eighth match this season with at least 50 assists.

Behind Bontrager in kills was Meredith Phillips with 15 kills and a stellar .448 hitting percentage. Phillips also had two digs against the Cardinals. Rounding out the double digit trio of kills was sophomore Maggie King with 12 kills to go along with four digs and one block.

The freshman duo of Logan Case and Mairead Boyle led the Broncos with two service aces as Western Michigan had seven service ace's to Ohio's six. WMU hit .292 as a team compared to Ohio's .357. Ohio also had nine blocks compared to WMU's three blocks.

With the win Western Michigan now has an overall and Mid-American Conference record of 14-4. The Broncos are back in action on Tuesday, March 23 at home against Northern Illinois. WMU concludes the regular season at home, March 26-27 against Kent State.