Friday’s MAC Women’s Volleyball Results
Miami 3, Central Michigan 2
Akron 3, Toledo 2
Western Michigan 3, Kent State 0
Ohio 3, Northern Illinois 0
Bowling Green 3, Buffalo 0
Ball State 3, Eastern Michigan 0
 
Stories courtesy of MAC Sports Information Departments
 
 
Miami 3, Central Michigan 2
Box Score
 
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich.—In a dramatic five-set come-from-behind win, the Miami University volleyball team won the last three sets to claim a 28-30, 22-25, 30-28, 25-22, 15-11 win at Central Michigan University on Friday night.
 
Seniors Sarah Wojick and Avarie Powell amassed career highs in kills, recording 22 and 20, respectively. It was the fourth-straight win for the RedHawks, who move to 12-8 on the season and in Mid-American Conference play. The Chippewas drop to 11-10.

Wojick's 22 kills and Powell's 20 kills are the first time this season a RedHawk has had 20 or more kills in a match.

Powell hit an impressive .442 for the match, connecting on 20 of 42 attempts while committing just one attack error.

Harper was the other RedHawk in double figures for kills with 14.

Wojick and McCrary also notched five blocks, while Powell added four.

Seaman tied a career-high with 57 assists, her fourth-straight match with 50 or more assists and sixth this season.

Huser amassed 35 digs, the second time she has eclipsed 30 digs this season and three off

Miami rounds out the regular season at Central Michigan in the second match of the weekend series on Saturday, March 27. Start time is scheduled for 2 p.m.
 

Akron 3, Toledo 2
Box Score
 
AKRON, Ohio – The University of Toledo women's volleyball team dropped a five-set contest at Akron on Friday night (25-20, 25-17, 23-25, 19-25, 12-15).

The Rockets won the first two sets to take a commanding lead in the match, but the Zips hit exceptionally well in the third set to stay alive, then won the fourth frame to extend the match yet again. In the decisive fifth set, the two teams traded points early but Akron scored six of the final nine to win 15-12 and complete the comeback.

Sophomore Olivia Vance tied her career high with a team-best 19 kills and hit .457. Freshman Taylor Alt added 15 kills and 12 digs, her fourth straight double-double. Sophomore Rhyenne Filisi added eight kills and a team-high three blocks. Sophomore Ryann Jaqua led the team with 25 digs and freshman Payton Morman collected 44 assists.

The Rockets and Zips will face off on Saturday at 5:00 p.m., the final match of the season for Toledo.
 

Western Michigan 3, Kent State 0
Box Score
 
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Behind a stellar .389 hitting percentage the Western Michigan volleyball team won its seventh straight home match with a sweep of Kent State (25-19, 25-14, 25-16) on Friday night inside University Arena.

The Broncos .389 hitting percentage was guided by two Broncos with double digit kills along with 39 assists on 45 kills with 33 digs, two service aces and nine blocks. WMU's nine blocks are the most in a three-set match this season.

For the 17th straight match senior outside hitter Rachel Bontrager recorded double-digit kills. Bontrager paced the Broncos with 15 kills and registered a career-high .560 hitting percentage. The senior outside hitter also tallied eight digs, two blocks and
one service ace. Bontrager now has 1,596 career kills and ranks second all-time in program history.

Behind Bontrager was sophomore Maggie King with 13 kills and a .480 hitting percentage. King has now recorded double digit kills in 10 straight matches. The sophomore outside hitter also earned three blocks and one dig against the Golden Flashes.

Ranking third on the team for the second straight match was junior Meredith Phillips with six kills Phillips also registered three blocks to go along with one dig. Behind Phillips was Charley Andrews with five kills, Cassandra Smigiel with four and Logan Case with two.

Defensively WMU had 33 digs on the night with seven different players earning a dig. Senior Kaley Smith led the Broncos with 10 digs, marking the fourth straight match with double-digit digs. Freshman Logan Case directed the Brown & Gold with 35 assists and had two kills, three digs and one service ace.

With the victory Western Michigan has now won 10 of its last 11 matches and has an overall and Mid-American Conference record of 16-4. The Broncos' 16 MAC wins is tied for the third most in a single-season in school history and the most since having 17 back in 2000.

The Broncos will conclude the regular season at home against Kent State on Saturday, March 27 with first serve set for 2:00 p.m. Saturday's match is also Senior Day as the Western Michigan volleyball program will honor Rachel Bontrager, Kaley Smith, Cassandra Smigiel, Janell Williams and Charley Andrews after the match.
 
 
Ohio 3, Northern Illinois 0
Box Score
 
DEKALB, Ill. -- The Ohio volleyball team (11-7, 11-7 MAC) earned its fifth victory in its last six matches courtesy of a 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-21) sweep of Northern Illinois (8-13, 8-13 MAC) at NIU's Convocation Center on Friday (March 26).

The Bobcats attacked at a .400 pace en route to the win over the Huskies in straight sets. Ohio saw three players finish with double-digit kills, led by senior opposite Maggie Nedoma (Brook Park, Ohio), who hit .458 with a match-high 15 kills. Senior middle blocker Tia Jimerson (Sugar Hill, Ga.) attacked at a .632 rate with 14 kills and tallied a match-high four total blocks (two block solos, two block assists). Junior outside hitter Mariana Rodrigues (Santana De Parnaiba, Brazil) finished with 12 kills and hit .423.

Senior setter Vera Giacomazzi (San Vendemiano, Italy) registered a match-high 46 assists and added three kills and two service aces. Freshman defensive specialist/libero Sam Steele (Omaha, Neb.) logged a match-high 17 digs.

Ohio will close out the 2021 spring regular season on Saturday (March 27) at Northern Illinois with a 2 p.m. ET.
 

Bowling Green 3, Buffalo 0
Box Score
 
Buffalo, N.Y. - The Bowling Green State University volleyball program picked up their 10th sweep of the season on Friday night (March 26) with a 3-0 victory over Buffalo. The win comes on the back of a .469 hitting percentage for the Falcons with a total of just seven attack errors over the three sets while landing 53 kills on 98 attempts. For Bowling Green, the Falcons also saw Katelyn Meyer reach a milestone, logging her 1,000th career kill during the match. With the victory, the Falcons move to 19-1 with one match remaining in the regular season, being tomorrow (March 27) at 2 p.m. against Buffalo that will be streamed on ESPN+. 

With her first kill of the night that gave the Falcons a 5-4 lead in the first set, Katelyn Meyer tallied her 1,000th career kill in the Orange and Brown. Meyer would end the night with 12 kills, tied with Petra Indrova for the team lead with Jacqueline Askin not far behind with 11. 

As a team, the Falcons hit .459 over the course of the match, being above .500 deep into the third set. Individually, everyone that attempted an attack hit at least .346 or better. For the sets, Bowling Green hit .600 in the first set, .342 in the second and then .514 in the third. 

The other stat categories saw Hanna Laube lead the team in assists with 42 to average 14 assists per set while Julia Walz paced the team in digs with 18. 

As a team, the Falcons also landed six aces over the course of the match including a team-high and new career-best three from Indrova. 

The Falcons will conclude the regular season tomorrow (March 27) against Buffalo. The match is set for a 2 p.m. start and will be available to stream on ESPN+. From there, the Falcons will shift their attention to the MAC Tournament, which they will host as the top seed on April 2 and 3. 
 

Ball State 3, Eastern Michigan 0
Box Score
 
YPSILANTI, Mich. -- The Ball State women's volleyball team breezed to a 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-16) sweep of Eastern Michigan on the road Friday evening in the first of a back-to-back against the Eagles to close the season.
 
Kia Holder (17) and Natalie Mitchem (13) combined for 30 kills to pace the Ball State attack. Mitchem hit for a dominating .545 mark with just one error in 22 swings. Setter Esther Grussing ran the offense with 39 assists and added 10 digs for a double-double.
 
The Cardinals (9-11) controlled the action throughout, racking up 10 blocks to two for Eastern Michigan (7-12) and outhitting the Eagles, .303 to .118.
 
"It was a great team performance tonight," BSU head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said. "We got off to a fast start and kept the momentum going all night. We had a lot of success running behind the setter, and our ball control allowed us to do so. Kia played great and really led us emotionally and at the net all night."
 
Ball State was never really threatened in the match. The Cardinals built leads of as many as 10 points in the first set and nine in the third, as they rolled to wins in those frames.
 
The middle portion of the second set was the only time things tightened up a touch. Eastern Michigan pulled to within two at 16-14, but Ball State responded be winning seven of the next eight points to regain complete control. Mitchem had three kills in that decisive stretch.
 
"Natalie was on fire tonight," Miller Phillips said. "She worked hard to put herself in great positions to get kills and was rewarded for her efforts.
 
"Our focus is to be playing our best volleyball to finish the year, so we want to use tonight's effort to build on for an event stronger finish tomorrow."
 
Franki Strefling paced the Eastern Michigan attack with 12 kills on the night, while Alayna Jansky registered a team-high 12 digs.
 
The teams will square off one more time Saturday in the season's final match. First serve is slated for 4 p.m. from the EMU Convocation Center on ESPN3.