Stories courtesy of Athletic Communication Departments

Volleyball Upcoming Schedule
Tuesday, Oct. 8
Buffalo at Akron, 6:00 PM, ESPN+
Ball State at Miami, 6:30 PM, ESPN+

Thursday, Oct. 10
Central Michigan at Toledo, 6:00 PM, ESPN+
Eastern Michigan at Bowling Green, 6:00 PM, ESPN+
Ohio at Western Michigan, 6:00 PM
Kent State at Northern Illinois, 7:00 PM, ESPN+

Friday, Oct. 11
Akron at Ball State, 6:00 PM, ESPN+
Eastern Michigan at Toledo, 6:00 PM, ESPN+
Central Michigan at Bowling Green, 6:00 PM
Kent State at Western Michigan, 6:00 PM
Buffalo at Miami, 6:00 PM
Ohio at Northern Illinois, 7:00 PM, ESPN+

Saturday, Oct. 12
Akron at Miami, 4:00 PM, ESPN+
Buffalo at Ball State, 4:00 PM
 
At the Service Line…

• After sweeping Northern Illinois on the road, Akron returns to James A. Rhodes Arena to face the Buffalo Bulls in conference play on October 8 for a 6 p.m. start. Akron enters with a 7-9 overall record, a 3-4 record at James A. Rhodes Arena, and a  2-1 record in conference. The Zips recently swept NIU with a pair of 3-2 victories on the road. Lauren Baker recorded her 500th career kill and set a career-high 22 kills at NIU on October 4.
• Ball State will play a Tuesday contest at Miami in its first of two midweek #MACtion matchups with the RedHawks. Cardinals (8-7; 1-3 MAC) hold a 48-39 lead in the all-time series versus Miami, including three straight wins.
• The Bowling Green State University volleyball team will remain at home this week, hosting both Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan at the Stroh. The Falcons head into the week with a 5-0 MAC standing, giving BGSU sole possession of first in the conference.  The 5-0 start is the third for BGSU in the last five seasons and the first since 2021. In 2021, the Falcons started 11-0 after starting the 2020-21 season with an 18-0 record. The Falcons are one of six teams in the nation with a conference record of 5-0 or better, alongside Wright State, Florida Gulf Coast, Milwaukee, and Fairfield.
• Buffalo (7-10, 3-1 MAC) will travel to Akron, Ohio, and face the Zips (7-9, 3-1 MAC) on Tuesday evening for mid-week #MACtion. The Bulls are coming off a weekend sweep over the Kent State Golden Flashes. The Bulls haven't dropped a set to Western Michigan and Kent State in their last three matches. The last time the Bulls won three consecutive matches by a sweep came in the 2018 season when they beat Kent State (11/2), Ohio (11/3) and Akron (11/8). With a win over Akron on Tuesday, Head Coach Scott Smith would become the third coach in program history to win 80 career matches. Only Peter Weinrich (1975-80, 107-121-4) and Robert Maxwell (1981-98, 409-285-8) have 80+ wins in program history. Smith would be just the second coach in program history to reach this milestone in their Division I era since 1991. Maxwell had 131 wins from 1991-98.
• Central Michigan, coming soon…
• Winners in six of its last eight contests, the Eastern Michigan University volleyball team will travel to the state of Ohio to face current Mid-American Conference (MAC) leader Bowling Green State University for a 6 p.m. first serve Thursday, Oct. 10, before it crosses interstate 75 to battle the University of Toledo the following day, Friday, Oct. 11, 6 p.m. Eastern is looking to win three-straight matches for the first time since the 2018 season, when it topped Buffalo, Bowling Green, and Miami in consecutive matches on its way to winning the MAC Tournament.
• Kent State volleyball continues Mid-American Conference play with road volleyball matches against Northern Illinois and Western Michigan. The Golden Flashes (1-13, 0-4 MAC) have not been able to establish a consistent rotation, as junior Greta Bolognini and freshman Hailey Brenner are the only team members who have appeared in all 48 sets this season. Bolognini has earned the libero jersey in her first season as a Golden Flash, ranks ninth in the MAC in digs per set (3.92), and has a team-high 16 aces. Junior Kendall White surpassed 1,000 career assists during Saturday's match at Buffalo. White ranks seventh in the conference in assists per set (6.88) and is second on the team at 2.55 digs per set.
• Miami Volleyball hosts three MAC foes this week at Millett Hall, beginning with a Tuesday match against Ball State and then hosting Buffalo on Friday and Akron on Saturday. The RedHawks are coming off a pair of losses at Eastern Michigan last week. The RedHawks entered this week's matches leading the MAC and ranked 14th in the nation in aces per set (1.98) and 44th in team service aces (96).
• The Northern Illinois University volleyball team (2-12, 0-4 MAC) continues action at home, hosting Kent State (1-13, 0-4 MAC) on Oct. 10 for Tiki in the VEC before facing off against Ohio on Oct. 11 (6-9, 2-2 MAC) on for DEI Night. With 21 kills in last week's action, Charli Atiemo has surpassed the 900-kill mark, sitting at 908 career kills. On the defensive side, Crew Hoffmeier leads the conference in digs per set (5.36) and is No. 5 in the nation in that category.
• The Ohio volleyball team (6-9, 2-2 MAC) returns to the road for two more MAC matchups this week. The action begins on Thursday, Oct. 10, when they head to Kalamazoo, Mich., to take on Western Michigan (5-10, 1-3 MAC). Ohio then heads to DeKalb. Ill. for a matchup with Northern Illinois (2-12, 0-4 MAC) on Friday, Oct. 11. Ohio is coming off a 1-1 weekend against Toledo, where they defeated the Rockets on Friday night in five sets, before falling Saturday afternoon in four sets. In the win on Friday, head coach Geoff Carlston recorded his 200th career win at Ohio and is the first head coach in program history to reach the milestone.
• The Toledo women's volleyball team returns home this weekend for a pair of Mid-American Conference matches. The Rockets will host Central Michigan on Thursday, Oct. and Eastern Michigan on Friday, Oct. 11. Toledo comes into the weekend with a record of 10-7 (3-2 MAC) after falling to Bowling Green at home and splitting the road series with Ohio last week. Toledo is 17th in the country (MAC/2^nd) with 118 total service aces and ranks 47th nationally (MAC/ 3^rd) with 1.82 service aces per set.
• The Western Michigan volleyball team returns to University Arena on Thursday and Friday to take on Ohio and Kent State. The Broncos have won 15 of their last 16 home contests against MAC opponents. WMU is coming off of a pair of losses at Bowling Green last weekend. Western Michigan got out to a 2-0 lead in Friday's series opener before falling in five. BGSU then took Saturday's contest in three sets.