Women's Volleyball

Ball State Remains Undefeated in #MACtion Play at 6-0

Friday Volleyball results
Akron 3, Western Michigan 2
Ball State 3, Toledo 0
Bowling Green 3, Northern Illinois 0 
Buffalo 3, Central Michigan 1
Eastern Michigan 3, Kent State 1
Ohio 3, Miami 0 
 
Recaps courtesy of Athletic Communications Departments

Akron 3, Western Michigan 2 | Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. -The Akron volleyball team defeated the Western Michigan Broncos in five sets (25-22, 25-23, 22-25, 26-28, 15-9) Friday night on the road.

The Zips were led by a double-double from Delaney Gash, who registered 23 kills and 13 digs on the day. Lyndi Wolf also added 14 kills to help the attack. On the defensive end, Reilly Chausse supplied a career-high 31 digs to go with eight blocks from Chidera Ozoh. Martina Villani joined Gash in the double-double department with a 50 assist, 12 dig performance.

The conference win improved Akron's record to 9-9 overall and 2-5 in MAC play.

Game Notes

» Akron had five players in double figures in digs.
» Wolf had a match-high four aces in the win.
» Gash registered a double-double with 23 kills and 13 digs while Villani had a 50 assist, 12 dig double-double.
»  Gash had a match-high 23 kills for Akron.
» Akron got a match-high 31 digs from Chausse.
» Akron attackers were helped by a match-high 50 assists from Villani.

What's Next?
Akron travels to Central Michigan for a pair of conference matches starting on Friday, October 17.


Ball State 3, Toledo 0 | Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. - - Led by career-high kill totals from sophomore outside Carson Tyler and sophomore opposite Tiffany Snook, the Ball State women's volleyball team earned a hard-fought 3-2 (25-21, 21-25, 20-25, 25-17, 15-12) victory over Toledo Friday evening in Worthen Arena.

In a battle of the Mid-American Conference's lone remaining unbeaten teams, the Cardinals (10-8; 6-0 MAC) proved why it boasts one of the nation's top offenses, turning in a .311 (74-22-167) attack percentage against a Rockets (14-4; 5-1 MAC) squad which had limited opponents to a league-low .133 hitting mark entering the night.

In fact, Ball State's .311 rate of success was the best against the Toledo defense so far this season, with the previous high being a .238 effort by UIC on Sept. 6.

Leading the charge for the Cardinals were Tyler with a career-high 29 kills and a .344 (29-7-64) hitting mark and Snook with a career-best 17 kills and a .433 rate of success. The pair's biggest impact came in the fourth set, with Ball State trailing 2-1 in the match. Tyler smashed nine of her 29 kills in the frame, while Snook added six to help force a deciding fifth frame.

In the final stanza, it was a pair of big blocks involving junior middle Camryn Wise and a pair of service aces from sophomore libero Sophie Ledbetter which helped secure the set and the match victory. With BSU trailing 7-6, Wise combined with graduate outside Noelle VanOort to even the score. Three rallies later, she combined with Snook to give BSU a 9-8 advantage.

After Tyler's 29th blast gave BSU an 11-10 edge, Ledbetter followed with back-to-back aces to hand the hosts all the momentum. Snook would give Ball State match-point at 14-10 with her 17th kill, while Crull ended it three rallies later at 15-12.

Crull finished the night with team-best .556 hitting mark, smashing 10 kills on 18 swings with no errors. VanOort added 11 kills, giving Ball State four players in double figures against a Toledo squad which was only surrendering an average of 10.44 kills per set entering the night.

Four Cardinals also finished the night with double-digit digs, let by 14 from Ledbetter who also served up a match-high three aces. Along with running the offense at a .311 clip, Ball State's two-time reigning MAC Setter Pair of the Week, junior Lindsey Green and freshman Reese Axness, would each earn double-doubles. Green dished out 39 assists to go along with 10 digs, while Axness handed out 21 assists, added 11 digs and a pair of aces.

Tyler was the other Ball State player with double-digit digs, earning her 11th double-double of the season by tallying 10 digs to go along with her 29 kills. She has recorded double-doubles in each of the last four matches, while smashing double-figure kills in all 18 outings this season.

On the Toledo side of the net, Olivia Heitkamp tallied a team-high 20 kills to lead four Rockets in double figures. Grace Freiberger collected a match-high 25 digs, while Kelsey Smith handed out 48 assists and tied for match-high honors with six total blocks.

Round two between the Cardinals and the Rockets will take place Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. back inside Worthen Arena. 

Bowling Green 3, Northern Illinois 0 | Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team closed out the week with a three-set sweep over Northern Illinois Friday night (Oct. 10). The win keeps the Falcons undefeated at home this season, 5-0, with a 10-match home regular season winning streak dating back to last season. In the match, Bowling Green held Northern Illinois to an .098 hitting percentage, the third team to be held under .100 by the Falcons inside the Stroh this season with all five home opponents hitting under .130. The win pushes BGSU to 12-7 on the season while being 6-1 in the MAC. The Falcons will be back at home for their next two matches, hosting Ball State next Thursday and Friday (Oct. 16-17) for 6 p.m. starts. 

Falcon Stat Leaders 
Kills: Jessica Andrews (12)
Assists: Anna Sitek (24)
Digs: Sydnie Hernandez (14)
Aces: Avery Anders, Anna Sitek (1)
Blocks: Kendall Williams (5)

Falcon Stat Facts
  • The win continues the Falcons' undefeated home record, now 5-0 inside the Stroh Center, the best home start since going 5-0 in 2021 as well. Going back to last season, BGSU has now won 10-straight home regular season matches. 
  • Through five home matches, the Falcons have yet to allow a team to have a hitting percentage north of .130 inside the Stroh Center. BGSU held NIU to a mark of .098 in the match, the third time holding a team under .100 at home this season. 
  • As a team, the Falcons registered 53 digs, the most by the team in a three-set match this season, surpassing the 49 against Kent State on Sept. 26. 
  • For the second-straight match, Jessica Andrews led the BGSU attack with 12 kills. Andrews maintained a .333 hitting percentage while adding four blocks and a dig.
  • Avery Hobson followed Andrews on the attack with 11 kills and just missed a double-double, adding nine digs to her stat line.
  • Edyta Waclawczyk added 10 kills to the attack while also adding five digs and three block assists for the Orange and Brown.
  • Anna Sitek and Isabelle Laube again split the setting duties. Sitek finished with 24 assists, four digs and an ace while Laube posted 13 assists and four digs, matching her season-high for both stats. 
  • Sydnie Hernandez paced the team in digs with 14 and added an assist. Avery Anders posted a similar line with eight digs and one of the team's two aces. 
  • Marija Tabak landed a season-high seven kills, matched her career-high with five digs and tallied her first assist as a Falcon. 
  • Kendall Williams led the team in blocks with five, followed by four from both Andrews and Helen Wilford.
Up Next
The Falcons will remain at home for their next two matches, hosting Ball State on Oct. 16 and 17 with 6 p.m. starts both nights. For Friday night, the match will be Future Falcon Kids Club Night. 

Buffalo 3, Central Michigan 1 | Box Score
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Buffalo Bulls volleyball team (6-9, 3-3 MAC) defeated the Central Michigan Chippewas (4-13, 1-5 MAC) in four sets on Friday evening, 28-26, 25-22, 17-25, 25-20. The Bulls have now won three straight matches as they moved to sixth in the MAC standings.

Emerson Matthews was electric on the evening. She tallied match highs in kills (20), points (25.0) and solo blocks (4). She added 10 digs as she is now up to three double-doubles on the season. Manoela Forlin earned her second double-double of the season with 11 kills and 13 digs.

Sydney Bell saw her first action in six matches as she finished with eight kills and two block assists.

Maddie Mitchell recorded her team leading sixth double-double of the season with 38 assists and 12 digs. Keira Kleiden had a match-high 23 digs.

From the service line, Eve Adams had a pair of aces as Matthews, Kleidon and Mitchell each had one.

Ava Kanj continued to be a force at the net as she finished with two solo blocks and three block assists. As a team, the Bulls had 11 blocks to Central Michigan's seven.

The Chippewas bested the Bulls on the attack as they finished with a .173 hitting percentage to the Bulls' .162.

"It was great to see our defense really come alive tonight," stated Head Coach Scott Smith. "Our block started off strong and created great opportunities for the back row to shine. Central is a tough opponent and at times they really disrupted our attack, but we were able to maintain momentum throughout most of the match, recover when our play started to slip, and ultimately secure the win. I was very proud of the fight and resiliency we displayed. It will undoubtedly be another hard-fought match tomorrow and we are looking forward to the challenge."

UP NEXT
The Bulls are back at home tomorrow against the Chippewas at 4 p.m. Tomorrow will be Buffalo's Pink Game and Block Out Cancer Night.

Eastern Michigan 3, Kent State 1 | Box Score
YPSILANTI, Mich. – The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team bested Kent State University in four sets, 3-1, as the Eagles captured their second consecutive victory in as many days inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center Friday evening, Oct. 10.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Taeley Mahler led the Eastern offense with a career-best 15 kills off a .481 hitting percentage as she added five blocks. Ashlynn Belcher handled the setting duties, leading the match with 39 assists while adding five kills and nine digs. Sophomore middle blocker Hatteras Welker pitched in with three aces, nine kills, and five blocks.
 
Defensively, sophomore middle blocker Wrigley Takats totaled a career-best eight blocks, and Surabhi Srinivasan notched a match-high 24 digs.
 
Match Notes
» Eastern's record improved to 10-10 (2-5 MAC) while Kent State's shifted to 7-11 (2-5 MAC).
»  With the win, Eastern has won consecutive MAC games for the first time since it won three straight against Miami, Oct. 4-5, and Bowling Green, Oct. 10. 
» Eastern out-hit its foe (.176 - .091) for the 10th time this season, producing a 10-0 record when doing so. EMU is 24-4 overall under Head Coach Kevin Foeman when out-hitting its opponent.
» Eastern had more kills (51-43), assists (47-42), aces (8-3), digs (81-66) than the Golden Flashes.
» Eastern's 81 digs and 13 blocks each slot third in the MAC by value for digs in a four-set match.
» Taeley Mahler drilled a career-best 15 kills off a .481 hitting percentage while adding five blocks. Her .481 hitting percentage is the best in her career when totaling at least 10 kills. She posted 10+ kills for the fourth time this season and fifth in her career. Additionally, she secured 10 or more points for the eighth time this season and 11th in her collegiate tenure.
» Ashlynn Belcher's totaled 39 assists led the team, marking the 20th time she has done so this season. The performance marked her 13th with at least 30 assists this season and brought her career total up to 26 games.
» Surabhi Srinivasan led the team in digs for the 15th time this season as she grabbed 24, marking her third time with 20+ digs in her career.
» Wrigley Takats had a career-best eight blocks in the match, besting her previous career-best total of six originally set at Western Michigan, Sept. 25.
» Ella Voorhees collected 17 digs, marking her third time with at least 10 digs this season and 12th in her career. Her 17 digs tie for a season-best mark originally set at IU Indy, Sept. 18.

Historical Notes
» The match marked the 67th between the Eagles and Golden Flashes. Overall, Eastern holds a 43-23-1 mark against the Golden Flashes and a 24-10-1 mark when facing them at home.
» Kevin Foeman is now 6-0 against Kent State in his EMU tenure.
 
Up Next
Eastern hits the road to face Ohio University Thursday-Friday, Oct. 16-17, 6 p.m., 3 p.m.

Ohio 3, Miami 0 | Box Score
ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio volleyball team (4-14, 2-4 MAC) swept rival Miami (9-9, 3-3 MAC) 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-19) on Friday, Oct. 10.
 
Ohio finished with 51 kills, six aces, three blocks, 49 assists and 47 digs. Miami finished with 25 kills, two aces, four blocks, 24 assists and 34 digs.
 
Junior Emily Waddell had a stellar night against the Redhawks. Waddell recorded a career-high 14 kills and no errors on 18 total attacks. That resulted in a career-high .778 attack percentage for the junior. Senior Kendall White distributed a team-high 46 assists. Junior Gentry Brown and freshman Bailey Blair contributed 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Brown also tallied seven digs.
 
Four different Bobcats finished with one block assist each. In addition to a block assist, sophomore Sierra Evans tallied one solo block. Juniors Kendall Hickey and Caroline Curran combined for a total of 21 digs.
 
Ohio kicked off the match with a 25-19 win in the first set. The Bobcats finished the set with 15 kills, four aces and 21 digs. The Redhawks finished the set with seven kills, two aces, 15 digs and three blocks. It looked to be a close competition with Miami tying the score several times. With Miami trailing by one point at 20-19, Ohio's offense unleashed with five-straight points to win the set.
 
Ohio extended its lead to 2-0 after winning the second set, 25-18. Ohio's energy and success from the first set continued in the second. The Bobcats outperformed the Redhawks in kills, aces, digs and blocks.
 
Ohio secured the 3-0 victory over Miami with a 25-19 win in the third set.
 
The Bobcats will be back in action against Miami in the Convocation Center on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 4 p.m. ET. The game will be available to watch on ESPN+.