Women's Volleyball

Toledo Captures First MAC Volleyball Regular Season Title

Friday, Nov. 13 Volleyball Results
Ohio 3, Buffalo 0
Western Michigan 3, Miami 1
Ball State 3, Kent State 0
Toledo 3, Central Michigan 1
Bowling Green 3, Eastern Michigan 1
 
Recaps courtesy of Athletic Communications Departments

Ohio | Box Score
ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio volleyball team (15-12, 8-8 MAC) earned an important Senior Night win after sweeping Buffalo (15-12, 7-9 MAC) 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-13) on Friday, Nov. 13 in the Convocation Center. With tonight's win, Ohio has clinched the final spot in the 2026 MAC Tournament.

Following the match, the Bobcats celebrated the six members of their senior class: #2 Kendall Hickey, #3 Gentry Brown, #4 Torre Kildow, #6 Caroline Curran, #11 Emily Waddell and #23 Olivia Gardner.

Ohio finished with 38 kills, 10 aces, four blocks, 34 assists and 37 digs. Buffalo finished with 29 kills, two aces, four blocks, 28 assists and 31 digs. The Bobcats recorded a .337 team hitting percentage while holding the Bulls to a .147 percentage.

It was a team effort on offense for Ohio with senior Olivia Gardner leading the group with eight kills. Gardner also recorded a team-high .571 percentage with no errors on 14 total attacks. Three different Bobcats – senior Gentry Brown, sophomore Bailey Blair and freshman Rose Mahin – finished with seven kills. Senior Emily Waddell rounded out Ohio's top offensive performers with six kills. Once again, freshman Rowan Kelly was an all-around standout for the Bobcats. She finished with a team-high 31 assists and five aces. Mahin also recorded a career-high three aces. Defensively, junior Darbi Ricketts led the team with 11 digs. Mahin and Brown combined 13 digs total. Gardner, Waddell and Kelly all led the team at the net with two blocks each.

The Bobcats will be back in action at the 2026 MAC Volleyball Tournament, starting Friday, Nov. 20 in Muncie, Ind. Seeding and game times will be available at a later date.

Western Michigan | Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan volleyball team hit .438 over the final three sets to knock off Miami in four (21-25, 26-24, 25-14, 25-22) in its home finale on Friday night at University Arena.
 
Leah Richmond fueled the WMU attack with 50 assists and added a career-high 26 digs. The redshirt sophomore set up five teammates for double-digit kills, led by Gabby Weihe's 18, which came on a blistering .531 hitting percentage. Annalise Patchett (12), Izzy Swiercz (11), Mia Jurkovic (10) and Cassidy Pratley (10), were also in double figures for the Brown and Gold.
 
Western Michigan continued its recent run of racking up blocks, totaling 15 to establish a new season high. Pratley led the charge with a career-high eight rejections, while Weihe picked up seven and Richmond and Swiercz contributed five apiece. Carley Piercefield collected 14 digs, Swiercz notched 11 for her fourth straight double-double, and Elana Erickson recorded 10.
  
Western Michigan wraps up the regular season on Saturday at rival Central Michigan. First serve is set for 5:30 pm on ESPN+.    

Ball State | Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. -- The Ball State women's volleyball team saluted its five-member senior class with a 3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 29-27) sweep of visiting Kent State Friday evening in Worthen Arena.

In her final regular-season home match, senior middle Camryn Wise tied for match-high honors, blasting 13 kills for the Cardinals (19-7; 10-5 Mid-American Conference) and hitting .476 (13-3-21) for the contest. It was her 15th match hitting at least .400 this season and raised her MAC-leading attack percentage to .411 on the year.

Junior outside Ava Smith also had a strong night for Ball State, adding 13 kills of her own and picking up a pair of blocks. She turned in some clutch plays late in the third set, keeping the Cardinals alive. In fact, with Ball State trailing, she tied the match at 26-26 with a kill and once again at 27-27 with a monster solo block.

Senior middle Gwen Crull gave BSU match point at 28-27 with her seventh kill of the night, while junior serving libero Elizabeth Tabeling served up a match-winning ace. Crull would lead all players with a .500 (7-1-12) hitting mark, while also adding four digs.

Also having a strong attacking night for the Cardinals were junior opposite Tiffany Snook with 10 kills and a .348 (10-2-23) hitting mark and junior outside Audrey Geer with nine kills. Geer also collected 11 digs, second on the team only to junior libero Sophie Ledbetter who racked up a match-high 15.

Senior setter Lindsey Green and freshman setter Lucy McCollum ran the offense at a .292 (54-16-130) clip, dishing out 25 and 18 assists, respectively. Green also collected six digs, while McCollum added five digs and a service ace.

Overall, Ball State held a 56 to 51 edge in total digs, while limiting the Golden Flashes (11-15; 5-10 MAC) to a .160 (30-13-106) rate of success. Nadia Miller led Kent State with eight kills, while Catie Patterson collected a team-high 11 digs.

The Ball State women's volleyball team closes out the 2026 regular season Saturday afternoon with a 4 p.m. first serve at Eastern Michigan.

Toledo | Box Score
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The Toledo women's volleyball team won its first-ever outright regular season Mid-American Conference Championship with a 3-1 (25-16, 22-25, 25-16, 25-19) win over Central Michigan on Friday night in McGuirk Arena.

The Rockets won the regular-season title with an overall record of 21-4 (13-2 MAC). The 13 league victories are the most ever in program history, besting the previous record of 12 conference wins in 2012.

Kayla Ozanich led the offense with a season-high 16 kills on a .519 clip, marking her 10th match this season with 10-plus kills. Sophie Catalano poured in 13 kills on a .500 hitting percentage, while Sierra Pertzborn added in 10 terminations. Grace Freiberger and Jessica Costlow each tallied a team-best 13 digs, with Freiberger notching 10-plus digs for the 25th-straight match. Maddy Bach had a team-high 26 assists, while Janelle Green chipped in 25 helpers.

Toledo finished the match with a .357 hitting percentage, the sixth contest this season that the Rockets have tallied a .300 hitting percentage or higher.

Quoting Head Coach Brian Wright
"When I first got here, I mentioned wanting to be the first to hang banners. It means a lot to be in my second year and hanging two of the first banners in program history – the 2025 MAC Tournament Champions and 2026 MAC Regular Season Champions. This is a team that is willing to do hard things and has put in the work to be consistent. Consistency rewards with the regular season championship. I'm just really excited about what this means for now, but also for the future of the program and where we're going from here. We're looking forward to finishing out the regular season at home tomorrow against Bowling Green, and we want everyone there. Get your tickets now!"

Up Next: Toledo will conclude the regular season with the final installment of the Battle of I-75, presented by Fremont Federal Credit Union. The Rockets and Falcons will begin action at 7:30 p.m. at Savage Arena. 

Bowling Green | Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Senior Avery Hobson led all players with 25 kills on 54 attempts to hit at a .370-clip and lead Bowling Green to a 3-1 (19-25, 25-16, 25-14, 25-20) victory over Eastern Michigan in Mid-American Conference volleyball action on Friday evening inside the Stroh Center.

Bowling Green improved to 19-7 overall and 11-4 in conference action with the win which also secured the two-seed and a first-round bye in the MAC Championship. The loss dropped Eastern Michigan to 10-17 overall and 4-11 in MAC play.

Hobson added 15 digs to tally her sixth double double of the season and 12th of her career. Sophomore Molly Beatty dished out a career-high 54 assists to fuel a Falcon offense that hit at a .302 attack efficiency throughout the contest. Junior Sydnie Hernandez and sophomore Anastasija Bozic each logged 17 digs. Sophomore Cecily Waynar finished with seven block assists to help Bowling Green record a 10-4 margin in blocks.

Eastern Michigan was led by Taeley Mahler who tallied 14 kills and a .323 attack percentage. Teammate Ashlee Kay Christensen added 13 kills on 31 attempts to finish at a .355 mark. Defensively, Surabhi Srinivasan was credited with a match-best 23 digs.

Falcon Facts
  • Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan matched up for the 73rd time in program history. The Falcons hold a 43-30 record against the Eagles dating back to 1977.
  • Hobson is one of two players in the nation to have a four-set match with 25 kills, 15 digs, and 3 blocks this season. She is the only player in the nation to do so in a four-set match and notch a .334 hitting percentage or better.
  • Otten's two aces increased her career total to 90, which matches Susie Norris (2000-03) and Elizabeth Simon (2004-07) for ninth-most in program history during the Rally Scoring Era.
  • Bowling Green honored five of their players, Amanda Otten, Marija Tabak, Helen Wilford, Avery Hobson and Edyta Waclawczyk with a post-match senior night ceremony.
  • BGSU notched 83 digs in Friday's affair, marking the seventh time this season that the Falcons have tallied 80-or-more digs in a match.
  • The Falcons had three players finish with double-digit kills with Hobson, Bozic and Karli Molnau all reaching 10-or-more kills.
UP NEXT: Bowling Green concludes the regular season against Toledo in the Battle of I-75 Presented by Fremont Federal Credit Union. First serve inside Savage Arena is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and the match will air live on ESPN+.