Ball State Sweeps Athlete of the Week
MAC East Offensive Player of the Week
Kayla Gwozdz, Akron, Left Side
Senior – Temperance, Michigan/Bedford Senior
Senior Kayla Gwozdz led Akron to a 2-0 weekend with a total of 29 kills. In the sweep over Buffalo, Gwozdz recorded 15 kills on a season-best hitting percentage of .481. She added 14 kills in the five-set win against Toledo. Over the two matches, Gwozdz averaged 3.63 kills per set. On the season, Gwozdz is averaging a team-best 3.11 kills per set.
MAC West Offensive Player of the Week
Ellie Dunn, Ball State, Outside Hitter
Senior – Sugar Grove, Illinois/Kaneland
Senior outside attacker Ellie Dunn led the Ball State offense with a 4.83 kills-per-set average last week, blasting a match-high 15 kills in the sweep of Toledo (Oct. 4) and adding a team-high 14 in a sweep at Buffalo (Oct. 6). In addition to leading all players with 15 kills versus Toledo, Dunn also hit an astonishing .395 for the match, not tallying a single attack error in 38 attempts. The effort marks the first time in her career Dunn has logged no errors in a match with at least seven attempts. She also finished the contest with four digs and a block assist. In Saturday’s sweep at Buffalo, Dunn knocked down a team-high 14 kills, raising her career total to 926 which moves her from 15th to 12th on Ball State's career chart. She is now two kills shy of passing Liz Cothren's (1994-97) career total of 927 for 11th in program history and 74 shy of becoming only the 11th player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills. Dunn also hit .222 (14-6-36) in the match, while adding eight digs, a pair of solo blocks and an ace.
MAC East Defensive Player of the Week
Kallie Seimet, Bowling Green, Libero
Senior – Oregon, Ohio/Clay
Kallie Seimet had no receive errors in both of the Falcons’ sweeps over the Ohio Bobcats and Kent State Golden Flashes. Despite only playing six sets, the libero still posted 35 digs for an average of 5.83 digs per set over the weekend. On the offensive end, Seimet was also chipped in seven assists and a single service ace.
MAC West Defensive Player of the Week
Kate Avila, Ball State, Libero
Junior – Yorktown, Indiana/Yorktown
While she averaged 6.00 digs-per-set and posted a .973 (36-for-37) reception percentage in sweeps of Toledo (Oct. 4) and Buffalo (Oct. 6) last weekend, junior libero Kate Avila’s biggest impact came from the service line when she served 10 straight BSU points to help turn a 13-4 Ball State deficit into a 15-13 Cardinals lead in the opening set at Buffalo. After a Bulls service error gave the Cardinals the ball at 13-5 in the opening set, Avila served up an ace and followed with nine more BSU points to push Ball State ahead 15-13. BSU would never trail in the set again, winning 25-23. On defense, Avila finished the match with 14 digs and a perfect reception percentage in 19 attempts. Avila opened the week with 22 digs and a .944 (17-for-18) reception percentage in Thursday’s home sweep of Toledo. With double-figure digs in both matches, Avila extend her streak of matches with double-digit digs to 48 and raised her career total to 77. She also raised her career digs total to 1,443 which ranks sixth in program history.
MAC East Setter of the Week
Isabelle Marciniak, Bowling Green, Setter
Junior – Lambertville, Michigan/Bedford Senior
Isabelle Marciniak ran the show in the Faclons’ sweep victories over the Kent State Golden Flashes and the Ohio Bobcats. Throughout two matches and six sets, the junior put up 62 assists for her teammate, averaging 10.33 assists per set. Marciniak also posted six of her own kills and registered 18 digs. The Bowling Green setter had a solid overall performance.
MAC West Setter of the Week
Amber Seaman, Ball State, Setter
Junior – Carmel, Indiana/Brebeuf
Junior setter Amber Seaman had another outstanding week running the Ball State offense, averaging 13.00 assists per set and running the offense to a combined .308 (93-23-227) attack percentage in sweeps of Toledo (Oct. 4) and Buffalo (Oct. 6). Seaman started the week by handing out 43 assists and setting a trio of Cardinals to double-digit kills in the win over Toledo. Ball State’s offense could hardly be stopped as the Cardinals finished the night with a .374 (54-8-123) attack percentage. It was the team's third-best offensive performance of the season and its best in league play since a .396 (45-7-96) effort versus Buffalo on Sept. 30, 2017. Seaman followed by handing out 35 assists and guiding Ball State to a .231 (39-15-104) attack percentage in a sweep at Buffalo. With the pair of spectacular performances, Seaman helped Ball State raised its season attack percentage to a MAC-leading .240. In addition to her strong setting, Seaman served up three aces on the week, raising her career total to 85. Seaman, who leads the Cardinals with 22 aces this season, is looking to become just the 19th player in program history to reach 100 career aces.
Other Nominees
Rachel Bontrager, Western Michigan, Outside Hitter
Sophomore -Valparaiso, Indiana/Valparaiso
Against in-state rivals Central and Eastern Michigan, Bontrager guided the Broncos with 26 kills, averaging 3.71 kills per set for a split on the weekend. The sophomore outside hitter nearly had back to back double-doubles, averaging 2.43 digs per set. In a sweep of CMU on Friday, Bontrager led WMU with 16 kills to go along with a season-high .433 attack percentage and eight digs. At EMU, Bontrager was the lone Bronco to eclipse double digit kills with 10 and neared a double-double with nine digs to go along with two blocks. Bontrager currently ranks third in the MAC in kills per set and points per set.
Ariel Hamby, Eastern Michigan, Right Side
Junior- Oak Park, Illinois/Oak Park River Forest
Junior Ariel Hamby put together two of her best games of the season to help Eastern Michigan to wins over Northern Illinois and Western Michigan. The Oak Park, Ill. native hit a career-best .615 on her nine kills in Eastern’s sweep of Northern and followed that performance with a career-high 13 kills in the Eagles’ four-set victory over Western. Hamby finished the weekend with 22 kills, four digs, and four blocks, good for 24 total points. The right-side attacker now has more kills in the 2018 season (141) than she had in her first two seasons combined (140).
Celena Kamagin, Bowling Green, Middle Blocker
Junior -Springfield, Illinois/Richmond Burton
Junior Celena Kanagin was in action for the first time of the 2018 season versus Kent State and Ohio and made an instant impact to the team’s offensive efforts. In only six sets, Kanagin racked up 18 kills and posted an average hitting efficiency of .394 for the weekend. Kanagin had only one attack error in each of the Falcons’ sweep victories over the Golden Flashes and Bobcats.
Scout McLerran, Buffalo, Setter
Junior – Friendsville, Tennessee/Webb School
Junior setter Scout McLerran averaged 11.17 assists per set over the two matches for the Bulls this past weekend. She began the weekend with 28 assists in a road contest against Akron and then she came home on Saturday evening and dished out 39 assists against Ball State, averaging 13.0 assists per set. She leads the Bulls with 451 assists on the year.
Mary Murphy, Western Michigan, Setter
Senior – Wilmington, Illinois/Joliet Catholic
Murphy notched a career accomplishment over the weekend, becoming WMU’s career assists leader after reaching 25 assists at Eastern Michigan on Saturday. Murphy with 4,092 career assists also moves into eighth all-time in Mid-American Conference history. Over the weekend, Murphy had 60 assists, averaging 8.57 per set and helped the Broncos split the weekend. In the sweep of CMU on Friday, Murphy neared her fourth double-double of the season with 35 assists and nine digs.
Mallory Rajewski, Eastern Michigan, Setter
R-Senior – Midland, Michigan/Midland
Redshirt senior Mallory Rajewski etched her name into the EMU record books yet again, this time setting the record for most assists in a three-set match with her 47-assist performance against Northern Illinois. The Eagles then switched back to the 6-2 in Saturday night’s win over Western Michigan, and Rajewski still put together a 31-assist performance. Rajewski also added 10 digs in the Green and White’s victory against Western, marking her ninth double-double of the season.
Sophie Riemersma, Miami, Outside Hitter
Freshman – Holland, Michigan/Zeeland East
Riemersma became Miami’s latest freshman to breakout with a pair of fantastic offensive performances last weekend in leading the RedHawks to a 2-0 record. She finished with 27 kills, an average of 3.38 kills per set. She made only five errors in 64 attempts for an attack percentage of .344. In Miami’s 3-2 win over Ohio on Friday, Riemersma finished with 15 kills and just missed making it a double-double with nine digs. She also had three blocks (two solo) and a service ace. She followed that up with 12 kills, two blocks and five digs in a straight set victory over Kent State on Saturday. For the weekend Riemersma scored 32.0 points, an average of 4.00 points per set.
Taylor Sharrits, Akron, Defesive Specialist
Sophomore – Concord, Ohio/Lake Catholic
Sophomore defensive specialist Taylor Sharrits helped Akron to a 2-0 record last weekend, posting double-digit digs in both matches. In the Zips’ sweep over Buffalo, Sharrits recorded 17 digs. In the five-set win against Toledo, the sophomore led Akron with 26 digs. Over the two matches, Sharrits only had two receiving errors on 27 total attempts. On the season, she leads Akron with an average of 4.71 digs per set.
Janelle Williams, Western Michigan, Middle Blocker
R-Freshman – Ann Arbor, Michigan/Portage Central
Williams had a dominant weekend at the net against Central and Eastern Michigan. Williams recorded 13 blocks over the weekend, averaging 1.71 blocks per set. Williams was an integral part of the Broncos sweep of CMU on Friday night, registering a career-high 11 blocks while recording five kills and two digs. Williams led the defensive effort that held CMU to just a .083 attack percentage. Against EMU on Saturday, Williams earned one block and had five kills. Over the past three matches against BGSU, CMU and EMU, Williams has recorded a total of 21 blocks.
