Week 8 Volleyball Athletes of the Week Announced
MAC East Offensive Player of the Week
Morgan Copley, Kent State, Opposite
Freshman – Aurora, Ohio/Aurora
Morgan Copley hit better than .400 in both matches to lead Kent State to a 2-0 weekend at the M.A.C. Center. Copley posted a team-high 16 kills and .433 hitting percentage in a five-set come-from-behind victory on Friday against Toledo. The freshman opposite went for 15 kills and a .424 hitting percentage to help the Golden Flashes sweep Ball State on Saturday. Copley totaled 31 kills (3.88/set), four blocks and a .429 hitting percentage on the weekend.
MAC West Offensive Player of the Week
Natalie Risi, Ball State, Outside Hitter
Freshman – Clarkston, Mich./Notre Dame Preparatory
Freshman outside Natalie Risi led the Ball State offense with a 4.17 kills-per-set average and was tied for second on the team with a 3.33 digs-per-set average last week. She smashed 11 kills and hit .256 in the Cardinals sweep at Ohio (Oct. 18), while registering her fourth double-double of the season with team-highs of 14 kills and 13 digs at Kent State (Oct. 19). She also led the Ball State offense with a .282 attack percentage against the Golden Flashes.
MAC East Defensive Player of the Week
Abby Leigh, Buffalo, Middle Blocker
Freshman – Strongsville, Ohio/Padua Franciscan
Freshman Abby Leigh was unstoppable at the net as she averaged over two blocks per set at 2.13 during UB’s two wins this past weekend. On Friday night, Leigh finished with a career high 11 blocks in Buffalo’s 3-2 win over Western Michigan. She was just as dominant on Saturday night as she added six blocks in a 3-0 win over Northern Illinois, including three solo blocks in that performance.
MAC West Defensive Player of the Week
Maddie Whitfield, Central Michigan University, Middle Blocker
Sophomore - Saline, Michigan/Saline
Sophomore middle blocker Maddie Whitfield had a huge defensive impact as the Chippewas split their MAC weekend road trip tallying 15 total blocks over the two-game stretch. During a 3-0 win over Bowling Green on Friday, the Saline, Mich., native had five total blocks along with six kills. On Sunday’s five-set loss to Miami (OH), Whitfield finished with 10 total blocks while posting eight kills. On the season, Whitfield leads the team and ranks No.9 in the MAC averaging 0.93 blocks per set.
MAC East Setter of the Week
Emily Weigand, Akron, Setter
Junior – Burton, Ohio/Notre Dame Cathedral Latin School
Emily Weigand continues to shine in all phases on the court. Weigand is coming off another stellar weekend, finishing with 95 assists, 17 digs, 8 aces and 8 kills. Her ball distribution throughout the weekend propelled Akron to a .294 hitting percentage on the weekend. She also ranks first in the conference and top-20 in the nation in aces per set (.51).
MAC West Setter of the Week
Riley Taylor, Eastern Michigan, Setter
Senior – Indianapolis, Indiana/Perry Meridian
Senior Riley Taylor is in the midst of a career-best streak for the Eastern Michigan University volleyball team. Most recently, the Indianapolis native helped lead the Eagles in two Mid-American Conference matches against Miami, Oct. 18, and Bowling Green, Oct. 19. Against the RedHawks, Taylor complied 41 assists, good for a 10.2 assist per set average, while also adding 12 digs and a block. One night later, facing BGSU, Taylor reached new heights, as she tallied a career-best 64 assists, while contributing 19 digs. Taylor has now recorded 40-or-more assists in six straight contests, dating back to Oct. 3. Her 608 assists lead all Eagles, while her 8.26 assist per set average ranks seventh in the conference.
Other Nominees
Alexis Adleta, Akron, Outside Hitter
Junior – West Chester, Ohio – Lakota East
Alexis Adleta had a great weekend offensively and defensively for the Zips. In the match against NIU, she totaled 10 kills and zero errors, propelling her to a .435 hitting percentage, her second highest of the season. She also added 12 digs in that match. In the match against Western Michigan, she tied for a match-high 20 kills, while adding 23 digs. She finished the weekend with 30 kills and 35 digs, as well as a .368 hitting percentage.
Kendall Braate, Central Michigan, Setter (Sophomore – Byron Center, Michigan/Byron Center)
Grace Butler, Central Michigan, Setter (Junior – Hawthorn Hills, Illinois/Carmel Central)
Central Michigan 6-2 setter duo of Grace Butler and Kendall Braate posted another solid weekend combining 72 assists in a 3-0 win at Bowling Green and a five-set loss at Miami (OH). Butler, a junior from Hawthorn Woods, Ill., led the Chippewas with 18 assists against the Falcons and followed it up with 23 assists against the Redhawks. Braate, a sophomore from Byron Center, Mich., posted 15 assists against BGSU and tallied 20 against the Miami (OH).
Vera Giacomazzi, Ohio, Setter
Junior - San Vendemiano, Italy/Liceo Scientififico G. Marconi
Junior setter Vera Giacomazzi helped Ohio to a win over Toledo after 72 assists over the weekend. Giacomazzi had her 11th double-double of the season when she had 34 helpers and 13 digs as Ohio swept Toledo. Giacomazzi helped Ohio post 44 kills in the win and hit .273. Giacomazzi added 38 assists against Ball State and was one short of a double-double with nine digs over Ball State. Over the weekend, Giacomazzi had four blocks and two aces.
Alex Haffner, Kent State, Setter
R-Sophomore – Lee’s Summit, Missouri/Lee’s Summit North
Alex Haffner posted averages of 20.75 assists and 2.88 digs per set as Kent State recorded its first 2-0 weekend of the conference season. Haffner posted her 10th double-double of the season with 50 assists and 14 digs against Toledo on Friday evening. She just missed another double-double with 36 assists and nine digs in a 3-0 victory over Ball State on Saturday. Haffner continued to be an efficient attacker when the opportunity was there, registering eight kills and a .444 hitting percentage.
Gaby Harper, Miami, Outside Hitter
Sophomore – Caledonia, Michigan/Caledonia
Sophomore outside hitter Gaby Harper helped lead a Miami defense that held its opponents to a .141 attack percentage in two victories last weekend. She had 29 digs, which tied for the team lead and was an average of 3.22 digs per set. She also contributed five blocks to the RedHawk effort, including three solo. Harper recorded double-digit kills in both matches and now has double-doubles in four straight contests. She had 26 kills an average of 2.89 kills per set. Against Eastern Michigan on Friday, she had 13 kills and 14 digs to go with four blocks. In the RedHawks’ big victory over Central Michigan on Saturday, Harper had 13 kills and 15 digs. She scored 31.0 points for Miami in two matches, an average of 3.44 points per set.
Tia Jimerson, Ohio, Middle Blocker
Junior – Sugar Hill, Georgia/Norcross
Junior middle blocker Tia Jimerson had 10 blocks over the weekend as Ohio picked up a sweep of Toledo. In the win over the Rockets, Jimerson had six blocks, including two solo stuffs. Jimerson added four digs as well. On the offensive side against UT, Jimerson had eight kills and committed just one error while hitting .412. Jimerson started the weekend with four blocks over Ball State and added 10 kills on 27 swings.
Miranda Karlen, NIU, Libero
Junior – Evansville, Wisconsin/Evansville
Karlen averaged over five digs per set this weekend at Akron and Buffalo. She had 23 digs at Akron to cap a three-match streak of 20-dig efforts.
Savannah Matthews, Kent State, Outside Hitter
Freshman – Mahomet, Ill./Mahomet Seymour
Savannah Matthews’ versatility was on display at the M.A.C. Canter this past weekend as Kent State closed out the first half of conference play with a pair of victories. Matthews averaged 2.50 kills, 3.62 digs and 0.50 blocks per set. She started the weekend with 11 kills and 16 digs against Toledo and then added nine kills, 13 digs and two blocks in a sweep of Ball State.
Isabelle Marciniak, Bowling Green, Setter
Senior – Lambertville, Michigan/Bedford Senior
Bowling Green senior Isabelle Marciniak’s weekend began on Friday by jumping from fifth to third all-time in program history for career assists, ending the weekend with 3,465. Marciniak would follow up on Saturday with a season-high 56 assists, just four off of her career-high, in a five-set thriller with Eastern Michigan, ending in favor of the Falcons. Additionally, Marciniak tallied 21 digs, just two off of her career-high, and seven kills leaving her just three kills shy of a triple-double.
Lisbeth Rosario-Martinez, Central Michigan, Middle Blocker
Junior – Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Arizona Western CC
Junior middle blocker Lisbeth Rosario-Martinez turned in another solid weekend offensively for the Chippewas finishing with a team-best .459 hitting percentage to go along with 21 total kills. On Friday’s 3-0 victory at Bowling Green, the Santo Domingo, D.R., native, posted a .369 attack percentage to go along with 10 kills. She followed it up with a team-best 11-kill performance and .556 hitting percentage in Sundays’ five-set loss at Miami (OH). Rosario-Martinez also added four blocks and five service aces of the two-game span.
Scout McLerran, Buffalo, Setter
Senior – Friendsville, Tennessee/Webb School
Senior Scout McLerran led the Bulls to a pair of victories this past weekend as she finished with 83 assists over the two wins. On Friday night, McLerran dished out 50 assists in a 3-2 win over Western Michigan. She followed that up with 33 assists against Northern Illinois, pacing a UB offensive attack that hit .429, its highest total ever in a MAC match.
Katelyn Meyer, Bowling Green, Outside Hitter
Sophomore – Pemberville, Ohio/Eastwood
Bowling Green sophomore Katelyn Meyer had a career performance on Saturday night in a five-set win over Eastern Michigan. Meyer totaled 28 kills on the night, setting a new career-high and marking the first time she logged a 20-kill match. In addition, her 74 attack attempts were just 12 off of the program record for a five-set match. Despite the high volume of attacks, Meyer still registered a .338 hitting percentage, her highest percentage of the season when attempting at least 30 attacks.
Maggie Nedoma, Ohio, Opposite
Junior - Brook Park, Ohio/Berea-Midpark
Junior opposite Maggie Nedoma averaged an impressive five kills per set and hit .324 over the weekend. In Ohio’s sweep of Toledo, Nedoma had her three-set high of the year with 18 kills and added 10 digs for her eighth double-double of the season. Nedoma posted 12 kills in three sets against Ball State on Friday and added six digs. Nedoma had seven blocks over the two matches and also added an ace in each match.
Margaret Payne, Miami, Middle Hitter
Senior – Bloomfield, Michigan/Cranbrook Kingswood
Senior middle hitter Margaret Payne’s had an incredible week in leading Miami to a pair of victories over Eastern and Central Michigan. She finished with 27 kills and a .317 attack percentage. She also scored at the net, recording 13 blocks (four solo and nine assisted), an average of 1.44 per set. Against EMU on Friday, Payne had 13 kills and four blocks. She followed that up with 14 kills and a season-high nine blocks against previously undefeated CMU. Payne scored an impressive 35.5 points in two matches, an average of 3.94 points per set.
Rachel Sanks, Buffalo, Outside Hitter
Senior - Alexandria, Michigan/Thomas A. Edison
Senior Rachel Sanks tallied 25 kills and hit .360 during UB’s two victories this past weekend, while also chipping in five aces from the service line. Sanks had one of her most complete performances in her career on Saturday in a 3-0 win over Northern Illinois as she had a match-high 13 kills, hitting .556. She also finished with three aces against the Huskies. Sanks had 12 more kills in Buffalo’s win over Western Michigan including five of those coming on just six swings in the fifth set, hitting .833 to lead the Bulls to victory.
Camille Schomer, Eastern Michigan, Libero
Senior, Rochester, Michigan/Oakland Christian
Senior libero Camille Schomer had an impressive two-game weekend for the Eastern Michigan University volleyball team as it hit the road for a weekend doubleheader. Against Miami, Oct. 18, Schomer recorded 22 digs, with just one reception error in 19 attempts. One night later, at BGSU, the Rochester, Mich. had a 36-dig performance, a career-best, topping her 31 digs against the Falcons on Oct. 13, 2017. In all, she averaged 7.20 digs per set on the weekend. For the season, Schomer is averaging 4.45 digs per set, seventh best in the league.
Taylor Sharrtis, Akron, Defensive Specialist
Junior – Concord, Ohio/Lake Catholic
Taylor Sharrits continues to pace the back-row defense well. She finished with 47 digs and 3 assists and 2 aces on the weekend, good enough for 5.88 digs per set, her highest weekend average of the season.
Franki Strefling, Eastern Michigan, Outside Hitter
Junior – Niles, Michigan/Buchanan
Junior Franki Strefling turned in a season-best performance as EMU went on the road for a weekend doubleheader, against Miami, Oct. 18, and Bowling Green, Oct. 19. Strefling paced the Eagles with a season-best 19 kills against Miami, following up her performance with an additional 19 kills one night later, against BGSU. Her two 19-kill performances tie for second-best of her collegiate career. In addition to her efficient offense, Strefling added 14 and 29 digs, respectively, in her two weekend matches. Her 29-dig outing against the Falcons is a career-best. The Niles, Mich. native now ranks third in the MAC with a 3.30 kills per set average.
Julia Walz, Bowling Green, Libero
Sophomore – Brooklyn, Ohio/Brooklyn
Bowling Green sophomore Julia Walz paced the Falcons in digs during both matches over the weekend, including a career-high 38 digs in a five-set thriller against Eastern Michigan. With nine assists as well, Walz was just one assist shy of her second double-double of the season. With 52 digs on the weekend, Walz’s total now sits at 381 digs on the season, including averaging 5.44 digs per set, which stacks up to be the 11thhighest average in Division I volleyball.
