Mid-American Conference

MAC East Offensive Player of the Week
Katelyn Meyer, Bowling Green, Outside Hitter
Sophomore – Pemberville, Ohio/Eastwood
Sophomore Katelyn Meyer continued her dominance for Bowling Green this season, leading the team in kills in a three-set sweep over Ohio after being second on the team on Friday against Kent State, just two shy of the team lead. The 20-kills against the Golden Flashes marked the third time this season Meyer has amassed at least 20 kills in a match. She also added a solo block in the match against Kent State. Meyer followed up with 17 kills over three sets against Ohio while maintaining a .250 hitting percentage. 
 
MAC West Offensive Player of the Week
Kalina Smith, Central Michigan, Outside Hitter
Junior – Powell, Wyoming/Campbell County
Central Michigan junior outside hitter Kalina Smith continued to pace the Chippewas offensively this week. The Powell, Wyo., native tallied 31 kills en route to 2-0 MAC series at home.  During Thursday’s 3-1 win against Western Michigan, Smith racked up 19 kills with a .351 attack percentage and two service aces. On Saturday’s sweep over Northern Illinois, Smith contributed 12 kills.
 
MAC East Co-Defensive Player of the Week
Abigail Huser, Miami, Libero
Junior – Westfield, Indiana/Westfield
Junior Abigail Huser kept the Miami defense humming with two more victories this past weekend. The RedHawks held their opponents to a miniscule .107 attack percentage in the two contests. Huser was a huge part of that, finishing with 39 digs, an average of 5.57 digs per set. She started with 23 digs in the win over Ohio on Friday and followed it up with 16 more in the victory over Kent State on Saturday. Huser did not make a reception error in 36 attempts over the weekend.
 
Emma Tupa, Ohio, Libero
Sophomore – Brecksville, Ohio/Brecksville
Sophomore Emma Tupa had an impressive weekend at libero for Ohio. Tupa averaged 7.43 digs per set and totaled 52 digs in seven sets. Tupa had her career-high in digs with 31 against Miami, and then followed it up with 21 scoops – her second-highest total of her career – in three sets against Bowling Green. Tupa did not commit a reception error over the weekend and also added an ace against Miami. 
 
MAC West Defensive Player of the Week
Jasmine Kemp, NIU, Middle Blocker
Sophomore – DeKalb, Illinois/DeKalb
Kemp averaged 2.17 blocks per set this weekend at Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan. The sophomore tied a career-high with nine blocks against the Eagles Friday night, then added four more at Central Michigan on Saturday.
 
MAC East Setter of the Week
Morgan Seaman, Miami, Setter (Junior – Carmel, Indiana/Carmel)
Louise Comerford, Miami, Setter (Sophomore – Belleville, Illinois/Althoff Catholic)
The setters once again led the way as Miami increased its winning streak to eight matches with a pair of victories this past week. Junior Morgan Seaman and sophomore Louise Comerford combined for 90 assists in only seven sets in the two matches, an impressive total of 12.86 assists per set. They helped the team to a .239 total attack percentage. Seaman averaged an incredible 7.14 assists per set despite playing only half of the rotations. She had a double-double in the RedHawks’ four-set victory over Ohio, finishing with 34 assists and 13 digs. She added 16 more assists and eight digs in the sweep over Kent State the next night. Comerford had 17 assists in each match and also added nine digs.
 
MAC West Setter of the Week
Esther Grussing, Ball State, Setter
R-Freshman – Wilmar, Minnesota/Wilmar
Redshirt freshman setter Esther Grussing helped guide the Cardinals to a pair of pivotal league wins last weekend by handing out 11.62 assists per set and helping run the offense at a .265 efficiency … In Thursday’s win over Toledo, Grussing had the Cardinals offense connecting at a .252 (75-24-202) clip and earned her third career double-double by adding 14 digs … In handing out a career-high 64 assists versus the Rockets, she also helped five Ball State players reach 10-or-more kills for the second time this season … In Saturday’s win over Buffalo, Grussing dished out 29 assists over the first two-and-a-half sets and helped the Cardinals connect for a .279 (70-22-172) rate of success.  

  
Other Nominees
Kate Avila, Ball State, Libero
Senior – Yorktown, Indiana/Yorktown
Ball State senior libero Kate Avila had another solid week in the backcourt, collecting 51 total digs to help the Cardinals pull out a pair of five-set victories. In Thursday’s win over Toledo, Avila tied for match-high honors with 29 digs and also finished the night with a perfect reception percentage in 17 attempts. Saturday versus Buffalo, Avila led all players with 22 digs and earned a .929 (13-for-14) reception percentage. With her 51 digs on the week, Avila raised her career total to 2,086 which is four shy of moving her past Alyssa Rio's (2007-10) career total of 2,089 for second on Ball State's all-time charts.
 
Zoe Birnbrich, Toledo, Middle Blocker
Senior -Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman
Zoe Birnbrich hit .327 and averaged 2.67 kills/set last weekend in matches against Ball State and Akron. In the contest against the Cardinals, she tallied 14 kills and four aces in a hard fought five-set match. In the home match against the Zips, Birnbrich hit .400 and added 10 kills and three blocks. That marked the seventh time this season she hit at least .400 in a match and it was her 14th double-digit kill effort of the year.
 
Rachel Bontrager, Western Michigan, Outside Hitter
Junior – Valparaiso, Indiana/Valparaiso
Bontrager led the Broncos in total kills in over the weekend with 32, collected 12 against Central Michigan and 20 against Eastern Michigan as WMU went 1-1. Bontrager extended her streak over the weekend to 15 straight matches with double-digit kills. In the four-set win over Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Bontrager notched 20 kills to go along with a .210 attack percentage, one service ace, eight digs and two blocks. It was the fourth time this season Bontrager has eclipsed 20 kills in a match. Against Central Michigan, Bontrager registered a .273 attack percentage, marking the 11th time this season she has hit over .250 in a match.  The junior outside hitter is now just 93 kills away from ranking 10th in a single season in school history. 
 
Grace Butler, Central Michigan, Setter
Junior – Hawthorn Hills, Illinois/Carmel Central
Central Michigan junior setter Grace Butler carried the Chippewas this past week with a total of 62 total assists (8.86 A/S). During Thursday’s 3-1 win against Western Michigan, Butler posted 26 assists. After a late change to a one-setter system in Saturday’s 3-0 win against Northern Illinois, Butler stepped up tallying a season-high 36 assists, along with eight digs and two service aces.
 
Rose Duffy, Western Michigan, Setter
Freshman – Fishers, Indiana/Fishers
Freshman Rose Duffy earned back-to-back double-doubles over the weekend to secure WMU with a 1-1 record in a pair of four-set matches. With two over the weekend, Duffy has registered a double-double in three straight matches, four of the last six and now leads the team with nine this season. Against Eastern Michigan, Duffy collected 50 assists, one shy of her career high. It’s the second time this season Duffy has went over 50 assists and the sixth straight match with at least 40. Duffy also matched her career-high with two service aces against Eastern Michigan. With two kills against CMU and three kills against EMU, the freshman setter has recorded 10 straight matches with at least one kill. 
 
Erin Gardner, Kent State, Libero
Sophomore – Avon, Ohio/Avon
Erin Gardner averaged 6.29 digs per set as Kent State move into a tie for sixth place with two weekends remaining in the regular season. Gardner started the weekend with 23 digs in the Golden Flashes’ first-ever victory over Bowling Green inside of the Stroh Center on Friday evening and added 21 digs in a three-setter at Miami on Saturday. The MAC’s digs leader has now posted 15 20+ dig performance this season.
 
Abby Leigh, Buffalo, Middle Blocker
Freshman – Strongsville, Ohio/Padua Franciscan
Freshman Abby Leigh added 14 more blocks this past weekend as the Bulls played in a pair of five-set matches on the road. On Thursday, Leigh had six blocks in Buffalo’s win at Akron, while she also added eight kills and seven digs. On Saturday night in Muncie, Leigh added eight more blocks, including four solo blocks at the net. Leigh finished with 10 kills and four digs as well. For the weekend, Leigh averaged 1.40 blocks per set.
 
Isabelle Marciniak, Bowling Green, Setter
Senior – Lambertville, Michigan/Bedford Senior 
Senior setter Isabelle Marciniak continued to fill the stat sheet for the Falcons over the weekend concluding with her ninth double-double on the season in a three-set sweep over Ohio with 36 assists and 13 digs. This came after she was just two digs shy of the same accomplishment the night before against Kent State. With 75 assists on the weekend, Marciniak added to her career total, which currently stands at third all-time in program history for career assists. She also added six total blocks for the weekend, including matching her career high for block solos in match with two against Ohio. 
 
Scout McLerran, Buffalo, Setter
Senior – Friendsville, Tennessee/Webb School
Senior Scout McLerran had a pair of 50-assist performances this past weekend as the Bulls played five-set road matches at Akron and Ball State.  On Thursday night, McLerran had 57 assists in the win over Akron, while adding three kills, hitting .429. McLerran added 52 assists on Saturday evening in Muncie, while finishing with five more kills. Overall, she averaged 10.50 assists per set, while hitting .350.  McLerran also chipped in 18 digs and three blocks.
 
Margaret Payne, Miami, Middle Hitter
Senior – Bloomfield Hills, Michigan/Cranbrook Kingswood
Senior middle hitter Margaret Payne had a big weekend leading Miami both offensively and on the block. She finished with 24 kills, an average of 3.43 kills per set. She made only four errors in 50 attempts for a .400 attack percentage. Payne also recorded an impressive 12 blocks (one solo, 11 assisted), averaging 1.71 blocks per set. Against Ohio on Friday, she had a season-high 18 kills and a .405 attack percentage to go with seven block assists. She followed that up with six kills and five blocks in a sweep of Kent State on Saturday. Payne scored 30.5 points in two matches for the RedHawks over the weekend, an average of 4.36 points per set.
 
Polina Prokudina, Buffalo, Outside Hitter
Senior – Moscow, Russia
Senior Polina Prokudina led the Bulls offensive this past weekend as she had a pair of 20-kill performances, continuing a streak of three straight matches where Prokudina has recorded 20 or more kills.  On Thursday night, Prokudina had 23 kills in a five-set win over Akron, while on Saturday evening Prokudina finished with a season-high 26 kills at Ball State. For the weekend, Prokudina averaged just under 5.0 kills a set and she averaged 5.15 points per set.
 
Kathleen Reilly, Western Michigan, Defensive Specialist/Libero
Senior – Overland Park, Kansas/St. James
Senior Kathleen Reilly led the Broncos defensively to a 1-1 record over the weekend, falling to Central Michigan before defeating Eastern Michigan. Reilly led the team with 37 digs on the weekend, averaging 4.62 digs per set. Reilly’s 26 dig performance in the win over Eastern Michigan marked the 12th match this season in which she has eclipsed 25 or more digs. Reilly also had three service aces on the weekend to lead the Broncos including two at Eastern Michigan. It was the first time since Oct. 18 at Buffalo that Reilly has posted two or more service aces in a match. 
 
Ashley Richardson, Akron, Middle Blocker
Senior – Doylestown, Ohio/Chippewa
Ashley Richardson had a strong weekend offensively and defensively at the net for the Zips. In the match against Buffalo, she finished with 13 kills and a .231 hitting percentage, to go along with 5 blocks. She followed that up with another strong performance against Toledo, as she finished 8 kills to just 1 error, good enough for a .333 hitting percentage. To add onto that, she added 5 block assists on defense. In total, she finished with 21 kills and 10 blocks on the weekend. 
 
Natalie Risi, Ball State, Outside Hitter
Freshman – Clarkston, Mich./Notre Dame Preparatory
Freshman Natalie Risi smashed a career-high 27 kills to help lead the Cardinals to a thrilling 3-2 win over Toledo last Thursday. The effort is the second-most in a match in the MAC this season. She also recorded11 digs and three service aces in the win. She followed with another solid outing in the five-set win over Buffalo Saturday, collecting 15 kills and 18 digs for her seventh double-double of the season. Her 15th kill of the night gave Ball State the victory, while she also blasted the set-winning tally in both the second and fourth frames.
 
Taylor Sharrtis, Akron, Defensive Specialist
Junior – Concord, Ohio/Lake Catholic
Taylor Sharrits continues to pace the back-row defense well. She finished with 38 digs and 3 assists on the weekend, good enough for 4.22 digs per set.
 
Danie Tyson, Kent State, Middlee Blocker
Sophomore – South Holland, Illinois/Chicago Christian
Danie Tyson made her presence known on both sides of the net in helping Kent State move into a tie for sixth place with two weekends remaining in the regular season. Tyson hit .500 with nine kills and a single error on just 16 attempts as the Golden Flashes earned their first-ever victory over Bowling Green inside of the Stroh Center on Friday evening. She added a team-high eight kills on Saturday at first-place Miami.
 
Julia Walz, Bowling Green, Libero
Sophomore – Brooklyn, Ohio/Brooklyn
Julia Walz once again led the Falcons in digs in both matches this past weekend, falling to Kent State, but sweeping Ohio. With 44 digs over the weekend, Walz moved her season total to 479, leaving her just 19 away from entering the top 10 all-time for digs in a single season, needing 498 to do so. Her average of 5.57 digs per set also ranks tenth nationally and second in the conference. Walz also had one of four aces for Bowling Green during Friday’s match.
 
Emily Weigand, Akron, Setter
Junior – Burton, Ohio/Notre Dame Cathedral Latin School
Emily Weigand had a solid weekend distributing the ball, as she totaled 96 assists while adding 9 kills, 7 blocks and 5 aces. She had a strong performance against Buffalo, averaging 11.6 assists per set while adding 5 kills, 5 blocks and 2 aces.
 
Maddie Whitfield, Central Michigan University, MB
Sophomore - Saline, Michigan/Saline 
Sophomore middle blocker Maddie Whitfield continued to control the net for the Chippewas during a 2-0 MAC series at home this weekend. The Saline, Mich., native had five blocks during Thursday’s 3-1 win against Western Michigan to go along with a .333 hitting percentage and seven kills. She followed it up with four blocks during Saturday’s straight set win over Northern Illinois, along with four kills and a .429 hitting percentage.