Mid-American Conference

MAC East Offensive Player of the Week
Margaret Payne, Miami, Middle Hitter
Senior – Bloomfield Hills, Michigan/Cranbrook Kingswood
Payne earned All-Tournament honors at the Miami Best Western Sycamore Inn Invitational as she led the RedHawk volleyball team to a 2-1 record at its season-opening tournament. Payne totaled 31 kills in three matches, an average of 2.82 kills per set. She made only nine attack errors in 62 attempts for a .355 hitting percentage. Payne also recorded 12 blocks (four solo and eight assisted), scoring a total of 39.0 points for Miami over the weekend.
 
MAC West Offensive Player of the Week
Rachel Bontrager, Western Michigan, Outside Hitter
Junior – Valparaiso, Indiana/Valparaiso
Bontrager led the Broncos to a perfect 3-0 weekend to claim the 2019 Purdue Fort Wayne Invitational Championship. Bontrager was named to the PUFW All-Tournament team and earned Tournament MVP honors. Bontrager recorded her first double-double performance with a 17-kill, 18 dig performance against Purdue Fort Wayne. She followed up her performance against the Mastodons with a 21-kill effort while hitting a staggering .429 in a five-set victory over Northern Kentucky. Over the weekend, Bontrager led the Broncos in kills with 52 and service aces with seven. In just 13 sets, Bontrager recorded a staggering 4.00 kills, 0.54 service aces and 2.54 digs per set. Defensively, Bontrager was third on the team with eight blocks. The junior outside hitter is now just 93 kills away from becoming a member of WMU’s 1,000-kill club. 
 
MAC East Defensive Player of the Week
Erin Gardner, Kent State, Libero
Sophomore – Avon, Ohio/Avon
Erin Gardner averaged 6.60 digs per set to lead a stingy Kent State defense during the opening weekend of the season at the Charlotte Invitational. The Golden Flashes held two of three opponents under a .100 hitting percentage while tallying 191 digs. Gardner had a weekend-best 27 digs and career-high 8 assists against host Charlotte. She added 23 digs and 16 digs in 3-0 sweeps of Gardner-Webb and Eastern Kentucky, respectively.
 
MAC West Defensive Player of the Week
Kathleen Reilly, Western Michigan, Defensive Specialist/Libero
Senior – Overland Park, Kansas/St, James Academy
Reilly led the Broncos with 60 digs, averaging 4.62 per set over the weekend to help WMU capture the 2019 Purdue Fort Wayne Invitational title. For her performance, Reilly was named to the PUFW All-Tournament team. Reilly posted double digit digs in all three matches including back-to-back 20 or more matches against Purdue Fort Wayne and Northern Kentucky. Reilly nearly captured a double-double against Northern Kentucky with a game-high 25 digs to go along with eight assists. With Reilly as a defensive staple, the Broncos held their opponents to a .200 attack percentage over the weekend. With 60 digs, Reilly added to her career total with 1,801 career digs, the third most in program history and just the third Bronco ever to go over 1,800 career digs. 
 
MAC East Setter of the Week
Scout McLerran, Buffalo, Setter
Senior – Friendsville, Tennessee/Webb School
Senior Scout McLerran served as the team’s primary setter for all three matches, finishing with 112 assists over the three matches, moving into eighth place in school history in career assists.  McLerran had 22 assists to open up the season against a tough Alabama team, while on Saturday she recorded 32 assists and had four blocks in a 3-0 win over Marist.  On Sunday, McLerran dished out 58 assists in a five-set affair against Colgate. In addition to her 112 assists, McLerran also finished the weekend with nine kills, four aces, 15 digs, and seven total blocks.
 
MAC West Setter of the Week
Rose Duffy, Western Michigan, Setter (Freshman – Fishers, Indiana/Fishers)
Mary Marzo, Western Michigan, Setter (Junior – La Grange, Illinois/Gonzaga)
Rose Duffy helped lead the charge as the Broncos went a perfect 3-0 on the weekend to capture the 2019 Purdue Fort Wayne Invitational. Duffy led team with 88 assists over the weekend and a staggering 6.77 assists per set. In her Bronco debut, Duffy registered 16 assists and six digs in a sweep of South Alabama. Duffy followed up her debut with back-to-back double-doubles against Purdue Fort Wayne and Northern Kentucky. Duffy finished with 40 assists and 10 digs against Purdue Fort Wayne and 32 assists and 13 digs against Northern Kentucky. Overall, Duffy ranks third on the team in digs with 29. Mary Marzo ranked second on the team with 55 assists in 13 sets over the weekend to help the Broncos capture the 2019 Purdue Fort Wayne Invitational. Running a 6-2 formation, Marzo was the second setter for the Broncos averaging 4.00 assists per set. In her Bronco debut against South Alabama, Marzo collected a double-double with 16 assists and 10 digs en route to the three-set victory. To close out the Invitational, Marzo posted her second double-double of the weekend with20 assists and 11 digs in a five-set win over Northern Kentucky. 

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Kate Avila, Ball State, Libero
Senior – Yorktown, Indiana/Yorktown
Senior libero Kate Avila earned all-tournament honors after leading the Ball State defense with 32 total digs for a 4.00 digs-per-set average at the Ball State Tournament ... She collected 16 digs in each match of the tournament, while boasting a .939 (62-for-66) reception percentage on the day.
 
Zoe Birnbrich, Toledo, Middle Blocker
Senior – Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman
Led the Rockets offensively by hitting .328 and adding 2.45 kills/set during opening weekend…Tallied 16 kills and hit .343 in the win over Loyola (Aug. 31)…Had five kills in the fourth set against the Ramblers, helping push the match to a fifth set…Blue and Gold All-Tournament Team.
 
Grace Balensiefer, NIU, Setter
Sophomore – Lafayette, Indiana/McCutcheon
Averaged just under 11 assists per set this weekend in the NIU Invitational… Had 49 assists in NIU’s season-opening 3-1 win over Fairleigh Dickinson… Tied a career-high with 60 assists in the Huskies’ five-set win over UC Riverside Saturday.
 
Kendall Braate, Central Michigan, Setter
Sophomore – Bryon Center, Michigan/Bryon Center
Sophomore setter Kendall Braate led the Chippewas to a 3-0 opening weekend at the Terrier Classic in Brooklyn, N.Y. The Byron Center, Mich., native played in all 10 sets for the Chippewas averaging 11.2 assists per set. On Friday’s season opening win over Maryland-Eastern Shore, Braate posted 34 assists. On Saturday’s sweep of Saint Peter’s, she tallied a career-high 40 assists and capped of the weekend with 38 in a straight-set win over NJIT. Braate also put up solid numbers on defense and from the service line finishing second on the team in digs (31) and aces (6).
 
Alex Haffner, Kent State, Setter
R-Sophomore – Lee’s Summit, Missouri/Lee’s Summit North
Alex Haffner averaged 9.60 assists, 2.70 digs and 1.20 kills per set with a .385 hitting percentage to lead Kent State to a 2-1 record at the Charlotte Invitational. Haffner matched her career-high with six kills while recording a double-double (49 assists and 15 digs) Friday night against the host 49ers. She totaled 22 assists in the weekend finale against Gardner-Webb, as the Golden Flashes ran a 6-2 offense and posted the highest hitting percentage (.347) since 2015.
 
Miranda Karlen, NIU, Libero
Junior – Evansville, Wisconsin/Evansville
Led NIU with 4.31 digs per set as the Huskies went 2-1 in the NIU Invitational… Had over 20 digs in both wins, with 24 against Fairleigh Dickinson and 20 against UC Riverside… Had three aces against SIUE.
 
Megan Kern, Central Michigan, Libero
Senior – LaGrange, Illinois/Lyons Township
Senior libero Megan Kern anchored the back row this past weekend helping lead the Chippewas to a 3-0 finish at the Terrier Classic in Brooklyn, N.Y. this past weekend. The LaGrange, Ill., native averaged a team-best 4.70 digs per set leading CMU in the digs column in all three victories over Maryland-Eastern Shore, Saint Peter’s and NJIT (13-17-17). Kern also pitched in from the service line with a pair of aces on the weekend. 
 
Abby Leigh, Buffalo, Middle Blocker
Strongsville, Ohio/Pauda Franciscan
Freshman Abby Leigh made quite the first impression this weekend, especially on the defensive end.  She picked up her first start in the opener on Friday night against Alabama and had six blocks in three, sets, including a pair of solo blocks. On Saturday, Leigh played in just the third set against Marist, but she recorded three block assists in that set alone.  Leigh added three more blocks in three sets against Colgate, including a solo. Playing in just seven sets, Leigh averaged 1.71 blocks per set amongst the highest total in the Mid-American Conference this past week. She added 10 kills, including six against the Cimson Tide on Friday and she had her first two service aces against Colgate on Sunday.
 
Isabelle Marciniak, Bowling Green, Setter
Senior – Lambertville, Michigan/Bedford Senior
One of six Bowling Green seniors, Marciniak accomplished the lone double-double by a Falcon in the Golden Dome Invitational, having 48 assists and 12 digs. Marciniak added five kills and three block assists to her line against La Salle. 
 
Katelyn Meyer, Bowling Green, Outside Hitter
Sophomore – Pemberville, Ohio/Eastwood
Coming off of being named First Team All-MAC in 2018, Meyer picked up where she left off in the first regular season match of the year, registering a new career high in digs with 18, along with a service ace to give her 19 points, also a career high. Meyer followed up the performance by tallying 14 kills against La Salle and another nine against Notre Dame en route to being named to the Golden Dome Invitational All-Tournament Team.
 
Natalie Mitchem, Ball State, Outside Hitter
Freshman – Boilingbrook, Illinois/Boilingbrook
Outside attacker Natalie Mitchem joined elite company in last Friday's match versus USF (Aug. 30), becoming only the fourth Ball State player in the rally scoring era (2001-present) to register 20-or-more kills in a match as a freshman ... The last player to accomplish the feat was Julie Breivogel with 24 kills versus Toledo on Sept. 28, 2006 ... Before that, it was Kelly Cochran on Nov. 7, 2003 with 20 kills at Toledo ... Ball State's all-time career kills leader Sarah Obras smashed 20-or-more kills in nine matches her freshman season (2002) on her way to 1,975 career kills.
 
Maggie Nedoma, Ohio, Opposite
Junior - Brook Park, Ohio/Berea-Midpark
Nedoma helped Ohio on offense in the opening weekend of MAC play. In Ohio’s first win of the season – a sweep of Northeastern – Nedoma had seven kills on a .375 attacking percentage, the second-highest on the team. In Ohio’s four set match against Green Bay, Nedoma had 19 kills and hit .267 on 45 swings. Nedoma added seven digs and three blocks in the four-set match. Her 19 kills tied the second-highest output in her career. Nedoma had 26 kills and hit .290 over the four matches last weekend.
 
Polina Prokudina, Buffalo, Outside Hitter
Senior – Moscow, Russia
Senior Polina Prokudina was named to the All-Tournament at the UB Invite as she led the Bulls offensively in all three matches.  Prokudina had her best match on Sunday against Colgate as she finished with 17 kills and 17 digs in a five-set affair against Colgate. Prokudina began the week with 10 kills and eight digs against Alabama and then she added 12 kills in a 3-0 win over Marist. Overall, she averaged 3.55 kills per set, fourth best in the MAC this past weekend.
 
Camille Schomer, Eastern Michigan, Libero
Senior – Rochester, Michigan/Oakland Christian
Senior libero Camille Schomer (Rochester, Mich.-Oakland Christian) was a defensive stalwart for Eastern Michigan in its opening weekend, averaging 3.6 digs per set and committing just three reception errors. The first-year libero put up double-digit digs in all three matches, including 20 in the Eagles’ opening win over Utah State.
 
Amber Seaman, Ball State, Setter
Senior – Carmel, Indiana/Brebeuf
Senior Amber Seaman has already established herself as one of the top setters in program history ... Her 3,398 career assists, including 92 at the Ball State Tournament, currently rank sixth in program history, while her 10.14 career assists-per-set average is fifth on Ball State's career charts ... Seaman, who handed out 1,223 assists last season which is the 12th-best single season total in program history, is currently on pace to become only the fifth Cardinal to hand out over 4,000 career assists.
 
Franki Strefling, Eastern Michigan, Outside Hitter
Junior – Niles, Michigan/Buchanan
Junior outside hitter Franki Strefling had a dominant first weekend performance for the Eagles at the Utah State Tournament, finishing with 44 kills and 34 digs in three matches. The Niles, Mich. native averaged 3.6 kills per set while hitting an outstanding .296 from the floor, and also shined on the defensive side. Strefling put up 2.8 digs per set as a defender, while making just five reception errors over the weekend’s 12 sets. Her kill total was tops on the team and dig total was second behind the EMU libero.
 
Riley Taylor, Eastern Michigan, Setter
Senior – Indianapolis, Indiana/Perry Meridian
Senior Riley Taylor (Indianapolis, Ind.-Perry Meridian) was the anchor for Eastern’s setting over the weekend, starting all three games and averaging 6.75 assists per set. Taylor played as a 6-2 setter for the first and second match, earning double-doubles of 28 assists and 10 digs, and 27 assists and 13 digs, respectively, in the two matches. In the lone opportunity to play as the 5-1 setter, Taylor finished with 26 assists for an average of 8.7 per set.
 
Danie Tyson, Kent State, Middle Blocker
Sophomore – South Holland, Illinois/Chicago Christian
Danie Tyson earned all-tournament team honors at the Charlotte Invitational after posting 2.20 kills per set and a .400 hitting percentage. Tyson opened the weekend with seven kills on 14 errorless attempts for a .500 hitting percentage in Kent State’s 3-0 win over Eastern Kentucky. She added a weekend-best nine kills and four total blocks in Friday’s nightcap against host Charlotte. Tyson totaled six kills as part of a Golden Flashes offense that hit .347 in Saturday’s finale against Gardner-Webb.
 
Kennedy Wallace, NIU, Middle Blocker
Junior – Kansas City, Kansas/Piper
Had 41 kills this weekend as NIU went 2-1 in its home tournament… Set a career-high with 21 kills against UC Riverside, hitting .417 against the Highlanders… Added six blocks in the three matches.
 
Julia Walz, Bowling Green, Libero
Sophomore – Brooklyn, Ohio/Brooklyn
Taking over as the Falcons' Libero, Walz stepped into the role well at the Golden Dome Invitational, racking up 20+ digs in all three matches. Against La Salle, Walz had a tournament, and career, high 31 digs on her line, just nine off of her season mark from a year ago. With 78 digs over the course of the tournament, Walz was named to the Golden Dome Invitational All-Tournament Team.
 
Maddie Whitfield, Central Michigan, Middle Blocker
Sophomore – Saline, Michigan/Saline
Chippewas swept the Terrier Classic in Brooklyn, N.Y. with wins over Maryland-Eastern Shore, Saint Peter’s and the New Jersey Institute of Technology.  The Saline, Mich., earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team after averaging 3.00 kills per set while attacking at a .551 clip throughout the weekend. On Friday’s season-opening victory over the Hawks, Whitfield registered 10 kills to go along with a .368 attack percentage and a team-high four blocks. On Saturday’s tournament finale sweep of the Highlanders, she posted a career-highs in kills (16) and attack percentage (.800) and was named the NCAA Volleyball ‘Big Time Performer’ for Saturday’s contests. Whitfield also paced CMU with seven total blocks on the weekend.