Saturday's Volleyball Results
Akron 3, Marshall 2
Akron 3, UNC Greensboro 0
Bowling Green 3, Wright State 1
Buffalo 3, Binghamton 0
Central Michigan 3, Bradley 2
Eastern Michigan 3, Western Illinois 2
Ohio 3, North Dakota State 1
Dayton 3, Ohio 2
Toledo 3, Memphis 1
Western Michigan 3, UIC 1
Northern Iowa 3, Ball State 0
Iowa 3, Kent State 2
Florida Atlantic 3, Miami 1
Eastern Kentucky 3, Miami 0
Davidson 3, Northern Illinois 1
Queens 3, Northern Illinois 2
Stories courtesy of MAC Sports Information Departments
Akron 3, Marshall 2 | Boxscore
Akron 3, UNC Greensboro 0 | Boxscore
HUNTINGTON, WV --The Akron volleyball team tallied a .432 hitting percentage en route to a 3-0 victory (25-15, 25-18, 25-12) over the UNC Greensboro Spartans Saturday at Cam Henderson Center.
The out-of-conference victory improved Akron's overall record to 3-3 on the season.
Faith Johnson finished with 15 kills on the day to lead the Zips attack while finishing with a hitting percentage of .542. Akron got 8 digs from Vanessa Del Real to lead them defensively.
The Zips earned a set-one victory 25-15 helped by a strong performance on the attacking end. Akron put together a .423 attack percentage with 13 kills in the set victory. The Zips ended on a strong note, stretching their lead to its largest point in the set to finish out the stanza. Akron also supplemented their offense with four aces in the opening set.
After their win in the first set, Akron put themselves on the cusp of a sweep with a 25-18 victory in set number two. The Zips earned the set victory thanks to a strong performance on the attacking side. Akron registered a .375 attack percentage with 19 kills in the set win. The Zips ended on a strong note, stretching their lead to its largest point in the set to finish out the stanza. The Akron offense also got a boost from four aces in the stanza.
Akron finished off the match in a 3-0 sweep after taking set three. The Zips took control of the set early when the score was 2-1 and held the lead the rest of the way to win 25-12. Akron ended on a strong note, opening up its biggest lead of the stanza, 13 points, to finish off the set, totaling 16 kills while only registering one attack error in the set. The Akron offense also got a boost from three aces in the stanza.
Bowling Green 3, Wright State 1
Boxscore
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team wrapped up the Hampton Inn Invitational on Saturday (Sept. 2) with a four-set win over Wright State. The Falcons took the first two sets of the match, both going to extra points, before the Raiders were able to force a fourth. BGSU closed out the match with a 3-0 run in the fourth set to secure the 3-1 victory. The win moves the Falcons to 4-2 through the first two weekends of the season.
The Falcons were paced by a pair of double-doubles. Jaden Walz led the team with 39 assists and 10 digs, her second double-double of the season, while landing a pair of kills to go along with a pair of block assists. Lauryn Hovey followed with 15 kills on a .370 hitting percentage as well as 14 digs and five aces, both career-highs. The outing secured Hovey a spot on the All-Tournament Team, being joined by Mia Tyler who landed a team-high 41 kills over the course of the tournament.
The Falcons tallied the first point of the match, but an early 4-0 run for Wright State pushed them in front 5-2.
Wright State added a few points to their lead before Bowling Green called a timeout, trailing 12-6 in the set.
BGSU put together a 5-0 run soon after the timeout, closing the gap to 14-13 before tying the set at 15-15 and moving ahead at 16-15 with the run stretching to 8-1.
The lead for the Orange and Brown reached three at 20-17 before Wright State called their first timeout of the set.
Out of the timeout, Wright State tallied three straight points to knot it up at 20-20 and force the second BGSU timeout of the set.
The set moved into extra points with the teams trading points. Wright State took a 27-26 lead, but the Falcons rattled off three straight points to take the first set 29-27.
The second set began close before BGSU created the first separation, using a 4-0 stretch to move in front 6-3.
Wright State battled back to tie the set at 8-8, starting a trend of ties that continued with 9-9, 10-10 and 11-11 before a 3-0 burst pushed the score to 15-13 BGSU, bringing on the media timeout.
The Raiders once again battled back, using a 4-0 stretch to take a 19-18 lead before the ties resumed at 19-19, 20-20, 21-21 and 22-22 before a pair of points pushed BGSU back in front 24-22.
Wright State continued to fight down the stretch, tying it up once again at 24-24. The back-and-forth battle carried through until the Falcons recorded back-to-back points to take the second set 28-26 and go up 2-0 for the match.
Wright State came out swinging in the second set, taking a quick 3-0 lead. The WSU advantage grew to 7-2 before the Falcons paused the action with a timeout.
BGSU tallied two points out of the timeout, but another 6-0 run for the Raiders increased their lead to 13-4 and forced the second Bowling Green timeout of the set.
The Falcons chipped away at the Wright State lead, but a 3-0 stretch closed out the set in favor of the Raiders at 25-15
The first two points of the fifth set went to the Falcons, but Wright State responded with a 5-0 streak to move in front 5-2 and prompt a Bowling Green timeout.
Soon after, the Falcons used a 3-0 run to trim the lead down to 7-6, forcing a timeout from the Wright State bench.
Bowling Green continued to fight, putting together a 5-0 run of their own to reclaim the lead at 15-14, seeing the Raiders burn their second timeout of the set.
The lead remained for BGSU, increasing it to 21-16 with a 4-0 run late in the set. However, Wright State didn't go away, using a 3-0 run to force a Bowling Green timeout with the score at 22-20 BGSU. Reminder
Out of the timeout, the Raiders pushed the run to 5-0, tying the set at 22-22. The Falcons responded with a 3-0 burst, taking the set with a 25-22 score and the match at 3-1.
The Falcons next set of matches will be played in Fort Collins, Colo. as part of the Colorado State Tournament. BGSU will begin the tournament against host Colorado State on Sept. 7 before facing Pacific (Sept. 8) and Baylor (Sept. 9).
Buffalo 3, Binghamton 0
Boxscore
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo women's volleyball team (6-0, 0-0 MAC) wrapped up the UB Invite on Saturday afternoon against the Binghamton Bearcats (3-3, 0-0 AEC). The Bulls came out victorious against the Bearcats in a straight set victory, 25-22, 25-19, 25-22.
The Bulls were aggressive on the attack on the afternoon with 107 attempts to the Bearcats' 87. Emma Gielas had a match-high 11 kills as Abby Leigh was right behind with nine kills. A. Leigh also had three solo blocks. Mandy Leigh nearly had more assists than the Bearcats with 25 on the day. Katrin Trebichavska finished with three service aces.
On the defense, Manoela Forlin finished with 14 digs and 14 receptions. As a team, the Bulls had seven total blocks.
The Bearcats gave the Bulls a run for their money on Saturday afternoon. There were nine ties and three lead changes in the first set, the most on the day. Despite having six attack errors in the set, the Bulls outhit the Bearcats, .250 to .222. A. Leigh led the way in the first with five kills on seven attempts.
It was a tight second set until about the halfway point where the Bulls started to pull away. Up 12-9, Binghamton called a timeout after an attack error. That did not stop UB as Gielas extended the lead to 15-10. Trebichavska made it a six-point lead, the largest lead on the day by either team. Forlin put the second set away with a kill to give the Bulls a 2-0 advantage.
The Bearcats still had fire in them headed into the third set. They started with a 3-0 lead after a ball handling error and two aces. That didn't stun the Bulls as they went on a 6-0 run, the largest on the day. Up 6-3, the Bearcats crept back tying the set at eight after an attack error by the Bulls. The teams traded points, as neither side could find an offensive rhythm. Miscues by Binghamton led to a 15-12 UB lead, forcing a Bearcat timeout. Binghamton fought to get back into the game and force a fourth set, but UB's ability to cash in on Binghamton mistakes paid off. The Bulls won the set, 25-22.
The Bulls are back in action on Friday, Sept. 8 as they'll take on the Missouri Tigers (4-0, 0-0 SEC) to start the Xavier Invitational in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Central Michigan 3, Bradley 2
Boxscore
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – A weekend turnaround into territory that is not uncommon for Central Michigan Volleyball.
Central Michigan went 3-0 in the 2023 Chippewa Invitational hosted in McGuirk Arena this past weekend. The Chippewas defeated UAlbany and Saint Louis on day one, and finished the weekend with a second five-set thriller victory over Bradley.
The Chippewas move to 3-3 on the season as they prepare for the Hawkeye Invitational hosted by Iowa, September 8-10.
If there is one thing CMU Volleyball knows how to do, it is keep you on the edge of your seat. That is exactly what the Chippewas did in their 3-2 victory over Bradley to close out the Chippewa Invitational.
In set one, the Chippewas and Braves battled it out, but the Chippewas were ultimately victorious 25-21 to open the afternoon with a breath of fresh air.
Said fresh air did not stay in their lungs long though.
The second set was a battle at set point for 16 different possessions, where CMU again, was victorious, 31-29. The 2-0 lead for the Chippewas had the arena ready for a sweep, but Bradley had other plans.
Sets three and four, were won by the Braves (22-25, 21-25) but that was not enough to count out Mike Gawlik and his Chippewa squad.
This was the second game in a row where the Chippewas led 2-0 and had to battle to win in five sets.
The fifth set, Central Michigan won 15-9 which ultimately left them undefeated on the weekend in McGuirk.
Elly Medendorp made her senior year debut in McGuirk Arena this weekend, and she did not disappoint. Medendorp finished with 9 kills (.421) and 2 blocks in the victory over Bradley.
The Chippewas had their big hitter and blocker in Olin, but plenty of other players impacted the outcome of the Bradley win.
Devon Bright, a transfer from Nicholls State, tied the CMU program record for aces in a 5-set game with 7. On the weekend overall, Bright had 9 aces.
Aly Gurtiza racked up 23 digs as the junior libero continued to be a defensive force for the Chippewas, while also assisting on 6 balls to help her team offensively as well.
Claire Ammeraal notched her fourth double-double of the season with 36 assists and 20 digs. Ammeraal also had 3 blocks and 7 kills for CMU.
Maddy Gebhardt, a sophomore from Montrose, Mich. killed 11 balls for the Chippewas and had 8 digs.
Eighth year head coach Mike Gawlik charted his 101st win in the victory over Bradley and also won with improvements from his team this weekend.
The Chippewas, who were 0-3 at the SEMO Invitational a week ago, spent the week of practice focused on blocking and growing in that area as a team. Central Michigan, a historically defensive and gritty team, charted 32 blocks over the 13 sets played, compared to the 22 in the weekend prior. Not just the blocked balls were important to grow on, but overall net presence.
Central Michigan will face the Iowa Hawkeyes at 7 pm (ET) on Friday, September 8th in Iowa City, they will then play Grand Canyon at 4 pm( (ET) on the 9th and close out the trip with Missouri State on the 10th at 12 pm (ET)
Eastern Michigan 3, Western Illinois 2
Boxscore
VALPARAISO, Ind. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team displayed remarkable resolve in a rigorous battle with Western Illinois University, defeating the Leathernecks in a five-set thriller, Saturday, Sept. 2, during the second to last match of the Popcorn Classic hosted by Valparaiso University inside the Athletics-Recreation Center. The victory marked the first of the season for the Eagles and the first under head coach Kevin Foeman.
For the sixth time in six matches, Callie Minshew (Brandon, Miss./Brandon/Mississippi State) led the team in kills as she posted a career-high 20, along with her 11 digs for her third season double-double. Additionally, Angel Baylark (Burlington, Iowa/Burlington/Tennessee-Martin) contributed a career-high tying 14 kills to help the Eagles attack. On the defensive end, Emma McMahon (Monroeville, Ind./Monroeville) chipped in with 22 digs to go with eight blocks from Baylark and a career-high six from Elle McLoughlin (Zanesville, Ohio/Tri Valley/Ashland), who received her first double-doble with 46 assists and 13 digs.
The Eagles found themselves in an early hole, losing a tough first set 25-11. Eastern Michigan trailed by as many as 14 points as Western Illinois never surrendered the lead in a set that was knotted up two times before the Leathernecks took control.
Eastern Michigan evened the match at 1-1 after a 25-14 second-set win. The Eagles took the set with the help of a strong showing on the attacking side. Eastern Michigan put together a .324 attack percentage with 14 kills in the set win. The Eagles ended on a strong note, stretching their lead to its largest point in the set to finish out the stanza. The offense also got a boost from three aces in the stanza. The Green and White's front row had a solid defensive performance, blocking six Western Illinois attacks.
Eastern won again in set three to make it a 2-1 match. The Eagles the set the third set 25-20. EMU took the lead for good at 7-6 in a set that featured six ties and five lead changes. The Eastern Michigan offense also got a boost from three aces in the stanza.
Eastern Michigan couldn't keep the win streak going, as the Leathernecks forced a fifth set with a 25-22 fourth-set win. The Eagles fought back from an eight-point hole at 19-11, but it wasn't enough as Western Illinois held on to win the set.
EMU took a two sets to one lead and held off Western Illinois' comeback attempt, which included a fourth set victory, to win the fifth set 15-13 and the match 3-2. The Eagles took the lead for good at 8-7 in a set that showcased two lead changes before the Eagles took over the lead. got a solid defensive performance from a front row that blocked four Western Illinois attacks in the stanza.
The Green and White competed in the Popcorn Classic hosted by Valparaiso for the second time in program history. The first was during the 2005 season, when the Eagles went 2-1 in the tournament, defeating both Drake University, and Saint Louis University in three sets before falling to the Beacons in five. Moreover, the tournament marked the 32nd meeting with Oakland (25-7), the eighth with Valparaiso (4-4), and the sixth with Western Illinois (5-1) in program history.
The victory marked the first for Kevin Foeman as the 10th head coach of the Eastern Michigan volleyball team.
Following the Popcorn Classic in Valparaiso, Ind., the team will take a short trip to Rochester, Mich., to partake in the Golden Grizzlies Invitational, hosted by Oakland University, Sept. 8-9. The Eagles are scheduled to face the tournament hosts for the second time this season, Friday, Sept. 8, at noon before meeting with Chicago State University at 5 p.m. Saturday's match will see the Green and White take on the University of Missouri-Kansas City at noon.
Ohio 3, North Dakota State 1 | Boxscore
Dayton 3, Ohio 2 | Boxscore
DAYTON, Ohio – The Ohio volleyball team (4-2, 0-0 MAC) split the second day of the Dayton Flyer Classic with a 3-1 win (23-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-21) against North Dakota State (4-2, 0-0 SL) and a 2-3 loss (25-21, 25-21, 22-25, 17-25, 11-15) to Dayton (5-1, 0-0 A10) on Saturday.
Despite making an impressive comeback, Ohio fell to 25-23 to North Dakota State in the first of the match.
NDSU led for majority of the match, but two 3-0 scoring runs by the Bobcats shortened the Bison's lead. With a block by senior Elizabeth Hoerlein (Mason, Ohio), Ohio was able to force an NDSU attack error and make it a one-point set. Junior Caroline Clippard (Cincinnati, Ohio) led both teams with six kills and points.
Ohio answered back with a 25-17 win in the second set, evening the match score at 1-1. The Bobcats dominated offensively with 17 kills to North Dakota State's seven. In an impressive feat, Ohio was able to maintain the lead throughout the entire set.
Although the winning point came from a bad set by the Bison, sophomore Anna Kharchynska's (Kyiv, Ukraine) kill forced set point and put the Bobcats up 24-16. At the end of the second, Ohio's players led in six different categories including kills, hitting, digs, assists, blocking and points.
It was tight third set as both teams fought to gain the 2-1 advantage. The Bobcats came out on top with a 25-20 win over NDSU. After several ties and lead changes, Ohio broke the one-point scoring margin with back-to-back kills by graduate student Caitlin O'Farrell (Suwanee, Ga.) and Hoerlein. An attack error by the Bison led to set point and a kill by graduate student Parker Kwiatkowski (Grand Rapids, Mich.) secured the set for Ohio.
Ohio came out on top after another close set with the Bison. The Bobcats earned the 3-1 victory with a 25-21 win in the fourth. Match point was forced by another kill from Kharchynska and an attack error by NDSU gave Ohio its winning point.
Toledo 3, Memphis 1
Boxscore
TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo women's volleyball team finished its weekend with a gutsy win over Memphis on Saturday. The Rockets took down the Tigers in four sets.
The final match of the Toledo Invitational proved to be the most evenly-matched of the tournament, as all four sets needed extra time to be settled. Memphis won the first set, 27-25, and Toledo won the next three sets by scores of 26-24, 27-25, and 27-25.
Senior Jada Bouyer was Toledo's All-Tournament Team selection. She hit .338 and averaged 2.69 kills/set while adding 0.92 blocks/set to help the cause. She saved her best for last, tallying weekend-highs in kills (14), blocks (5), and attack percentage (.393) against Memphis.
Bouyer was one of four Rockets to reach double-digits in kills on Saturday. Senior Taylor Alt registered her third straight double-double with 14 kills and 12 digs, while fifth-year senior Rhyenne Filisi and senior Abby Erickson added 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Senior Mary-Kate Lopez collected 47 assists and 10 digs for her first double-double of the year.
Fifth-year senior Ryann Jaqua led Toledo with 23 digs, and sophomore Izzy Granger and senior Claire Eiden both tallied 12 digs. Eiden led the Rockets with three service aces.
Toledo will head to North Dakota next weekend to face North Dakota State and Portland State.
Toledo opened the match with a 6-2 lead, but Memphis quickly tied the score at 8-8. Both teams traded blows, and a 4-0 run by the Rockets was matched by the Tigers, who took a 21-20 lead and forced UT to call a timeout. Erickson's kill coming out of the break tied the score at 21-21, but Memphis pulled ahead and took a 24-23 lead. Filisi tied the score at 24-24, and two points later Bouyer tied things up at 25-25, but Memphis finally put the Rockets away and won the set to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
Toledo grabbed control of the second set early, taking a commanding 13-5 lead. The lead didn't last forever though, and the Tigers were able to overcome their sizable deficit to tie the score at 24-24 late in the set. Seeing their lead disappear didn't faze the Rockets, who scored the final two points of the set to win and tie the match at 1-1. A Memphis service error broke the tie and Granger's kill ended the set.
The Tigers jumped out ahead this time, taking a 13-8 lead. Toledo then began scoring in bunches, and before long tied the score at 16-16. Memphis wrestled the lead back and appeared to be in control, holding a 24-22 advantage. Granger cut the deficit to one with a kill, and a Memphis attack error tied the score at 24-24. The Rockets and Tigers traded points to put the score at 25-25, but a kill from Filisi and an emphatic block by Granger ended the set and handed Toledo a 2-1 lead in the match.
Memphis scored the first three points of the set, but Toledo's serve-receive propelled a 7-1 run that put it ahead 7-3. The run started with a Memphis service error, and Eiden rattled off three aces to help put the Rockets on top. The pendulum quickly swung in the opposite direction, however, and the Tigers used a 10-2 run to go up, 15-10. The Rockets slowly chipped away at the deficit until another clutch block from Granger tied the score at 21-21. As had been the case all match, Toledo and Memphis traded points until the very end when, with the score tied at 25-25, UT scored twice to end the match. Filisi brought about match point with her final kill of the night, and Alt and Erickson combined on the match-winning block to seal the win.
Western Michigan 3, UIC 1
Boxscore
CHICAGO, Ill. – Western Michigan graduate student outside hitter Maggie King recorded the 1500th kill of her career, and the Broncos stayed undefeated with a 3-1 win (27-25, 14-25, 25-15, 25-15) over UIC to win the UIC Invitational on Saturday. The win improves the Broncos to 7-0 on the season, which is the program's best start since beginning the 2019 campaign at 8-0.
King's 1500th career kill came at a key time late in the first set, which WMU eked out, 27-25. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native is the fourth player in Western Michigan program history to reach the 1500-kill mark.
Following the match, WMU's Logan Case was named to the All-Tournament Team, after averaging 11.18 assists and 2.18 digs per set while helping the Broncos hit .278 for the weekend.
Behind Case's 47 assists, Western Michigan hit .308 for the afternoon and had four players record nine more or kills. Keona Salesman tallied a match-high 16 kills on a .441 hitting percentage, while King registered 14 kills, Mary Clare Brusek added 10 and Amanda Glanton had nine on an .818 hitting percentage.
Andelyn Simkins posted a team-high 17 digs for the contest, with Case (9 digs) and King (8) each coming close to their second double-double of the campaign.
The Broncos also served up a season-high nine aces, led by Brusek's career-high three.
With the first set even at 7-7, WMU used a 6-2 run to open up a 13-9 edge. The Flames worked their way back into it, and eventually overtook the Broncos at 18-17. The two teams proceeded to trade the lead back and forth, with WMU having a set point at 24-23 and UIC having a set point at 25-24. Down 25-24, the Broncos got a kill from King to tie it at 25-25, then got a King service ace and a Brusek solo block to take the first frame, 27-25.
UIC tallied the first six points to seize control early in the second set. The Flames never looked back after grabbing the early advantage, and took the second frame to even the match at one set apiece.
In the third, the Broncos notched six consecutive points to move ahead, 12-8. At 13-11, Western Michigan used a 10-2 surge to stretch the margin to 23-13, and rolled from there to a 2-1 match advantage.
A 9-0 run helped Western Michigan get out to an 11-4 start in the fourth set. Leading 15-10, the Broncos used a 5-1 run to boost their advantage to 20-11. UIC closed the gap to 21-15, but the Brown & Gold answered with the final four points of the afternoon to improve to 7-0.
Western Michigan is on the road once again next weekend, as it travels down to Kennesaw, Ga., for the Kennesaw State Invitational. The Broncos start tournament play on Friday afternoon as they take on Mississippi State at 4 pm.
