Saturday’s Volleyball Results
Buffalo 3, Bellarmine 0
Central Michigan 3, Grand Canyon 2
Miami 3, Illinois State 2
Ohio 3, William & Mary 1
Western Michigan 3, Wake Forest 1
Dayton 3, Ball State 1
UIC 3, Ball State 1
Baylor 3, Bowling Green 1
Kansas City 3, Eastern Michigan 0
Niagara 3, Kent State 0
St. Thomas 3, Northern Illinois 2
Portland State 3, Toledo 1
Stories courtesy of MAC Sports Information Departments
Buffalo 3, Bellarmine 0
Boxscore
CINCINNATI – The University at Buffalo women's volleyball team (8-1, 0-0 MAC) finished 2-1 at the Xavier Invitational after beating the Bellarmine Knights (2-6, 0-0 ASUN) on Saturday morning in straight sets, 25-15, 25-21, 25-14.
Lauren Otten recorded a career day as she finished with a career-high eight kills. Katrin Trebichavska finished with a 10 kill-12 dig double-double as Abby Leigh had 10 kills and six total blocks. Mandy Leigh had 34 assists and seven digs on the day. Trebichavska added six service aces, a season-high for the Bulls.
A big difference for the Bulls compared to yesterday's matches was the cut down on service errors. They finished with nine against the Knights compared to a combined 24 versus Mizzou and Xavier. The Bulls had one of their most efficient offensive attacks this season finishing with an attack percentage of .400 and just eight errors.
The Bulls led wire to wire in the first set with their lead reaching seven points before the Knights made a charge. Bellarmine got within three points at 16-13 forcing the Bulls to a timeout, but UB finished the set on a 9-2 run. Otten racked up a set-high five kills as the Bulls hit at .393 to Bellarmine's .051.
The Knights gave the Bulls a run for their money in the second set. The Knights surged out to a 10-2 lead before the Bulls called a timeout. Bellarmine led 13-3, but that wasn't enough to stop the Bulls. Slowly, but surely, UB chipped away and came all the way back. They closed the set on a 16-4 run.
Despite it being a tight set in the early stages, the Bulls were dominant. They hit .458 with 12 kills and one error on 24 attempts. Emma Gielas had five of her seven kills in the set for UB. Seven different Bulls had assists in the match clinching set.
On the weekend, the Bulls outhit their opponents, .296 to .153. At the net, they had 12 solo blocks and 20 block assists. Trebichavaska led the team with 39 kills, 54.5 points, and 12 aces. Maria Futey finished with 40 digs with M. Leigh adding 110 assists to her total.
The Bulls are back in action on Friday, Sept. 15 against nationally ranked Arkansas (6-2, 0-0 SEC) at the Red Storm Invitational hosted by St. John's in Queens, N.Y.
Central Michigan 3, Grand Canyon 2
Boxscore
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Central Michigan did what they did they do best – reverse swept an opponent in an exhilarating fashion.
The Chippewas defeated Grand Canyon in Xtreme Arena 3-2 to win their grab their first win of the Hawkeye Invitational. Central Michigan advances to 4-4 on the season while Grand Canyon drops to a mirroring 4-4 on their season.
A focus for Head Coach Mike Gawlik and his team was coming out of the gate quickly. That was not how the evening went for the Chippewas. CMU dropped the first two sets to the Antelopes (17-25 and 24-26) then found a way to rally in the third set where they were victorious in a 25-18 decision.
Set four was a dogfight that ended positively for the Chippewas (26-24) and the deciding set ended in a 15-13 win for Central Michigan.
The rebound and resiliency is what Chippewa Volleyball prides themselves on and that carried into for the push into the third through fifth sets.
An incredible offensive match it was in fact. The Chippewas hit .383 as a group, scoring 80 points and having four players hit .300 or better individually.
For a period of time, the Chippewas were hitting over .400 through two sets, which was picking up some slack for the defense that early on was struggling. Central Michigan only killed nine balls in the first set, 13 in the second (.037) but turned it around in the third where they hit .583 as a team with 15 kills. Sets four and five were 16 kill (.379) and 9 kill (.033) continuations, respectively.
This was the Chippewas' fourth five-set game of the season, and the third where they have been victorious. CMU took the Lopes to five sets after taking B10 opponent Iowa to four and in their two games before, defeating Saint Louis and Bradley in five sets each in the Chippewa Invitational.
Offensively, the Chippewas were led by junior Krystina Kasson who hit .633 on the evening with 20 kills.
Kasson was looking to rebound in the match today after she called in the net for a ball that ended up ending the match for the Chippewas against the Hawkeyes on Friday night.
Abby Olin was also a positive offensive force for Central Michigan as she killed 15 balls (.522) and scored 18 points. Olin also recorded an ace and three blocks for the Chippewas in the outing.
Brooklyn Conner found her groove today as she blocked five balls for the Chippewas, killed six and scored 8.5 points. Her six blocks in the game is a career high for Conner.
In the backcourt for the Chippewas, Aly Gurtiza remained solid as she dug 18 balls and 6 aces, a career high for Gurtiza beating her previous record of four at Buffalo last season. The six aces for Gurtiza is an impressive line on the stat sheet for many reasons to Gawlik. One of those reasons being a challenge he gave her after the first weekend at SEMO.
The Chippewas next will face Missouri State in Iowa City to close out the Hawkeye Invitational. That game is scheduled for Sunday, September 10th at noon (ET).
Miami 3, Illinois State 2
Boxscore
NORMAL, Ill. — The Miami University volleyball team (3-6) won a five-set match against Illinois State (0-9) Saturday evening in the Redbird Classic.
The first set began with back-and-forth play between the two teams. No team led by more than two points until Illinois State took a 13-10 lead. A collection of kills from Brooke Jackson, Gentry Warrick and Chelsea Williams kept Miami in it at 20-15. The Redbirds ended the set with a 25-17 win.
In the second set a flurry of kills and an Ellie Hanson service ace gave Miami a 12-11 advantage halfway through. A key solo block from Warrick and a late kill from Williams propelled the RedHawks to a 27-25 win. No team led by more than three points the entire set.
Illinois State took a 9-6 lead at the start of the third set. A couple of attack errors, a Hanson kill and a Hanson service ace brought Miami on top at 10-9. The Redbirds took their largest lead of the set at 22-17. Miami did not give in, closing within one at 24-23. The Redbirds edged past Miami to take the third set 25-23.
The competitive play continued into the fourth set. Approaching the midpoint of the set, the score was tied at 12 apiece. The RedHawks ended the set on a 6-1 run to take the third set 25-21.
In the final set Miami jumped out to a 7-4 lead after Williams put down two kills and a service ace. Illinois State came within one on numerous occasions, but the Red and White closed the set with a 15-13 win.
The RedHawks stay on the road for the Purdue Fort Wayne Invitational Sept. 15-16. Miami takes on SIUE (Friday, Sept. 15), Purdue Fort Wayne (Friday, Sept. 16) and Valparaiso (Saturday, Sept. 16).
Ohio 3, William & Mary 1
Boxscore
ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio volleyball team (5-4, 0-0 MAC) defeated William and Mary (5-3, 0-0 CAA) 3-1 (25-18, 25, 14, 23-25, 25-19) in the final match of the Bobcat Invitational.
The Bobcats were led by graduate student Caitlin O'Farrell (Suwanee, Ga.) who totaled a match-high of 14 kills. O'Farrell recorded a .417 hit percentage along with three blocks.
Freshman Torre Kildow (Bethesda, Ohio) contributed on both sides of the ball, recording 12 kills and 12 digs. Sophomore Anna Kharchynska (Kyiv, Ukraine), senior Elizabeth Hoerlein (Mason, Ohio), and junior Caroline Clippard (Cincinnati, Ohio) all greatly contributed with a double digit kill count.
The match began with the Bobcats taking the first lead and never looking back. A 7-0 run sparked from two O'Farrell kills gave Ohio a 10-3 advantage. The Tribe got close, but Ohio's 5-1 run clinched the set, 25-18.
The Bobcats' momentum continued into set two. Back-to-back aces from senior Sam Steele (Omaha, Neb.) contributed to a 6-0 run for the Bobcats. After some back-and-forth between the teams, consecutive kills from Kharchynska gave Ohio the 16-10 lead. The Bobcats continued to dominate throughout the set and tallied an 8-1 run to win, 25-14.
William & Mary cut Ohio's lead in half as the Tribe took the third set in a 25-23 decision.
Ohio bounced back after losing the third set and secured the match with a 25-19 win in the fourth. The set started as a close matchup but after sitting at a 7-7 tie, the Bobcats broke away from the Tribe and totaled an 11-3 run.
Up next, the Bobcats will travel to Ames, Iowa to compete in the Cyclone Invitational with matchups against Drake, Iowa State, and UC Santa Barbara. Their first match will be against Drake on Thursday, Sept. 14 at 5:00 p.m. ET.
Western Michigan 3, Wake Forest 1
Boxscore
KENNESAW, Ga. – The Western Michigan volleyball team bounced back from its first loss of the 2023 campaign on Friday to defeat Wake Forest, 3-1 (25-20, 25-11, 22-25, 25-19), on Saturday at the Kennesaw State Invitational. The win was WMU's first over an ACC opponent since a straight-set win at Notre Dame on September 7, 2014.
Fueled by Logan Case's match-high 45 assists, WMU hit .290 for the afternoon, and three Broncos tallied double-digit kills in the contest. Maggie King led the way with 19 kills on a .359 hitting percentage, Keona Salesman notched 12 while hitting .324 and Anna Calcagno contributed 11 kills to the cause. Western Michigan also served up a season-high 10 aces, with Calcagno and Reeghan Boyer registering three apiece to tie their career highs.
On the defensive side, Andelyn Simkins dug up a team-high 17 balls, while Boyer pitched in with 12 digs.
A 6-2 run helped Western Michigan get out to a 12-8 lead in the first set. The Demon Deacons countered, and used a 5-1 spurt to move in front, 17-16. King broke a 20-20 deadlock with a kill, and Calcagno then served up a pair of aces as part of a 5-0 set-sealing run for the Broncos.
WMU dominated the second frame from the outset, opening up with 13 of the first 18 points to build an eight-point cushion. Wake Forest drew no closer than seven for the remainder of the set, and the Brown & Gold headed into the break up 2-0 in the match.
It was Wake Forest who rolled out to an early advantage in the third frame, as the Demon Deacons tallied the first seven points. Western Michigan slowly chipped away at the margin and eventually got back even at 17-17. Wake tallied the next two points to regain the lead, and held off WMU from there to extend the contest into a fourth frame.
The Brown & Gold notched the first four points on the way to an 8-3 start in the fourth set. WMU then used a 5-1 stretch to extend its cushion out to 14-7. With the margin down to three, 20-17, Western Michigan notched three straight points, including two kills from Salesman, to boost its lead to 23-17. Two kills from Calcagno later, the Broncos clinched the set and the match to pick up their first win over an ACC foe since 2014.
WMU wraps up its weekend at the Kennesaw State Invitational as it takes on the host, Kennesaw State, on Sunday. First serve is set for 12 pm on ESPN+.
