Women's Volleyball

Rockets, Falcons, RedHawks Punch Final Tickets into MAC Volleyball Championship

Saturday Volleyball results
Toledo 3, Akron 1
Bowling Green 3, Buffalo 0
Eastern Michigan 3, Miami 2
Northern Illinois 3, Kent State 1
 
Recaps courtesy of Athletic Communications Departments

Toledo 3, Akron 1 | Box Score
AKRON, Ohio – The Toledo women's volleyball team clinched a berth to the Mid-American Conference Tournament with a 3-1 victory (25-19, 25-16, 20-25, 25-14) over Akron on Saturday.

This marks the fifth consecutive MAC Tournament berth for the Rockets, setting a program record. Toledo also earned a 20-win season for the first time in four years as well as posting its fifth-straight season with double-digit conference wins. Head Coach Brian Wright becomes the first women's volleyball coach in UT history to reach the 20-win mark in his first year at the helm.

Redshirt junior Sophie Catalano led the offense, totaling 16 terminations on a career-best .414 clip. Redshirt sophomore Sierra Pertzborn poured in 15 kills of her own on a .333 hitting percentage and tallying a team-high six blocks.

Freshman Jessica Costlow tallied a career-high 14 digs while adding eight kills. Anna Alford tallied a .600 clip with six kills and no errors on 10 attempts.

Sophomore libero Grace Freiberger recorded 15 digs and a team-best two service aces. Senior setter Kelsey Smith had 44 assists to go with 11 digs for her 14th double-double of the season.

The Rockets fired off nine service aces against the Zips, marking the eighth contest this season with nine or more aces in a single match.

Quoting Head Coach Brian Wright
"Our backs were against the wall. This was a single elimination match to get in to the MAC Tournament and this team responded with a fantastic mindset and aggressive play and love for one another in the biggest way on a big stage. This is probably the most aggressive and complete game we've played in the past month and when we needed it the most. This team understands the weight of how they represent Toledo and it means a lot to them to write the history books and earn a MAC tournament berth for a record fifth-straight year. I love how much they care about playing for each other and a bigger purpose. Huge thanks to the 100 fans, friends and family members who made the trip and were loud all night long. It was a huge help in this important battle. We're excited to earn another week together and get after the preparation for MAC postseason play."

Up Next
Toledo earns the No. 4 seed in the MAC Tournament and will take on No. 5 seed Miami at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 21 in Bowling Green, Ohio.


Bowling Green 3, Buffalo 0 | Box Score
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team clinched their spot in the MAC Tournament with a win over Buffalo on Saturday (Nov. 15). The Falcons worked for a three-set sweep, their third-straight win. Combined with results from around the conference, Bowling Green claimed their spot in the six-team field for the MAC Tournament, which the Falcons will host at the Stroh Center next weekend, beginning on Nov. 21. The Falcons conclude the regular season with a three-match winning streak, finishing 16-14 while being 10-8 within the Mid-American Conference.  

Falcon Stat Leaders
Kills: Anastasija Bozic (13)
Assists: Amanda Otten (29)
Digs: Amanda Otten (12)
Aces: Jessica Andrews, Sydnie Hernandez (3)
Blocks: Helen Wilford (4)

Falcon Stat Facts
  • On the defensive side, the Falcons held Buffalo to an .059 hitting percentage, the fifth time this season BGSU has held an opponent under a .100 hitting mark. 
  • As a team, the Falcons landed 10 aces for the second straight night. The mark matches BGSU's season-high for aces in a three-set match after landing 10 against Oakland on Sept. 17. 
  • Jessica Andrews was a force for the Falcons on offense. Not only did she land a team-leading three aces to match her career-high, but she maintained a team-best .417 hitting percentage with eight kills. 
  • Sydnie Hernandez added three aces of her own, tying Andrews for the team-lead. Hernandez also tallied eight digs and three assists for BGSU. 
  • Avery Anders landed two of BGSU's aces, giving her 19 on the season to match her career-high after having 19 last year as well. Anders added seven digs and an assist to her stat line. 
  • Helen Wilford recorded a team-high four blocks for the Falcons, including three block assists. Wilford now has 117 block assists this season, tying for 10th during BGSU's Rally Scoring Era, matching Kendra Halm's 2007 campaign. 
  • Amanda Otten was strong again for the Falcons, posting her fourth straight double-double and team-leading 10th of the season. Otten tallied 29 assists and 12 digs, leading the Orange and Brown in both stats. 
  • Anastasija Bozic just missed a double-double of her own, concluding with a team-high 13 kills while logging nine digs for the Falcons. 
  • Isabelle Laube tallied seven digs for Bowling Green in the match, tying her career-high for digs in a match. 
  • Bowling Green has now won 14 straight matches against Buffalo, dating back to the 2019 season. 
Up Next
Bowling Green will advance to the MAC Tournament, which will be hosted by the Falcons at the Stroh Center. The full and official bracket for the tournament will soon be released by the conference. 


Eastern Michigan 3, Miami 2 | Box Score
MIAMI, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team closed out the 2025 season on a high note, topping the Miami University RedHawks in five sets, 3-2, on the road inside Millett Hall Saturday afternoon, Nov. 15.
 
Hatteras Welker led the way for the final time in 2025 as she put down a team-high 17 kills off a .364 hitting percentage with six blocks for a team-high 20 points. She was aided by Ava Siefke who notched her second consecutive double-double, drilling 11 kills to go with 11 digs.
 
The setting pair of Ashlynn Belcher and Ella Voorhees joined Siefke in recording consecutive double-doubles. Voorhees distributed a match-high 29 assists to go with 16 digs while Belcher dished 20 dimes with 10 digs.
 
Both Bri Struck and AshleeKay Christensen chipped in with 10+ kill games. Struck totaled 13 off a .310 clip with two blocks and two digs while Christensen recorded 11 with the same blocks and digs totals.
 
Freshman Layna Waselewsky ended her rookie campaign on a high note as she went down for a match-high 23 digs after posting a career-high 33 digs in Friday night's match against Miami (L, 3-1, Nov. 14).
  
Match Notes
» Eastern's 2025 record is finalized at 13-18 (5-13 MAC) while Miami ended its regular season at 16-14 (10-8 MAC).
» Eastern and its opponent had the same number of kills (63) for the second time this season and third time in the Head Coach Kevin Foeman era (2023-present). The Eagles are 1-1 this season when kills are tied and 2-1 in the Foeman era.  
» Eastern Michigan had four players in double figures in kills (Welker, Struck, Siefke, Christensen) for the second consecutive game as it also had multiple players record a double-double in consecutive games for the first time this season and first time since Oct, 5, Oct, 10, 2024.
» Eastern Michigan had four players in double figures in digs (Waselewsky, Voorhees, Belcher, Siefke) for the second consecutive game.
» Ashlynn Belcher had a team-high two aces in the win.
» Ava Siefke registered her 13th double-double of the season with 11 kills and 11 digs, bringing her career total to 20.
» Eastern Michigan never trailed on the way to winning the third and fifth sets, winning the third, 25-20, and the fifth, 15-10 .
» Hatteras Welker had a team-high 17 kills for Eastern Michigan.
» Eastern Michigan got a match-high 23 digs from Layna Waselewsky.
» Eastern Michigan attackers were helped by a match-high 29 assists from Ella Voorhees.
 
Historical Notes
» The match marked the 66th between the Eagles and RedHawks. Overall, EMU holds a 22-44 record against Miami and an 8-21 mark when facing it in Oxford.
» Hatteras Welker's six blocks brought her final season total to 138, three more than her freshman-season sum of 135. Welker's 138 blocks rank second in EMU single-season annals in the modern statistical era (2008-present). She now holds the second (138 - 2025) and third (135 – 2024) spots on the list.    
 
Up Next
The game against the RedHawks concluded the 2025 season.


Northern Illinois 3, Kent State 1 | Box Score 
KENT, Ohio—Ending the season with a win, the Northern Illinois University Huskies volleyball team (13-14, 6-12 MAC) defeated the Kent State University Golden Flashes (8-21, 3-15 MAC) in four sets. The Huskies posted set scores of 26-24, 25-19, 23-25, and 25-20.
 
The Huskies recorded 12 service aces, the most all season, while the Golden Flashes had just three aces on the night. Ella Strausberger matched her career-best with four aces in the contest to lead the Huskies.
 
Emma McCartney and Ava Grevengoed led all players with 13 kills on the night.
 
McCartney and Kylie Schulze recorded double-doubles in the match for the seventh and sixth career double-doubles. This was also the first time they had done that consecutively this season.
 
Savannah Gogel set a new career-best with seven blocks for the Huskies in the final game of the regular season.
 
"I am proud to have ended the season on two road wins. We cleaned up many areas of our game today and were able to stick to the game plan better," said head coach Sondra D'Amore. "You saw a much more consistent team tonight, which was a focus. Mentality was to focus on the details throughout each point and not let the outcome of the game be the focus."
 
"This season was a huge step in the right direction, and we have a lot of returners who are hungry for more," said D'Amore.
 
The Huskies finish the season with consecutive wins in the regular season for the first time since the 2021 season.