Women's Volleyball

Volleyball’s First Night of #MACtion in the Books

Thursday Volleyball results
Miami 3, Akron 2
Ball State 3, Buffalo 0
Bowling Green 3, Ohio 1
Northern Illinois 3, Central Michigan 2
Western Michigan 3, Eastern Michigan 1
Toledo 3, Kent State 0
 
Recaps courtesy of Athletic Communications Departments
 
Miami 3, Akron 2 | Box Score
AKRON, Ohio— The Miami University volleyball team (7-6, 1-0 MAC) secured a five-set victory (22-25, 25-14, 24-26, 25-22, 15-9) at Akron (7-5, 0-1 MAC) on Thursday evening. 

HOW IT HAPPENED:
  • Lindy Radaszewski delivered four quick kills, giving the Red and White an early 4-3 edge. Akron surged back, seizing a 12-8 advantage. After a Miami timeout, the Redhawks countered with a kill and a block, cutting the deficit to two. The teams traded points until the Zips threatened to pull away at 20-16. Ellie Hanson responded with three kills that fueled a 6-3 Miami run, forcing an Akron timeout at 22-23. Despite this push, the Zips secured the set, 25-22.
  • Hanson and Gentry Warrick each put down a kill to give Miami an early 3-2 lead in the second set. With the RedHawks leading 4-3, they unleashed a dominant 15-4 run to jump ahead, 19-7. Molly Creech added a kill, while Warrick and Lauren Coyne teamed up for a block to secure the set, 25-14.
  • With the game tied at five, a block and Lydia Michelin's kill gave Miami a 7-5 lead. A Creech service ace maintained Miami's 10-8 lead, but Akron responded, grabbing their first lead at 11-10. Coyne's two kills later pushed Miami in front, 17-14, forcing Akron to call timeout. Although Miami battled fiercely, they ultimately dropped the set, 26-24.
  • A trio of kills from Michelin in the fourth set gave Miami a 9-6 advantage. Akron responded by tying things up at 13-13. Numerous errors from the Zips and another Michelin kill pushed the RedHawks ahead 19-16. Creech and Michelin scored the final two points for the RedHawks to end the set 25-22.
  • A Michelin kill and a pair of errors from the Zips gave the RedHawks a 3-2 start. Akron led 5-4 in the fifth set when Coyne helped fuel a 9-1 scoring run with four kills to push Miami to a 13-6 lead. A Creech kill, as well as a block from Coyne and Michelin, ended the set at 15-9.
NOTES: Miami travels to take on Buffalo this Friday, Sept. 26 at 6 p.m.


Ball State 3, Buffalo 0 | Box Score
BUFFALO, N.Y. - - The Ball State women's volleyball team hit a season-high .430 (51-8-100) to open the 2025 Mid-American Conference season with a dominating 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-17) sweep of Buffalo Thursday evening at Alumni Arena.

Leading the charge for the Cardinals (5-8; 1-0 MAC) was sophomore outside Carson Tyler who blasted a match-high 18 kills and hit a blistering .485 (18-2-33). Tyler, who has reached double-digit kills in all 13 matches this season, also served up two of Ball State's three aces and tallied five digs.

Not far behind on the offensive front was graduate outside Noelle VanOort who chipped in 12 kills and hit .440 (12-1-25). She fell just shy of her seventh double-double of the season with nine digs.

Junior Lindsey Green and freshman Reese Axness split the setting duties in the MAC opener, with 23 and 13 assists, respectively. Green added five digs, two kills and Ball State's other ace, while Axness chipped in six digs.

Overall, seven different Cardinals earned at least two kills, while sophomore libero Sophie Ledbetter led all players with 12 digs.

The Bulls (3-7; 0-1 MAC) offense was paced by 15 kills from Emerson Matthews and nine from Manoela Forlin. The Ball State defense was able to limit the Buffalo offense to a .236 (43-17-110) attack percentage and allowed just two aces. Maddie Mitchell and Keira Kleidon tied for team-high honors with seven digs.

The Ball State women's volleyball team continues MAC play Friday with a 6 p.m. first serve at Akron.


Bowling Green 3, Ohio 1 | Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University volleyball team kicked off the MAC portion of its schedule Thursday night (Sept. 25) with a four-set victory over Ohio. The Falcons utilized a season-best .333 hitting percentage to best the Bobcats in the 3-1 final. With the win, the Falcons have now won eight-straight MAC openers as well as six-straight MAC home openers. The win also goes down as the first MAC win of Alex DelPiombo's head coaching career.

For BGSU, Amanda Otten led the way with her team-leading fourth double-double of the season, finishing with 30 assists and 13 digs. Sydnie Hernandez nearly joined her with a team-leading 18 digs and seven assists. Avery Anders landed a career-high three aces while adding a season-high 12 digs as well. As for the attack, Avery Hobson landed a team-high 15 kills while both Edyta Waclawczyk and Helen Wilford hit .600 or better in the match with a minimum of 10 attack attempts each. 

Falcon Stat Leaders 
Kills: Avery Hobson (15)
Assists: Amanda Otten (30)
Digs: Sydnie Hernandez (18)
Aces: Avery Anders (3)
Blocks: Helen Wilford (7)

Falcon Stat Facts
  • With the win, the Falcons have now started MAC play 1-0 in each of the last eight seasons as well as winning their first home MAC match in each of the last six seasons.
  • The win will mark the first MAC win as a head coach for Alex DelPiombio. Going back to her time as an assistant with BGSU, the Falcons are 8-2 in MAC openers with DelPiombo on staff. 
  • As a team, the Falcons hit a season-best .333, landing 47 kills on 111 attacks with just 10 errors. BGSU is now 3-0 when hitting above .300 this season. This is the second match in a row the Falcons have hit a season-best mark after hitting .314 against Binghamton last Saturday (Sept. 20). 
  • Jessica Andrews tallied five block assists for the Falcons, giving her 333 blocks in the Orange and Brown. The total moves her up two more spots on the all-time career block assists list, passing both Tammy Schiller (1988-91) and Lori Hilton (1993-96) for sixth all-time. On the attack, Andrews added seven kills for the Orange and Brown while maintaining a .429 hitting percentage. 
  • Amanda Otten registered her team-leading fourth double-double of the season, logging 30 assists and a season-high 13 digs. She added four kills and three blocks, including a key solo block late in the match. 
  • Sydnie Hernandez led the team in digs with 18 and came close to a double-double, logging seven assists to match her season-high. Hernandez's assist total brings her season mark to 55, matching her career high after having 55 during the 2024 season. 
  • Avery Anders led the team in aces with a career-high three. Anders is now the fifth different Falcon to solely lead the team in aces this year and the seventh different to at least hold a share of the team-lead. Anders added a season-high 12 digs to her stat line, matching her career-high as well. 
  • Avery Hobson led the Bowling Green attack with a team-high 15 kills. Hobson has led the Falcons in kills in five of the last six matches with BGSU holding a record of 4-1 in those five. 
  • Entering the match in the third set for the Falcons, Edyta Waclawczyk made a strong impact on the attack .Waclawczyk landed nine kills on 14 error-free attacks, hitting an impressive .643 for the match, the best mark by a Falcon this year with at least 10 attack attempts. 
  • Helen Wilford led the team in blocks, registering a solo and six block assists for seven total. Wilford added six kills on 10 error-free attacks with a .600 hitting percentage. 
  • Anastasija Bozic tallied a season-high seven digs for BGSU. Bozic has now set a new career-high in digs in back-to-back matches. 
  • Bowling Green held Ohio to a -.057 hitting percentage in the first set. After holding Oakland to a mark of -.054 in the home opener, the Falcons managed to hold their opponent to a negative cumulative attack percentage through the first four home sets of the season. 
  • For the all-time series against Ohio, Bowling Green has won 13 of the last 15 meetings as well as an eight-match win streak when hosting the Bobcats. 
The Falcons will continue their homestand Friday night (Sept. 26) with a 6 p.m. start against Kent State at the Stroh Center. The match will be Teal Attack to raise awareness for Ovarian Cancer. 


Northern Illinois 3, Central Michigan 2 | Box Score
Recap coming soon...


Western Michigan 3, Eastern Michigan 1| Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan volleyball team opened up Mid-American Conference play with a 3-1 victory (25-23, 23-25, 33-31, 25-10) over Eastern Michigan on Thursday night.  
 
FINAL SCORE: Western Michigan 3, Eastern Michigan 1
LOCATION: University Arena (Kalamazoo, Mich.)
RECORDS: Western Michigan (4-10, 1-0 MAC) | EMU (8-6, 0-1 MAC)
 
Leah Richmond posted her fifth consecutive double-double for the Brown and Gold after handing out 50 assists and collecting 13 digs. The redshirt freshman set three teammates up for double-digit kills, led by Mary Clare Brusek, who put down 19 while hitting a blistering .548. Molly Brown and Annalise Patchett added 10 kills apiece.
 
On the defensive side, WMU tied its season high with 12 blocks. Amanda Glanton totaled a team-high eight rejections, while Brown notched seven. Elana Erickson posted a match-high 24 digs, and was joined in double-figures by Richmond (13), Reeghan Boyer (12) and Carley Piercefield (11).
 
Even at 8-8 in the first set, Western Michigan put together a 6-1 run to grab a 14-9 advantage. Trailing 17-11, Eastern Michigan rattled off six in a row to tie it up, 17-17. The visitors then grabbed a 22-20 edge, but WMU tallied five of the final six points on three blocks and a pair of Brusek kills to take the opener, 25-23.
 
The Eagles used a 4-1 spurt to build a 14-10 lead in the second set. Western Michigan whittled the margin down to one at 20-19, but EMU tallied the next three to restore its three-point cushion, 23-19. Four of the next five went to the Brown and Gold, again trimming the gap to one, 24-23, but Eastern Michigan got the next point to even the match at one set apiece.   
 
The Broncos were first to 15 in the third, building a 15-11 advantage. EMU countered with a five-point spree to move ahead, 16-15. The two teams then proceeded to seesaw back and forth, putting the frame well into extra points. At 31-30 in favor of the Eagles, a service error brought Western Michigan back level. The Brown and Gold then got back-to-back kills from Patchett to claim the third frame, 33-31, and a 2-1 match lead.
 
WMU kept the momentum rolling into the fourth, tallying eight of the first nine points to get out to an 8-1 start. Eastern Michigan closed the gap to five, 9-4, but the Broncos then put together an 11-2 surge to boost the margin to 20-6, and put the contest beyond reach.
 
Western Michigan continues the opening week of conference play on Friday evening as it welcomes Central Michigan to University Arena. First serve between the Broncos and Chippewas is scheduled for 6 pm. 


Toledo 3, Kent State 0 | Box Score
TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo women's volleyball team swept Kent State 3-0 (26-24, 25-19, 25-17) on Thursday evening to open the Mid-American Conference portion of the season.

The Rockets move to 10-3 (1-0 MAC) and have won their last four matches and 12 consecutive sets. The 10-3 overall record matches the best 13-match start to a season since 2004 where the Rockets also sat at 10-3. 

Freshman Jessica Costlow led the Rockets' offense, totaling 11 kills on a .474 clip, and adding 12 digs for the third double-double of her career. Senior Sophie Catalano poured in nine kills while Sierra Pertzborn added eight terminations and three blocks, including a solo shot to win the match.

Senior setter Kelsey Smith tallied 36 assists, nine digs and two digs. Sophomore libero Grace Freiberger led the squad on defense with 16 digs, recording her 11th match this season with double-figure digs.

Key Moments
  • Kent State jumped out to a 7-4 lead in the first set but an ace from Macy Medors and kill from Olivia Heitkampallowed Toledo to take the lead, 15-13. After trading points, the Golden Flashes took a slight advantage. Heitkamp fired off three kill to put Toledo back in front and at set point, 24-21. Kayla Ozanich entered the game and recorded a kill and a block to help Toledo take the set win.
  • Sierra Pertzborn had back-to-back blocks at the beginning of the second set to put Toledo ahead, 8-7. The Rockets extended their lead, 15-12, behind kills from Jessica Costlow and Sophie Catalano. An error from Kent State pushed Toledo's lead, 20-14, before a kill from Catalano allowed the Rockets to reach set point. Pertzborn hammered home a kill to put Toledo ahead two sets to none.
  • Five straight points from the Rockets put Toledo ahead in the third frame, 7-2. Kent State used a 5-1 run to tie the match, 14-14, but Toledo fired off a 3-0 run of their own to get back in front, 19-15. Costlow helped the Rockets reach set point with a kill, 24-17, and a solo block from Pertzborn secured the 3-0 win.
Toledo closes out MAC opening weekend hosting Ohio on Friday, Sept. 26 at 6:00 p.m. Coverage will be on ESPN+.