Women's Volleyball

Rockets Remain Undefeated; MAC Volleyball Earns Nine Wins on Friday

Friday Volleyball Results
Toledo 3, Morehead State 0
Ball State 3, Colgate 2
Ohio 3, Chattanooga 1
Iowa State 3, Central Michigan 0
Northern Illinois 3, Merrimack 0 
SEMO 3, Western Michigan 2
Kent State 3, New Orleans 1
#23 Georgia Tech 3, Bowling Green 2
Toledo 3, Radford 0
UConn 3, Ball State 1
#25 Dayton 3, Buffalo 0
South Alabama 3, Central Michigan 1
Akron 3, East Tennessee State 1
Xavier 3, Miami 2
Eastern Michigan 3, Valparaiso 1 
Northern Illinois 3, Indiana State 2
Indiana 3, Western Michigan 0
 
Recaps courtesy of Athletic Communications Departments

Toledo 3, Morehead State 0 | Box Score
Toledo 3, Radford 0 | Box Score
MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Toledo women's volleyball team tallied two wins on Friday, rolling to 3-0 sweeps over Morehead State (25-22, 25-14, 25-23) and Radford (25-16, 25-16, 25-14). Toledo moves to 5-0 on the season, tying the best start to a season since 2009 when the Rockets began that season with a 9-0 mark.

Against Morehead State, the Toledo offense tallied a .333 hitting percentage, including a .452 clip on 16 kills and one error in the second set. Olivia Heitkamp and Jessica Costlow led the attack against the Eagles, each pouring in 11 kills. Costlow had a .435 clip and only one error in the match. Sierra Pertzborn and Sophie Catalano added eight and seven kills, respectively.

Kelsey Smith totaled 30 assists in the early match to go along with nine digs, four service aces, four kills and two blocks. Grace Freiberger led the defense, totaling 16 digs and contributing five assists.

Kayla Ozanich led the way against Radford, tallying a career-best 13 kills on a .611 hitting percentage and adding three blocks. Iremnur Elmas poured in 10 terminations of her own, hitting .500 in the process.

The team recorded 11 service aces against the Highlanders, marking the second match of the season with double-figure aces. Avery Adamski had a team-high four aces while Smith totaled three aces to go along with 33 aces. Freiberger led the squad with a season-high 17 digs.

Key Moments vs. Morehead State
  • The Rockets rattled off a 5-0 run with Kelsey Smith behind the service line to take an 18-15 lead in the first set. Two kills from Jessica Costlow put Toledo at set point, 24-20, and a service error from Morehead State gave the Rockets the set win.
  • Toledo began the second set with a 9-2 surge, as Olivia Heitkamp and Costlow fired off three kills each. A termination from Sophie Catalano extended the Rockets' commanding lead, 23-14, and an error from the Eagles secured the set victory.
  • A 5-0 run, highlighted by two service aces from Smith and a block from Anna Alford and Heitkamp, put Toledo ahead in the third, 21-16. Morehead State responded with a 6-0 surge of their own to tie the set, 22-22. A string of errors from the Eagles allowed Toledo to take the match win.
Key Moments vs. Radford
  • Toledo kicked off the first set with a 9-2 lead thanks to a 7-0 run and never looked back. The Highlanders got within four, 18-14, but the Rockets responded with three quick points while Kayla Ozanich tallied her fourth termination of the match to take the set.
  • Kills from Ozanich and Pertzborn put Toledo in front by two in the second set, 13-11. The Rockets then rattled off a 3-0 run, capped off by an Adamski ace, to take a 16-12 lead. Toledo reached set point thanks to two service aces from Smith and took the win with a handful of Radford errors.
  • The Rockets took a 10-5 lead in the third set behind kills from Ozanich and Heitkamp. The lead doubled, 18-9, after Elmas fired off two terminations and a kill from Heitkamp secured the sweep for Toledo.
Up Next: Toledo wraps up the Comfort Inn-Vitational in Morehead, Ky. on Saturday, Sept. 6 against UIC. First serve is set for 11:00 a.m.


Ball State 3, Colgate 2 | Box Score
STORRS, Conn. - - The Ball State women’s volleyball team opened play in the Top Dogs Challenge hosted by UConn with a Friday split, topping Colgate in a 3-2 (19-25, 15-25, 25-16, 25-19, 15-5) reverse sweep before falling to the host Huskies 3-1 (25-19, 26-24, 22-25, 25-20).
 
Sophomore outside Carson Tyler and graduate outside Noelle VanOort continued their strong play for the Cardinals (2-3), collecting 40 and 33 kills on the day, respectively. Both also recorded kill/dig double-doubles in the thrilling come-from-behind win over the Raiders.
 
Ball State also turned up the heat at the net Friday, collecting 19 total blocks over the two matches, with eight different Cardinals getting at least two blocks.
 
The Ball State women’s volleyball team closes play in the Top Dogs Challenge Saturday with an 11:30 a.m. showdown with South Dakota.
 
MATCH 1: Ball State 3 - Colgate 2
After hitting .068 (21-16-74) in the opening two sets, the Cardinals found an offensive rhythm after the long break by connecting at a .413 (38-7-75) clip over the final three frames. The best effort came in the final set when Ball State smashed eight kills on 11 swings with no errors for a .727 rate of success, helping the team finished the match at .242 (59-23-149).
 
Tyler collected a team-leading 19 kills, while VanOort. Both outsides turned in a dominating effort in the fourth frame, with VanOort collecting nine kills and hitting .571 (9-1-14) and Tyler earning seven kills and hitting .462 (7-1-13).
 
In addition, Tyler secured 12 digs and VanOort added 10 for their third double-doubles of the season. VanOort has earned 71 collegiate double-doubles, while Tyler has nine over her Ball State career. 
 
Junior setter Lindsey Green and freshman setter Reese Axness each dished out 26 assists in the win, while sophomore libero Sophie Ledbetter collected a match-high 24 digs. Green finished the match with a career-high tying five service aces, while Tyler served up a career-high four of her own.
 
Junior middle Camryn Wise added 10 kills and hit .444 (10-2-18), her second straight match with double-digit kills, while redshirt freshman Riley Whitlock collected a career-high five kills and hit .566 (5-0-9).
 
Another factor in Ball State’s late-match surge was its blocking, as the Cardinals tallied eight of its nine total blocks in the final three sets. Seven different players secured at least one block for BSU, with five tying for team-high honors with two each.
 
Milan Bayless led Colgate with 22 kills, while Carlie Rzeszotarski and Deren Cukur tied for team-high honors with 10 digs each. Overall, the Ball State defense limited the Raiders to a .233 (50-19-133) attack percentage.


Ohio 3, Chattanooga 1 | Box Score
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Ohio volleyball team (2-3, 0-0 MAC) defeated Chattanooga (2-2, 0-0 SOCON) 3-1 (25-21, 21-25, 25-22, 25-14) on Friday, Sept. 5.
 
Ohio finished with 63 kills, eight aces, three blocks, 59 assists and 52 digs. Chattanooga finished with 39 kills, four aces, six blocks, 33 assists and 46 digs. The Bobcats also recorded a team hitting percentage of .259, their best so far this season.
 
Freshman Mady Long led Ohio's offense with a season-high 16 kills. Long along recorded 18 points, two aces and five digs. Junior Torre Kildow finished second on the team in kills with 14 total. Junior Gentry Brown and freshman Bailey Blair contributed 11 kills each.
 
Senior Kendall White distributed a season-high 45 assists.
 
Defensively, sophomore Darbi Ricketts tallied a team-high 14 digs while junior Emily Waddell finished with two block assists.
 
The Bobcats will conclude competition at the Chattanooga Classic on Saturday, Sept. 6. Ohio will face Jacksonville State at 12 p.m. ET.


Northern Illinois 3, Merrimack 0 | Box Score
Northern Illinois 3, Indiana State 2 | Box Score
DeKALB, Ill.—Sweeping action in their home opener, the Northern Illinois University Huskies volleyball team defeated Merrimack College and Indiana State University on the first day of the NIU Invitational, held inside the NIU Convocation Center. The Huskies defeated Merrimack in straight sets (25-17, 25-16, 25-22) before battling against Indiana State in a five-set thriller (25-16, 23-25, 25-18, 14-25, 15-11).

Ava Grevengoed and Emma McCartney led the Huskies with 14 kills each in the Huskies sweep over the Warriors of Merrimack.

In the game against the Sycamores of Indiana State, Alexa Hayes and Autumn Flynn led the team with 13 kills, season-highs for both.

Ella Strausberger matched her career-best of four service aces in the second game of the day while Kylie Schulze set a new career-best in assists against Indiana State.

The Huskies will conclude action at the NIU Invitational on September 6 at 6 p.m. against the SIUE Cougars.


Kent State 3, New Orleans 1 | Box Score
BALTIMORE – Kent State beat New Orleans, 3-1 (18-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-20), during the opening day at the Towson-Morgan State Invitational.

Senior Mackenzie McGuire and junior Mercedez Brown shared the team lead with 10 kills each. McGuire also had a team-high nine digs.

Redshirt sophomore Adalynn Ginley was right behind with nine kills and totaled seven blocks, including six solo stuffs. Junior Christina Vigil recorded 39 assists and added six digs.

The Golden Flashes (1-3) returns to action on Saturday at Morgan State at 1 p.m. and then makes the short drive to Towson for a 7 p.m. match.



Akron 3, East Tennessee State 1 | Box Score
AKRON, Ohio -The Akron volleyball team opened the 2025 home schedule with a four set, 3-1 victory (25-20, 25-18, 23-25, 25-19, 25-19) over the East Tennessee State Buccaneers on Friday. The out-of-conference victory boosted the Zips' overall record to 3-2 on the season.

The Zips offense was paced by Delaney Gash, who finished with 15 kills on the day. Maureen Mathews added 13 and Jordyn Aeschliman chipped in with 10 as part of balanced Akron attack. Defensively, had two players reach double figures in digs as Vanessa Del Real had 13 and Reilly Chausse had 11. From the front row, Aeschliman contributed a career-high seven blocks and Lyndi Wolf added five rejections.

Game Notes:

» Akron had three players in double figures in kills.
» Del Real had a match-high four aces in the win.
» Akron never trailed on the way to winning the second set 25-18.
» Akron never trailed on the way to winning the fourth set 25-19.
» Gash had a match-high 15 kills for Akron.
» Akron got a team-high 13 digs from Del Real.
» Akron attackers were helped by a match-high 37 assists from Martina Villani.

What's Next?: The Zips return to James A. Rhodes Arena tomorrow, Saturday, September 5, to battle American University at 1 p.m.


Eastern Michigan 3, Valparaiso 1 | Box Score
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team swatted a MAC-best 17 blocks as it topped Valparaiso University in a four-set match, 3-1, to improve to 2-0 at the 2025 EMU Tournament Friday, Sept. 5, inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center.
  
Match Notes 
» Eastern's record improved to 4-2 (0-0 MAC) while Valparaiso's shifted 4-2 (0-0 MVC).
» Eastern's best offensive set was the fourth, landing match-highs with 15 kills and 15 assists. The Eagles also hit .385 in the frame, the best clip in any set in the match.
» EMU's best defensive set was the second, recording match highs with 30 digs and four blocks.
» EMU had more kills (56-55), assists (56-53), digs (91-89), and blocks (17-9) than the Beacons.
» Eastern set season-highs with 91 digs and 17 blocks. Its 91 digs are the second-most in the Head Coach Kevin Foeman era as it previously had 92 against Central Michigan University in a five-set match, Sept. 26, 2023.
» EMU's 17 blocks mark the fifth time in the Foeman era doing so. The Eagles are 5-0 when totaling 17+ blocks under Foeman.
» EMU's 17 blocks tied for the most in the MAC this season while its 91 digs tie for the second-most.
» Welker tied her career best with 11 blocks. She was one block off tying former teammate Angel Baylark for the program's four-set match record, set last year In another four-set win against Valparaiso, Aug. 31, as Baylark rejected 12.
» Ava Siefke led the team in kills for the fifth time this season. She has notched double-digit kills in every match this season. She is currently riding a career-best six-game streak of double-digit kills. She aided defensively with nine digs and five blocks.
» Ashlynn Belcher recorded her second double-double as an Eagle with 46 assists and 16 digs. Her 16 digs was one off her career high of 17.
 » AshleeKay Christensen notched her third career game with 10+ kills as she put down 12 off an efficient .250 clip. She also set a career best with four blocks.
» Eastern's defensive specialists shined as Surabhi Srinivasan (27 digs), Ella Grasson (14 digs), and Layna Waselewsky (16 digs) all set career-highs.
» Srinivasan's 27 digs are the second-most in the MAC this season.
» Welker's 11 blocks are the second-most in the MAC and the most in a four-set match.
 
Historical Notes:
» The Eagles and Beacons battled for the 10th time. EMU holds the series edge as it is now 6-4 against Valparaiso and holds a 3-0 mark when facing it in Ypsilanti.
» Eastern is 2-0 at home for the first time since the 2018 season. 2018 is also the last time the Eagles won a MAC Tournament Championship.  
» Eastern is currently 2-0 in a home tournament for the first time since the 2003 season. That year, it started the EMU Invitational 2-0 with wins against University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and Western Illinois University, Sept. 12-13.
 
Up Next: The Eagles face the Purple Eagles of Niagara University tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 6, 11 a.m. Admission is free at the George Gervin GameAbove Center and fans can stream the game live on ESPN+.