Women's Volleyball

WMU Hands Toledo First #MACtion Loss of the Season in 3-1 Upset

Friday, Oct. 16 Volleyball Results
Miami 3, Eastern Michigan 0
Ball State 3, Ohio 0
Bowling Green 3, Buffalo 1
Western Michigan 3, Toledo 1
 
Recaps courtesy of Athletic Communications Departments

Miami | Box Score
YPSILANTI, Mich. — The Miami University volleyball team (14-5, 6-2 MAC) finished the week with a three-set victory (25-16, 25-23, 25-16) over Eastern Michigan (8-12, 2-6 MAC) on Friday evening to extend its win streak to six in a row.

Offensively, Lauren Coyne put down the most kills of the match with 14, and Grace Kreutz added 11 of her own. Kreutz also served two aces, and Holland Van Deusen recorded 21 assists to lead the RedHawks. Molly Creech had 21 digs, while Lydia Michelin had three blocks to lead the RedHawks defensively.

NOTES:
  • Miami totaled 44 kills versus just 26 from Eastern Michigan.
  • The RedHawks had 40 assists in comparison to 25 from the Eagles.

UP NEXT: The Red and White continue conference play by returning home to Millett Hall against the Ball State Cardinals on Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 6:30 p.m.


Ball State | Box Score
ATHENS, Ohio - - The Ball State offense was firing on all cylinders Friday night, opening a key Mid-American Conference road series with a .299 (33-7-87) hitting percentage to earn a 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-15) sweep over Ohio at the Convocation Center.

Junior outside Ava Smith powered the attack, smashing a match-high 11 kills and hitting .400 (11-1-25) to lead the Cardinals (13-5; 4-3 MAC). In fact, the Bobcats (11-7; 4-3 MAC) led just twice on the night, at 10-9 in the opening set and after pulling ahead 2-0 to start the second.

As solid as the offensive error was, Ball State was just as solid on the defensive front, limiting the Ohio attack to a .082 (32-23-110) rate of success. Junior libero Sophie Ledbetter led the charge in the backcourt with a match-high 13 digs. The effort helped Ball State hold a 46-to-38 edge in total digs.

The Cardinals also continued to pressure with their serve, firing nine more aces paced by a season-high four from senior opposite Tiffany Snook. Over the last two matches, the Cardinals have served up 22 total aces, including its season-high 13 in last Saturday's sweep over CMU.

Along with her four aces, Snook was second on the squad with seven kills. Freshman opposite Merritt Sliwawas right behind with six kills to go along with a pair of total blocks.

Senior setter Lindsey Green guided the offense to its .299 hitting mark, dishing out a match-best 25 assists. She was also second on the squad with eight digs, while adding one ace.

Freshman outside Mallory Pike added six digs and a pair of aces, while senior middle Camryn Wise chipped in a match-high three total blocks, two kills, two aces and six digs.

The Cardinals and Bobcats square off again tomorrow with a 4 p.m. first serve back at the Convocation Center.


Bowling Green | Box Score
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Senior Avery Hobson notched 21 kills on 51 swings for a .294 hitting percentage to pace Bowling Green to a 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-21, 25-23) victory over Buffalo in Mid-American Conference volleyball action Friday evening at Broadview Arena.

Bowling Green improved to 14-4 overall and 6-1 in conference play, scoring its third consecutive victory which has powered the Falcons to claim sixth out of the last seven outings. With the loss, Buffalo falls to 11-8 overall and 3-5 in MAC play.

Senior Amanda Otten fueled the Falcons' offense with 44 assists and led all players with two solo blocks and three block assists. Junior Sydnie Hernandez was credited with 18 digs throughout the evening while fellow junior Avery Anders added 13.

Falcon Facts
  • Bowling Green won its 15th straight meeting against Buffalo and increased their lead to 46-10 in the all-time series. The Falcons are 16-1 against Buffalo head coach Scott Smith in his eight-year tenure.
  • Hernandez recorded 18 digs to notch her 1,000th career dig. She is the 14th Falcon in program history to reach the 1,000-dig milestone and sits 53 digs away from 10th place in the Rally Scoring Era.
  • Bowling Green held Buffalo to hit at a .151-clip as a team which marks the 14th time this season that the Falcons have held their opponent to hut under .200. Six of those outings have come in conference action.
  • Redshirt junior Helen Wilford increased her career block assist total to 241 which is six away from tying Danielle Tonyan (2010-13) for 10th most in the Rally Scoring Era.

Up Nex: The Falcons round out the weekend at Akron tomorrow evening. First serve at James A. Rhodes Arena is scheduled for 6 p.m. and can be viewed on ESPN+.


Western Michigan | Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan volleyball team took down first-place Toledo in four sets (26-24, 25-21, 14-25, 25-23) on Friday night to hand the visitors their first conference loss of the season.

Leah Richmond narrowly missed out on her fifth straight double-double, notching 42 assists and nine digs. The redshirt sophomore set up a trio of teammates for double-digit kills, with Gabby Weihe's 16 kills on a .361 hitting percentage leading the way. Annalise Patchett registered a double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs, while Izzy Swiercz totaled 10 kills and eight digs. Carley Piercefield anchored WMU's backline with 19 digs and Elana Erickson contributed 17 digs.
  
The Broncos and Rockets match up again on Saturday afternoon, with first serve slated for 4 pm at University Arena. For tickets to any WMU volleyball home match, visit wmubroncos.com/tickets.