Meg Riley (Setter/Outside Hitter, Sophomore, 3.94, Mechanical Engineering) continued to do everything as she led Miami to the tournament title at its home event, the Miami Best Western/Sycamore Invitational, over the weekend. For the week, which also included a match against Xavier on Tuesday, she had 135 kills, an average of 3.55 per set. While she spent half of her time as an outside hitter, she also spent half of her time as a setter. She recorded 94 assists, an average of 5.53 per set. Riley had two triple-doubles during the week, recording 14 kills, 25 assists and 13 digs vs. Xavier, and a career-high-tying 20 kills, 22 assists and 10 digs vs. Temple. She also had 15 kills vs. Indiana State and nine kills vs. Chicago State, while recording double-digit assists in both games. Riley also scored points on the block in all four matches, finishing with a total of 10 block.
The MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week honor is presented to a MAC male and female student-athlete who has a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better and performs well during the week’s competition. The winners are selected by a group of the conference’s faculty athletic representatives.
Other Female Nominees:
Akron: Tina Dimitrijevs (Volleyball, Middle Blocker, RS-Senior, 4.00, Sports Science/Coaching) was Akron’s anchor over the course of its championship weekend, commanding the Zips offense in three hard-fought wins over SIU Edwardsville, Binghamton and Youngstown State. The Zips Invitational Most Valuable Player recorded a higher attack percentage than all three of UA’s opponents, hitting a cumulative .442 for the tournament and averaging 3.42 kills per set. Her .647 clip in the win against SIUE is the program’s season high for players with 12 or more kills in a match. Dimitrijevs’ best all-around performance came in the five-set come-from-behind victory over Binghamton, when she posted 16 kills and only a single error in 29 attempts to hit .517, in addition to notching two service aces. She played big on both sides of the ball, tying her career high with four solo blocks and three block-assists. Dimitrijevs also helped lift Akron to a season-high 67 kills in the tournament title match against Youngstown State. On the heels of a three-match win streak, Dimitrijevs has guided Akron (5-4) past its win total from the entire 2011 season with over half of its schedule still left to play.
Ball State: Jenna Hague (Golf, Sophomore, 3.566, Pre-Business) placed fifth individually out of 87 golfers at Illinois State’s Redbird Invitational over the weekend. The 2012 Mid-American Conference champion posted a three-round total of 227 (81-71-75) and played the final 36 holes of the tournament better than any other golfer in the field at 2-over par. She birdied three of her last four holes in Sunday’s final round at the Weibring Golf Club to post her sixth career top-5 finish in just 12 career tournaments. Hague guided the Cardinals to a fourth-place finish out of 16 teams in their first event of the fall season.
Bowling Green: Paige Penrod (Volleyball, Left Side, Junior, 3.327, Education) had at least 11 kills in each of three matches on the weekend, including a career-high 30 against Utah. Penrod became the first Falcon to have at least 30 kills in a match in 11 years as she helped the Falcons push the Utes to five sets. Penrod also had two double-doubles on the weekend, posting 19 digs in the match against Utah. In a three-set loss to undefeated No. 21 BYU, Penrod had 11 kills and 13 digs. In a four-set win over Portland State, she had 14 kills. Penrod added six aces on the weekend and now has at least two aces in seven consecutive matches.
Eastern Michigan: Kristen Baker (Volleyball, Middle Blocker, Senior, 3.71, Physical Education) posted stellar offensive numbers throughout the Mean Green Invitational last weekend helping EMU sweep four matches at North Texas. Baker played in all 16 sets for the Eagles posting double-figure kills in a pair of matches, including a 16-kill performance against the tournament host. In that match, Baker notched 16 kills on 30 attempts, making just three errors in the five-setter. Her attack percentage was at a .433 clip against North Texas. The Mentor, Ohio native also posted three service aces in that match against the Mean Green. Baker was named the tournament’s MVP after posting a total of 38 kills and a .378 attack percentage. The senior made just seven attack errors in 82 attempts in the tournament. She was also a force on the defensive side, notching 12 total blocks throughout the tournament. Against host North Texas she had four blocks, while she also had four in the Eagles final match against Oral Roberts University, Saturday, Sept. 8. For the season, Baker is having success offensively for EMU with the second-most kills on the squad. She is averaging 2.55 kills per set, while posting a .303 attack percentage. Baker has 30 total blocks and is averaging 0.64 blocks per set on the 2012 campaign.
Northern Illinois: Courtney Oldenburg (Cross Country, Distance, Senior, 3.864, Nursing) broke the 34-year old NIU record on a 5K course Friday evening at the NIU Open when she placed third with a time of 18:07.81, helping the Huskies take third place behind only Northwestern and Marquette. Hanging with the lead pack for the vast majority of the race, the West Salem, Wis., native sat in fourth entering the final 100 meters. With the help of a raucous home crowd, Oldenburg overtook NU's Lexie Goldsmith in the final meters to cross the finish line inches ahead of. Her time eclipsed NIU's previous record of 18:12, which was set in 1978 by Colleen Buck. Combined with her 6K record from 2010, Oldenburg now sits atop both lists in NIU history.
Ohio: Kelly Lamberti (Volleyball, Outside Hitter, Sophomore, 3.747, Integrated Mathematics) was named MVP of the Bobcat Invitational after leading the team in kills, points and aces. She started the tournament with 17 kills to pace the Bobcats and surpassed the 500 mark for her career in a win over Niagara. Lamberti was second on the team with nine kills against the Bruins and capped her weekend with four service aces to go with a team-high 14 kills and 13 digs against Montana State. Lamberti’s strong offensive weekend was crucial in Ohio’s tournament dominance, as the Bobcats posted three 3-0 victories.
Toledo: Allison Schultz (Golf, Senior, 3.785, Exercise Science) posted a career-best second-place finish to lead Toledo to Illinois State’s Redbird Invitational title this weekend. Schultz, who won the Ohio Women’s Amateur this summer, birdied her final two holes on Sunday to finish with a career-low six-over par 222 (75-75-72). Schultz’s three rounds were each career lows with her previous best a 76 as a junior.
Western Michigan: Ali Gossen (Volleyball, Outside Hitter, Junior, 3.72, Business) had an impressive weekend for the Broncos, helping them to a win against Middle Tennessee and performing well in matches against North Carolina and LSU. Against Middle Tennessee on Friday, Gossen recorded 14 kills with an impressive .393 hitting percentage. In addition, she recorded six digs, two aces, and one block in the Broncos' 3-0 win. Against North Carolina, Gossen had 12 kills, 7 digs and a total of 2 blocks, resulting in a total of 13.5 points. Gossen had 9 kills and contributed 11 digs in the match against LSU.
Previous Female Winners
Week 1 (Sept. 5) Stefanie Turner, CMU (Soccer)
Week 2 (Sept. 13) Meg Riley, Miami (Volleyball)