Saturday's MAC Volleyball Results

Saturday's MAC Volleyball Results
Ohio 3, Akron 0
Miami 3, Western Michigan 2
Bowling Green 3, Northern Illinois 2
Toledo, 3, Eastern Michigan 2

Stories Courtesy of MAC Media Relations Offices

Ohio 3, Akron 0
ATHENS, Ohio-The Ohio volleyball team got a strong effort from its senior class Saturday in the 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-7) Senior Night win over Akron. The seven points allowed in the third set is the fewest allowed in at least the last six seasons.

The Bobcats improved to 21-5 overall and 13-1 in the Mid-American Conference and Akron dropped to 13-16 and 4-10 in the league. With Western Michigan's (19-10 overall, 11-3 MAC) 3-2 loss at Miami (16-10 overall, 11-3 MAC) Saturday, the Bobcats clinched at least a share of the MAC's regular season title.

"We clinched a share of the conference championship tonight, which was terrific," said head coach Ryan Theis. "What a great crowd we had tonight. It was a fun atmosphere and I'm glad we got the win."

Ohio senior Ellen Herman paced the offense with 12 kills and a .440 hitting percentage, while classmate Meghan Simons also had 10 kills and four total blocks (0s, 4a). Senior Sarah Petrulis had a match-high 12 digs to move within 46 digs of 1,000 career digs during her Bobcat career.

Junior Sue Jacobi added 10 digs and an eye-popping .625 hitting percentage to go with freshman Faith Robins' five total blocks (0s, 5a). Junior setter Michelle Jantsch had 37 assists.

The Ohio offense yielded just one block to the Zips and held the visitors to a .000 hitting percentage. The Zips posted a -.037 percentage in the second set and a -.190 clip in the third set. Ohio hit .412 for the match, including an astronomical .652 in the third set.

Akron's Courtney Jarvis had a team-high seven kills, while Chelsea Harvey had 10 digs.

With score knotted at 10 apiece in the first set, Ohio ran off four straight points to get the separation it needed on kills by Herman and Jacobi and a block by Simons and Robins. Jacobi also registered the kill on the final point of the set.

The 10-10 mark was also the deciding point of the second set. The Bobcats ripped off six of the next seven points on two Simons kills and a few Akron miscues to take a 16-11 lead. Ohio posted a pair of blocks on the final two points of the set, courtesy of Herman and sophomore Katie Post.

The Bobcats jumped Akron at the start of the third set, racing to an 11-1 lead on three kills apiece by Simons and Robins. Junior Mandy Nichols finished the match with a kill from a set by Jacobi.

Herman, Petrulis and Simons were honored along with classmate Jane Sytsma in a post-match ceremony. Sytsma, a two-time All-MAC honoree who stands among Ohio's leaders in career blocks, had her season ended prematurely due to injury.

"Our seniors are great," said Theis. "They are great people; they are great academically; they have a great work ethic; they are great leaders and they are great with their teammates."

Ohio will hit the road for the final two matches of its pre-MAC Tournament slate when it faces Miami at 7 p.m. and Bowling Green Saturday at 6 p.m.

Miami 3, Western Michigan 2
OXFORD, Ohio - In one of the more dramatic volleyball games of the season, Miami came from behind to defeat Mid-American Conference Western Division leader Western Michigan 3-2 (22-25, 25-20, 22-25, 29-27, 15-11) Friday night at Millett Hall. With their fifth consecutive victory, the RedHawks improve to 16-10 overall and 11-3 in the MAC. The Broncos fall to 19-10 overall and 11-3 in the MAC.

Kills from Michele Metzler, Maria Leahy and Hallie Hanks gave Miami a 3-0 lead in set one. A 10-7 run by WMU tied the set at 10. After a service error by the Broncos briefly gave the RedHawks the lead back, Western Michigan scored the next four points to take control of the set. With the score 24-20 in favor of WMU, a kill by Megan Griffin and a service ace by Lisa Treadway cut the deficit to 22-24, but an attack error by the RedHawks on the next point gave the Broncos a 25-22 win.

Leahy and Jenn Caylor put down Andrea Atteberry passes for kills to jump Miami to a 4-1 lead in set two. The set remained tight from there; however the RedHawks would not allow the Broncos to retake the lead. With the score 16-13, kills from Jenn Caylor, Griffin, Hanks and Leahy increased the Miami advantage to 23-18. A kill on the next point by Metzler created set point, and two points later the RedHawks earned a 25-20 victory on a Bronco service error.

Tied at eight in set three, WMU went on an 11-3 run to create a 19-11 advantage. Two kills from Amy Raseman and two blocks from Cassie Farrell started a 9-3 run by Miami that saw the RedHawks pull to within two at 20-22. With the score 24-21, Miami fought off one set point when Raseman recorded another kill, but Western Michigan won the next point to earn a 25-22 win.

Two kills apiece from Leahy and Griffin gave Miami an 8-3 lead in set four. The RedHawks continued to put on the pressure eventually increasing the lead to 18-9. A 10-5 run by the Broncos closed the score to 19-23, but a kill from Hanks off an Atteberry assist gave Miami set point. However, WMU got out of that predicament by scoring the next six points to take a 25-24 lead and create match point for itself. Miami fought it off and the teams traded points until the score was tied at 27. From there Leahy recorded a kill to give the RedHawks set point, and Atteberry recorded the next kill to give Miami a hard fought 29-27 victory.

The fifth and deciding set started in the Broncos' favor as WMU took an early 5-1 lead. A kill and a block by Caylor, followed by two consecutive service aces by Colleen Loftus tied the score at five. With the score tied at eight, kills from Leahy and Griffin and a Western Michigan attack error gave Miami an 11-8 advantage. A 3-1 run by the Broncos cut the score to 11-12, but a kill from Hanks and two blocks from Metzler closed out the 15-11 victory and the five-set win for the RedHawks.

Griffin was the Miami leader in kills for the match with 15. She also led in hitting percentage, hitting a stellar .542. Hanks had 13 kills, while Metzler recorded 12. Leahy had a double-double with 11 kills and 15 digs, while Atteberry also had a double-double with 58 assists and 10 digs. Metzler recorded six blocks in the match, while Treadway led with 20 digs. The RedHawks hit .264 for the match, compared to WMU which hit .196.

The final weekend of MAC play is next week for Miami. The RedHawks will take on East Division leading Ohio on Friday at 7 p.m. in Millett Hall. Then on Senior Night, Miami will face Kent State Saturday at 5 p.m.

Bowling Green 3, Northern Illinois 2
Bowling Green, Ohio - Bowling Green volleyball coach Denise Van De Walle couldn't recall any of her previous 497 career wins going quite like this.

The Falcons squandered away a 21-19 lead in the opening set of their Mid-American Conference match with Northern Illinois, and then the wheels came off completely. Bowling Green looked disoriented and lost as the Huskies hit .545 and dominated the second set for an unbelievable 25-5 win. Even more unbelievably, the Falcons dominated the final three sets to pick up an improbable 22-25, 5-25, 25-21, 25-13, 15-7 victory.

Since the NCAA adopted 25-point sets prior to the 2008 season, Bowling Green had never won a match in which it lost a set worse than 25-13. In fact, the Falcons had never even played in a set as lopsided as the 25-5 second. The NCAA adopted rally scoring for the 2001 season and played 30-point sets until 2007 and Bowling Green played in just two sets in which one team failed to reach double-figure scoring during that stretch. The winner of those sets won the match both times.

That second set was a House of Horrors for the Falcons after dropping six of the final seven points in the first set to fall behind in the match. Bowling Green had just four kills and hit -.107 while Northern Illinois had 12 kills without an attack error. But when the two teams went to the locker room following that frame, the script flipped.

Northern Illinois had just two attack errors over the course of the first two sets but had four in the third and 13 in the fourth. Bowling Green, on the other hand, had nine team blocks in the final two set after posting none in the first two and only one in the third.

The Falcons steadied the ship with a hard-fought 25-21 victory in the third. BG jumped out to an early 6-3 lead and the set was never tied after that. Northern Illinois cut the deficit to two points on a handful of occasions but Noelle Spitler and Corey Domek closed out the set with kills.

That win got things rolling for Bowling Green as the Falcons dominated the fourth set. Northern Illinois hit -.061 as the Orange and Brown turned in seven team blocks in the stanza. Kaitlin Jackson and Emily Kauth had four each and Allison Kearney added three to knot the match up.

As the fifth set opened, Kauth and Domek took over. Kauth had kills on each of Bowling Green's first three points and Domek served up two aces and added two kills and three digs. Northern Illinois never had a lead in the deciding set.

Kauth and Domek ended the match with 14 kills each and Shari Luther added 12. Alex Zlabis had a match-high 24 digs and Kearney added 16 for a double-double to go with her 46 assists. Jackson added 15 digs and six blocks.

Northern Illinois falls to 13-14 overall and 7-7 in MAC play with the loss. Bowling Green, after dropping its first six conference contests, is now 11-18 overall and 4-10 in MAC play. The win is Van De Walle's 498th of her career and she will go for 500 in the final weekend of the regular season. Bowling Green will host Kent State Thursday at 7 p.m. and MAC leader Ohio Saturday at 6 p.m.

Toledo, 3, Eastern Michigan 2
TOLEDO, OH - Toledo (16-10, 7-7 MAC) sent its senior class out on a winning note in their final regular-season match in Savage Arena on Saturday evening by rallying for a 3-2 (25-17, 22-25, 19-25, 25-15, 18-16) victory over Eastern Michigan (5-25, 4-10 MAC). After falling behind by a 2-1 deficit, the Rockets posted a 10-point win in the fourth set and then fought off four Eagle match points in the fifth set.

"I'm very proud with the way we played," Toledo Head Coach Greg Smith said. "Both teams were coming off five-set wins last night, and I felt both teams played at a high level. This was a great team win, and we had several players step up at different times for us. Winning both matches this weekend was important because the MAC Tournament is right around the corner."

The victory gives UT a 9-2 win-loss mark in Savage Arena this season and a 7-2 ledger in five-set contests. The Rockets' .818 home winning percentage is the best in school history. Toledo will close out its regular season next week with matches at Ball State on Thursday, Nov. 12 and Buffalo on Saturday, Nov. 14. The MAC Tournament begins on Tuesday, Nov. 17 with first-round matches at campus sites.

Sophomore OH Amber DeWeerdt led a balanced Toledo attack with 14 kills with senior OH Stephanie Kersting (11 kills), senior MB Liz Sundburg (10 kills) and freshman OH Bailey Blank (10 kills) also reaching double figures.

Junior libero Katie Westerfeld also played a key role in the victory with a career-high 38 digs, one shy of the school record held by Kate Bean at Ball State on Sept. 28, 2006.

"Katie is really taking to the libero role really well," Smith said. "She's doing a phenomenal job back there and having her on the court for six rotations has helped us a lot from a leadership aspect as well."

Freshman OH Rachel Iaquaniello led EMU with a match-best 19 kills with senior OH Victoria Randolph (13 kills) and junior MB Jennifer Swartz (12 kills) also in double figures.

Toledo fell behind 2-0 early in the fifth set and never led until scoring the final three points of the match. EMU's biggest lead was three points, including a 13-10 advantage late in the set. Sundburg's kill began UT's rally and she followed that by teaming up with Blank for a block. Iaquaniello then put the Eagles up 14-12 with a kill, but a Sundburg kill and an EMU attack error evened the score at 14-14. Eastern then took leads at 15-14 and 16-15, but DeWeerdt and Blank terminations kept UT alive. Senior MB Sarah Wilson put the Rockets ahead, 17-16, and DeWeerdt followed an Eagle timeout with a kill to give UT the win.

"We have the experience of coming back in matches and know that we can do it," said Smith of the Rockets' ability to come from behind. "We're able to stay calm and play well enough to come back. It's a credit to the team and shows that our maturity level is coming along.

The Rockets controlled the first set virtually from the outset. EMU scored the first point of the match but Toledo quickly took a 3-1 advantage and never looked back. Back-to-back kills from DeWeerdt provided UT a 9-5 advantage and the closest the Eagles came the rest of the way was three points. Kersting paced the Rocket offense in the set with five kills, while Iaquaniello tallied four for EMU.

The second set was a nip-and-tuck affair until Eastern tallied four straight points to take a 12-9 advantage. UT was able to close within a point on four different occasions at 15-14, 18-17, 20-19 and 23-22 but could never gain the equalizer. A Swartz kill and an EMU ace closed out the set. The Eagles registered their best hitting mark in the match with a .353 ATK% after opening the contest with a .000 clip in the first set. UT hit just .143 after tallying a .244 ATK% in Set 1.

Eastern kept its momentum going in the third set, jumping out to an 8-2 advantage. UT tried to mount a comeback but the closest it could come was within 20-17 late in the set. EMU held a .286-.068 hitting advantage with Randolph and Swartz leading the way with four kills apiece.

The two teams then traded points early on in the fourth set before the Rockets took control with an 8-1 run to take an 20-12 lead. UT limited the Eagles to a .000 ATK% in the set, while posting a .205 mark of its own. Freshman OH Sondra Parys and Blank led Toledo in the set with six and five kills, respectively.