Friday's MAC Volleyball Results
Western Michigan 3, Ball State 0
Bowling Green 3, Buffalo 0
Northern Illinois 3, Toledo 0
Miami 3, Akron 0

Stories Courtesy of MAC Media Relations Offices

Western Michigan 3, Ball State 0
KALAMAZOO -- Senior Michelle Moore led all players with 12 kills hitting .370 and Western Michigan volleyball held Ball State to -.019 hitting to defeat the Cardinals, 3-0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-12), in front of 1,002 at University Arena Friday night.

The Broncos' (17-9, 9-2 MAC) Jessica Brown added nine kills and three blocks, while hitting .353, while Allyson Doyle hit .375 with six kills, nine digs and two blocks. Senior Katie Eberling added five kills, nine digs and two blocks, as sophomore Ashley Turnage had a match-high five blocks and three kills against the Cardinals (10-14, 3-8 MAC).

Senior setter Jillian Mitchell directed the Broncos' offense to .289 hitting with 31 assists, seven digs and two blocks, while senior libero Caitlin Strimel led the defense with a match-high 16 digs and match-high three aces in front of the seventh-consecutive crowd of 1,000 or more.

"With Ball State being such a physical team, we were proud of the way we took them out of their game tonight," head coach Colleen Munson said. "Offensively, I liked the way Jill distributed the ball to numerous hitters to be successful and keep Ball State off-balance. Defensively, our blocking was a strength tonight and if the ball did get through, our defense behind the block was tremendous. Combine those two things and we really forced Ball State to alter its shots."

The match started with both teams trading the lead until two kills by Elaine Kakatolis tied the score at nine. The Cardinals missed the next serve to start a 5-0 Bronco run with two kills by Eberling and a solo block by Doyle, 14-9. The Cardinals cut the lead to two, 15-13, after a ball-handling error, but two Brown kills and an error by BSU put WMU back up five, 18-13, and forced BSU to call its last timeout. An ace by the Cardinals closed their deficit to three, 19-16, but Brown had one kill and Moore followed with two in a row to start a 6-0 set-ending run. The Broncos closed the set with back-to-back stuffs by Turnage, one solo and one assisted by Mitchell on set point, 25-16.

WMU hit .250 with 13 kills and five errors, while holding the Cardinals to -.065 hitting with seven kills and nine errors, including four Bronco blocks.

The Broncos didn't mess around in set two by scoring the first five points of the set with two kills from Brown and one each by Doyle and Eberling. The Cardinals withstood the storm and closed the deficit to two points four times, but a 4-0 run highlighted with a block by Brown and Doyle put WMU up six, 16-10. Moments later the Broncos ended the set with an 8-3 run behind another block by Turnage and Mitchell and an ace by Strimel. BSU missed a serve on set point, 25-15.

WMU hit .400 in the second set with 15 kills, five by Moore, while holding BSU to .071 hitting with nine kills and seven errors.

Ball State scored the first three points of the third set, but WMU came back to go up by two, 6-4, after four attack errors by the Cardinals. BSU won the next point after a 16-volley rally, but WMU was unfazed with a kill by Brown, two Strimel aces and Mitchell's only kill of the match to go up five, 10-5, and force a BSU timeout. Kills by Moore and Doyle helped WMU push the lead up to seven, 14-7, as the Broncos started pulling away. A block by Brown and Moore and a kill by Moore forced the last BSU timeout with WMU up nine, 19-10. WMU kept pushing and closed out the set with a kill by Moore, 25-12, on the only match point.

WMU hit .242 with 10 kills and two errors in the final set, but did have 20 digs and three blocks to hold BSU to -.045 hitting on nine kills and 11 errors.

Overall, WMU hit .289 with 36 kills, 10 errors, 46 digs, nine blocks and five aces, while Ball State hit -.019 with 25 kills, 27 errors, 39 digs, three blocks and four aces.

The Cardinals were led by reigning MAC West Offensive Player of the Week Kelsey Brandl with nine kills, but she also had eight errors and was held to .045 hitting by WMU after leading the MAC in attack percentage in conference matches entering the contest. Alyssa Rio added 10 digs for the Cardinals and Brittany McGinnis passed out 21 assists.

The Broncos return to University Arena on Halloween (Saturday) against Toledo at 7 p.m. The Broncos will have Trick O' Treating with the Broncos after the match during postgame autographs. Fans are encouraged to wear their Halloween costume to the match.

Bowling Green 3, Buffalo 0
Bowling Green, Ohio - The Bowling Green volleyball team continued its late-season surge Friday night with a 25-18, 25-19, 27-25 road sweep of Buffalo in Mid-American Conference action. After losing their first six conference games, the Falcons are 3-2 in their last five MAC matches.

Bowling Green avenged a four-set home loss to Buffalo in the team's MAC opener by hitting .298 and getting a balanced offensive attack. Noelle Spitler led the team with a career-high 12 kills, followed by Shari Luther with 11. Emily Kauth and Corey Domek had eight kills each and Kaitlin Jackson added six.

The Falcons rolled to victories in the opening two sets but Buffalo had the third set almost sewn up, holding onto a 24-21 lead. But Spitler and Kauth sandwiched a Buffalo attack error with kills to tie the score at 24-24 and force a Buffalo timeout. The Bulls broke the huddle and got a kill to take a 25-24 lead but Spitler tied it with another kill. Allison Kearney and Kauth paired up on a block to put Bowling Green ahead 26-25 and a Domek kill ended the match with the 27-25 Falcon win.

Alex Zlabis led an effective defensive performance with 19 digs. The Falcons held a 52-46 edge in digs and had one more block than Buffalo, 7.0-6.0. Spitler had five blocks and Kauth added four.

Buffalo falls to 15-10 overall and 5-6 in MAC play as Bowling Green improves to 10-15 and 3-8. Head Coach Denise Van De Walle picked up her 497th career win, leaving her three shy of 500 in her career. The Falcons will play at Akron (11-14, 3-8 MAC) Saturday night at 7 p.m. with a chance to move past the Zips in the league standings.

Northern Illinois 3, Toledo 0
DeKalb, IL - Toledo saw its three-match win streak come to an end on Friday evening with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-18) setback at Northern Illinois. The defeat dropped the Rockets' record to 14-9 overall and 5-6 in the MAC, while the Huskies' ledger improved to 13-11 overall and 7-4 in conference play.

Senior MB Sarah Wilson led the Rockets with 10 kills and a .368 attack percentage. Sophomore outside hitters Amber DeWeerdt and Cassie Kleespies also tallied seven terminations apiece. Junior libero Katie Westerfeld collected a team-high 10 digs with Wilson and DeWeerdt each garnering a team-high three blocks.

Senior OH Meagan Schoenrock led NIU's offense with 14 kills, with freshman MB Mary Kurisch registering an amazing .818 attack percentage on nine kills in 11 attacks.  The Huskies enjoyed a successful night as a team offensive with a .306 hitting mark.

In the first set, the Rockets rallied from an early 12-6 deficit to come within two points at 20-18 but saw the Huskies tally the final five points of the set. The second set saw UT rally again from a six-point disadvantage. Toledo reduced a 16-10 deficit to 22-21 on a block by DeWeerdt and Wilson. NIU held off the Rockets though to post a three-point win, 25-22.

The final set saw the lead change hands three times early on but the host took control with a 6-1 run for a 15-9 cushion. UT was able to come back to within 19-17 but couldn't get any closer.

Toledo returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 31 when it travels to Kalamazoo, MI to battle MAC West Division leader Western Michigan (17-9, 9-2). The match is slated to begin at 7:00 p.m. at University Arena.

Miami 3, Akron 0