Nov. 17, 2007
Final Stats
TOLEDO, Ohio--With a hard-fought three-game win against No. 7 seed Eastern Michigan in the Mid-American Conference Tournament semifinals on Saturday evening, Miami University's volleyball team earned its first MAC Tournament championship berth since 1998.
The No. 3 seed RedHawks (18-9) take on the No. 1 seed Ohio vs. No. 5 seed Kent State winner in the championship game at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 18. Since the tournament was reinstituted in 1987, Miami has made seven previous title game appearances and has won MAC Tournament championships in 1990, 1996 and 1998 over the last 20 years of the tournament.
Three early kills by junior outside hitter Alex Ratcliff lifted Miami to a quick 5-2 lead. The RedHawks were able to push their lead to five points, 10-5, off kills by senior outside hitter Jeanna Staun and junior outside hitter Emily Schroeder. A Staun service ace would give the RedHawks a 21-13 lead, and three straight senior middle hitter Carli Reihman kills put the Red and White at a 25-17 advantage. Eastern Michigan would get as close as six points twice down the stretch--28-22 and 29-23--but the RedHawks would go on to take the first game, 30-23. As a team, Miami hit an impressive .400 in the first game.
With a resilient effort, Miami came back to take a two-game lead with a thrilling 32-30 win in the second game. After a back and forth battle throughout the early stages of the second game, Miami trailed by three points near the midway point, the latest coming at 12-15. A freshman middle hitter Michele Metzler kill along with two Eastern Michigan attack errors and a sophomore outside hitter Megan Griffin kill gave Miami a 16-15 edge. Miami extended its lead to 18-16 off a Griffin kill and an EMU attack error, but the Eagles put together four straight points to recapture the lead, 20-18. Kills by Schroeder and Griffin along with an EMU attack error gave Miami a 21-20 edge, and the teams would go back and forth until back-to-back Ratcliff kills and a Reihman kill handed Miami a two-point lead, 26-24. Staun put down a kill to make the score 28-26 in favor of the RedHawks, but the Eagles scored three unanswered points and eventually were at game point 30-29. But Miami did not falter. A pair of Schroeder kills quickly put Miami at game point, 31-30, and a Staun service ace clinched the second game for the RedHawks.
Trailing 6-11 in the third game, Miami again found itself in the role of the comeback kids. The RedHawks battled back to tie the game, 13-13, off a Ratcliff kill. Eastern Michigan would build leads of four points on four occasions, the last coming at 21-17. Miami chiseled away at the EMU lead and used a 5-0 run spurred by kills from Schroeder and Ratcliff to take a 24-22 lead, its first lead since the opening points of the game. EMU came back to tie the game 24-24, 27-27, 28-28 and 29-29 before a Eastern Michigan attack error and a Griffin kill iced the third game and the match, 31-29.
Three RedHawks were in double figures for kills with Ratcliff leading all players with 15 and Reihman and Schroeder recording 11 and 10, respectively. Three RedHawks also were in double figures for digs with Staun leading all players with 16 and junior libero Melissa Zenz and Reihman recording 15 and 13, respectively.
Notes: With 13 digs, Carli Reihman moved within nine digs digs of reaching the 1,000 career dig plateau ... Reihman enters Sunday's championship match with 991 career digs and is on target to become just the eighth player in program history to amass 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs ... the RedHawks are in search of the program's sixth MAC Tournament title having won titles in 1980, 1981, 1990, 1996 and 1998.
