OXFORD, Ohio – The Miami University volleyball team has a showdown for the MAC East title on Thursday as it hosts Bowling Green for a 7 p.m. match. It will air live on ESPN3. The RedHawks then hit the road for a contest at Western Michigan on Saturday at 7 p.m. That one will also air live on ESPN3.
PLAYOFF POSITIONING: Miami has secured no worse than the third seed in the upcoming MAC Tournament that it will host Nov. 15-18. That means it will receive a bye to at least the quarterfinal round on Friday, Nov. 16. At 11-1, the RedHawks hold a one-game lead on 10-2 Ball State for the top seed, plus they own the head-to-head tiebreaker. Miami holds a two-game lead on 9-3 Bowling Green and will clinch a share of its third straight MAC East Division title with a victory on Thursday. The top two seeds earn a double bye in the MAC Tournament and will begin play in the semifinal round on Saturday, Nov. 17.
HARPER CONTINUES TO SUCCEED: Freshman outside hitter
Gaby Harper continued her remarkable freshman campaign with a pair of strong performances last weekend. She had 17 kills and 20 digs to lead the RedHawks to a 3-2 win over Buffalo on Friday. She followed that up with 12 kills and eight digs in a 3-0 victory over Akron on Saturday. Harper has double-digit kill efforts in 10 matches this season. She has double-digit dig efforts in 10 matches as well. Harper has seven double-doubles during her rookie season.
ABOUT BOWLING GREEN: The Falcons are 15-10 overall and third in the MAC with a 9-3 record. Last weekend they defeated Akron, 3-0, on Friday, but dropped a five-set heartbreaker to Buffalo on Saturday. Defense is the name of the game for Bowling Green. It holds opponents to only a .166 attack percentage. It is even better in MAC play as the Falcons hold opponents to a league-leading .146 in conference matches. The leader of the BGSU defense is senior libero Kallie Seimet. She has 587 digs on the season and leads the entire nation with a 6.45 digs per set average.
SERIES WITH FALCONS: Miami holds a 51-30 lead in the all-time series with Bowling Green. The RedHawks fell to the Falcons, 1-3 (25-19, 19-25, 23-25, 17-25) in their first meeting on Sept. 27 in Bowling Green. After taking the first set, Miami was unable to overcome a strong Falcon defense as it dropped its only MAC match of the season so far. Junior middle hitter
Margaret Payne led Miami with 15 kills, while senior outside hitter
Stela Kukoc and sophomore libero
Abigail Huser had 22 digs apiece.
ABOUT WESTERN MICHIGAN: The Broncos are 13-13 overall and 3-9 in the MAC. They have dropped their past four matches, including a 2-3 match to Toledo and a 0-3 decision to Ball State last weekend on the road. Prior to facing Miami, they will host Northern Illinois on Thursday. Western Michigan has been led by sophomore outside hitter Rachel Bontrager. She has 382 kills, an average of 3.90 kills per set.
SERIES WITH BRONCOS: Western Michigan holds a 34-25 lead in the all-time series with Miami. The teams split two meetings last season. In the regular season on Sept. 23, 2017 in Oxford, the RedHawks fell, 1-3 (25-20, 23-25, 34-36, 19-25). The momentum change of the third set proved to be the difference. Forced to play as a 5-1 setter,
Morgan Seaman had a double-double of 42 assists and 23 digs. The teams met again in Oxford on Nov. 19, 2017 in the MAC Championship match. This time Miami earned a 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-18) victory to earn it second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Olivia Rusek led the way with 13 kills.
