This Week In the MAC...
November 17, 2009 - First Round - Campus Sites
Match 1- No. 12 Eastern Michigan at No. 5 Central Michigan, 7 p.m.
Match 2 - No. 11 Bowling Green at No. 6 Toledo, 7 p.m.
Match 3 - No. 10 Buffalo at No. 7 Kent State, 7 p.m.
Match 4 - No. 9 Akron at No. 8 Ball State, 7 p.m.
November 20, 2009 - Quarterfinals - SeaGate Centre, Toledo, Ohio
Match 5 - No. 4 Northern Illinois vs. 5/12 Winner, 11 a.m.
Match 6 - No. 3 Miami vs. 6/11 Winner, 1:30 p.m.
Match 7 - No. 1 Ohio vs. 8/9 Winner, 4:30 p.m.
Match 8 - No. 2 Western Michigan vs. 7/10 Winner, 7 p.m.
November 21, 2009 - Semi Finals - SeaGate Centre, Toledo, Ohio
Match 9 - Match 7 Winner vs. Match 5 Winner, 4:30 p.m.
Match 10 - Match 8 Winner vs. Match 6 Winner, 7 p.m.
November 22, 2009 - Championship - SeaGate Centre, Toledo, Ohio
Match 11 - Match 9 Winner vs. Match 10 Winner, 3 p.m.
Players of the Week...
West Division Offensive Player of the Week
Kelsey Brandl, Ball State, So., MB, Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North
Kelsey Brandl turned in a solid all-around effort last weekend to help the Cardinals secure the No. 8 seed and hosting rights in the 2009 Mid-American Conference Tournament. In last Thursday's win over Toledo, Brandl smashed a match-high 14 kills while hitting a match-best .522 (14-2-23). In addition, she paced all players with a six total blocks in the win over the Rockets. In Saturday's thrilling five-set win at Akron, Brandl blasted a team-best 16 kills while hitting for an impressive .536 (16-1-28) rate of success. She also added a match-best five blocks in the victory. For the week, Brandl averaged a team-best 3.75 kills-per-set average, while posting a team-high 1.38 blocks per set. She also finished the week hitting a team-high .529 (30-3-51), which was more than double the team's average of .252 for the week.
East Division Offensive Player of the Week
Michelle Jantsch, Ohio, Jr., Setter, Mission Hills, Ks./St. Teresa Academy
Jantsch recorded nine kills on 17 swings for a .529 hitting percentage, while recording an impressive 12.0 assists per set. She also had one ace, two digs and five total blocks for a well-rounded performance.
West Division Defensive Player of the Week
Caitlin Strimel, Western Michigan, Sr., Libero, Chicago, Ill./Mother McAuley
Caitlin Strimel led the WMU defense with 6.00 digs per set that helped hold CMU and EMU to .165 hitting in a pair of five-set victories on the road over the weekend. Strimel was nearly flawless on serve receive with only one error in 38 reception attempts (.974). Strimel started the weekend with 27 digs at CMU as the Chippewas hit just .128. She followed with a match-high 33 digs at EMU to hold the Eagles to .201 hitting in the victory. With her 60 digs, Strimel increased her MAC record to 2,493 digs, the fifth-highest total in NCAA history.
East Division Defensive Player of the Week
Jenny Keck, Kent State, Sr., Setter, Fort Wayne, Ind./Concordia Lutheran
It was as if senior Jenny Keck was bound and determined to record her first triple-double in the final regular season weekend of her collegiate career. After nearly accomplishing the feat with 37 assists, 10 kills and seven digs against Bowling Green, she tallied a triple-double in Kent State's upset of Miami on the RedHawks home court (in straight sets, no less). Against MU, Keck had 41 assists (13.67 per set), 13 digs (4.33 per set) and a team-high 10 blocks (3.33 per set). In the game-clinching third set, Keck contribute eight assists, two kills on three attempts, four digs and four blocks. In Kent State's marathon 31-29 in the first set, she had 20 assists, three digs, three blocks and a kill. Known for running the Kent State offense, Keck contributed greatly to the Kent State defense this week. To go along with her 78 assists and 13 kills, she was third on the week in team digs with 20 (2.5 per set) and second on the team with 12 total blocks (1.5 per set).
MAC News and Notes...
• For the second consecutive season, the Zips finished the regular-season 5-11 in conference play. Overall, Akron posted 14 wins during the 2009 season, the most wins the program has had since the 2003 season. Splitting the final weekend of league play, Akron freshman Chelsea Harvey put her stamp on the conference in the regular-season finale finishing with 34 digs in UA's five-set loss to Ball State. Totaling 53 digs on the weekend averaging 6.62 over eight sets, Harvey finished ninth overall in the league averaging 4.07 digs. The mark makes Harvey the only freshman to finish in the top-10 in the league.
• After topping Eastern Michigan and falling to Ohio in the 2009 Mid-American Confernece Tournament, Ball State is a combined 27-14 (.658) all-time in MAC Tournament matches . . . Both BSU's 27 wins and 41 matches played are league records . . . Overall, Ball State is 3-1 in first round matches, 9-2 in quarterfinal matches, 9-8 in semifinal matches and 6-3 in championship matches . . . Ball State has more tournament wins (27) than eight other MAC schools have matches played . . . Miami (34), Western Michigan (33) and Bowling Green (29) are the only schools to play in more tournament matches than BSU has wins. AT HOME IN THE TOURNAMENT: Including a 3-0 first round sweep of Eastern Michigan last season, Ball State is 16-1 all-time in MAC Tournament matches played in Worthen Arena, with its only loss coming in the 2003 semifinals versus eventual tournament champion Ohio . . . BSU has never lost a tournament-opening match at Worthen Arena, going 3-0 in first round matches, 6-0 in quarterfinal play and 1-0 in semifinal action . . . BSU claimed three MAC Tournament titles on the Worthen Arena hardwood floor (1994, 1999 and 2002), before the final three rounds were moved to a neutral site for the 2005 event.
• Bowling Green finished the regular season by splitting the weekend MAC series for the fifth consecutive week ... The Falcons beat Kent State in five hard-fought sets before losing to Ohio ... The win over Kent State was Head Coach Denise Van De Walle's 499th of her career ... Bowling Green will enter the MAC Tournament as the No. 11 seed after finishing the year 12-19 overall and 5-11 in league play ... Kaitlin Jackson had a career-high 24 kills and added 11 digs as BGSU edged Kent State in five sets ... In fact, the Falcons had two players with at least 20 kills and 10 digs as Corey Domek added 23 kills and 13 digs ... Libero Alex Zlabis entered the 30-dig club for the first time in her career, picking up 33 in the win over Kent State.
• The Bulls finished the regular season with 15 wins, their most in school history since joining the MAC. Their five MAC wins tie a record. Freshman Tori Beckman became the first UB freshman to record 500 digs in a season. Lindsey Schlegel also went over 1,000 assists for the first time in her career.
• Central Michigan will host Eastern Michigan in the opening round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament on Tuesday. CMU earned a first round bye in 2008 and beat Toledo at Rose Center in the opening round of the 2007 Tournament. The Chippewas and Eagles split the season series, 1-1, with each team winning on their home floor.
• For only the second time in eight years, the Eastern Michi gan University volleyball team opens the Mid-American Conference Tournament on the road. The Eagles will travel to Mount Pleasant, Mich., Tuesday, Nov. 17, to square off with the Chippewas of Central Michigan University in a first round match up at the Rose Center. First serve is set for 7 p.m. Eastern Michigan enters the tournament as the No. 12-seed while the Chippewas are the No. 5-seed. Eastern Michigan's volleyball program has appeared in 10 of the last 11 postseason MAC tournaments under the leadership of head coach Kim Berrington. The Green and White sport a 9-13 all-time record in MAC Tournament play, including two championship game appearances during the 1988 and 1990 campaigns. Last season, the Eagles were ousted in the first round by Ball State University, 3-0, Nov. 18, 2008.
• Senior setter Jenny Keck, contributed in big ways for Kent State in both matches this past weekend. Against Bowling Green on Thursday night, she nearly missed a triple-double with 37 assists, 10 kills and seven digs. However, she would get her triple-double in her final regular season match of her Kent State career in the teams-straight set winner over Miami (41 assists, 13 digs and 10 blocks). Senior Arjola Prenga completed her 17th double-double in 24 matches this season with 17 kills and 11 digs against Bowling Green and 19 kills and 11 digs against Miami. Kent State out-blocked its opponents 22.5-9 this week, including 14-5 in only three sets against Miami. Besides Keck, Sabo added eight blocks to finish the weekend with 13 (1.62 per set).
• The RedHawks had a tough week dropping both matches 0-3. However the matches were much closer than the scores would indicate as they led for significant portions of five of the six sets played, including all three sets against Mid-American Conference Champion Ohio. Miami will be the three seed in the upcoming conference tournament for the third consecutive year. Two years ago they won the event and they advanced to the semifinals last season.
• The Huskies split on the road over weekend to end the regular season, sweeping Eastern Michigan and getting swept by Central Michigan, as NIU fell back into a three-way tie with CMU and Toledo for the fourth spot in the MAC Tournament, but NIU won the tiebreaker to earn a first round bye and faces the winner of No. 5 CMU vs. No. 12 EMU match on Friday at 10 a.m. (CDT) ... The last time the Huskies earned a first round bye in the conference tournament was in 2006, when the Huskies won the regular season West Division championship ... Meagan Schoenrock led the Huskies with 30 kills (5.00/set) over the week ... Maddie Hughes led the NIU defense with 42 digs (7.00/set).
• The Bobcats clinched the regular season title last weekend and will be the top seed in the MAC Tournament. Ohio has won five of the past six MAC Tournaments, gaining the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. --Under head coach Ryan Theis, the Bobcats are 42-3 when hitting .200 or better, and 34-4 when holding opponents under the .200 mark. --The Bobcats have amassed a conference record of 104-6 (.945) since the start of the 2003 season, including three perfect 16-0 seasons.
• Toledo (17-11, 8-8 MAC) looks to build on one of the best seasons in its 30-year program history when it opens the 2009 Mid-American Conference Tournament on Tuesday, Nov. 17 with a home match against Bowling Green (12-19, 5-11 MAC). The Rockets have posted a 9-2 win-loss mark in Savage Arena and its .818 home winning percentage is the best in school history. In addition, the Rockets' overall winning percentage (.607) equals the second-best record in school annals behind a 27-16 (.628) ledger posted in 1983. The Rockets finished tied for second place in the West Division for their highest finish since the conference went to divisional play in 1997. UT's previous best showing was fourth place on three different occasions. Toledo's 8-8 MAC win-loss mark is just the fifth time it has posted a .500 record or better. Toledo is 7-2 in five-set matches this season. Six of UT's 16 MAC contests went the distance with the Rockets posting wins in five of them. Toledo is hosting a first-round MAC Tournament contest for the second straight season and third time ever. The Rockets posted a 3-1 win over Akron as the No. 8 seed last year and rolled to a 3-0 sweep over CMU as the No. 5 seed in 2005.
• The Broncos received strong play from their bench to defeat Central Michigan after losing the first two sets. Junior MB Jaime Gotham came off the bench and had seven blocks, while sophomore S Sam Viox and freshman DS Elizabeth Sweeney had eight and five digs each. -- Freshman MB Jessica Brown continued to make her case for MAC Freshman of the Year by delivering 10 kills and seven blocks at Central Michigan and 19 kills hitting .300 with three blocks at Eastern Michigan. -- With the victory at CMU, the Broncos won their 20th match for the fifth consecutive season. Head coach Colleen Munson has reached the 20-win plateau in each of her five seasons leading the Brown & Gold.
