Women's Volleyball | October 26, 2016

THIS WEEK
Western Michigan hosts Northern Illinois on Thursday at 7 p.m. before heading to Bowling Green on Saturday to battle the Falcons at 7 p.m.

LAST WEEK
The Broncos faced a tough test with road games at Kent State and Ohio. WMU and KSU battled for five sets, with the Golden Flashes coming out on top, 3-2 (21-25, 25-23, 25-20, 28-26, 10-15). Sophomore setter Mary Murphy recorded a career-high 62 assists in the match, while freshman libero Kathleen Reilly also posted a new career high after 28 digs. Olivia Kofie was one of four Broncos with double-digit kills with 19. Kofie also had 10 digs for a double-double.

Against the Bobcats, Western Michigan was held to a .034 hitting percentage and fell 3-0. After the losing 25-9 in the first set, the Broncos made things difficult for OU in the second and third sets, but couldn't get over the hump and fell 25-23 in both.

NORTHERN ILLINOIS AT A GLANCE // 18-4, 10-0 MAC
NIU sits firmly entrenched at the top of the Mid-American Conference's West Division after a perfect 10-0 start to the conference season. The Huskies have recorded four 3-0 sweeps in MAC play, but have had to grind out 3-2 wins in their last three matches against Akron, Ohio and Kent State. Northern Illinois' last loss came on Sept. 10 against No. 6 Washington. 

NIU is the most efficient team in the MAC on the attack, leading the conference with a .262 hitting percentage. The two big hitters for the Huskies are seniors Mary Grace Kelly and Jenna Radtke. Kelly is tops on the team, and eighth in the MAC, in kills per set with 3.0. Radtke sits just behind her at 2.76. The team has used two setters during the season. Both Chandler Kiney and Sam Boever have played in all 22 matches, but Kiney has the edge in sets played with 81. She leads the team with 5.79 assists per set, while Boever averages 4.56.

Northern Illinois holds its opponents to a .182 hitting percentage, second-best in the MAC. The Huskies are also the conference's top blocking team, averaging 2.53 per set. NIU is the only team in the MAC to boast two players that average at least 1.0 or more blocks per set. Radtke leads the team with 1.07 and sophomore Meg Wolowicz is right behind her with 1.04. Junior Anna Brereton leads the team in digs per set with 3.07, while Kiney averages 2.17. 

BOWLING GREEN AT A GLANCE // 16-7, 6-4 MAC
After dropping its first three conference games, the Falcons have been on a role. BGSU is 6-4 overall in the MAC but 6-1 in its last seven games.  During the run the team has only lost six sets and the single loss came against Ball State, 3-0. Bowling Green does have a touch match at Miami on Thursday. 

Senior outside hitter Jelena Sunjic is, statistically, the best attacker in the MAC. Sunjic leads the conference in kills per set at 4.32, also good for 24th in the nation. Isabel Kovacic (2.97), Alyssa Maloney (2.61) and Jessi Holly (2.45) all average at least 2.0 kills per set. The team is also tops in the MAC in kills per set with 13.96. The Falcons also lead the conference in assists per set at 13.11. The setting duties have been split by Katie Scholten and Isabelle Marciniak. Scholten leads the team with 10.65 assists per set and Marciniak sits just behind her at 9.52.

Bowling Green has held its opponents to just a .178 hitting percentage this season, the best in the MAC. A big reason for that is the 16.85 digs per set they average, 22nd in the nation and tops in the conference. Senior Madeline Garda not only leads the MAC, but leads the nation in digs per set at 6.40. Kallie Seimet is the only other Falcon to average more than 2.0 per set at 2.59. Maloney is the team's top blocker, averaging 0.68 per set this season. 

ALMOST THERE
After 17 more kills last weekend, junior middle blocker Sydney LeMay now sits just 33 kills away from reaching the 1,000 kill club. LeMay leads the team at 3.24 kills per set and has racked up 268 this season. Back on Aug. 30 senior Alysia Baznik reached 1,000 against Fort Wayne. The Broncos have not had two players reach 1,000 since Michelle Moore and Katie Eberling crossed that threshold back in 2008. LeMay is fighting to become the 22nd player in program history to reach 1,000.

CAREER HIGHS
Junior setter Mary Murphy has now surpassed or tied her career-best for assists in a game three times this season. The first time came against Xavier on Sept. 9 when she established a new career-high with 61 assists. She matched that against Indiana State on Sept. 17 and then surpassed it last Friday at Kent State with 62. 

Freshman libero Kathleen Reilly has also established and reestablished her career-high for digs in a game several times this season. After opening her career with 21, she broke that mark with 25 against Northern Arizona on Sept. 2. That total was matched against Indiana State and then surpassed with 26 against Ball State on Oct. 8. She reached 26 again a week later in a 3-1 win over Buffalo on Oct. 14. In the 3-2 loss at Kent State she reached 28 to establish another career-high. 

SAVE THE DATE
Next Saturday the Broncos host rivals Eastern Michigan at 8 p.m. It's the final home match of the season for Western Michigan and the team will take time prior to the start to recognize its senior class of Alysia Baznik, Nicole Kinser and Mikaela Ryshytylo. 

Western Michigan also hosts Central Michigan on Friday at 7 p.m.