Women's Volleyball | November 16, 2016

THIS WEEK
Western Michigan heads to Northern Illinois for the Mid-American Conference Tournament on Thursday. The Broncos earned the No. 8 seed and will take on fifth-seeded Ball State at 6 p.m. The game can be streamed live on www.mac-sports.com.

LAST WEEK
The Broncos wrapped up the regular season with a road split at the Cardinals and Toledo. WMU fell at BSU, 3-1 (25-27, 18-25, 25-12, 14-25). Western Michigan rebounded nicely, earning a hard-fought win at Toledo, 3-1 (25-27, 25-17, 25-20, 25-21). After dropping the first set to the Rockets, the Broncos came roaring back to take the next three. Bailey Schnell and Sydney LeMay each recorded 15 kills, while freshman Quiana Ware notched a career-high 13. Mary Murphy had 52 assists and 12 digs for a double-double.

AT A GLANCE: BALL STATE // 13-17, 9-7 MAC
- THE SERIES: Western Michigan leads the all-time series 45-39 but the Broncos have dropped both matches against the Cardinals this season, 3-2 in Kalamazoo and 3-1 in Muncie, Ind. WMU does hold a 6-3 advantage over BSU in the MAC Tournament at neutral sites. The last time the two teams met in the MAC Tournament was on Nov. 22, 2013 and the Broncos took the match 3-1.

- SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: Ball State is coming off a split at home in the final weekend of the regular season with the win over the Broncos and a loss to MAC Co-Champions Northern Illinois.

The Cardinal attack is led by Brooklyn Goodsel. The sophomore outside hitter leads the team with 2.96 kills per set this season. Junior Sabrina Mangapora, 2.83, and Ellie Dunn, 2.36, are the only other two BSU players that average more than 2.0 kills per set. Freshman Amber Seaman is the team's top setter, averaging 9.36 assists per set.

MAC All-Freshmen team selection Kate Avila leads the team with 4.21 digs per set, with the Cardinals holding opponents to a .204 hitting percentage. Goodsel averages 2.21 digs per set and Seaman averages 2.64. Middle hitter Sydnee Vanderbeek, also an All-Freshmen team selection, averages 0.78 blocks per set, second on the team behind Avery Devoe at 0.83.  

THREE, IT'S A MAGIC NUMBER
Sophomore setter Mary Murphy has recorded three straight double-doubles to end the regular season. In a win over Eastern Michigan she recorded 49 assists and 10 digs, against Ball State she had 36 assists and 10 digs and she closed out the MAC play with 52 assists and 12 digs. Murphy has six double-doubles on the season, but until the final three games had not recorded any of them back-to-back.

Junior middle blocker Sydney LeMay was recently named First Team All-MAC for the third straight year. LeMay led the Broncos with 2.92 kills per set in MAC play, as well as averaging 1.05 blocks per set.

Freshman libero Kathleen Reilly, who wears the number three, was also named to the MAC All-Freshman Team after averaging 4.95 digs in MAC play, including six matches of at least 20 digs.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Should the Broncos pull the upset, they would move on to the MAC Quarterfinals and take on the fourth-seeded Bowling Green Falcons on Friday at 6 p.m. The winner of that quarterfinals match would take on top-seeded Miami in the MAC Semifinals on Saturday at 6 p.m.