Women's Volleyball | August 29, 2016

THIS WEEK
The Western Michigan Volleyball team hosts Fort Wayne for its 2016 regular season home-opener. The Mastodons are one of four non-conference opponents the Broncos will face this season. WMU also heads to Southern Illinois for the Saluki Invitational this coming weekend with games against Northern Arizona, Southern Illinois and Central Florida.
 
LAST WEEKEND
WMU (1-2) opened the season at Notre Dame's Golden Dome Invitational, playing in three games against Cleveland State, Seton Hall and the host Fighting Irish. The Broncos opened it up with a tough 3-0 (17-25, 27-25, 23-25, 22-25) loss to Cleveland State. The team rebounded nicely to sweep SHU 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-20). Western Michigan then ran into a hot Notre Dame team that had won four-straight sets heading into the game. WMU fought hard but was unable to break UND's streak, falling 3-0 (15-25, 27-29, 16-25). Sydney LeMay and Olivia Kofie were both named to the All-Tournament Team.
 
THE SERIES
Western Michigan leads the all-time series 5-3 but Fort Wayne has won three of the last five meetings, including two in Kalamazoo. Last season the Broncos went on the road and defeated the Mastodons 3-1.
 
SCOUTING THE MASTODONS
Fort Wayne comes to Kalamazoo after opening the season going 2-1 after hosting the Fort Wayne Invitational. The Mastodons took second in the tournament with wins over Ball State and Youngstown and fell to tournament champions Murray state.
 
Lauren Hoffman leads the team in kills with 39, averaged 3.25 per set over the weekend and holds a .472 hitting percentage. Fort Wayne has five players with at least 20 digs and average over 2.1 digs per set, led by Olivia Hahn with 70 and 5.83 per set. The Mastodons have also averaged 2.58 blocks per set, led by Natalie Seiler at 18 total and 1.50 per set.
 
EARLY ACCOLADES
Just a week into the season and already two Broncos have picked up early accolades. Juniors Sydney LeMay and Olivia Kofie were both named to the Golden Dome Invitational All-Tournament Team for their performances over the weekend. Kofie averaged 3.40 kills per set over the weekend and also recorded nine blocks (three solo, six assists). LeMay led the Broncos with 4.10 kills per set and also recorded nine blocks (four solo, five assists)