NOTE: Live video of Friday's match at Ball State will be available to Bronco Insider subscribers.
THIS WEEKEND
The Western Michigan volleyball team (21-4, 12-2 MAC) will try to clinch its first Mid-American Conference championship since 2000 when they go on the road to play Ball State (11-18, 6-8 MAC) at Worthen Arena on Friday at 7 p.m. and Toledo (13-14, 5-9 MAC) at St. Ursula Academy on Saturday at 3 p.m.
The Broncos control their own destiny as they hold a one-match lead on the rest of the conference with two matches to play. WMU is also trying to secure the top seed at next week's MAC Tournament at the SeaGate Centre in Toledo.
MAC TOURNAMENT UPDATE
If the MAC Tournament started today, WMU would be the No. 1 seed and receive a first round bye. The Broncos would play the winner of No. 8 Toledo/No. 9 Akron on Friday.
There is still a lot of room for movement with four teams still within two matches of WMU with two to play.
LAST WEEKEND
Western Michigan picked up a pair of sweeps against in-state rivals Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan. Junior OH Michelle Moore led the way with 4.83 kills and 4.83 digs per set, while also hitting .304. Junior OH Katie Eberling averaged 4.50 kills and 3.50 digs per set, while hitting .277. Junior S Jillian Mitchell dished out 14.00 assists per set and junior L Caitlin Strimel led the defense with 5.67 digs per set.
The Broncos had a season-high 13 blocks against Central Michigan and finished the weekend with 3.50 blocks per set, led by nine from sophomore MB Jaime Gotham and eight each from sophomore MB Kate Corbett and sophomore OH Allyson Doyle.
QUOTING HEAD COACH COLLEEN MUNSON
“This past weekend we took two steps closer to our goal, but that doesn't make our path any easier. Ball State and Toledo are opponents that we sincerely respect, and it's imperative that when the ball is on our side of the net, we seize the opportunity.”
ACADEMIC ALL-STAR
Eberling was named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District IV Volleyball First Team for her outstanding achievements on and off the court. Her first team honor qualifies her for the Academic All-America ballot after she earned Academic All-District Third Team honors as a sophomore. She has a 3.92 grade point average and is majoring in elementary education.
4-FOR-4
In her fourth season as head coach, Munson has reached 20 wins for the fourth year in a row. The Broncos are at 21 wins with at least five matches remaining after 21 wins in 2007, 21 in 2006 and 20 in 2005. This continues the longest streak of 20-win seasons since WMU had seven from 1981-87.
BEST STARTS
The Broncos had one of the best starts in school history, as the 2008 edition was just the sixth to accumulate at least 18 wins in the first 21 matches. The 1983, ?85 and ?86 teams all advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
2008: 18-3 1999: 18-3 1986: 18-3
1985: 19-2 1983: 21-0 1981: 19-2
A NEW STANDARD
She had been chasing the record from her first day on campus and reached it with her sixth dig against Central Michigan (10/4). Currently with 1,869 digs, Strimel is the WMU career record-holder and ranks eighth in MAC history.
Since the beginning of MAC play, Strimel's game has gone through the roof. She leads the MAC in digs per set in conference matches (5.83) and she has the overall lead and ranks 13th in the nation with 5.27 per set in all matches.
Strimel has notched 20 or more digs in 13 matches (eight in MAC competition), including a season-high 29 vs. Miami (9/27) and at Northern Illinois (10/30), and has had 10 or more in 24-of-25.
Strimel has also been one of the best at the service line for WMU during her career and she entered rare company by notching her 100th ace against Miami (9/27). She is only the 17th Bronco in school history to do that as she leads the team with 21 in 2008 and 107 in her career.
ONE OF THE BEST
In the most recent Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) released by the NCAA (11/10), WMU is #40 in the country. The Broncos hold wins over four top 100 teams in #30 UAB, #36 Ohio, #45 Miami (Ohio) and #97 Notre Dame. This is the final RPI until after the championship.
RANKING AMONG THE NATION'S BEST
In the NCAA national rankings released on Nov. 10, WMU is 13th (out of 250) in kills per set (14.37), 17th in assists per set (13.20), 19th in digs per set (17.01) and 52nd in attack percentage (.243).
DUAL THREAT
WMU has the best combination of offense and defense in the MAC, while posting the conference's best winning percentage (.840).
In all matches, the Broncos are tops in kills, assists and attack percentage, while also ranking first in opponent hitting percentage (.160) and digs.
MAC WEST PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Moore won her second MAC Player of the Week award on Oct. 27 after her 44 kills and 21 digs led WMU past Kent State and Ohio.
Moore won her first MAC Player of the Week award this season and second of her career on Oct. 13, after her 27 kills and .299 attack percentage led the Broncos to victory over Toledo and Ball State.
With 6.29 digs per set in two matches against NIU and Miami, Strimel was named MAC West Player of the Week on Sept. 29. This is the second weekly honor of her career.
After being named MVP of the Golden Dome Invitational with 32 kills, 13 blocks and a .375 attack percentage, Gotham was named MAC West Player of the Week on Sept. 22. This was Gotham's first MAC weekly honor.
For her performance at the Redbird Classic, Mitchell was named MAC West Player of the Week on Sept. 8. She was named MVP and had 116 assists and 24 digs. That was the first weekly honor for Mitchell.
FANDEMONIUM
The Broncos welcomed 1,035 fans into University Arena on Sept. 27 against Miami, which was the largest crowd to watch the Broncos since 1,077 saw the Broncos defeat Eastern Michigan on Nov. 13, 2004.
Another 1,017 saw the Broncos defeat Akron on Oct. 17 and 1,007 visited on Nov. 7 against CMU to give WMU three grand crowds for the first time since 2004, when they had three.
WMU is second in the MAC in attendance averaging 871 fans per match.
EARLIER THIS YEAR
The Broncos hit .394 and posted 51 kills in a 3-0 win over Toledo on Oct. 10. Corbett and Moore both had 11 kills, while Eberling added 10. Amber DeWeerdt led Toledo with 11 kills.
The next day, WMU swept Ball State by holding them to a .104 attack percentage. Moore led all players with 16 kills and Strimel had 21 digs. Elaina Kakatolis led BSU with eight kills.
SCOUTING BALL STATE
The Cardinals have lost three in a row entering this weekend.
BSU is led by 6-0 freshman MB Jennifer Boyd, as she ranks sixth in the MAC with a .305 attack percentage. Sophomore L Alyssa Rio is seventh in digs (4.29 dps) and 5-10 freshman S Brittany McGinnis is ninth in assists (9.57 aps).
WMU has won three in a row against Ball State to take a 34-33 edge in the all-time series. The Broncos are just 12-18 in Muncie, but have won three of the last five.
SCOUTING TOLEDO
The Rockets have won three in a row, including ending a 42-match losing streak to Ball State last week.
DeWeerdt, a 5-11 freshman OH, leads the way with 3.39 kills per set, which is fifth in the MAC, while 5-8 freshman S Kassie Kadera is fourth in the league with 10.60 assists per set and second in aces (38). A senior, 6-0 OH Shannon Strachan is seventh in attack percentage (.302) and 10th in kills (3.05 kps) and 5-6 senior Lori Ruth is 10th in the MAC with 3.38 digs per set.
WMU has earned four straight wins in the series and lead 38-8 all-time, including a 15-7 mark in Toledo.
MITCHELL'S TEAM
Mitchell is the quarterback of the top offense in the MAC and one of the best in the country with 11.33 assists per set, which is tops in the MAC and 16th nationally.
She is ninth all-time at WMU with 1,719 career assists and is closing in on the top-10 in digs (837).
She set a new career high with 62 assists at Northern Illinois (10/30) and had a near triple-double vs. Delaware (9/13) with 49 assists, 10 digs and eight kills.
Mitchell has spread the wealth all season as five players have 138 kills or more.
She has also been strong on defense with nine assists-digs double-doubles to rank fourth on the team with 207 digs, in addition to 86 kills.
MOVING ON UP
Moore is nearing fourth in career kills with 1,327, 19 away from Liz Gunn.
Moore is third in the MAC and 34th nationally with 4.01 kills per set. She is averaging 4.17 kills per set in MAC matches.
She is also playing back row for the first time in her career and is fourth on the team with 213 digs, including a career-high 20 vs. EMU (11/8) and has notched seven double-doubles.
STEADY EBBIE
Eberling has been a constant for WMU on offense and defense and further solidified that status by setting a new WMU record for kill-dig double-doubles with her 37th against Toledo (10/10). She has since reach 42 with four straight after last weekend.
Eberling has reached a trio of milestones by becoming the 17th WMU player with 1,000 career kills, the fifth with 1,000 career digs and the second to do both.
For the season, Eberling is second in kills (251), digs (267) and attack percentage (.256) for WMU.
OH, DOYLE RULES
Doyle notched the first kills-digs double-double of the season for WMU with 11 kills and team-high 12 digs against UAB (8/30) and she led the team with 12 kills against Illinois State (9/6) in the championship match of the Redbird Classic, including seven in the decisive fourth set.
She tied her season-high with 18 kills at NIU (10/30) on her way to two more double-doubles. She is second on the team with nine double-doubles, third in digs (265), blocks (59) and kills (216).
GOTHAM CITY
Gotham is the top rejector in the MAC with 1.23 blocks per conference set and second overall with 1.04. She has also continued to shine offensively by ranking ninth in the MAC with a .286 attack percentage and she is fourth on the team with 209 kills.
COUNT ON CORBETT
Corbett has stepped up for the Brown & Gold with injuries in the middle. Stepping into the starting lineup against Wake Forest (9/12), Corbett has 138 kills and 62 blocks on the season. She set a new career high with 11 kills vs. Toledo (10/10), Akron (10/17) and at Northern Illinois (10/30) and eight blocks at Ohio (10/25).
VOLLEYBALL CARES
Volleyball Cares was Oct. 18 against Buffalo and University Arena was awash in pink.
The joint effort between WMU volleyball and the American Cancer Society wrapped up with a trio of online auctions on Oct. 25. Between the auction and other efforts, the Broncos raised more than $3,800 that will be donated towards continuing cancer research.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TESTED
After four pre-conference tournaments, WMU had five different players earn all-tournament honors. Mitchell led the way by being named all-tournament at the Aquafina Invitational, Redbird Classic and Black & Gold Challenge. Gotham, Strimel and Moore each made two teams. Gotham and Strimel were honored at the Redbird Classic and Golden Dome Invitational, while Moore has earned honors each of the last two weekends. Eberling was all-tournament at the Aquafina Invitational.
PRESEASON FAVORITES
The Broncos were tabbed to win the MAC West Division in the 2008 MAC Preseason Coaches Poll. WMU also tied Miami and Ohio with three votes to win the 2008 MAC Tournament.
BRAZIL TOUR 2008
From May 13-22, WMU trekked to Brazil for a variety of athletic and cultural activities. The Broncos benefited from 10 days of practice leading up to the trip and then played five matches against high quality club teams from the country that produced the Olympic women's volleyball gold medalist and men's volleyball silver medalists.
SHANGHAI NOON
On Sept. 17, WMU welcomed a club team from the Shanghai (China) Volleyball Association to University Arena for a scrimmage. In the last five months, WMU has played teams from Brazil and China, countries that won the gold and bronze, respectively, in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
MUNSON'S MILESTONES
Munson won her 100th career match (135-139) on Sept. 7, 2007 vs. Marshall. In her fourth season at WMU, Munson has led the Broncos to a 83-40 record, three 20-win seasons and the 2007 MAC West championship. Her .674 winning percentage is currently .025 ahead of legendary head coach Rob Buck for best all-time at WMU and her teams have finished second or better in the MAC West in every year of her tenure.
INJURY UPDATE
Senior MB Ashley Vogl will miss the rest of the season after sustaining a right knee injury vs. Illinois State (9/6).
BRONCO INSIDER & LIVE STATS
All Western Michigan home volleyball matches and selected road matches will feature live video and/or audio streaming as part of the Bronco Insider subscription service at www.WMUBroncos.com. All WMU home matches and select road matches also feature free live stats.
UP NEXT
WMU will begin play in the MAC Tournament with either a home match on Tuesday, Nov. 18 or earn a first round bye and advance to the quarterfinals beginning Friday, Nov. 21 at the SeaGate Centre in Toledo.
