There is some tough news going around the Mid-American Conference volleyball world…at least for everyone except Western Michigan University.

One of the top players in the MAC, Western Michigan senior Maggie King, will be coming back for her COVID year in 2023.

In a normal situation, King would be using up her eligibility after this season, but COVID-19 has made it anything but normal. The National Collegiate Athletic Association has given athletes an extra season to make up for the disruption which COVID has caused in the past two seasons.

King, who has already won four MAC West Offensive Player of the Week awards this year, just doesn't want to leave college yet. Last season, she won the award twice and was named to the All-MAC First Team for the second consecutive season.

Oh, and she's also been the MAC Female Scholar Athlete of the Week this year after being Academic All-MAC for the last two seasons. She has a 3.97 GPA with a Child & Family Development major.

Western Michigan has five matches remaining in the regular season. This weekend the Broncos (14-11 overall, 6-7 MAC) have Friday and Saturday home matches against Eastern Michigan before going back on the road for two matches at Central Michigan (15-9, 8-5) on Nov. 11 and 12. WMU finishes up at home against Northern Illinois (14-9, 7-6) on Nov. 16.

The top six teams make the MAC postseason tournament with the No. 1 team being the host. WMU is currently eighth with both Central Michigan and Northern Illinois ahead of the Broncos.

"I just love the team I'm on right now and the idea of keeping the same team for a fifth year was so appealing to me," King said. "I did feel a little bit gipped in my COVID season (the 2020 season was moved to Spring 2021 and with an abbreviated schedule) because of the outside factors so I wanted to get that year back."

She is doing a very good job of getting it back this season. King has a team-high 357 kills and she also leads the team in kills per set at 3.80. Her total number of kills is tops in the MAC and her kills per set is second. Her average point total of 4.31 (kills plus service aces plus block solos plus block assists divided by number of sets played) is also second in the MAC.

The outside hitter is doing all of this while being the marked person by every team's defense. Double block – the senior sees it all the time…being targeted on serves – sees that a ton, too.

"Maggie has really blossomed as a server, a defender and as a passer, and clearly is the player who other teams scout," WMU head coach Colleen Munson said. "Mentally, it is tough because they serve her a lot to wear her down, or they serve her when she is in the front row to interrupt her approach to the net."

When King first came to Western Michigan, she was one of the players who was needed to take the blockers away from Rachel Bontrager. In the Spring 2021 season, Bontrager, then a senior, was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American Honorable Mention Team. She was also the MAC Player of the Year. In her four-year career, she averaged 3.82 kills per set, the best in school history.

"At one point last season, Maggie came to me and said, 'I know what that feels like, to have them on me. So now they are commit-blocking me, serving me, they know my shots and they studied my heat chart on where every ball goes'," Munson said. "She is growing through that and she has really grown this season with the questions she is asking, the way she carries herself and the load she is willing to take and is capable of taking."

King has always been a good all-around player. Now, she's made herself be even better.

"Being the opponent everyone looks for is a lot to handle and I've had to change my game a lot," she said. "I used to be the hitter who just blasts the blocker's hands and I wasn't so much crafty, just go up and swing.

"Now, because they are solid in front of me, I have to either go high over the block or outside the block. This year, it's been a lot better mentally because I've prepared myself to face that."

Munson can throw a lot of different players on the court to help out King. The coach feels this is one of her deeper teams.

"We don't have a set lineup and the players know that," the coach said. "We're deeper than we have been and everyone has a great skill set."

Outside hitter Abi Wilcoxson has 190 kills, and another outside hitter, Keona Salesman, has 188. Middle blocker Amanda Glanton has added 171 kills.

 All of this success at Western Michigan almost didn't happen. King was being recruited by several schools in the Midwest and had settled on St. Louis University before she had visited Kalamazoo. Then her club coach, Western Michigan grad Tim Balice, convinced her to take a road trip north.

"My club coach said that they have a program you want, so just go and try it," King said. "I didn't really want to go because I was ready to commit, to be done with the recruiting, but my Dad agreed and said to give Western Michigan a chance.

"So we drove up and there was a blizzard and I'm thinking, 'What am I doing here?' I fell in love with how they go about doing things here, the family-oriented atmosphere from the coaches and players and that made me commit…in spite of the blizzard."

A year later, King helped talk the setter on her club team, Logan Case, to come to Western Michigan. The junior is now the top setter in the league. Another Cincinnati native, sophomore outside hitter Julia Marr, has also made the trek north.

"Logan and I have had chemistry going on the court for 10 years," King said with a laugh. "It's easy to play with her because she knows what I need and I know what she needs."

In fact, all the players on the roster are getting to know each other better and better. With King being the lone senior, and coming back, the entire Western Michigan roster will return in 2023.

"I just love the team I'm on right now and the idea of keeping the same team for my fifth year was really appealing to me," King said.

Maybe appealing for King, but not for the rest of the MAC.