KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan volleyball team is back at University Arena on Tuesday evening as it welcomes in Northern Illinois.
WMU (8-11, 4-4 MAC) vs NIU (3-15, 1-7)
Tuesday, Oct. 22 | 6 pm |
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A BRIEF STOP AT HOME
In the middle of a stretch of four out of five on the road, Western Michigan returns to University Arena on Tuesday night as it hosts Northern Illinois.
LAST TIME OUT
The Broncos split their two in-state road contests last week, falling at Central Michigan on Thursday and then rebounding to defeat Eastern Michigan in straight sets on Friday. In the win over EMU,
Logan Case handed out 40 assists and set up
Anna Calcagno and
Madison Merz for a team-leading 11 kills apiece. It was Western Michigan's 12th consecutive victory over the Eagles.
SETTING THE STANDARD
Logan Case leads the MAC and ranks second in NCAA Division I at 11.34 assists/set. The fifth-year setter has WMU at the top of the league in assists/set (12.84, 24th in NCAA DI) and second in kills/set (13.55, 35th nationally). Over the weekend, Case moved up to third in league history for career assists. Her 5,857 career helpers also make her the NCAA's active leader in career assists.
SIMKINS SURPASSES 2000
On Thursday night at Central Michigan,
Andelyn Simkins totaled 11 digs to reach 2,000 for her collegiate career. The fifth-year libero is the fourth Bronco in program history to reach the 2,000-dig mark. For the season, Simkins ranks second in the MAC and 36th in NCAA DI at 4.70 digs/set. With her defensive effort leading the way, the Brown and Gold are atop the league and 28th in NCAA DI in team digs/set (16.64).
MASHING MADISON
Madison Merz has been heating up for the Broncos as of late, and after putting down 11 kills while hitting .375 in the win over EMU, the senior has climbed up to third in the MAC with a .368 hitting percentage in conference play.
SCOUTING REPORT
Northern Illinois enters Tuesday night's contest on a three-match slide. NIU's Crew Hoffmeier is the league leader in digs/set at 5.06, which is the 15th-best mark in NCAA DI. One of the top servers in the conference, Ava Grevengoed, ranks fourth in the MAC in both total aces (29) and aces/set (0.40).
SERIES HISTORY
Western Michigan owns a 39-29 record in the all-time series against Northern Illinois. WMU won both of last year's meetings in straight sets and has taken four straight over NIU in Kalamazoo.
