KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Having clinched its spot in the upcoming MAC Volleyball Championship last weekend, the Western Michigan volleyball team heads to Muncie, Ind., to close out the regular season against Ball State.
WMU (16-11, 12-4 MAC) at Ball State (19-8, 12-4)
Match One: Friday, Nov. 15 | 6 pm |
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Match Two: Saturday, Nov. 16 | 5 pm |
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FOLLOW ALONG: @WMUVolleyball
REGULAR SEASON FINALE
Western Michigan closes out the regular season with a trip to Muncie, Ind., this weekend for a two-match series against Ball State.
MAC TOURNAMENT ON THE HORIZON
Last weekend, the Broncos and Cardinals both clinched places in next weekend's MAC Tournament. The two teams enter the weekend tied for third in the standings, meaning a series sweep by either clinches no worse than the third seed for that team next weekend.
LAST TIME OUT
Western Michigan celebrated its seniors by sweeping Miami twice last weekend to run its winning streak up to nine in a row. The Broncos hit over .400 in both wins over the RedHawks, including posting a season-best .453 mark in Saturday's victory.
MAKING HER CASE
Logan Case continues her pursuit of the conference's all-time record for career assists, and currently ranks second all-time with 6,192. The fifth-year setter is the NCAA's active leader in career assists and currently ranks second in NCAA Division I this season at 11.65 assists/set. Case's work has WMU atop the MAC in both assists/set (13.07, 15th in NCAA DI) and kills/set (13.76, 31st).
DIGGING IN DEFENSIVELY
Andelyn Simkins helped WMU limit Miami to a .101 hitting percentage last weekend after averaging 4.67 digs/set. For the season, she is second in the MAC and 32nd nationally at 4.83 digs/set, which has helped Western Michigan lead the conference and rank 23rd in DI in digs/set with 16.85.
MASHING MADISON
Madison Merz continued her recent hot streak over the weekend against Miami, putting down 3.50 kills/set on a .690 hitting percentage, while also adding 10 blocks (1.67/set). Overall, the senior is fifth in the league with a .352 hitting percentage. She has taken things up a notch in conference play, ranking second in hitting percentage (.408) and seventh in blocks (1.15/set).
SERIES HISTORY
Ball State owns a 52-50 edge in the all-time series between the two programs. Western Michigan snapped a five-match slide in the series with two wins last season in Kalamazoo, but hasn't beaten the Cardinals in Muncie since the 2015 season.
