KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan volleyball team returns to University Arena on Thursday and Friday to open up Mid-American Conference play against in-state rivals Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan.
WEEKLY SCHEDULE
Match One: Thursday, Sept. 25 | 6 pm | WMU vs EMU |
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Match Two: Friday, Sept. 26 | 6 pm | | WMU vs CMU |
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TIME FOR #MACTION
Western Michigan returns to University Arena this week to open up Mid-American Conference play against in-state rivals Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan. The Broncos have won six straight conference openers.
LAST TIME OUT
The Broncos won two out of their three matches last weekend at the Capital Credit Union Classic. WMU started the week by outlasting tournament host Green Bay in five, fueled by
Molly Brown's career-high 25 kills. After falling to Northern Iowa on Friday, Western Michigan bounced back to dispatch Tennessee Tech in straight sets on Saturday.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
After winning a pair of matches last weekend in Green Bay,
Elana Erickson and
Leah Richmond were both named to the All-Tournament Team. Erickson collected 74 digs (6.73/set) and was perfect (26-for-26) in serve receive, while Richmond racked up 111 assists (10.09/set) and 45 digs (4.09/set) on the way to recording three double-doubles.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
For the second time this season,
Elana Erickson was named the MAC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday. WMU's sophomore libero posted a career-high 34 digs in the five-set win over Green Bay, and went on to average 6.73 digs per set for the tournament. Erickson leads the MAC in both total digs (235) and digs per set (4.90), with her total digs ranking 12th in NCAA Division I and her digs per set average the 21st-best mark nationally.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE
Leah Richmond registered double-doubles in all three matches at the Capital Credit Union Classic last week, making it four straight double-doubles and nine total this season for the Western Michigan setter. The redshirt freshman's weekend of double-doubles included a career-night in the tournament-opening win at Green Bay, in which she posted career highs in both assists (60) and digs (19). Richmond heads into conference play ranked third in total assists (440) and fourth in assists per set (9.17).
SERIES HISTORY
Western Michigan owns a 77-24 all-time record against Eastern Michigan and has won 12 straight meetings with the Eagles. The Broncos are 63-45 all-time against Central Michigan. The home team has won each of the last 10 meetings between WMU and CMU.
