Ashley Hull, WMU Athletics
We are less than a month away from the 2023 Mid-American Conference Tournament, and the slate of teams that we all thought were going to be in it just two weeks ago? That has changed quite a bit.
With races tightening and teams rising/fading, the final stretch should be quite the battle to see play out.
Here is a look at this past week’s top storylines.
Hovey, Leigh, Kennedy go back-to-back in weekly awards list: Bowling Green’s Lauryn Hovey, Buffalo’s Mandy Leigh, and Ball State’s Aniya Kennedy all won weekly awards last week, and this week they decided to just do it again. For Hovey, she won the MAC East Offensive Player of the Week again after a dominant showing in three matches last week against Miami and Kent State. In the three matches, she led the team in kills in all three matches, landing 13, 16 and 15, respectively, while hitting .391, .481 and .542 in the those matches. Hovey also landed a total of 10 aces, matching her career-high with five on Saturday. For Leigh, the senior setter took home MAC East Setter of the Week. The Buffalo Bull helped the blue and white go 3-0 this week against Akron and Ball State, where put up 169 assists. On Saturday against the Cardinals, she registered a career-high 74 in the win. Meanwhile for Kennedy, she took home the MAC West Offensive Player of the Week award, where she registered 60 kills across three matches last week, putting up an average of 4.62 kills/set.
The battle for the last quarterfinalist spot heats up: Just when we all thought the Akron Zips had the last quarterfinalist spot in the MAC Tournament for themselves, the blue and gold have hit a lull in their winning ways. It also does not help that Bowling Green has put together four straight wins, while Northern Illinois is 6-5 in MAC play after a slow non-conference. As it stands now, the Huskies would be heading to the tournament, but with BGSU’s schedule hitting a soft point, look for the orange and brown to continue to make some serious noise and create some chaos as the weeks go on.
Western Michigan’s win streak hits historic point: I honestly have no idea how anyone is going to be able to beat Western Michigan this year; that’s cause only two teams have. With a win last week against Eastern Michigan, the Broncos have won 11 straight and are 21-2 overall. Those 11 wins are all in MAC play, and the winning streak is the longest it’s been for the program since 2000. This week, WMU hosts Buffalo and Akron for two interesting matchups that could have lasting effects in the MAC standings race.
A look at the standings as of Oct. 24 (courtesy of getsomemaction.com):
2023 Women’s Volleyball Standings
SCHOOL
CONF
CPCT.
OVERALL
PCT.
HOME
AWAY
NEUTRAL
STREAK
EAST DIVISION
Buffalo
9-2
.818
19-4
.826
9-1
5-2
5-1
W3
Ohio
7-4
.636
12-11
.522
5-5
4-3
3-3
W2
Bowling Green
5-6
.455
11-11
.500
6-4
4-4
1-3
W4
Akron
5-6
.455
10-12
.455
5-4
3-6
2-2
L5
Kent State
1-10
.091
5-17
.227
1-6
2-8
2-3
L3
Miami
1-10
.091
5-18
.217
0-10
4-3
1-5
L3
WEST DIVISION
Western Michigan
11-0
1.000
21-2
.913
8-0
9-1
4-1
W11
Ball State
9-2
.818
12-10
.545
7-1
4-5
1-4
L2
Toledo
8-3
.727
10-12
.455
4-5
5-5
1-2
W2
Northern Illinois
6-5
.545
8-15
.348
4-2
2-9
2-4
L3
Central Michigan
4-7
.364
10-13
.435
6-1
2-8
2-4
W2
Eastern Michigan
0-11
.000
2-21
.087
0-5
0-10
2-6
L15
Here is a look at the upcoming schedule as of Oct. 24 (courtesy of getsomemaction.com):
Away
Home
Time
Location
Links
Ypsilanti, Mich. (Conf.)
Stats
Away
Home
Time
Location
Links
Ypsilanti, Mich. (Conf.)
Stats
Mount Pleasant, Mich. (Conf.)
Stats Video
.png?width=30)
Muncie, Ind. (Conf.)
Stats
DeKalb, IL (Conf.)
Stats Video
Kalamazoo, Mich. (Conf.)
Toledo, Ohio (Conf.)
TV: ESPN+ Stats
Away
Home
Time
Location
Links
Mount Pleasant, Mich. (Conf.)
Stats Video
Kalamazoo, MI (Conf.)
Stats Video
Toledo, Ohio (Conf.)
TV: ESPN+ Stats
Muncie, IN (Conf.)
Stats
DeKalb, Ill. (Conf.)
For more stories related to BGSU Athletics, follow Falcon Media Sports Network on X (@bg_fmsn).