Around the MAC, it’s the home stretch. Each team has one final midweek matchup before the 2023 MAC Tournament and from here, all eyes are on the prize. From NCAA recognition to the final scrambling towards the end of the regular season, there’s a lot to look out for.

Here’s a look at the standings and more in this week’s MAC Volleyball Round-up:

Current MAC Standings (as of 11/14/23, courtesy of getsomemaction.com):

STORYLINES:

1. Western Michigan Continues Triumphant Push Towards the Finish Line

Following a successful weekend sweep at Toledo, Western Michigan is in great shape for the 2023 Volleyball postseason. Logan Case led the defensive charge, tallying 86 assists over the weekend and earning her tenth MAC West Setter of the Week award of the season. Other Broncos stuffing the statsheet are libero Andelyn Simkins, logging over 1600 career digs and 210 career aces, and outside hitter Maggie King , earning nearly 1800 career kills. Increasing their win streak to 17, the Broncos have glided through the 2023 regular season and have only played to five sets twice in the entire year (versus Ohio University and Mississippi State). With such a productive and historic season, the Broncos have earned the No. 1 seed in the MAC tournament which will be held in Western Michigan territory. If WMU advances far enough into the MAC tournament, the Broncos will break the record for longest win streak in program history, most recently, a 19 game win streak from 2000.

2. Swapping Around the MAC

This last week of MAC volleyball brought about the swapping of standings in the MAC, cementing who makes it to the postseason and does not. While Western Michigan once again remains untouched, runner ups Ball State and Buffalo traded places in MAC standings, now 2nd and 3rd place respectively. Another pair of teams to swap were I-75 rivals Bowling Green and Toledo, both qualifying for the MAC tournament in the 5th and 6th slots. After an insanely productive weekend sweep versus No. 2 Buffalo, the Falcons officially punched their ticket to the postseason. Meanwhile Toledo, suffered a weekend sweep at home by the WMU Broncos, moving to a 10-7 conference record, matching the Falcons.

3. Bulls Break into NCAA Stat Rankings

Over the last week, four Buffalo players found themselves highly ranked within the NCAA in multiple stat categories. With a hitting percentage of .450, senior Courtney Okwara ranked fourth in Division 1, with Buffalo being the only MAC team on the list. Farther down, fifth year Abby Leigh made the list with a hitting percentage of .388. Another Bull joining the NCAA ranks was setter Mandy Leigh in the 4th place slot with 1145 total assists. Rounding out the list and also ranking fourth, Katrin Trebichavska logged 58 service aces to earn this achievement. Now ranking third in the conference following a tumble with the Falcons this past weekend, the Bulls are ready to close out the regular season with Akron and then travel to Kalamazoo for the final matches of the season.

A look now at the upcoming schedule (courtesy of getsomemaction.com):

Wednesday, November 15, 2023 Women’s Volleyball

	Away	Home	Time	Location	Links
	Ohio	Kent State	6:00 P.M.	Kent, OH (Conf.)	Stats ESPN+
	Eastern Michigan	Central Michigan	6:00 P.M.	Mount Pleasant, Mich. (Conf.)	Stats ESPN+
	Miami	Bowling Green	6:00 P.M.	Bowling Green, Ohio (Conf.)	Stats ESPN+
	Buffalo	Akron	6:00 P.M.	Akron, Ohio (Conf.)	Stats ESPN+
	Ball State	Toledo	6:00 P.M.	Toledo, Ohio (Conf.)	Stats ESPN+
	Western Michigan	Northern Illinois	7:00 P.M.	DeKalb, Ill. (Conf.)	Stats ESPN+

Saturday, November 18, 2023 Women’s Volleyball

	Away	Home	Time	Location	Links
	Western Michigan	Mid-American Conference	TBA	Kalamazoo, MI
	Buffalo	Mid-American Conference	TBA	Kalamazoo, MI
	Ball State	Mid-American Conference	TBA	Kalamazoo, MI
	Toledo	Mid-American Conference	TBA	Kalamazoo, MI
	Ohio	Mid-American Conference	TBA	Kalamazoo, MI
	Bowling Green	Mid-American Conference	TBA	Kalamazoo, MI

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