The first week of Mid-American Conference (MAC) has officially passed, with plenty of storylines and talking points to discuss.

First, let’s dive into the Falcons successful trip to Muncie, Indiana.

Bowling Green Sweeps Ball State in Muncie

On Saturday, the Falcons crushed the Cardinals on Ball State’s home court in Muncie, IN, in three straight sets. Ball State was limited to 12 points in the opening set and 13 points in the third. The only set where the Cardinals kept in close was in the second set, which had a final score of 25-23 in favor of BG. 

Ball State could not get anything offensively due to the Bowling Green defense. The Cardinals had an abysmal.021 accuracy on their hitting throughout the game, while Bowling Green had a very solid percentage of.305.

‘BG defense contributed to many of the Ball State errors, with impressive numbers with their blocking and digging. Bowling Green had 20 blocking assists and two solo blocks, six of which were at the hands of BG Junior middle blocker Jessica Andrews.

The Orange and Brown were also clicking on offense with 35 kills on only 10 errors, with Mia Tyler leading Bowling Green in kills with 11. 

This game was a great blowout win for BG, since this win came off the heels of a very close game also against Ball State on Friday, which went to a fifth set, where Bowling Green was victorious. The tough match on Friday made the victory on Saturday even more impressive for the Falcons.

Bowling Green rises to 2-0 in conference play for the sixth time in the last seven seasons. While Ball State falls to 0-2. 

Western Michigan Struggles with Buffalo, Splits Series 

On Friday, Western Michigan handled Buffalo on the WMU’s home court in three close sets of 25-19, 25-21, and 25-23. The Bulls kept this contest close in each set, only losing to the Broncos in kills by three (42-45) and in assists by two (41-39). Buffalo had Western Michigan beaten in digs and aces, but the Broncos had more points and blocks than UB. 

The next day, the Bulls flipped the script completely; they brought out the brooms this time and did the sweeping to Western Michigan. The first two sets were extremely close, with both going into extras.

Set one had a final score of 26-24 and the second 35-33, which had the athletes tired and compelled Buffalo to a dominating final set, securing the victory with a final score of 25-16.

The Broncos were beaten in almost every major statistical category and were left stunned by the Buffalo Bulls, Manoela Forlin led the Bulls with an incredible number of 20 kills on 50 total attempts (.30 hitting percentage).

Western Michigan’s setter Logan Case continues to put up good numbers even in defeat, tallying 37 assists on the day. Western Michigan is one of the favorites in the MAC this season, so the fact they lost in such fashion to this Buffalo team is impressive on the part of the Bulls.

Both teams are now 1-1 in conference play. 

Central Michigan Dominates Miami [OH]

Central Michigan dominated in their matchup with Miami two days in a row. The Chippewas went to Oxford and easily won both games on Thursday, Sept. 26 and Friday, Sept. 27. Both matches were won through a sweep. 

On Thursday, the Chippewas made short work of the RedHawks. The sets were total blowouts, with final scores of 25-8, 25-14, and 25-19. Central Michigan didn’t even let Miami reach 20 points in any of the sets.

CMU had 43 kills in comparison to Miami’s 27 and cleared the RedHawks in every other major statistical category too. Central Michigan’s Krystina Kasson and Natalia Rejment led both teams in kills with 12 apiece. 

The story was similar on Friday, with Central Michigan taking another commanding win. The RedHawks again did not reach 20 points in any of the three sets.

The final scores of each of these three sets were 25-18, 25-18, and 25-19. Central Michigan had 45 kills on 114 total attempts with an efficiency of .289. 

Krystina Kasson of Central Michigan and Raegan Lantz of Miami led the two teams in kills, each with 16. Central Michigan’s two wins put them at 2-0 to start conference play, while Miami starts their MAC season in a bad way with a 0-2 start. 

Other Series: 

• Eastern Michigan beat Kent State in both games on Thursday and Friday, 3-2 and 3-0. The Eagles advance to 2-0 while the Golden Flashes have an 0-2 start. 

• Toledo swept Northern Illinois twice this past weekend, boosting their MAC record to 2-0 while the Huskies fell to 0-2. 

• Ohio and Akron split their series, 3-1 in favor of Akron on Friday and a 3-2 victory for Ohio on Saturday. Both teams find themselves at 1-1 to begin their MAC season. 

Upcoming Schedule (Courtesy of getsomemaction.com):

Tuesday, October 1, 2024 Women’s Volleyball

	Away	Home	Time	Location	Links
	Bowling Green	Toledo	6:00 P.M.	Toledo, Ohio (Conf.)	Stats ESPN+
	Eastern Michigan	Central Michigan	6:00 P.M.	Mount Pleasant, Mich. (Conf.)	Stats ESPN+

Thursday, October 3, 2024 Women’s Volleyball

	Away	Home	Time	Location	Links
	Akron	Northern Illinois	7:00 P.M.	DeKalb, Ill (Conf.)	TV: ESPN+ Stats ESPN+

Friday, October 4, 2024 Women’s Volleyball

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

Saturday, October 5, 2024 Women’s Volleyball

	Away	Home	Time	Location	Links
	Miami	Eastern Michigan	3:00 P.M.	Ypsilanti, Mich. (Conf.)	Stats ESPN+
	Toledo	Ohio	4:00 P.M.	Athens, Ohio (Conf.)	TV: ESPN+ Stats Video
	Western Michigan	Bowling Green	4:00 P.M.	Bowling Green, Ohio (Conf.)	TV: ESPN+ Stats Video
	Ball State	Central Michigan	4:00 P.M.	Mount Pleasant, Mich. (Conf.)	Stats Video
	Kent State	Buffalo	6:00 P.M.	Buffalo, N.Y. (Conf.)	Stats