After winning four out of its last five matches, the Miami University volleyball team returns to Oxford to face its Mid-American Conference (MAC) East Division rivals the University of Akron (UA) and the University at Buffalo (UB). Miami hopes to avenge its losses to both of these teams from earlier in the season (0-3 at Buffalo Sept. 28, 1-3 at Akron Sept. 29).
The Red and White are also jockeying for position for the MAC Tournament with four matches left in the regular season. The team sits in ninth place and needs to be in the top eight in order to receive a tournament bid.
The RedHawks (9-16, 4-8 MAC) have been on a roll as of late, closing out October with four victories and keeping them in the hunt for a bid in the MAC Tournament later this month. The 'Hawks are led by junior libero Madison Hardy and redshirt freshman middle hitter Jenny Ingle on defense, while sophomore setter/outside hitter Meg Riley plays a vital role in the offensive attack with 3.40 kills per set and 4.35 assists per set. Hardy is tied for sixth in the MAC in digs per set with 4.56 and Ingle averaged 11.75 kills and 4.4 total blocks in Miami's four most recent wins.
As a team, the RedHawks had an average hitting percentage of .292 in those four victories, including a .385 performance against the University of Toledo.
"We're really confident heading into this weekend," Hardy said. "We've been working on our serves, aces and just playing together and having fun. It'll help when we're working against Akron's middles."
Akron (14-10, 7-5 MAC) is coming off four consecutive wins over conference teams including Western Michigan University, Eastern Michigan University (EMU), the University at Buffalo and Toledo. During that stretch, the Zips have an average hitting percentage of .212, with a .331 performance most recently against the Rockets. A key to UA's offensive attack is redshirt senior middle blocker Tina Dimitrijevs, who has the best hitting percentage in the MAC at .362. Defensively for Akron, junior defensive specialist Jill Paluch is currently ninth in the conference with 4.26 digs per set. As a team, the Zips are tops in the MAC with 1.25 service aces per set.
Buffalo (8-16, 2-10 MAC) heads into Oxford after suffering its third straight defeat, dropping matches against EMU, UA and Ball State University. Freshman middle blocker Akeila Lain is a major factor on defense for the Bulls, recording 1.28 blocks per set (second in the MAC) as a part of the overall blocking output by the team (2.41 per set, which is also second in the conference). A significant contributor to the UB offense is junior setter Dani Reinert with 9.31 assists per set and 0.30 service aces per set, which are eighth and tied for second in the MAC, respectively. Prior to coming to Oxford, Buffalo faces Bowling Green on the road Friday.
Senior outside hitter and co-captain Lisa Treadway said Miami is looking forward to this weekend.
"We want to be solid in serving and passing, stop serves and just be aggressive and not let the ball hit the floor," she said. "We're a totally different team from when we last played them. We look forward to showing them how competitive we are this weekend."
The RedHawks start off the weekend against Akron 7 p.m. Friday, and the match against Buffalo starts 5 p.m. Saturday.
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