The Miami University volleyball team returns to Oxford Friday to kick off Homecoming Weekend and Mid-American Conference (MAC) play against Kent State University (KSU). The 'Hawks then face Ohio University (OU) Saturday.
The Red and White are 3-1 at home this year, with their only loss coming against Xavier University Sept. 4. The RedHawks (5-8) have lost two straight, both on the road, and hope to get back on track this weekend.
A few bright spots for Miami last weekend in the Hoosier Classic included junior libero Madison Hardy, sophomore setter/outside hitter Meg Riley and redshirt freshman outside hitter Sarah Chaney.
Hardy recorded 46 digs to help put her over the 1,000 dig mark for her career while Riley is on an incredible roll for the RedHawks, registering two triple-doubles and being named to the All-Tournament Team of the Classic. Chaney is playing well in spots for Miami, putting together 21 kills in action over the weekend.
As a team, Miami is averaging over 12 kills and 11 assists per set, which is .5 and .3 more than its opponents, respectively.
In their lone win of the weekend, the RedHawks had a strong outing against the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, recording a hitting percentage of .258, much in part due to the team's 67 kills and 58 assists.
"The tournament was a good experience for us," Head Coach Carolyn Condit said. "It was a good opportunity to face such good competition this early in the season. We would have liked the outcome to be different, but we're a very confident group."
Kent State (3-9) is struggling mightily heading into conference play, coming into Oxford off of four straight sweeps at the hands of Marshall University, the University of Cincinnati-Davis, Southeast Missouri State University and Butler University. Sophomore outside hitter Tinuke Aderemi-Ibitola, who has 131 kills and 189 digs this year, leads the Golden Flashes.
Ohio (5-7) is coming off of a 1-2 weekend where they lost to the University of North Carolina and to North Carolina State University. The Bobcats' lone win came against the University of North Carolina-Greensboro where OU swept the Spartans in dominating fashion with scores of 25-15, 25-16, 25-19.
The 'Cats have an elite tandem in sophomore outside hitter Kelly Lamberti and freshman libero Ashy Meredith, both of whom are team leaders in digs and Lamberti is also averaging 3.83 kills per set.
The 'Hawks are enthusiastic about the conference opener.
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"We're all really excited to finally start playing MAC opponents," Chaney said. "We have been working hard to get better everyday so we can bring a MAC Championship to Miami this year."
The RedHawks start play against KSU 7 p.m. Friday and take on OU 5 p.m. Saturday.
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