Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

Oct. 18, 2007

REDHAWKS HIT ROAD LOOKING TO EXTEND WINNING STREAK: After winning all four matches during its four-match home stand, Miami switches gears and begins a four-match road trip beginning with Ball State and Toledo. The RedHawks face Ball State at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 19, before traveling to Toledo for a 3 p.m. match on Saturday, Oct. 20. Miami has won seven consecutive matches and posts a 7-1 Mid-American Conference record, giving the RedHawks their best conference start since the 1998 MAC Champion Miami team began 9-1.

CAREER WEEKEND: In Miami's win over Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan over the weekend, six different Miami players set or tied career highs in nine different statistical categories. Against Eastern Michigan, senior middle hitter Carli Reihman collected a career-high six assists, sophomore setter Andrea Atteberry put down a career-best eight kills, senior outside hitter Jeanna Staun had a career-high three solo blocks, sophomore middle hitter Megan Griffin tied a career-high with 16 kills and set a new career mark with two solo blocks and sophomore libero Maria Leahy garnered 21 digs, shattering her old career-best by nine digs. The following night, Atteberry set another career-high with five service aces, while freshman middle hitter Michele Metzler posted three assists and seven block assists, besting her previous marks.

TOP TEN FOR NUMBER THREE: Since she set foot on Miami's campus four years ago, senior middle hitter Carli Reihman has been the model for consistency for the program. As a senior, Reihman is making her way onto several career charts. Currently, Reihman is seventh in career kills (1217), ninth in hitting percentage (3.00), ninth in total attempts (2,909), sixth in hitting percentage (.295), third in block assists (345) and tied for eighth in blocks per game (0.91).

seven up: Over Miami's seven-match winning streak, several players have stepped up their games, giving the RedHawks a balanced offensive and defensive attack. Sophomore Megan Griffin averages 3.50 kpg during Miami's run, while senior Carli Reihman averages 3.33 kpg. Including Reihman and Griffin, five Miami players are averaging more kills per game over Miami's run than for the season. As a team, the RedHawks are averaging 15.93 kpg over the run compared to 14.94 for the season. Defensively, the RedHawks have stepped up their play as Miami has out-dug and out-blocked its opponents.

WEEKEND IN REVIEW: Miami put its five-match win streak on the line and the RedHawks used two wins over MAC West opponents to extend its winning streak to seven matches and to improve to 7-1 in conference action. In Friday's four-match win over Eastern Michigan on Friday night, four players amassed double-digit kills, led by senior middle hitter Carli Reihman's 18 kills. Reihman also posted a season-high 22 digs, while sophomore middle hitter Megan Griffin tied a career-high with 16 kills. Defensively, Miami collected 96 digs in four games. Key blocks and kills by freshman Michele Metzler led Miami to a five-game win over Central Michigan on Saturday. Metzler finished with a team-high 15 kills and a career-high eight total blocks.

DEJA VU: Before Sept. 28, 2007, No. 17 Ohio had won 52 consecutive Mid-American Conference regular-season matches, 64 consecutive MAC matches including the MAC Tournament and 47 consecutive home matches dating back to Sept. 28, 2002. Five years to the date of Ohio's last home loss, Miami snapped all of those streaks with a four-game win over the Bobcats. The win marked the first time the RedHawks defeated a Top 20 team in program history.

STAUN REACHES CAREER MILESTONE: With seven kills in Miami's win over Kent State on Saturday, Sept. 29, senior outside hitter Jeanna Staun became the 16th Miami player to reach 1,000 kills for her career.

MIAMI EARNS VOTES IN AVCA POLL: In the Oct. 15 release of the AVCA Coaches Poll, Miami found itself receiving three total points in the poll, making its third appearance on the poll this season. Miami has played three teams who are nationally ranked this season (No. 15 Michigan, No. 20 Ohio and No. 21 Colorado State), and the RedHawks host No. 20 Ohio on Nov. 3 and No. 12 Dayton on Nov. 24.

MAC-ing it: Through Oct. 15, Miami has five players who rank among Mid-American Conference statistical leaders in overall matches played and conference matches. As a team, the RedHawks rank in the top five in four MAC statistical categories:

MIAMI:

Hitting Percentage-- .244/.268 (3rd/3rd MAC)

Assists-- 14.19 (4th MAC)

Kills-- 14.19 (4th MAC)

Blocks-- 2.45 (5th)

MIAMI PLAYERS:

Andrea Atteberry -- Assists; 11.31/12.10 (5th/3rd MAC)

Michele Metzler -- Hitting Percentage; .295 (7th)

Melissa Zenz -- Digs; 4.26/4.58 (10th/6th MAC)

Carli Reihman -- Hitting Percentage; .296/.336 (6th/8th MAC)

Service Aces; 0.36/0.53 (9th/3rd MAC)

ABOUT THE CARDINALS: Ball State heads into the weekend with an overall record of 3-17 and a Mid-American Conference record of 2-6. After defeating Buffalo and Toledo on Sept. 27 and Sept. 29, respectively, the Cardinals have dropped four consecutive MAC games. Brittany May leads the Ball State offensive averaging 3.12 kpg, while Alexis Shonkwiler averages a team best 1.00 bpg. Alyssa Rio leads the MAC averaging 5.92 dpg.

THE SERIES WITH BALL STATE: The Cardinals own a 36-29 lead in the all-time series over the RedHawks. The last win in the series for the RedHawks came in a four-game victory on Nov. 10, 2004, but the last win for Miami in Muncie, Ind., occurred on Nov. 15, 1997.

ABOUT THE ROCKETS: Toledo comes into this weekend's conference action with a 3-16 overall record and a 0-8 record in conference play. The Rockets have dropped 10 consecutive matches and their last win came against LaSalle on Sept. 8. The Rockets have two players averaging over three kills per game, led by Shannon Strachan's 3.78 kpg, while TaNeisha Winters follows with 3.24 kpg. As a team, the Rockets are hitting .143 this season.

THE SERIES WITH TOLEDO: Miami holds a 34-9 lead in the all-time series over Toledo. Despite the dominance in the all-time series, the Rockets have posed a challenge for the RedHawks over the past five seasons as Toledo has defeated Miami in four of the last five meetings. The last Miami win in the series came on Sept. 26, 2003 and the last win in Savage Hall occurred on Oct. 13, 2000.

Printer-friendly format	Email this article