Oct. 29, 2009

Game Notes Akron and Buffalo

OXFORD, Ohio - The RedHawks have their final road trip of MAC play this weekend. It begins on Friday when Miami pays Akron a visit for a 7 p.m. match. On Saturday, the RedHawks travel to Buffalo for a 5 p.m. match.

SEEDING CONSIDERATIONS: With only three weekends to go, Miami is starting to think about its potential seed for the Mid-American Conference Tournament. Of course, the RedHawks would like to win the division, but with Ohio at 9-1, Miami needs to make up two games in the standings at 7-3. With the RedHawks currently in the third position, they are also focused on maintaining that seed at the very least. Miami controls its destiny for the third seed if it can win out. For the MAC Tournament Nov. 17-22, the two division champions are seeded one and two, while the rest of the teams are seeded 3-12 based on their conference record regardless of division. The top four seeds get byes straight to the quarterfinals at the Seagate Center in Toledo.

ABOUT AKRON: The Zips are 11-13 overall and 3-7 in the MAC. Last weekend, senior Megan Rodriguez recorded her 1,000th career dig in a 3-2 win over Eastern Michigan on Friday. A total of five Zips had double-digit digs while out-digging Eastern Michigan 94-74 in the match. On Saturday, the Zips fell, 0-3, to Central Michigan when they were held to a .031 hitting percentage.

THE SERIES AGAINST THE ZIPS: Miami has a 30-11 lead in the all-time series with Akron. In the teams’ first meeting this year on Sept. 26, senior setter Andrea Atteberry recorded her first career triple-double (10 kills, 35 assists, 13 digs) to lead the RedHawks to a 3-1 victory. Miami has now defeated the Zips in 10 straight matches.

ABOUT BUFFALO: The Bulls are 15-9 overall and 5-5 in the MAC. Last weekend, Buffalo started off the weekend with an 0-3 loss to Central Michigan, its first three-set loss since September 5th vs. Pittsburgh. Saturday night the Bulls finished the weekend with a win against Eastern Michigan, 3-1. Buffalo then went on to sweep Canisius on Tuesday, earning its 15th win on the season, the most since 1997, when they had 17.

THE SERIES AGAINST THE BULLS: The RedHawks have been very successful in their series with Buffalo, winning 19 of the 21 meetings between the two schools. When the two schools met in Oxford on Sept. 25, Miami defeated the Bulls, 3-1, behind a double-double of 14 kills and 13 digs from Maria Leahy. The RedHawks have defeated Buffalo in 10 straight matches.

TEAM LEADERS SO FAR: Senior outside hitter Maria Leahy has been the RedHawks’ offensive leader in 2009. She has 242 kills, an average of 2.99 kills per set. Behind her are senior outside hitter Megan Griffin, senior outside hitter Hallie Hanks and junior middle hitter Michele Metzler. Hanks has 171 kills, while Metzler and Griffin are right behind her at 170 and 169 kills respectively. Hanks has an average of 2.28 kills per set, while Metzler is at 2.18 and Griffin is at 2.14. Metzler leads the team in hitting percentage at .295 (for players with 120 or more total attacks). On the defensive side, freshman Lisa Treadway, who has started 19 matches at the libero position, leads the team with 287 digs. That is an average of 3.54 digs per set. She earned MAC East Division Defensive Player of the Week honors for the week of Sept. 6. Leahy continues to show she is a dual threat on the court as she is second on the team with 206 digs. Her willingness to play both offense and defense earned her Defensive Player of the Week honors for the week of Sept. 28. Andrea Atteberry, the team’s setter who is also a strong defensive player, is third with 137 digs. A triple-double of 10 kills, 35 assists and 13 digs on Sept. 26 against Buffalo, earned her MAC Offensive Player of the Week honors on Sept. 28. Griffin is the RedHawks’ blocking leader with four solo blocks and 68 block assists. Metzler is right behind her with seven solo blocks and 56 block assists.

MAC COMPARISONS: In a conference that has shown a lot of parity so far in 2009, Miami ranks near the top in several categories in conference-only statistics. The RedHawks rank fourth in hitting percentage at .228. They are seventh in hitting percentage defense at .201. The team is fourth in finishing its kills, putting down an average of 13.06 per set. Miami ranks eighth in the conference in digs, with an average of 14.03 per set. Individually, Michele Metzler ranks fourth in hitting percentage at .318. Megan Griffin ranks fourth in MAC in blocks per set, with an average of 1.11, while Maria Leahy ranks seventh in service aces with an average of 0.33 per set.