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Nov. 4, 2009

Game Notes Bowling Green and Western Michigan

OXFORD, Ohio - The RedHawks are back home for their final four games of the Mid-American Conference season. It begins with two games this week. On Thursday, Miami hosts Bowling Green for a 7 p.m. match. Then on Saturday, MAC West Division leading Western Michigan comes to Oxford for a 5 p.m. match.

ATTEBERRY IN HIGH COMPANY: Senior setter Andrea Atteberry (Schererville, Ind.) was named MAC East Division Co-Offensive Player of the Week last weekend after recording her second triple-double of the season against Buffalo. In that match she had 10 kills, 52 assists and 12 digs. The triple-double puts her in some pretty high company. There are 330 schools that play NCAA Division I volleyball. Of the thousands of players on those teams, only 23 players have managed to record a triple-double this season. Atteberry is one of only nine in the entire country to have multiple triple-doubles on the year. She recorded her first triple-double this season against Akron on Sept. 26 when she had 10 kills, 35 assists and 13 digs.

ABOUT BOWLING GREEN: The Falcons are 10-17 overall and 3-9 in the MAC. Last weekend they swept Buffalo 3-0 on Friday, but fell, 0-3, to Akron on Saturday. Bowling Green is 3-3 in its last six matches after starting MAC play 0-6. The Falcons are led by senior middle hitter Shari Luther. She has 274 kills on the year, an average of 2.80 per set.

THE SERIES AGAINST THE FALCONS: Miami has a 38-23 lead in the all-time series with Bowling Green. The RedHawks won the first meeting this season in Bowling Green, 3-0. Hallie Hanks led the RedHawks with 13 kills in that match.

ABOUT WESTERN MICHIGAN: The Broncos are 18-9 overall and 10-2 in the MAC. The defending MAC regular season champions returned every starter from last year’s team and have picked up where they left off this year. Last weekend, they recorded a couple of 3-0 sweeps, defeating Ball State on Friday and Toledo on Saturday. WMU is led by senior outside hitter Michelle Moore. She has 359 kills on the season, an average of 3.42 per set.

THE SERIES AGAINST THE BRONCOS: Western Michigan leads the all-time series with Miami 28-17. This will be the first meeting between the schools this year. Last season, the Broncos defeated the RedHawks 3-1 in Kalamazoo. Emily Schroeder led Miami with 15 kills in that match.

TEAM LEADERS SO FAR: Senior outside hitter Maria Leahy has been the RedHawks’ offensive leader in 2009. She has 258 kills, an average of 2.90 kills per set. Behind her are senior outside hitter Megan Griffin, senior outside hitter Hallie Hanks and junior middle hitter Michele Metzler. Hanks has 204 kills, while Metzler and Griffin are right behind her at 190 and 181 kills respectively. Hanks has an average of 2.46 kills per set, while Metzler is at 2.21 and Griffin is at 2.08. Metzler leads the team in hitting percentage at .297 (for players with 150 or more total attacks). On the defensive side, freshman Lisa Treadway, who has started 21 matches at the libero position, leads the team with 316 digs. That is an average of 3.55 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 229 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 151 digs. Triple-doubles against Akron (Sept. 28) and Buffalo (Oct. 31) have earned her two MAC East Division Offensive Player of the Week awards this year. Griffin is the RedHawks’ blocking leader with six solo blocks and 70 block assists. Metzler is right behind her with seven solo blocks and 63 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 third in hitting percentage at .235. They are fifth in hitting percentage defense at .200. The team is fourth in finishing its kills, putting down an average of 13.25 per set. Miami ranks 10th in the conference in digs, with an average of 13.66 per set and second in services aces with an average of 1.36 per set. Individually, Michele Metzler ranks fourth in hitting percentage at .318. Megan Griffin ranks fifth in MAC in blocks per set, with an average of 1.00, while Maria Leahy ranks sixth in service aces with an average of 0.34 per set.