Nov. 14, 2005

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ABOUT BUFFALO: The Bulls head into Oxford on Tuesday for the first-round of the MAC Tournament to face the RedHawks. The Bulls enter with an overall record of 11-19, and conference record of 3-13. Buffalo has a 1-7 record in conference play on the road this season. The Bulls are led offensively by two players who average over 3.00 kills per game. Nikki Morzenti is averaging 3.18 kills per game while Jenna Mape is averaging 3.08 kills per game. Leading the team in assists is Amy Brown, who is averaging 11.12 assists per game. On the other side of the net, Katie Weekley is leading the charge with 1.40 blocks per game, and Lizaiha Garcia averages 4.27 digs per game.

THE SERIES WITH THE BULLS: Miami leads the overall series 11-2. After losing its previous two matches with the Bulls before entering this season, the RedHawks have defeated Buffalo twice this season. The first win was in Buffalo in four games, while the last victory came in Oxford in three games. Miami is 5-1 all-time against Buffalo when playing in Oxford.

MIAMI HOSTS FIRST ROUND OF MAC TOURNAMENT: Miami has secured the No. 6 seed in the MAC tournament and hosts a first-round match against the No. 11 Buffalo Bulls on Tuesday night, Nov. 15, at 5 p.m. Since the new tournament format was adopted in 2003, this will be the third time that the RedHawks will play in a first-round match and it is the second time that they have hosted a first round match. The last time the RedHawks hosted a first-round match was last season when Kent State defeated Miami in five games.

MIAMI IN THE MAC TOURNAMENT: Over the years, Miami has put together strong runs in the MAC Tournament. However, the RedHawks are looking to make their first quarterfinal appearance since the 2001 season. In order to do so, the No. 6 seed RedHawks will have to play the No. 11 seed Buffalo. The RedHawks have beaten the Bulls twice this season, but the two teams have never collided in post-season action. Miami's overall record in the MAC Tournament is 17-11 while the Bulls are still looking for their first MAC Tournament win in school history. If the RedHawks would happen to advance to the quarterfinals, they would play the No. 3 seed Ball State Cardinals, who beat the RedHawks in Muncie, Ind. earlier this season, and who post a 4-3 all-time tournament record against the RedHawks.

MIAMI VS. OHIO TELEVISION REPLAY: For the first time in program history, a home Miami volleyball match was televised. Last night's match with No. 20 Ohio will be televised on a tape-delay basis by local Time Warner Cable. Replay of the match will be Saturday, Nov. 12 at 8 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. on Time Warner Channel 25 in Dayton and Oxford and Time Warner Channel 99 in Cincinnati. The "Voice of the RedHawks" Steve Baker provided the play-by-play, while former Miami player and assistant coach Lisa Dankovich provided the color commentary.

WOLFORD CLOSING IN ON 500: With 445 digs this season and at least three matches remaining, senior libero Suzy Wolford could become the first Miami player to reach 500 digs in a season. Miami's single-season mark currently stands at 463, and Wolford needs just 19 digs to break that mark. Needing 55 digs to reach the 500 dig plateau, Wolford would need to average 18 digs per match over the next three matches.

CLARK MAKING HER MARK: Senior setter Megan Clark, who already has her name on Miami's career lists, is working towards placing her name on some single-season charts too. Her current 11.56 assists per game average ranks eighth on Miami's single-season list, while sitting just 87 assists shy of cracking the RedHawks' single-season top-10 chart. This would be the first time Clark has placed her name on either single-season list.

FRESHMAN BRINGS COMPLETE PACKAGE TO THE COURT: Freshman middle hitter Emily Schroeder has been the complete package for the RedHawks this season and is making a strong case to be voted the MAC Freshman of the Year. Schroeder is leading the team in kills (3.28 kpg) and ranks second in blocks (0.98 bpg), in digs (2.69 dpg) and third in service aces (27).

`HAWKS WITH A KILLER INSTINCT: This season, Miami has received a fairly even distribution on the offensive attack from its hitting corps. The RedHawks, who are averaging 15.93 kills per game--third in the MAC--have five players who average 2.65 kills per game or better. Freshman middle hitter Emily Schroeder leads the way, averaging 3.28 kpg, while sophomore middle hitter Carli Reihman follows at 3.17 kpg. Freshman outside hitter Alex Ratcliff averages 2.88 kpg, while sophomore outside hitter Kate Norris averages 2.73 kpg, and sophomore outside hitter Jeanna Staun averages 2.71 kpg.

WOLFORD AND CLARK KEEP CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Seniors Suzy Wolford and Megan Clark continue to climb Miami's career top-10 charts. The weekend of Oct. 28-29, Clark moved into third on Miami's career assist list. Entering the weekend she owns 3,432 assists, while ranking fourth on Miami's assists per game list with a career average of 9.33 apg. The weekend of Oct. 7-8 Clark became the fourth player to surpass 3,000 career assists with her 18-assist performance at Akron on Oct. 8.

Wolford is averaging 4.54 digs per game this season and should shatter Miami's single-season digs per game record of 3.98 dpg. She has upped her career dpg average to 3.21, which ranks first on Miami's career list ahead of Stephanie Otten's career dpg average of 3.08. Wolford jumped to fourth on Miami's career digs list with 1,205 and needs just seven more move into the No. 3 spot. She became just the ninth player in program history to join the 1,000 dig club with her 16-dig performance in a three-game win over Bowling Green on Sept. 28.

ACES ARE WILD: Service aces have been a solid area for the RedHawks this season. The team ranks second in the league with 1.63 service aces per game and third in conference-only action with 1.34 service aces per game. Miami has five players who have been solid contributors from the service line. Sophomore outside hitter Jeanna Staun and sophomore middle hitter Carli Reihman pace the RedHawks with 30 and 29 service aces apiece this season, while freshman middle hitter Emily Schroeder has notched 27 service aces. Senior libero Suzy Wolford follows with 20, and senior setter Megan Clark has recorded 16. Schroeder is serving up nearly two aces to every service error to post a 1.7 service ace to error ratio to lead Miami. Twice this season a RedHawks has notched 6 service aces in a match, which is the most aces served up by a RedHawk this season. The first came against Virginia Tech, when Emily Schroeder served up six aces. A few weeks later, the performance was followed up by Jeanna Staun who posted six aces at Buffalo. Staun ranks fourth in the Mid-American Conference by averaging 0.39 service aces per game in conference matches.

WOLFORD DIGGING IN: For the ninth time this season and the 16th time in her career, senior libero Suzy Wolford hit the 20-dig mark in a match, recording 23 digs in a four-game match vs. Bowling Green on Nov. 3. In mid-September, Wolford recorded 20-plus digs in four straight matches, including a career-high 29 digs in a five-game match at Ball State.

CLARK SETS CAREER HIGH: With 71 assists in a five-game match at Ohio, senior setter Megan Clark established a career-high for assists. It marked the first 70-assist outing of her career and bettered her previous career best of 67 assists against Central Michigan on Nov. 16, 2002.

MIAMI AMONG REGIONAL LEADERS: In the most recent regional rankings, Miami ranks 13th in the Mideast Region. Ohio is fifth, while Eastern Michigan is 10th, Ball State is 11th and Western Michigan is 12th. In the Rich Kern Percentage Index, Miami owns a national ranking of 75.

ODDS AND ENDS: Miami head coach Carolyn Condit is two wins away from attaining her 400th Miami win and three shy of her 500th career victory.

Miami's five-game victory over Kent State was the team's sixth five-game match this season. The five-game victory was the Miami's second on the season, impriving their five-game match record to 2-4.

MAC-ING IT: Miami ranks among the top three in the Mid-American Conference in four-of-seven categories, while having at least one player rank among the MAC's top statistical leaders in six categories (Ranking For All Matches/Ranking For MAC-Only Matches):

Miami
Service Aces (3rd, 1.63)
Assists (3rd, 14.84/MAC 4th, 14.78)
Hitting Percentage (3rd, .240/MAC 3rd, .239)
Kills (3rd, 15.93)

Carli Reihman
Hitting Percentage (7th, .304)

Megan Clark
Assists (8th, 11.56)

Suzy Wolford
Digs (8th, 4.54/MAC 10th, 4.49)

Jeanna Staun
Service Aces (t-8th, 0.32/MAC 4th, 0.39)