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Nov. 29, 2007
FIMILIAR FOES: Miami begins the 2007 NCAA Tournament against a team that Miami played in its third match of the season, Michigan. The Wolverines are the hosting team for Miami, Colorado State and Illinois State, all of which are teams the RedHawks have faced this season. The Wolverines enter the tournament with a 22-10 record, including a 3-0 win against Miami in Oxford, Ohio on Aug. 31. Miami lost to Illinois State in its second match of the season, 1-3, while also dropping a five-game match at Colorado State on Sept. 7.
RED-HOT Hawks: A five-game loss in its Mid-American Conference opener to Bowling Green on Sept 20 left Miami with a 3-7 record and an 0-1 conference record. Since then, Miami has arguably been one of the hottest teams in the country, winning 17 of its last 20 matches. Since that loss to Bowling Green on Sept. 20, the RedHawks are 7-1 on the road, including a win in Athens over then-No. 16 Ohio, 7-2 at home and 3-0 on a neutral floor, including another win over No. 15 Ohio in the MAC Championship.
1,000 / 1,000: In the third game of Miami's MAC Championship win over No. 15 Ohio on Nov. 18, senior middle hitter Carli Reihman recorded her 1,000th dig of her career. In the final game of her junior season, Reihman became the 15th Miami player to record 1,000 kills and now she is just the eighth player in program history to achieve 1,000 kills and digs for her career. The last player to notch 1,000 kills and digs in a career was Tara Buroker, who played for Miami from 2001-2004.
TOLEDO TRIO: After defeating No. 15 Ohio in three games on Nov. 18, three Miami players were honored for their play during the conference tournament. Senior Jeanna Staun and junior Alex Ratcliff were named to the All-Tournament Team after spectacular performances in all three matches. For the tournament, Staun averaged 2.78 kpg, 3.78 dpg and 0.89 bpg, which are all above her season averages. Ratcliff was Miami's most effective hitter knocking 38 balls to the floor (4.22 kpg) and hitting .341 for the tournament. Ratcliff collected a match-high 15 kills in Miami's semifinals match against Eastern Michigan and finals match against No. 15 Ohio. Senior Carli Reihman took home the MAC Tournament MVP award after averaging 3.56 kpg, 3.44 dpg and 1.11 bpg during the tournament. Reihman is the fourth Miami player to earn Tournament MVP and the first Miami player since Alissia Thompson in 1998 to earn that honor.
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TROPHY CASE: At the Mid-American Conference banquet held just before the start of the MAC Tournament, Miami players and coaches were awarded several All-MAC honors. Senior Carli Reihman and sophomore Megan Griffin were First-Team All-MAC selections. Reihman and Griffin became the first Miami duo, since Lauren Hirsch and Jessica Stout in 1997, to be selected to the All-MAC First Team. Reihman also became just the second Miami player to earn four All-MAC selections in her career. Reihman was an honorable mention selection her first two seasons, a second-team selection her junior year, before earning first-team accolades this season. Junior Emily Schroeder and sophomore Andrea Atteberry earned Second-Team All-MAC honors. Schroeder was a First-Team All-MAC honoree last season and it is Atteberry's first All-MAC honor. Freshman Michele Metzler was named MAC Freshman of the Year and earned MAC All-Freshman Team accolades after a stellar rookie campaign for the Red and White. Finally, head coach Carolyn Condit was voted MAC Coach of the Year after leading Miami to a 13-3 record, its best conference record since 1998. It is the fifth time Condit has been named Coach of the Year, which ties Condit with former Ball State coach, Randy Litchfield, for the most MAC Coach of the Year Honors in conference history.
COMEBACK KID: After being sidelined with an abdominal injury for most of the MAC season, junior outside hitter Emily Schroeder has bounced back and performed at a high level since being inserted back into the Miami rotation. Schroeder was sidelined after the Western Michigan match on Sept. 22 and returned to the floor on Oct. 24 against Bowling Green. Since returning, Schroeder has put down double-digit kills in eight-of-11 contests, including a season-high 22 kills at Northern Illinois on Oct. 27. It was in that match that Schroeder also became the 17th Miami player to reach 1,000 kills for her career. During the MAC Tournament, Schroeder averaged 2.89 kpg, 1.44 dpg and 0.56 bpg.
CONNECT FOUR: Seven Miami players on the 2007 roster hail from the state of Ohio. Of those seven players, four come from the same high school. Senior middle hitter Carli Reihman, senior outside hitter Jeanna Staun, junior libero Melissa Zenz and junior middle hitter Catherine Wolfe were teammates at Ursuline Academy in Cincinnati before eventually reuniting at Miami. Reihman and Staun are beginning their fourth year with the Miami program, while Zenz begins her second season with the team after transferring from the University of Cincinnati. This season marks Wolfe's first season with Miami volleyball after transferring from the University of Akron.
ABOUT THE WOLVERINES: Michigan comes into the tournament with a 22-10 record and a 10-10 record in the Big Ten. The first two rounds of the tournament will be held in Ann Arbor, Mich., where the Wolverines are 12-3, with two of those losses coming against Top 10 teams, Penn State and Wisconsin. Katie Bruzdzinski leads Michigan with 4.64 kpg, while adding 2.59 dpg. Defensively, Beth Karpiak leads the Maize and Blue with 1.01 bpg and Stesha Selsky averages 6.08 dpg.
THE SERIES WITH MICHIGAN: Michigan and Miami meet for the 10th time with the Wolverines holding a 6-3 lead in the series. The Wolverines defeated the RedHawks in three games earlier this season in the Miami Best Western/Sycamore Inn Classic. The lone meeting between the schools in Ann Arbor occurred on Oct. 3, 1984, when the RedHawks won, 3-0.
ABOUT COLORADO STATE AND ILLINOIS STATE: Colorado State enters the NCAA Tournament with a 22-7 record, while Illinois State boasts a 21-11 record. The Rams won the Mountain West regular-season title with a 13-3 conference record, before losing to the fifth-seeded Utah Utes in the MWC Tournament. The Redbirds finished fifth in the Missouri Valey regular-season race before losing to Wichita State in the MVC Championship game.
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