The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Central Michigan
Zips Travel to Central Michigan
October 16 | Women's Volleyball
AKRON, Ohio - Akron stays on the road as it travels to Mount Pleasant, Mich., to battle the Chippewas for a pair of Mid-American Conference matches on October 17 and 18.
How To Follow The Action
Friday: Stats | Video
Saturday: Stats | Video
Stat Leaders
Akron: Kills: Delaney Gash (273) | Assists: Martina Villani (726) | Points: Delaney Gash (295.5) | Aces: Vanessa Del Real (33) | Digs: Vanessa Del Real (262) | Blocks: Chidera Ozoh (78)
Central Michigan Kills: Taylor Cripe (168) | Assists: Keelyn Muell (446) | Points: Taylor Cripe (200.5) | Aces: Grace Thomas (23) | Digs: Alina Anderson (155) | Blocks: Abby Olin (70)
A Look At The Series
Central Michigan: Akron trails 15-25 | Norton vs Central Michigan: 1-3
First Played: Oct.9, 1992 (Akron 3, Central Michigan 1)
Last Played: Oct. 16, 2024 (Akron, 2, Central Michigan 3)
The Zips and Chippewas will battle for 41st and 42nd time this week. Akron currently trails 25-15 in the all-time series.
Akron took the first meeting against CMU on October 9, 1992 when the Blue and Gold came away with a 3-1 victory. CMU would win the next six meetings before the next Akron win. After winning 9-of-10 meetings from 1998 through 2005, Akron has gone 5-17. The last UA victory came on October 5, 2023, which broke up a five game winning streak for the Chippewas.
Common Opponents (Non-MAC schools)
Central Michigan: None
Last Time Out
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (10/10) - The Akron volleyball team defeated the Western Michigan Broncos in five sets (25-22, 25-23, 22-25, 26-28, 15-9) Friday night on the road.
The Zips were led by a double-double from Delaney Gash, who registered 23 kills and 13 digs on the day. Lyndi Wolf also added 14 kills to help the attack. On the defensive end, Reilly Chausse supplied a career-high 31 digs to go with eight blocks from Chidera Ozoh. Martina Villani joined Gash in the double-double department with a 50 assist, 12 dig performance.
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (10/9) - The Akron volleyball team took the first set, but couldn't hold on and lost 3-1 (25-21, 17-25, 22-25, 25-27) to the Western Michigan Broncos on the road Thursday night.
The Zips were led by a double-double from Delaney Gash, who registered 12 kills and 15 digs on the day. Lyndi Wolf added a career-high 16 kills and hit .394. Chidera Ozoh recorded a career-high 13 kills and hit .545 on the night against the Broncos On the defensive end, Vanessa Del Real supplied 19 digs while Wolf led the team with five blocks. Martina Villani provided 52 assists.
AKRON, Ohio (10/7) - Chidera Ozoh totaled a career-high 12 kills with a .647 hitting percentage, but the Akron volleyball team fell 3-2 (27-25, 21-25, 21-25, 25-20, 12-15) to the Buffalo Bulls Tuesday at James A Rhodes Arena.
The Zips offense saw five players recorded 10 or more kills, and was paced by Lyndi Wolf, who finished with a career-high 15 kills on the day while accumulating a hitting percentage of .400. Delaney Gash added 13, Ozoh chipped in 12 while Gabby Brissett had 11 and Sarah Bettis recorded a career-high 10.Akron got a season-high 23 digs from Vanessa Del Real along with a career-high six blocks from Martina Villani to lead them defensively. Villani also supplied 55 assists against the Bulls.
Zips At A Glance
Akron comes into the series with Central Michigan holding a 9-9 overall record and a 2-5 record in the MAC. The Zips recently went 1-2 the past week with a five-set victory at Western Michigan to split a two-game series and a five-set defeat to Buffalo at the JAR.
Delaney Gash led the Zips with 48 kills while recording a pair of double-doubles. Lyndi Wolf was close behind with 45 kills while recording 12 blocks. Chidera Ozoh recorded 17 blocks and 31 kills while recording a hitting percentage of .500 or better in two of the three matches last week. Martina Villani led the Zips in assists with 157 while recording nine kills, five aces and 12 blocks.
Gash leads the Zips so far this season in kills (273) and points (295.5). Villani is the leader in assists (726) while Vanessa Del Real leads the Blue and Gold in aces (33) and digs (262). Ozoh serves as the leader in blocks (78).
Scouting Report
Central Michigan: The Chippewas are currently 5-14 overall and 2-5 in the MAC this season after going 2-1 last week.
Central Michigan earned a 3-0 win over Eastern Michigan on Tuesday, October 7, while splitting a two-game series with Buffalo. CMU lost the first match 3-1 before posting a 3-0 victory to conclude the series in Buffalo.
Before the win over EMU, the Chippewas had lost eight straight, which featured three consecutive five-set defeats between Sept. 25 and Oct. 3.
Taylor Cripe leads CMU in kills (168) and points (200.5), while Keelyn Muell is the leader in assists (446). Grace Thomas leads the way in aces (23), Alina Anderson leads CMU in digs (155) and Abby Olin is the leader in blocks (70).
The Chippewas rank in the top five in the MAC in fewest opp blocks (5th - 151), total aces (5th - 120), aces per set (3rd - 1.74), fewest opp digs (3rd - 908) and fewest opp digs per set (3rd - 13.16).
Individually, Brooklyn Conner ranks 3rd in hitting percentage (.330) while Grace Thomas ranks 7th (.303). Muell is 10th in the MAC for total assists (446) and 9th for assists per set (6.76). Olin is 6th for total blocks (70) and 9th in blocks per set (1.03)
Central Michigan ranks 59th in the NCAA in aces per set (1.74) and 44th in total aces (120).
CMU was picked to finish third in the MAC Preseason Poll.
Milestones To Watch For
- Vanessa Del Real is 379 digs from tying Jennifer Borton (1992-95) for 10th in all-time digs (1,469).
- Del Real is 16 aces away from tying Ashley Lewis (1997-2000) for 10th in all-time aces (136).
- Del Real is 157 assists away from 500 as a Zip.
- Villani is 869 assists from tying Carol Claridge (1987-88) for 10th in all-time assists (1,880).
- Maureen Mathews is 333 kills away from 1,000 career kills.
- Mathews is 270 points away from 1,000 in her career.
- Reilly Chausse is 156 digs away from 500 as a Zip.
- Delaney Gash is 79 kills away from 500 as a Zip.
- Gash is 44 points away from 500 as a Zip.
- Jordyn Aeschliman is 17 kills away from 100 as a Zip.
- Chidera Ozoh is 22 blocks away from 100 as a Zip.
- Ozoh is 3 kills away from 100 as a Zip.
- Gabby Brissett is 196 kills away from 500 as a Zip.
- Brissett is 134 kills away from 750 career kills.
- Brissett is 58.5 points away from 750 career points.
Career-Highs (10/7-10/10)
- Lyndi Wolf set a career-high in kills (16, at Western Michigan 10/9/25).
- Wolf set a career high in assists (2), digs (4) and aces at Western Michigan (10/10/25).
- Chidera Ozoh set a career-high in kills (13, at Western Michigan 10/9/25).
- Ozoh set career highs in assists (2) and digs (5) at Western Michigan (10/10/25).
- Sarah Bettis set a career-high in kills (10, vs Buffalo 10/7/25.)
- Bettis set a career high in digs (17, at Western Michigan 10/10/25).
- Martina Villani set career highs in kills (5) and blocks (6) vs Buffalo 10/7/25.
- Villani tied her career high in aces (3, at Western Michigan 10/10/25).
- Reilly Chausse set a career high in digs (31) and assists (6) at Western Michigan 1(0/10/25).
- Delaney Gash tied her career high in blocks (4, at Western Michigan 10/10/25).
- Jaryn Morgan set a career high in digs (10, at Western Michigan 10/10/25).
Leaders In The MAC
Akron ranks in the top-five in the MAC in total points (2nd - 1282), points per set (1st - 17.00), hitting % (3rd - .216), fewest opp assists (5th - 825), fewest opp assists per set (4th - 11.25), total assists (2nd - 917), assists per set (2nd - 12.39), fewest opp kills(5th - 902), fewest opp kills per set (5th - 12.19), total kills (2nd - 992), kills per set (2nd - 13.41), fewest opp digs per set (4th - 13.58), and total digs (5th - 1039).
Individually, the Zips see Lyndi Wolf rank 10th in hitting percentage (.283). Delaney Gash ranks 2nd in total kills (273), 4th in kills per set (3.90), 3rd in total points (295.5) and 5th in points per set (4.22). Maureen Mathews is 7th in total kills (229), 8th in kills per set (3.22), 6th in total points (238.5) and 9th in points per set (3.57). Martina Villani ranks 2nd in total assists (726) and 1st in assists per set (9.81). Vanessa Del Real ranks 1st in total aces (33), 2nd in aces per set (.48), 6th in total digs (262) and 5th in digs per set (3.80). Chidera Ozoh ranks 5th in total blocks (78) and 8th in blocks per set (1.05).
Among The Best In The NCAA
The Zips rank 60th in the NCAA in assists per set (12.39), 63rd in kills per set (13.41), 9th in total assists (917), 7th in total kills (992), 61st in total aces (116) and 93rd in total blocks (150).
Individually, Vanessa Del Real ranks 33rd in aces per set (.48) and 16th in total aces (33). Martina Villani ranks 45th in assists per set (9.81) and 4th in total assists (726). Delaney Gash ranks 79th in kills per set (3.90), 43rd in total points (295.5) and 30th in total kills (273). Chidera Ozoh ranks 45th in total blocks (78).
Double-Doubles
Delaney Gash leads the Zips with six double-doubles after posting a 23-kill, 13-dig performance at Western Michigan on Oct. 10. Martina Villani has recorded four, with the most recent coming at Western Michigan on Oct. 10 with a 50-assist, 12-dig performance. Vanessa Del Real has one after recording a 17 dig, 10 assist performance at Youngstown State on Sept. 18.
First Set Success
Akron has taken the first set in nine matches this season (vs Green Bay, at Cleveland State, vs ETSU, vs Cleveland State, vs Miami (OH), at Ohio, vs Buffalo, at WMU x2), and have gone 6-3. The Zips have fallen in the first set nine times and have gone 3-6 in those matches.
Five-Set Thrillers
The Zips have played in six 5-set matches in 2025 and are 3-3 in those contests. Akron has defeated Green Bay, American and Western Michigan while falling to NC State, Miami (OH) and Buffalo.
Last season, the Blue and Gold played in 11 five-set matches and went 2-9 in those contests.
What's Next?
The Zips return to James A. Rhodes Arena to host Northern Illinois on October 24 (6 p.m.) and 25 (4 p.m.) for a pair of conference matches.
