CLEVELAND – Ohio volleyball's freshman Bailey Blair (Louisville, Ky.) has been named the 2025 Mid-American Conference Volleyball Freshman of the Year, as announced by the league on Thursday, Nov. 20. Junior Emily Waddell (Carmel, Ind.) and Blair were named to the All-MAC First Team while Blair also earned a spot on the MAC All-Freshman Team.
 
Freshman Bailey Blair (Louisville, Ky.) is the first Bobcat to be named MAC Freshman of the Year since Tia Jimerson during the 2017 season. In addition to the award, Blair also earned a spot on the 2025 All-MAC First Team and MAC All-Freshman Team. Blair has done it all for the Bobcats – she has played outside, middle, and right side throughout her freshman campaign posting a .234 attack percentage. Blair leads the team with 222 kills and ranks at ninth in the conference with 3.13 kills per set. She also leads the team with 526 total attempts, 239.5 points and 3.37 points per set. Blair has posted double-digit kills in 13 out of 18 MAC contests. She has also eclipsed .400 attack percentage on four occasions: .516 (18-2-31) vs Akron, .450 (12-3-20) in a win vs Kent State, .444 (11-3-18) in a sweep vs Ball State, and .400 (17-5-30) in a win vs. CMU. In conference play, Blair also compiled five aces, 46 digs (0.65) and 21.0 total blocks including four solo blocks and 17 block assists.
 
Junior Emily Waddell (Carmel, Ind.) earns her first All-MAC honor after being a standout player for Ohio on both sides of the court this season, especially during conference play. Waddell is second on the team with a .319 attack percentage and sits at 10th in the conference. She has posted the two highest single-game attack percentages in all the MAC when she hit .800 (8-0-10) in a win vs Kent State and hit .778 (14-0-18) in a win vs Miami. She has also hit .692 (9-0-13) in a win vs Central Michigan and .615 (9-1-13) in a sweep of Ball State. Waddell is first on the team and seventh in the conference with 0.34 aces per set. Waddell compiled 78.0 total blocks, including six solo blocks and 72 block assists, and averaged 1.10 blocks per set. The junior ranks seventh for blocks per set, seventh for block assists and ninth for solo blocks. Waddell recorded a career-high 10 blocks in Ohio's 3-2 win over EMU (10/16).
 
Bailey Blair, Emily Waddell and the No. 3 seed Bobcats will kick off the 2025 MAC Volleyball Championships against tournament host and No. 6 seed Bowling Green on Friday, Nov. 21. First serve is set for 7 p.m. ET and the game will be available to watch on ESPN+.
 
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