EMU to Honor Five Seniors Thursday Night

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EMU TO HONOR FIVE SENIORS FOLLOWING THURSDAY’S MATCH: The EMU volleyball team will close out the home portion of the regular season tonight, Nov. 8, at 7 p.m. versus in-state rival Central Michigan University. Following the match the Eagles will honor seniors Katie Bates, Corey Calcamuggio, Abby Reenders, Becky Reenders and Kate Sulewski. That talented group of five seniors has combined for a 69-48 record during their four-year careers, including a 28-10 mark here at the Convocation Center.

ALL-TIME VERSUS THE CHIPPEWAS: Thursday’s match will be the 66th meeting all-time between the two schools separated by just 138 miles. Central Michigan holds a 46-18 advantage in the series, however, Eastern Michigan has taken the last four meetings in Ypsilanti dating back to a 3-0 sweep, Oct. 2, 2004.

FIRST TIME PAST THE MINIMUM AT HOME: EMU’s 3-1 victory over Northern Illinois, Nov. 3, marked the first time in EMU’s eight home matches this season to go beyond the minimum three games. On the year the Green and White are 6-3 on its home floor.

MAC TOURNAMENT QUICKLY APPROACHING: EMU has just two matches left before the 2007 MAC Volleyball Tournament. If the regular season ended today, the Eagles would be the No. 7 seed in the tournament squaring off with No. 10 Akron in the first round, Nov. 13, at the EMU Convocation Center.

ABOUT THE SENIOR CLASS: Thursday night the EMU volleyball program honors its five seniors who have made major contributions to the Eagles unparalleled success the last four seasons.
No. 5 Katie Bates – A solid contributor in the middle, Bates has started all 29 matches this season for the Green and White including posting career-high numbers in kills, digs and blocks. She ranks second on the squad in attack percentage and blocks per game, while ranking third in kills and points. Earlier this season she tallied a personal-best 17 kills in a four-game victory over Brown and followed it up by tying her career-high with seven blocks against Northeastern. No. 12 Corey Calcamuggio – Coming to EMU as a walk-on and later earning a scholarship, the Lambertville, Michigan native has played in 55 games this season and 190 in her career. Calcamuggio has posted a career-best 78 digs this season to go along with her 23 put-aways. Last year, she played in 25 matches, recording career-bests in nearly every statistical category.
No. 3 Abby Reenders – Reenders has started all 29 games at outside hitter. She ranks second on the team in digs, kills and points and currently ranks ninth in the Mid-American Conference with 4.28 digs per game. Throughout the year she has racked up 14 double-doubles. Her best match came at Northern Illinois, when she notched 22 kills and 23 digs. Abby was named the Xavier Invitational MVP after guiding the Eagles to their second in-season tournament title of the year.
No. 7 Becky Reenders – Reenders has become a force in the middle of the net, leading the Eagles in kills, blocks and points per game. She is among the Mid-American Conference leaders, currently ranking 10th with 3.56 put-aways per game and fourth in blocks at 1.07. She is also mentioned nationally in those same categories, ranking 212th in blocks and 235th in kills. For her career, Becky ranks eighth in EMU history with 223 block assists and has 268 total blocks in her career. She is also closing in on the top 15 in the EMU record book with 830 kills. This season Reenders has had little problem racking up kills, recording 10 or more put-aways in 23 of 29 matches this season.
No. 6 Kate Sulewski – Sulewski will finish her career as the all-time school leader in set assists with 5,235 heading into tonight’s match, breaking Sherry Anderson’s mark, which stood for 17 years. She currently ranks fifth in Mid-American Conference history in set assists, along with ranking sixth at EMU in games played, 10th in block assists and 11th in digs. She has started and played in all but one match during her entire career. A two-time All-MAC honoree, she currently ranks second in the conference in set assists at 11.79 per game and is listed 81st nationally.

WINNING IN MUNCIE: At long last the EMU volleyball team was able to notch a victory Saturday, Oct. 27, in John E. Worthen Arena, sweeping Ball State University (30-15, 30-14, 30-19). The win is the Eagles’ first-ever in the 15-year history of Worthen Arena and the first since EMU posted a 3-2 decision Oct. 14, 1989. The season sweep of the Cardinals is also the first for the Eagles since 1986 and just the third in the program’s history.

SWEEPING AWAY THE COMPETITION: During the Eagles’ recent four-game winning streak, Oct. 19-27, the squad has swept Buffalo, Akron, Toledo and Ball State. EMU is hitting .237 with 15.6 kills per game compared to 0.87 and 11.0 kills for the opposition. Senior Becky Reenders has notched a team-best 51 kills and 20 total blocks during the span, while sophomore Kim Jarzynka dug 49 balls in the 12 games.

SULEWSKI DISTRIBUTING THE BALL: Senior Kate Sulewski helped pace the Eagles with 71 set assists, 14 digs and eight total blocks as the EMU volleyball team completed a 2-0 week with a pair of sweeps over Toledo, Oct. 26, and Ball State, Oct. 27. In six games played, she averaged 11.83 assists, 2.33 digs, 0.33 service aces, 0.50 kills and 1.50 points. Sulewski turned in 37 assist and a career-high seven total blocks during in the win over the Rockets. In EMU’s first win in Muncie since 1989, Sulewski notched 34 sets, eight digs and two kills.

FOUR EAGLES AMONG MAC LEADERS: Senior setter Kate Sulewski ranks third in the MAC at 12.02 set assists per game. Senior Becky Reenders cracks the kills list in ninth with 3.57 put-aways per game and fifth in blocks at 1.05. Sophomore Kim Jarzynka ranks eighth in the league in digs at 4.44 digs per game and senior Abby Reenders is ninth at 4.27.

BERRINGTON AMONG MAC LEADERS IN VICTORIES: Head coach Kim Berrington moved into sole possession of sixth place in the Mid-American Conference record books for the most victories at a league institution with a 3-0 sweep of Toledo, Oct. 26. In her 12th year at EMU, Berrington has racked up 189 wins while coaching the Green and White. Bowling Green’s Denise Van De Walle holds the MAC record for most victories 446 during her 25 years coaching the Falcons.

SULEWSKI SETTING THE TABLE: Senior setter Kate Sulewski continues to set the table for the EMU volleyball team’s success. The Ottawa Lake, Mich. native has recorded 25 matches this season with 30-or-more assists. For her career she has 111 of her 114 career matches with 30+ set assists, including 16 matches with 60-or-more assists. Already the EMU career leader in set assists, Sulewski ranks sixth in Mid-American Conference history with 5,129. Ball State’s Emily Sallee is the conference all-time record holder with 6,408 set assists between 1997 and 2000.

VOLLEYBALL ZIPS PAST AKRON ON DIG FOR THE CURE NIGHT: The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team swept Mid-American Conference rival Akron, 3-0 (30-19, 30-21, 30-20), Saturday night here at the Convocation Center during the "Dig For the Cure" match. An event to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation -- which allowed fans to pledge donations per Eastern Michigan dig -- turned into an offensive display on both sides of the net, as the Eagles slammed 43 kills in the three-game set. Sophomore libero Kim Jarzynka did the best for per-dig pledges, leading all EMU players with 18 digs. Senior Abby Reenders tallied 14 and senior Kate Sulewski added 12

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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