Volleyball Opens 2007 Season in Charlotte

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EAGLES OPEN 2007 SEASON IN NORTH CAROLINA: The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team opens the 2007 season this week with three matches at the Charlotte Invitational, hosted by the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. The Eagles, who are getting off to the earliest start to a season in the program’s history, open tournament play Friday, Aug. 24, against the host 49ers at 7 p.m. EMU concludes the tournament Saturday, Aug. 25, when the team faces Presbyterian (10 a.m.) and Appalachian State (4:30 p.m.). All matches will take place at Halton Arena on the UNCC campus.

ALL-TIME VERSUS THE CHARLOTTE FIELD: The Eagles have combined to play just one matches against the three opponents prior to this year. Eastern dropped a three-game set to Appalachian State, Sept. 27, 1980. The Green and White have never faced Presbyterian or UNC Charlotte.

EAGLES READY FOR 2007 CAMPAIGN: The Eagles return five starters from last year’s 13-17 squad that finished in a tie for fifth place in the Mid-American Conference West Division. Senior middle blocker Becky Reenders (3.36 kills per game, 1.06 blocks per game) and senior setter Kate Sulewski (11.91 assists per game) will lead the way along with sophomore outside hitter Victoria Randolph (2.50 kills per game).

HOME SWEET HOME: The Green and White have enjoyed the friendly confines of the EMU Convocation Center over the past six seasons, posting a 51-15 mark in the "Nest," including five home victories last season.

BERRINGTON’S 11TH SEASON AT EMU: Head Coach Kim Berrington is in her 12th season as head coach of the Eastern Michigan University volleyball team. The seventh coach in EMU history became its winningest coach, Sept. 20, 2003, as the Eagles posted a victory over East Carolina in the Coastal Carolina Tournament. The victory was Berrington’s 110th win at the helm of the EMU program. In her tenure as head coach, Berrington has posted an overall record of 171-159 and a 89-98 mark in conference play. In seven of the last eight seasons, she has led the Eagles to the MAC Tournament, with the 1999 campaign marking the first time the squad has played in the postseason event since the 1990 season. Her teams have also led the MAC in digs in seven of the last 10 seasons, including ranking nationally in five of those campaigns.

Volleyball Picked Fourth in MAC West Division: The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team was picked to finish fourth in the West Division in the 2007 Mid American Conference preseason poll, voted on by the head coaches and released by the conference office Wednesday, Aug. 15. The Eagles return eight letter winners from last year’s team that finished tied for fifth in the division, but reached the MAC Tournament quarterfinals with a first round victory over ninth-seeded Kent State. The quarterfinal appearance was the sixth straight for the program, and came on the heals of the squad’s 2005 run to the semifinals. Four-time defending MAC Champion Ohio was selected to capture both the MAC regular season and tournament titles. The Bobcats claimed 11 votes for the regular season title and 10 votes to win the MAC tournament. Ohio returns five starters and 13 letter winners from last season’s squad that finished 28-5 (16-0 MAC). Western Michigan, who tied for second in the West last season, was picked as West Division champions, receiving nine first place votes. The Broncos return five letter winners from last year’s team which posted an 8-8 conference record and advanced to the semifinals of the conference tournament in Toledo, Ohio. Bowling Green was tabbed to finish second in the East Division, receiving one first place vote. The Falcons finished last season 26-6 (13-3 MAC) losing in the MAC Tournament finals to Ohio. BGSU returns 11 letter winners including five starters. Miami and Central Michigan were picked to finish third in the East and West. Rounding out the East Division were Kent State, Buffalo and Akron. Northern Illinois, who finished first in the West last season, was selected to finish second this season. The Huskies return 10 letter winners and five starters from a team that finished the season with the their best record in five years at 20-9 (13-3 MAC). Eastern Michigan, Ball State and Toledo were picked to finish fourth, fifth and sixth in the West.

Volleyball Names Former Player Full-Time Assistant: Camila Olaio, who has held the position of graduate assistant coach on Eastern Michigan University head volleyball coach Kim Berrington’s staff last year, has been elevated to assistant coach. One of the most complete athletes ever to don the Green and White, Olaio earned four letters as a volleyball player from 1998-2002. She is EMU’s career leaders in aces with 233 and also ranks on the career charts in assists, digs and games played. Known for her trademark powerful jump serve, Olaio broke the Mid-American Conference record for career service aces and EMU’s single-season record, each of which stood for more than 15 years. Olaio led the Eagles in aces every season during her career, in addition to topping the MAC in assists per game in 2002. For her efforts during her senior campaign, she was named first team All-MAC and became just the third player in school history to garner All-Region honors, as an honorable mention All-Mideast nod.

O’Brien Rejoins the EMU Volleyball Team as an Assistant Coach: A familiar face around the Eastern Michigan University volleyball team is returning. Head Coach Kim Berrington announced that Karen O’Brien has rejoined the program as the squad’s second assistant coach. O’Brien spent the 1996 and 1997 campaigns as Berrington’s assistant coach. The 44-year-old O’Brien pent the last nine years coaching volleyball at Dundee High School in Dundee, Mich. Before coming to EMU, O’Brien was the head coach at Siena Heights University in Adrian, Mich. for the 1995-96 campaign. Prior to her one-year stint at Siena Heights, O’Brien served the University of Toledo as the head volleyball coach from 1989-94. She led her 1993 Toledo squad to the school’s first-ever Mid-American Conference postseason tournament berth. She was 75-97 during her tenure. She was also an assistant volleyball coach at both Michigan State University (1988-89) and the University of Georgia (1985-88).

Volleyball Honored by AVCA for Academic Success: The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team was one of just 55 NCAA Division I programs to receive the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2006-07 school year. The honor marks the seventh time in the program’s history, and the third consecutive year that EMU has earned the award. The Eagles posted the highest GPA in the nation during the 1997-98 season. The AVCA Team Award, initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors college and high school teams that displayed excellence in the classroom by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average on a 4.0 scale and a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale during the school year. Recipients of the award range from NCAA Division I institutions to high school girls’ and boys’ teams. The college ranks produced 163 programs that met the requirements for the award in 2006-07. In addition to the record number of NCAA Division I recipients, NCAA Division III (53) exceeded its previous high mark of 48, set in 2003-04. There were 30 NCAA Division II schools honored, the third highest total for that division. Over 900 different schools have earned the award in the program’s 15-year history, and over 2,500 awards have been given out. Only two institutions, both high schools, have earned the distinction all 15 years: Jonesboro High School (Jonesboro, Arkansas) and Ross S. Sterling High School (Baytown, Texas).

Cudney Ties MAC Record For Digs In A Single Match: Senior libero Ashley Cudney notched a career-high 50 digs to become the Eastern Michigan’s all-time digs leader against Northern Illinois, Oct. 7. Cudney also set a team and tied the Mid-American Conference record for digs in a single match. After opening the week with 20 digs against IPFW (Oct. 3) and tallying 18 at Western Michigan (Oct. 6), Cudney turned in the best performance of her career with 50 digs against Northern Illinois (Oct. 7), breaking the Eastern Michigan record and equaling the all-time MAC standard set earlier this year by Ball State’s Amanda McCormick against Toledo, Sept. 28. The 50 digs topped the previous school record of 44 set by Erin Chase versus Ohio University, Sept. 16, 1994. In addition, she became just the third player in the country – joining Arizona State’s Sydney Donahue who recorded 50 versus Loyola Marymount on Aug. 26 – to hit the half-century mark this season. Cudney is one of 15 players in NCAA Division I history to post 50-or-more digs in a match, with two players – Allison Anderson (Boston College) and Catalina Suarez (UMKC) – reaching the mark twice. The NCAA Division I record for digs in a match is 58 by Northwestern State’s Tanya Champagne in a five-game match versus Nicholls State on Nov. 1, 1985.

Piccolini and Sulewski Earn All-MAC Honors: Eastern Michigan University volleyball players Lindsay Piccolini and Kate Sulewski were named to the 2006 All-Mid-American Conference teams. Piccolini was named first team All-MAC for the second consecutive year, while Sulewski earned second team All-MAC accolades.
Highlighting the first team was Eastern Michigan’s Lindsay Piccolini. The senior middle blocker has been the offensive catalyst for the Eagles all season long, leading the program in five statistical categories. Piccolini ended the regular season second in the MAC in kills (4.49 per game), second in points (5.47 points per game) and sixth in blocks (1.18 per game). In conference only tilts, Piccolini remains the league’s runner-up in kills (4.93), points (5.95) and blocks per game (1.23). Piccolini was named MAC West Player of the Week for the period ending Oct. 23. Joining Piccolini on the All-MAC first team are Northern Illinois senior middle blocker Kate McCullagh, Ohio junior right side Melissa Griffin, Miami sophomore outside hitter Emily Schroeder, Bobcat freshman outside hitter Ellen Herman, Ball State senior libero Amanda McCormick, Western Michigan senior setter Jenifer Sulweski, Bowling green senior setter Chrissy Cothke, Falcon junior middle blocker Stephanie Swiger, BGSU junior middle blocker Kenda Halm, NIU senior libero Gina Guide and OU junior outside hitter Stephanie Blackburn.
EMU junior setter Kate Sulewski earned her second career All-MAC honor by claiming second team honors. The Ottawa Lake, Mich. native currently ranks sixth in the MAC in assists, compiling 1,231 total sets for an average of 11.84 assists per game. The 1,231 assists rank eighth best in EMU single-season history, and she is just 82 assists shy of 4,000 for her career. Kate is the younger sister of Western Michigan setter Jenifer Sulewski, who earned first team All-MAC honors after leading the lead in assists with 13.09 per game.

NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL A TURNAROUND!: After dropping eight consecutive matches to open the 2006 Mid-American Conference slate things were looking bleak for head coach Kim Berrington’s squad. However, the Eagles’ mentor was able to get the team regrouped and for the second half of the grueling 16-game schedule. Following the midpoint, the Eagles turned the table and rolled off six league victories to finish with a 6-10 mark. In a search of the MAC records books the Eagles were just the sixth squad to open the conference schedule 0-8. The other teams to post the dubious mark included Toledo in 1984 and 1998, Central Michigan in 2001 and 2005 and Bowling Green in 2002. Last year’s EMU squad already holds the conference record for best in-season turnaround by a 0-8 team with its 6-10 mark. Previously, the best turnaround by an 0-8 team was set in 2002 by the BGSU Falcons when they wrapped up 4-14.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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