Eastern Michigan Athletics
Friday, November 5
Convocation Center
7 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
vs
Ball State
Final Home Weekend for the EMU Spikers
11/2/2010 4:13:09 PM | Volleyball
EMU to face Ball State, Nov. 5, and Toledo, Nov. 6.
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Click Here to Watch the Match.
Click Here for Live Stats.
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team returns home for the final time during the 2010 regular season this weekend, Nov. 5-6. The Mid-American Conference West Division leading Cardinals of Ball State University invades the Convocation Center Friday, Nov. 6, before the University of Toledo come calling Saturday, Nov. 6. Both matches are slated for a 7 p.m. starts and will be video streamed on Eagle All-Access. Following the UT match, Head Coach Kim Berrington will honor her two seniors Joi McKenzie and Jenn Swartz.
With four matches still remaining in the regular season, the Eagles are locked in a tie with Northern Illinois for second place in the MAC West Division with a 9-3 record. Ball State sits atop the division with a 10-2 mark.
REMAINING WHITE-HOT: The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team comes into the weekend with a 22-7 record, that includes winning 72 of its 109 sets played. EMU's 22-7 start is the program's best since the 2002 campaign when the Green and White notched a 23-6 record through its first 27 matches. The 9-3 start to Mid-American Conference play is also the squad's best since the 2005 season.
LARGEST TURNAROUND IN SCHOOL HISTORY: The 17-game improvement from five wins in 2009 to the 22 victories this season is the largest in school history. The previous standard of a 12-game turnaround came during the 1990 campaign, when the Eagles went from 18 victories to 30 wins, and again in 2001, when EMU went from seven wins to 19. The 1993 team posted a 10-game improvement and the 1999 squad finished with a nine-game improvement.
BALL STATE ON THE HORIZON: EMU and Ball State are meeting for the 60th time in the all-time series, which the Cardinals lead 39-19. The Eagles swept the 2009 season series with the Cardinals for just the second time since the 1986 campaign, however, Ball State swept the first meeting this season at Worthen Arena in Munice, Ind. The Cardinals posted set victories of 25-19, 25-23, 25-22, as the Eagles were able to keep victory in sight each time out. The Green and White were led by freshman Paige Roback, who posted her seventh career double-double with 11 kills and 18 digs.
EAGLES AND ROCKETS BATTLE FOR THE SECOND TIME THIS SEASON: The Rockets make the short trek up US-23 Saturday, Nov. 6, for the 57th all-time meeting between the schools. EMU leads the series, 44-12, including a 3-1 victory just a few weeks back at Savage Arena in Toledo, Ohio. Sophomore outside hitter Rachel Iaquaniello blasted a then-career high 27 kills that evening in the win.
CHECKING THE CAREER STATS: Senior Jenn Swartz became the EMU career leader in sets played earlier this season, she also ranks sixth in the EMU record book with 286 block assists and is 13th with 909 kill and 13th all-time in total attacks at 2,368. Junior Ashley Mason is now 632 assists shy of surpassing Camila Olaio (1998-02) for third place in the EMU record books. Mason has 3,399 assists in 363 career sets played. Meanwhile, junior Haley Stein passed 1,300 in her career and is tied with Sara Schaub (1997-00) for third place with 1,388 digs.
Rachel Iaquaniello is inching her way towards the career charts list with 829 kills, 528 digs and 52 service aces in 239 sets.
STEIN DIGGING HER WAY NATIONALLY: Junior Haley Stein is making waves not only in the Mid-American Conference, but nationally as well. The Carleton, Mich. native currently ranks third in digs per set at 5.80. Valparaiso's Taylor Root is the NCAA Division I leader at 5.84 digs per set followed by Penn's Madis Wojciechowski.
SENIORS CLOSE IT OUT: On Saturday against Toledo, the EMU volleyball program will honor a pair of seniors who have made major contributions to the Eagles success the last four seasons. This tandem was a part of 57 victories here at EMU and became a part of volleyball history by helping record the largest single-season turnaround in school history.
Joi McKenzie - this senior has played in 128 sets in her four years in Ypsilanti, accumulating 91 kills, 63 blocks and more than 127 points. She has recorded six kills in a match three-times, most recently during the 2009 campaign at MAC rival Miami University. Her best season came as a sophomore, when she started 10 matches for the Green and White, finishing the year with 57 kills and 36 total blocks. Against Northern Illinois, she finished with a personal-best five block assists to go along with five kills in the five-set thriller.
Jenn Swartz - ranks sixth in the EMU record book with 286 block assists and is 13th with 909 kills and 13th all-time in total attacks at 2,368. The EMU career leader in sets played with 460, Swartz has played in all but two matches during her career. A force in the middle, she has posted 11 matches this season with 10-or-more kills and 37 in her outstanding career. Currently, second on the squad in blocks she has led the team in rejections the previous two seasons to becoming the first Eagle to do so since Lindsay Piccolini.
MAC TOURNAMENT APPROACHING: The 2010 Mid-American Conference Tournament gets underway Tuesday, Nov. 16, at campus sites before moving to a neutral site the SeaGate Centre in Toledo, Ohio, Nov. 19-21. All 12 teams qualify for the tournament, with the top four seeds earning byes.
If the season ended today, EMU would be the No. 4 seed and would advance directly to Toledo. Should the Eagles sweep the remaining four matches, they could earn no worse than a West Division co-Championship. Eastern Michigan is also guaranteed no worse than a first round home game at the Convocation Center.
HOME SWEET HOME: The Green and White have enjoyed the friendly confines of the EMU Convocation Center over the past 10 seasons, posting a 70-36 mark in the “Nest,” including six home victories this season.
Click Here to Watch the Match.
Click Here for Live Stats.
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team returns home for the final time during the 2010 regular season this weekend, Nov. 5-6. The Mid-American Conference West Division leading Cardinals of Ball State University invades the Convocation Center Friday, Nov. 6, before the University of Toledo come calling Saturday, Nov. 6. Both matches are slated for a 7 p.m. starts and will be video streamed on Eagle All-Access. Following the UT match, Head Coach Kim Berrington will honor her two seniors Joi McKenzie and Jenn Swartz.
With four matches still remaining in the regular season, the Eagles are locked in a tie with Northern Illinois for second place in the MAC West Division with a 9-3 record. Ball State sits atop the division with a 10-2 mark.
REMAINING WHITE-HOT: The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team comes into the weekend with a 22-7 record, that includes winning 72 of its 109 sets played. EMU's 22-7 start is the program's best since the 2002 campaign when the Green and White notched a 23-6 record through its first 27 matches. The 9-3 start to Mid-American Conference play is also the squad's best since the 2005 season.
LARGEST TURNAROUND IN SCHOOL HISTORY: The 17-game improvement from five wins in 2009 to the 22 victories this season is the largest in school history. The previous standard of a 12-game turnaround came during the 1990 campaign, when the Eagles went from 18 victories to 30 wins, and again in 2001, when EMU went from seven wins to 19. The 1993 team posted a 10-game improvement and the 1999 squad finished with a nine-game improvement.
BALL STATE ON THE HORIZON: EMU and Ball State are meeting for the 60th time in the all-time series, which the Cardinals lead 39-19. The Eagles swept the 2009 season series with the Cardinals for just the second time since the 1986 campaign, however, Ball State swept the first meeting this season at Worthen Arena in Munice, Ind. The Cardinals posted set victories of 25-19, 25-23, 25-22, as the Eagles were able to keep victory in sight each time out. The Green and White were led by freshman Paige Roback, who posted her seventh career double-double with 11 kills and 18 digs.
EAGLES AND ROCKETS BATTLE FOR THE SECOND TIME THIS SEASON: The Rockets make the short trek up US-23 Saturday, Nov. 6, for the 57th all-time meeting between the schools. EMU leads the series, 44-12, including a 3-1 victory just a few weeks back at Savage Arena in Toledo, Ohio. Sophomore outside hitter Rachel Iaquaniello blasted a then-career high 27 kills that evening in the win.
CHECKING THE CAREER STATS: Senior Jenn Swartz became the EMU career leader in sets played earlier this season, she also ranks sixth in the EMU record book with 286 block assists and is 13th with 909 kill and 13th all-time in total attacks at 2,368. Junior Ashley Mason is now 632 assists shy of surpassing Camila Olaio (1998-02) for third place in the EMU record books. Mason has 3,399 assists in 363 career sets played. Meanwhile, junior Haley Stein passed 1,300 in her career and is tied with Sara Schaub (1997-00) for third place with 1,388 digs.
Rachel Iaquaniello is inching her way towards the career charts list with 829 kills, 528 digs and 52 service aces in 239 sets.
STEIN DIGGING HER WAY NATIONALLY: Junior Haley Stein is making waves not only in the Mid-American Conference, but nationally as well. The Carleton, Mich. native currently ranks third in digs per set at 5.80. Valparaiso's Taylor Root is the NCAA Division I leader at 5.84 digs per set followed by Penn's Madis Wojciechowski.
SENIORS CLOSE IT OUT: On Saturday against Toledo, the EMU volleyball program will honor a pair of seniors who have made major contributions to the Eagles success the last four seasons. This tandem was a part of 57 victories here at EMU and became a part of volleyball history by helping record the largest single-season turnaround in school history.
Joi McKenzie - this senior has played in 128 sets in her four years in Ypsilanti, accumulating 91 kills, 63 blocks and more than 127 points. She has recorded six kills in a match three-times, most recently during the 2009 campaign at MAC rival Miami University. Her best season came as a sophomore, when she started 10 matches for the Green and White, finishing the year with 57 kills and 36 total blocks. Against Northern Illinois, she finished with a personal-best five block assists to go along with five kills in the five-set thriller.
Jenn Swartz - ranks sixth in the EMU record book with 286 block assists and is 13th with 909 kills and 13th all-time in total attacks at 2,368. The EMU career leader in sets played with 460, Swartz has played in all but two matches during her career. A force in the middle, she has posted 11 matches this season with 10-or-more kills and 37 in her outstanding career. Currently, second on the squad in blocks she has led the team in rejections the previous two seasons to becoming the first Eagle to do so since Lindsay Piccolini.
MAC TOURNAMENT APPROACHING: The 2010 Mid-American Conference Tournament gets underway Tuesday, Nov. 16, at campus sites before moving to a neutral site the SeaGate Centre in Toledo, Ohio, Nov. 19-21. All 12 teams qualify for the tournament, with the top four seeds earning byes.
If the season ended today, EMU would be the No. 4 seed and would advance directly to Toledo. Should the Eagles sweep the remaining four matches, they could earn no worse than a West Division co-Championship. Eastern Michigan is also guaranteed no worse than a first round home game at the Convocation Center.
HOME SWEET HOME: The Green and White have enjoyed the friendly confines of the EMU Convocation Center over the past 10 seasons, posting a 70-36 mark in the “Nest,” including six home victories this season.
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