Eastern Michigan Athletics
Friday, November 12
DeKalb, Ill.
6 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
at
Northern Illinois
Photo by: Walt Middleton Photography
Critical Weekend Ahead for the EMU Volleyball Team
11/8/2010 1:00:20 PM | Volleyball
The Eagles are deadlocked in a three-way tie with Northern Illinois and Western Michigan for second place
Click Here for the Complete Release (PDF).
Live Stats vs. NIU.
Live Stats vs. WMU.
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team closes out the 2010 regular season this weekend, Nov. 12-13, with a pair of critical road contests. With two matches still remaining, the Eagles are deadlocked in a three-way tie with Northern Illinois University and Western Michigan University for second place in the MAC West Division with a 10-4 record. Ball State University, which has clinched at least a share of the divisional title, sits atop the West with a 12-2 mark.
The Eagles head west to Northern Illinois University Friday, Nov. 12, for a 6 p.m. CST contest at Victor E. Court in DeKalb, Ill. Eastern then battles in-state rival Western Michigan University Saturday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m inside University Arena in Kalamazoo, Mich.
REMAINING WHITE-HOT: The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team comes into the weekend with a 23-8 record, that includes winning 77 of its 117 sets played. EMU's 23-7 start is the program's best since the 2002 campaign when the Green and White notched a 25-6 record through its first 31 matches. The 10-4 record in Mid-American Conference play is also the squad's best since the 2005 season.
LARGEST TURNAROUND IN SCHOOL HISTORY: The 18-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.
EMU AND NIU HOOK UP FOR THE SECOND TIME IN 2010: Northern Illinois holds a slim 23-18 lead in the all-time series that dates back to the 1981 season. NIU has won the last four meetings dating back to a 3-2 marathon match in DeKalb, Ill., Oct. 7, 2008. Earlier this season in Ypsilanti, the Huskies picked up a 3-1 victory (20-25, 28-26, 25-27, 21-25), Oct. 9.
EAGLES AND BRONCOS SET FOR SATURDAY SHOWDOWN: In-state rivals EMU and WMU are hooking up for the 71st time in the all-time series. Western Michigan holds a 50-20 edge in the series, including winning four of the last five meetings. Eastern notched a historic 3-2 victory earlier this season, Oct. 8, when sophomore outside hitter Rachel Iaquaniello set a Convocation Center record with 33 kills in the contest. In addition, junior libero Haley Stein broke the school-record by recording 55 digs, the fourth-most digs in NCAA Division I history in a five-set match.
CAN YOU DIG IT?: Eastern Michigan topped the 75-dig mark again Friday, Nov. 5, posting 92 in a five-set loss to Ball State. The Eagles set the MAC season-high in digs when they tallied 146 against Western Michigan, Oct. 8. Not only did the dig total top the conference, it marked the highest team total in the nation this season.
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 290 block assists and is 13th with 927 kills and 13th all-time in total attacks at 2,415. Junior Ashley Mason is now 532 assists shy of surpassing Camila Olaio (1998-02) for third place in the EMU record books. Mason has 3,499 assists in 371 career sets played. Meanwhile, junior Haley Stein passed 1,400 digs in her career and is third all-time with 1,436 digs.
Rachel Iaquaniello is inching her way towards the career charts list with 861 kills, 553 digs and 54 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 5.81. 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 honored a pair of seniors who have made major contributions to the Eagles success the last four seasons. This tandem was a part of 58 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 290 block assists and is 13th with 927 kills and 13th all-time in total attacks at 2,415. The EMU career leader in sets played with 468, 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.
HOME SWEET HOME: The Green and White have enjoyed the friendly confines of the EMU Convocation Center over the past 10 seasons, posting a 71-37 mark in the “Nest,” including seven home victories this season.
Live Stats vs. NIU.
Live Stats vs. WMU.
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team closes out the 2010 regular season this weekend, Nov. 12-13, with a pair of critical road contests. With two matches still remaining, the Eagles are deadlocked in a three-way tie with Northern Illinois University and Western Michigan University for second place in the MAC West Division with a 10-4 record. Ball State University, which has clinched at least a share of the divisional title, sits atop the West with a 12-2 mark.
The Eagles head west to Northern Illinois University Friday, Nov. 12, for a 6 p.m. CST contest at Victor E. Court in DeKalb, Ill. Eastern then battles in-state rival Western Michigan University Saturday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m inside University Arena in Kalamazoo, Mich.
REMAINING WHITE-HOT: The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team comes into the weekend with a 23-8 record, that includes winning 77 of its 117 sets played. EMU's 23-7 start is the program's best since the 2002 campaign when the Green and White notched a 25-6 record through its first 31 matches. The 10-4 record in Mid-American Conference play is also the squad's best since the 2005 season.
LARGEST TURNAROUND IN SCHOOL HISTORY: The 18-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.
EMU AND NIU HOOK UP FOR THE SECOND TIME IN 2010: Northern Illinois holds a slim 23-18 lead in the all-time series that dates back to the 1981 season. NIU has won the last four meetings dating back to a 3-2 marathon match in DeKalb, Ill., Oct. 7, 2008. Earlier this season in Ypsilanti, the Huskies picked up a 3-1 victory (20-25, 28-26, 25-27, 21-25), Oct. 9.
EAGLES AND BRONCOS SET FOR SATURDAY SHOWDOWN: In-state rivals EMU and WMU are hooking up for the 71st time in the all-time series. Western Michigan holds a 50-20 edge in the series, including winning four of the last five meetings. Eastern notched a historic 3-2 victory earlier this season, Oct. 8, when sophomore outside hitter Rachel Iaquaniello set a Convocation Center record with 33 kills in the contest. In addition, junior libero Haley Stein broke the school-record by recording 55 digs, the fourth-most digs in NCAA Division I history in a five-set match.
CAN YOU DIG IT?: Eastern Michigan topped the 75-dig mark again Friday, Nov. 5, posting 92 in a five-set loss to Ball State. The Eagles set the MAC season-high in digs when they tallied 146 against Western Michigan, Oct. 8. Not only did the dig total top the conference, it marked the highest team total in the nation this season.
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 290 block assists and is 13th with 927 kills and 13th all-time in total attacks at 2,415. Junior Ashley Mason is now 532 assists shy of surpassing Camila Olaio (1998-02) for third place in the EMU record books. Mason has 3,499 assists in 371 career sets played. Meanwhile, junior Haley Stein passed 1,400 digs in her career and is third all-time with 1,436 digs.
Rachel Iaquaniello is inching her way towards the career charts list with 861 kills, 553 digs and 54 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 5.81. 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 honored a pair of seniors who have made major contributions to the Eagles success the last four seasons. This tandem was a part of 58 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 290 block assists and is 13th with 927 kills and 13th all-time in total attacks at 2,415. The EMU career leader in sets played with 468, 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.
HOME SWEET HOME: The Green and White have enjoyed the friendly confines of the EMU Convocation Center over the past 10 seasons, posting a 71-37 mark in the “Nest,” including seven home victories this season.
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