Eagles Open Week's Competition with Final Non-Conference Tilt

Complete Release (PDF)

at IPFW: Video/Audio/Live Stats
vs. Toledo: Video/Live Stats
vs. Ball State: Live Stats

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan volleyball squad continues its 2011 schedule with the final non-conference tilt of the year, Tuesday, Oct. 4, at IPFW. The Eagles travel to Fort Wayne, Ind. to take on the Mastodons, then return home for a pair of Mid-American Conference matches over the weekend. Eastern opens the weekend with Toledo at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 7 and closes with Ball State, Saturday, Oct. 8, for another 7 p.m. match at the Convocation Center.

HITTING A SKID: The Eastern Michigan University women's volleyball team started off the season hot, winning 12-of-14 matches to open the 2011 campaign. Since then, the Eagles have dropped three of their last four matches, including a 3-0 loss to the 2010 MAC Champions from Ohio University. Eastern looks to halt the skid with a win at IPFW, Tuesday, Oct. 4, at 7 p.m. in Fort Wayne, Ind.

ALL-TIME VERSUS THIS WEEK'S FIELD: The Eagles open up the week with their final non-conference match of the 2011 season when they travel to Fort Wayne, Ind. Tuesday, Oct. 4, to take on the Mastodons of IPFW. The Mastodons are 10-6 on the season and 4-2 in the Summit League. Emily Spencer is the Mastodons' leader with 246 kills and Megan Steenhuysen leads IPFW with 671 assists. Defensively, libero Tess McGill is the digs leader with 315 while Megan Wiler leads in blocks with 60.

The Eagles return home for their fifth Mid-American Conference match, Friday, Oct. 7. Eastern takes on Toledo at 7 p.m. at the Convocation Center. Eastern is 45-12 all-time against the Rockets as they head into action Friday. The Rockets are led offensively by Sondra Parys and Kassie Kadera who lead the Rockets in kills and assists. Parys has 126 kills, while Kadera has 626 assists.

Following the Friday match, EMU takes on the Cardinals of Ball State at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8. The Eagles are 19-40 in their history against the Cardinals as they look to take their 20th win from Ball State. Kelsey Brandl is the Cardinals leader on both sides of the net with 182 kills and 46 blocks.

THIS WEEK'S CONFERENCE OPPONENTS: The Eagles take on two Mid-American Conference teams that are at different ends of the spectrum this season: the Toledo Rockets and the Ball State Cardinals.

Toledo is the first of Eastern's opponents this week. The Rockets are 6-10 (1-3 MAC) after dropping three-of-four MAC matches including their las two matches. They topped the Buffalo Bulls, Saturday, Sept. 24, but dropped their next two. Toledo has allowed a .244 attack percentage on the season from their opponents and hitting just .209.

Following Toledo, EMU takes on the Cardinals from Ball State University. The Cardinals are 14-2 (4-0 MAC) after taking their first four MAC matches, including a five-set win over the Huskies of Northern Illinois, Friday, Sept. 30. The Cardinals only losses on the 2011 season are to a pair of schools from the Big Ten Conference including a 3-1 loss to No. 13 Purdue, Sept. 10, in the Marriot Volleybrawl in Valparaiso, Ind. Their other loss was to Michigan State six days later, Sept. 16, at the Spartan Invitational in East Lansing, Mich.

MAC FEMALE SCHOLAR ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Rachel Iaquaniello was named the Mid-American Conference Female Scholar Athlete of the Week for the period ending Sept. 25. This marks the third time in her career she has won the weekly honor. The junior turned in another solid weekend, helping the Eagles to a 1-1 start in Mid-American Conference play that included a 3-1 victory at Northern Illinois. For the week, the Plymouth, Mich. native racked up back-to-back double-double performances with a total 29 kills and 23 digs in a pair of matches. Her best contest came in the upset victory at NIU, when she totaled a team-best 18 kills to go with 13 digs in the Eagles' first victory at NIU since the 2005 campaign.

STEIN LOOKING TO RE-WRITE EMU RECORD BOOK: Libero Haley Stein has continued to build on her successful junior campaign. The senior is leading the Eagles with 357 digs on the season.

Stein has been successful in the MAC, ranking second overall in digs with 5.39 per set. She trails just Lena Oliver of Western Michigan who is at 6.44 digs per set. She was named MAC Co-Defensive Player of the Week, Sept. 26, along with Oliver.

Stein is also on her way to setting a career record in digs. At third on the career digs list with 1,870, she is third all-time for EMU behind Ashley Cudney (2,198) and Jennifer Nighswander (1,897).

Stein set a single season record for digs in 2010 by picking up 757. She was also named All-MAC first team in last season's campaign after leading the MAC in digs. Stein ranked fifth nationally in digs per set with 5.73. She was also second nationally with her 757 digs. Stein also set a school record for digs in a match when she had 55, Oct. 8, against Western Michigan.

The Carleton, Mich. native is also a two-time Academic All-MAC selection. Being named to those teams in 2009 and 2010.

EASTERN'S ATTACK DOG: The Eagles' junior outside hitter, Rachel Iaquaniello, is second in the Mid-American Conference with 3.92 kills per set. Iaquaniello is trailing only Lauren Wicinski in the MAC who has 5.65 for Northern Illinois.

Iaquaniello holds a .200 attack percentage after accumulating 27.9% of the Eagles' total attacks through the 2011 campaign. Iaquaniello has 729 total attacks this season which is 300 more than anyone else on the EMU squad as Paige Roback is second with 426.

The junior is moving up the Eastern Michigan career kill ranks as she sits at eighth overall in EMU history with 1,178 kills. Roxanne Munch sits on the top of that list with 1,537 kills in her career. Iaquaniello is sitting at fourth overall in career attack attempts with 3,446 with Jennifer Nighswander leading that category with 4,456.

BIG TIME BLOCKER: Junior Kristen Baker is leading the Eagles in blocks through the 2011 campaign with 59 total. Baker is silently moving her way into the Eastern Michigan history books as she inches her way up the career block assists record list.

Baker has 222 career block assists, good for ninth overall in EMU history as she chases Jill Hutton with 402 career block assists.

YOU'RE LIKE COMIN HOME: The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team made its first return to the Convocation Center since their home opener, Aug. 31, when they topped the Oakland University Golden Grizzlies Saturday, Oct. 1, in a loss to Bobcats of Ohio. Eastern has its first week with multiple home matches this season.

Since their first year in 1976, the Eagles have been extremely successful at home with a record of 199-142. Head Coach Kim Berrington has continued that success since 1996 when she started her EMU head coaching career. Berrington's squads are 94-69 at home in her tenure.

MASON MAKING HER MARK: In her fourth year setting for the Eagles, Ashley Mason has moved to third all-time in assists in her career with 4,326 as an Eagle. She trails just Kate Sulewski (5,474) and Sherry Anderson (4,513).

Mason has continued to showcase her skills at the setter position by picking up 662 assists to this point in the 2011 campaign. Her 10.03 assists per set ranks as sixth in the Mid-American Conference. Atop the MAC in assists per match is Kristin Hoffman of Northern Illinois with 12.27.

Mason was fourth in the MAC in assists, averaging 10.72 per game which was good for 47th in NCAA Division I during the 2010 campaign.

Defensively, she has moved into 11th place in the Eastern Michigan career digs list with 1,143.

CATCH EMU VOLLEYBALL WORLDWIDE ON YOUR COMPUTER: In a continuing effort to provide cutting-edge coverage on EMUEagles.com, a minimum of five volleyball matches will be live video streamed as part of Eagle All-Access package on EMUEagles.com. The next scheduled broadcast is Friday, Oct. 7, when the Toledo University Rockets come calling to the Convocation Center. Air time is scheduled for 6:50 p.m. from the Convocation Center.

Veteran play-by-play voice Chad Bush calls the action from the Convocation Center. Subscription packages are just $5.95 for a 24-hour pass, $9.95 for an entire month or $79.95 for a full calendar year. On-demand replays of the match are also available at EMUEagles.com/showcase.

MAC VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT TICKETS AVAILABLE: The 2011 Mid-American Conference Women's Volleyball Tournament will take place at SPIRE Institute located in Geneva, Ohio. The event will be hosted November 18-20, 2011. This season, the top-eight teams will travel to the Tournament and play in Quarterfinal games on Friday, November 18th. Semifinal games will take place on Saturday, November 19th, while the Championship will be held on Sunday, November 20th.

BERRINGTON CHASING MILESTONES: Eastern Michigan Head Coach Kim Berrington is closing in on a few milestones as a head volleyball coach. Berrington is closing in on the 350th win of her career as a head coach at both Concordia College and Eastern Michigan. She is at 346 career wins now, looking to hit her milestone throughout the course of this season.

Although Berrington is already the winningest coach in EMU volleyball history, she is closing in on her 250th win at the helm of the EMU squad. She is sitting at 243 wins with Eastern and looks to pick up her 250th win through the 2011 campaign.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

Eagles Open Week's Competition with Final Non-Conference Tilt

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