Eagles Fall in Five Set Match with Golden Grizzlies

ROCHESTER, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team dropped a five set match (14-25, 25-21, 16-25, 25-18, 10-15) to in-state rival Oakland University Tuesday, Sept. 11.

The Eagles fell to 10-3 after the loss, while the Golden Grizzlies are now 7-4 on the 2012 campaign.

Eastern's offense was paced by EMU all-time kills leader Rachel Iaquaniello (Plymouth, Mich.-Dearborn Divine Child) who added 22 to her newly acquired record. The senior also notched 17 digs to post her seventh double-double of the season. Erin Short (Orrville, Ohio-Orrville) also had a double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs for the Eagles, while Kristen Baker (Mentor, Ohio-Mentor) had nine kills of her own. Stacey Perinar (Channahon, Ill-Minooka Community) tied her career-high with four kills, while fellow freshmen Alyssa Davis (Kalamazoo, Mich.-Plainwell) setup the EMU offense with 43 kills. As a team, the Eagles hit just .177 (55-23-181), while the Golden Grizzlies were able to post a .268 attack percentage (70-20-190).

Defensively, Sierra Reed (Parker City, Ind.-Wapahani) picked up 21 digs, while freshman Corynne Smith (Norwalk, Ohio-St. Paul) tied her career-high of 14 digs. The Eagles posted seven total blocks with both Iaquaniello and Baker posting four block assists apiece.

The Eagles dropped the opening set 25-14 after the offense struggled, hitting just .086 (9-6-35). Baker led the Green and White posting a .444 hitting percentage with four kills (4-0-9). Davis and Kim Hildreth (Novi, Mich.-Novi) split time at the setter position notching five and four assists, respectively. It was hard for EMU to stop the hot Golden Grizzlies in the opening frame. OU hit a steaming .478 (18-2-34) with Meghan Bray leading, notching six kills.

Eastern's offense picked up the slack in the second set, posting a .286 attack percentage (19-5-46). Iaquaniello's eight kills led the Green and White, while Short posted a .500 hitting percentage (5-1-8) and Davis notched a set-high 16 assists. EMU won the set 25-21, holding the Golden Grizzlies to just a .185 attack percentage (15-5-54).

The Eagles' offense slumped in the third set falling behind 2-1 after dropping the set 25-16. Eastern hit just .030 (8-7-33) in the set. Iaquaniello was able to post four kills, while Davis added eight assist to her total. OU hit .364 (15-3-33) in the third set to take the lead. Brittany Holbrook posted six kills in that set.

EMU again turned around in the fourth set, evening up the match 2-2 with a 25-18 set victory. Iaquaniello and Paige Roback (Maumee, Ohio-Notre Dame Academy) each notch four kills in the fourth frame. Davis post 10 assists in the set, while the Eagles hit .282 (12-2-39) as a team. Eastern held Oakland to a .143 attack percentage (13-7-42) in the set.

The Green and White dropped the fifth and final set 15-10, as they could not get the offense going. EMU hit just .120 (6-3-25) in the final set, with Iaquaniello posting five kills in the frame. Ultimately the Eagles fell as Oakland hit .259 (10-3-27) in the set.

Eastern continues its non-conference portion of the schedule Friday-Saturday, Sept. 14-15, when they travel to Ann Arbor, Mich. to take part in the Coke/Michigan Invitational. Eastern opens the tournament with the host University of Michigan, Friday morning. The Eagles and Wolverines will square-off in Cliff Keen Arena at 11 a.m. The Green and White will play in a double-header Friday, as it also takes on Duke University at Cliff Keen at 5:30 p.m.

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Team Stats

Rachel Iaquaniello

Erin Short

Kristen Baker

Paige Roback

Eastern Michigan Athletics