Eagles Drop Four Setter to No. 18 Ohio

Match Highlights.

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YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team (11-10, 1-5 MAC) dropped a Mid-American Conference matchup to the MAC East Division leading Ohio University Bobcats (15-3, 5-1 MAC), Saturday, Oct. 12. The Eagles fell to OU in four sets, 23-25, 7-25, 25-21, 14-25.

The Green and White was led by sophomore outside hitter Stacey Perinar (Channahon, Ill.-Minooka Community), who paced the squad with 11 kills. Senior outside hitter Paige Roback (Maumee, Ohio-Maumee) added nine kills and collected 14 digs, while junior middle blocker Megan Crawshaw (Mattawan, Mich.-Mattawan) notched eight winners and had a team-high two block assists.

Junior setter/outside hitter Jill Briner (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park and River Forest (Northeastern)) and sophomore setter Alyssa Davis (Kalamazoo, Mich.-Plainwell) led the setting front for the eagles with 16 and 13 assists apiece. Corynne Smith (Norwalk, Ohio-St. Paul) was tied for top defender of the match, getting under 20 of the Bobcats' attacks.

Ohio was led by Kelly Lamberti, who posted a double-double with 12 kills and 18 digs. Meredith Ashy tied Smith's dig count with 20, and the Bobcats had two other players with double-digit dig counts. Abby Gilleland led all players with 43 assists while claiming 17 digs of her own.

The Eagles opened the first set on a 6-0 run to take an early lead in the frame, however the Bobcats used its .190 attack percentage to take its first lead late in the set, 22-21, and Ohio held on to a 25-23 first set win. Eastern was only able to manage a .140 hitting percentage, while Perinar posted four kills. On the defensive side of things, Smith posted 12 of her digs in the frame.

The Green and White offense struggled in the second set, hitting at a -.139 clip with just two kills in a 7-25, loss, falling behind by two sets. Sophomore Dori Harrison (Euclid, Ohio-Beaumont School) and Crawshaw posted the only kills for EMU, while the Bobcats hit .265 in the set, with 13 kills in 34 attempts. Ohio also took advantage defensively, posting four blocks in the set, including three from Karin Bull.

EMU fought back in the third set and held the Bobcats to their lowest dig-producing set of the evening with 18. The Eagles took an early lead at 4-0, forcing a timeout by their opponent. The squad kept a cushion of roughly four points for the remainder of the match, as a balanced offense by Briner and Davis spread the attacks out amongst Perinar, Roback, and Crawshaw. Despite tallying no blocks compared to Ohio's 4.5 effort at the net, the Eagles were able to pull away with the set off a Crawshaw kill to cap the frame, 25-21.

The fourth set marked the strongest offensive effort for Ohio, as the Bobcats were able to put away 16 swings with only three errors for a .333 hitting percentage. The Eagles had difficulties connecting with their middle blockers as the wing hitters scored the majority of the points for the set. Roback connected on three-of-seven swings for a .429 hitting percentage and Perinar added three of her own. Ohio took the lead early on in the set, coming out 6-0 and the Green and White was never able to regain momentum for the set, falling to the Bobcats in the final set, 25-14.

The Eagles will hit the road for the next week, opening up the upcoming pair of MAC matchups at Miami University, Thursday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. The team will then travel to Bowling Green, Ohio to take on the Falcons, Friday, Oct. 17 at 5 p.m.

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Team Stats

Stacey Perinar

Paige Roback

Megan Crawshaw

Jill Briner

Eastern Michigan Athletics