Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
Akron
Eastern Comes Back to the Convocation Center for Two Matches
10/23/2013 10:23:00 AM | Volleyball
The Eagles will take on Akron and Buffalo
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YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - After breaking a five match losing streak Friday, Oct. 18, against Bowling Green, the Eastern Michigan University volleyball team makes its way back to Ypsilanti for a pair of cross-divisional Mid-American Conference matches at the Convocation Center.
This week, the Green and White take on a pair of squads from the MAC East Division. The Eagles will first welcome the University of Akron to the Convocation Center Friday, Oct. 25, for a 7 p.m. start time. Following its match with the Zips, the University at Buffalo Bulls come calling for a Saturday evening, Oct. 26, match in Ypsilanti.
ON THE HORIZON: After this weekend's competition, the Eagles hit the road again to take on MAC West Division foes for the second time this season. Eastern will first hit Toledo, Ohio for a Friday, Nov. 1, matchup with the University of Toledo Rockets. EMU will then head to Muncie, Ind. to take on the Ball State University Cardinals. First serve for that matchup is set for 7 p.m. at John E. Worthen Arena.
ALL-TIME AGAINST THE OPPONENTS: EMU has played in 49 matches combined against this week's opponents.
Eastern will play against a pair of MAC East foes this week, first squaring off with Akron Friday, Oct. 25. The Eagles and Zips have met on the hardwood 32 times in the history of the two programs. Akron holds a slight 18-14 edge in the series. Last season, the Zips earned their 18th win over EMU, Oct. 19, in four sets in Akron.
Buffalo has been dominated by the Eagles in the short history between the two. The Green and White has lost just one time against the Bulls, going 16-1 all-time against the N.Y.-based foe. Last season the Eagles were able to knock off the Bulls for the 16th time on the road. EMU won that matchup in four sets.
BREAKING THE STREAK: The EMU volleyball team had lost five-straight Mid-American Conference matches heading into its match with Bowling Green Saturday, Oct. 18. Eastern used a five set victory over the defending MAC Volleyball Tournament Champions to break its losing streak and get back on the right track.
BRINER AND SMITH SWEEP MAC WEEKLY AWARDS: Junior setter/outside hitter Jill Briner was named the MAC West Offensive Player of the Week, while Corynne Smith recorded MAC West Defensive Player of the Week honors for the period ending, Oct. 20. It was the first MAC weekly honor for both student-athletes.
Briner has shown versatility in her first season at EMU and it was showcased last weekend, Oct. 17-18, when she averaged a triple-double in the Green and White's two matches. Set-by-set, Briner averaged 2.60 kills, 8.50 assists and 2.70 digs, while posting 0.40 blocks per frame. She notched the first two triple-doubles of the 2013 campaign for Eastern Michigan in back-to-back matches, all while maintaining a .375 attack percentage throughout the week. The Green and White opened up the week with a match at Miami that they lost in five sets. In that tilt, Briner posted a .406 attack percentage, while picking up a career-best 14 kills for the Eagles. The junior made just one attack error and set a new career mark with 39 assists. Briner added a pair of service aces and was not only strong on the offensive side of the ball, but she totaled 12 digs to her final line score. The Eagles then knocked off Bowling Green to end a five match losing skid, Oct. 18. Briner posted her second triple-double of the week after she again set a career-best in assists with 46. In addition to her career-best, Briner notched 12 kills and 15 digs to complete the triple-double. Offensively, the Oak Park, Ill. native had 12 kills on 24 attempts, while making just four errors, to maintain a .333 attack percentage in the match.
Smith was the rock defensively as the Eagles went 1-1 this week. The Norwalk, Ohio native posted 6.70 digs per set, while also notching 1.50 assists from a primary defensive position. Overall on the week, Smith did not make one reception error, going a perfect 31-for-31 in her attempts. Smith set a career-high in digs Thursday, Oct. 17, when she totaled 38 at Miami, also adding a career-best 11 assists in that match. Smith had 19 reception attempts, in which she had an unblemished percentage, without posting an error. She also had one service ace in the match. In the Eagles' second match, in which they broke their five match losing skid at Bowling Green, Smith accumulated 29 digs on the defensive side of the net. She set up four kills for EMU, posting four more assists to her total. She also went another match posting a perfect reception percentage, after going 12-for-12 in her attempts.
THAT'S A CAREER DAY: Sophomore libero Corynne Smith totaled a career-best 38 digs against Miami, Oct. 17. That career-high also ranks tied for the sixth-most in a single match by an EMU student-athlete.
SMITH'S STELLAR SEASON: Despite not leading the conference in digs, Corynne Smith is posting 5.19 digs per set to this point. If the Eagles were to play just three sets per match through the rest of the 2013 regular season and if her average held true, she would total 582 digs. That number would rank tied with Haley Stein for the fifth-most in a single season at Eastern Michigan. Stein holds the single season record with 757 in the 2010 season.
WELCOME TO THE 1,000 CLUB: Senior Paige Roback recently amassed her 1,000th kill while donning the Green and White. The Maumee, Ohio native's first kill of the four set win over Toledo, Sept. 28, made her just the 12th ever student-athlete at Eastern to notch 1,000 kills in a career.
Roback is also closing in on her 1,000th dig, sitting at 986 currently. When Roback completes this feat, she will become just the seventh student-athlete in EMU history to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career.
MAKING HER WAY TO 1,000: Fellow senior Erin Short is closing in on that same feat, looking to become the 13th member of the 1,000 kill club at Eastern. The Orrville, Ohio native has totaled 916 kills in her career. Based on her season average the last three years (125), Short should accumulate roughly 276 kills this season which would give her 1,029 career kills.
SHORT'S CAREER KILL COUNT: The Eagles' senior outside hitter Erin Short notched 17 kills twice in this season. She completed this feat in the Green and White's loss to Western Michigan Saturday, Oct. 5, and in the five set loss to Miami Thursday, Oct. 17. Those offensive outputs were career-bests for the senior from Orrville, Ohio.
NEAR THE TOP OF THE MAC, AS USUAL: Over the last few years, EMU has been near the top of the Mid-American Conference in digs and this season is no different. The Eagles are currently leading the league in total digs with 1,474. The next closest is Northern Illinois who has notched just 1,332 in the same amount of sets, while the Green and White is currently posting 16.75 digs per set and Ball State is second in that category with 16.16 per game.
Corynne Smith is third in the conference with 5.19 digs per set, but is leading the conference in overall digs. She has totaled 457 digs in 88 sets, while the leaders in the conference, Jenna Coates (Central Michigan) and Kelly Svoboda (Buffalo), are averaging 5.62 and 5.59 digs, respectively.
IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT: The Eagles are not only leading the MAC in a few categories, but they are ranked in the top-50 nationally in a pair of them as well. EMU is ranked 33rd overall in aces per set at 1.57, while it is 23rd overall in digs per set with 16.75.
Individually, redshirt-sophomore middle blocker Kelsey Jones is posting 1.31 blocks per set, which ranks at the 35th best total in the nation. Corynne Smith is currently ranked 20th overall in the country in digs per set. The sophomore is averaging 5.19 digs in her first season starting at libero for the Green and White.
