Eastern Michigan Athletics
Friday, August 30
Buffalo, N.Y.
12 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
at
Canisius
Photo by: EMU Athletics/Randy Mascharka
Eagles Set for Opening Weekend at Golden Griffin Invitational
8/29/2013 11:30:00 AM | Volleyball
EMU will head to Canisius for the first weekend of the 2013 campaign
Golden Griffin Invitation Tournament Central
Full Weekly Release
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The 2013 Eastern Michigan University volleyball team opens the 2013 campaign on the road at a tournament held by Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y. The Eagles will play in three matches at the Koessler Athletic Center in just two days, Aug. 30-31. EMU will open with the tournament host, Canisius, Friday at noon. The Eagles then play the backend of a Friday double dip at 6 p.m. when they take on Hartford University. Eastern will close out the tournament with a familiar foe in Cleveland State University Saturday at 2 p.m. before heading back to Ypsilanti.
SENIORS SET TO SHINE: The Eagles have a pair of senior outside hitters on the squad this season. Paige Roback and Erin Short will lead the Green and White throughout the 2013 season in an attempt to grab not only a Mid-American Conference West Division title but a MAC Tournament championship as well.
ALL-TIME AGAINST THE OPPONENTS: EMU has only played in 21 matches combined against this weekend's foes. The Green and White takes on Canisius for just the third time in both squads' histories. The Eagles own the all-time series with a 2-0 record. Eastern took the last match in which these two teams squared off, Aug. 31, 1999, by a 3-1 tally.
The Hawks of Hartford have only seen the Eagles once previously back in 1989. EMU took the one time they took the floor; Eastern knocked-off Hartford, 3-1, Sept. 2, at a tournament held by Syracuse University.
Finally, the most familiar opponent this weekend is Cleveland State. The Vikings and Eagles have locked up 18 times. The two schools have an even 9-9 record in those matches with CSU coming out on top in the most recent dance. Last season, the Vikings dropped Eastern in a five set match at the EMU Convocation Center, Aug. 28. In that match, Cleveland State's Kara Koch banged home 31 kills which ranks as the third-most at the Convo since its inaugural 1998 season.
NEW EAGLES LAND IN YPSI: The EMU volleyball squad has four new faces roaming the locker rooms in the Convocation Center this season. Between a pair of NCAA Division I transfers, a redshirt-freshman and a freshman recruit, the Green and White look for solid production out of its newest additions.
Transferring from Northeastern University is junior Jill Briner. Briner was a combination player between setting and hitting from the outside at NU. She totaled 218 kills, 204 digs, 50 blocks and 547 assists, while also serving up 29 aces for the Huskies last season earning her All-Colonial Athletic Association Third Team accolades. In her rookie campaign, the Oak Park, Ill. native was named the CAA Rookie of the Year as well as earning a spot on the CAA All-Rookie team.
Coming from the University of South Florida, Dori Harrison will be an outside hitter for the Eagles. She appeared in four matches last season for the Bulls. However, in high school the Euclid, Ohio native earned the area's Most Valuable Player award according to the Sun Press News, a News Herald First Team selection and was named to the Under Armour All-America Watch List during her senior year.
Alexa Salsbury will join the team as a middle blocker. She practiced with the team last season but did not see any gametime which leaves her as a redshirt-freshman. In high school, Salsbury was a four-year varsity letterwinner in basketball, track & field and volleyball and was a three-time All-Northwest Ohio Athletic League selection in volleyball and a two-time league award winner in basketball.
Devon Murray is the only true freshman joining the Eagles this season. Murray comes from Shelby High School where she posted 908 kills, 611 digs and 542 blocks in four seasons. She earned All-District awards in three seasons, including a first-team All-District nod in her senior season. The 6-1 Murray was a two-time time captain of the Shelby Whippets and was a second team All-Ohio award winner in her senior season.
EASTERN BRINGS IN PAC-12 OPPONENT: The Beavers of Oregon State University will travel from Corvallis, Ore. to Ypsilanti to take on the Eagles, Sept. 4, at 7 p.m. OSU is a member of the Pacific 12 Conference, which has delivered six of the last 12 NCAA Division I National Volleyball Championship teams, and will help prepare the Eagles for its 16-match Mid-American Conference campaign this season.
Eastern has never hosted or competed against a member of the PAC-12 in the 36 years it has competed in volleyball. The Beavers are coached by Taras Liskevych, who is a former U.S. Olympic women's head coach and is in his eighth season in Corvallis. Liskevych has a career record of 326-199 and helped OSU produce its first ever All-American. The Loyola (Ill.) graduate won an Olympic Bronze Medal in 1992 when the U.S. men's and women's teams swept the volleyball bronze medals.
DAVIS MAKING MOVES: Sophomore setter Alyssa Davis made her presence known last season by cracking the top-15 EMU all-time assist leaders. After one season, Davis has 657 assists to her credit and looks to make her way up the ranks of the best setters in Eastern's history. Kate Sulewski (2004-07) holds the all-time record for assists with 5,474.
NO BORDER WAR FOR EMU VOLLEYBALL: Eastern's squad does not hold a grudge between individuals from Michigan or Ohio. Actually, EMU has six athletes that hail from the Buckeye State which is the most of any state. There are five athletes from here in the Great Lakes State. EMU keeps its recent recruiting in the Midwest, as the volleyball team has three athletes from Illinois and one from Indiana as well.
CATCH THE ACTION ON EAGLE ALL-ACCESS: For the fifth consecutive year the Eastern Michigan Athletic Media Relations Department will offer live broadcasts of each EMU volleyball match during the 2013 season. Chad Bush will be your play-by-play man, while Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations, Greg Steiner, will serve as the analyst.
All 11 home matches will be provided over the internet with both audio and video coverage. To subscribe to Eagle All-Access, head to EMUEagles.com/showcase. Subscriptions start at $6.95 for a 24-hour pass, $10.95 for an entire month and $79.95 for a full calendar year. The next scheduled broadcast is Sept. 4, when the Eagles square off with Oregon State. The coverage will start at 6:50 p.m.
BERRINGTON'S 18TH SEASON AT EMU: Head Coach Kim Berrington is entering her 18th season as head coach of the Eastern Michigan University volleyball team. The seventh coach in the program's history, Berrington became its winningest coach on Sept. 20, 2003, as the Eagles posted a victory over East Carolina in the Coastal Carolina Tournament. The victory was Berrington's 110th win at the helm of the EMU program. During her tenure as head coach at EMU, Berrington has posted an overall record of 269-260 and a 132-151 mark in conference play.
In 12 of the last 13 seasons, she has led the Eagles to the MAC Tournament, with the 1999 campaign marking the first time the squad played in the postseason event since the 1990 season. Her teams have also led the MAC in digs in eight of the last 13 seasons, including ranking nationally in six of those campaigns, including last season when 17.49 digs per set was good for 30th in the NCAA.
EAGLES PICKED FIFTH IN MAC PRESEASON POLL: EMU was selected to finish fifth in the West Division of the 2013 Mid-American Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll. Western Michigan was the league coaches' decision to finish first in the West, while Bowling Green was selected as the top team in the East.
Full Weekly Release
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The 2013 Eastern Michigan University volleyball team opens the 2013 campaign on the road at a tournament held by Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y. The Eagles will play in three matches at the Koessler Athletic Center in just two days, Aug. 30-31. EMU will open with the tournament host, Canisius, Friday at noon. The Eagles then play the backend of a Friday double dip at 6 p.m. when they take on Hartford University. Eastern will close out the tournament with a familiar foe in Cleveland State University Saturday at 2 p.m. before heading back to Ypsilanti.
SENIORS SET TO SHINE: The Eagles have a pair of senior outside hitters on the squad this season. Paige Roback and Erin Short will lead the Green and White throughout the 2013 season in an attempt to grab not only a Mid-American Conference West Division title but a MAC Tournament championship as well.
ALL-TIME AGAINST THE OPPONENTS: EMU has only played in 21 matches combined against this weekend's foes. The Green and White takes on Canisius for just the third time in both squads' histories. The Eagles own the all-time series with a 2-0 record. Eastern took the last match in which these two teams squared off, Aug. 31, 1999, by a 3-1 tally.
The Hawks of Hartford have only seen the Eagles once previously back in 1989. EMU took the one time they took the floor; Eastern knocked-off Hartford, 3-1, Sept. 2, at a tournament held by Syracuse University.
Finally, the most familiar opponent this weekend is Cleveland State. The Vikings and Eagles have locked up 18 times. The two schools have an even 9-9 record in those matches with CSU coming out on top in the most recent dance. Last season, the Vikings dropped Eastern in a five set match at the EMU Convocation Center, Aug. 28. In that match, Cleveland State's Kara Koch banged home 31 kills which ranks as the third-most at the Convo since its inaugural 1998 season.
NEW EAGLES LAND IN YPSI: The EMU volleyball squad has four new faces roaming the locker rooms in the Convocation Center this season. Between a pair of NCAA Division I transfers, a redshirt-freshman and a freshman recruit, the Green and White look for solid production out of its newest additions.
Transferring from Northeastern University is junior Jill Briner. Briner was a combination player between setting and hitting from the outside at NU. She totaled 218 kills, 204 digs, 50 blocks and 547 assists, while also serving up 29 aces for the Huskies last season earning her All-Colonial Athletic Association Third Team accolades. In her rookie campaign, the Oak Park, Ill. native was named the CAA Rookie of the Year as well as earning a spot on the CAA All-Rookie team.
Coming from the University of South Florida, Dori Harrison will be an outside hitter for the Eagles. She appeared in four matches last season for the Bulls. However, in high school the Euclid, Ohio native earned the area's Most Valuable Player award according to the Sun Press News, a News Herald First Team selection and was named to the Under Armour All-America Watch List during her senior year.
Alexa Salsbury will join the team as a middle blocker. She practiced with the team last season but did not see any gametime which leaves her as a redshirt-freshman. In high school, Salsbury was a four-year varsity letterwinner in basketball, track & field and volleyball and was a three-time All-Northwest Ohio Athletic League selection in volleyball and a two-time league award winner in basketball.
Devon Murray is the only true freshman joining the Eagles this season. Murray comes from Shelby High School where she posted 908 kills, 611 digs and 542 blocks in four seasons. She earned All-District awards in three seasons, including a first-team All-District nod in her senior season. The 6-1 Murray was a two-time time captain of the Shelby Whippets and was a second team All-Ohio award winner in her senior season.
EASTERN BRINGS IN PAC-12 OPPONENT: The Beavers of Oregon State University will travel from Corvallis, Ore. to Ypsilanti to take on the Eagles, Sept. 4, at 7 p.m. OSU is a member of the Pacific 12 Conference, which has delivered six of the last 12 NCAA Division I National Volleyball Championship teams, and will help prepare the Eagles for its 16-match Mid-American Conference campaign this season.
Eastern has never hosted or competed against a member of the PAC-12 in the 36 years it has competed in volleyball. The Beavers are coached by Taras Liskevych, who is a former U.S. Olympic women's head coach and is in his eighth season in Corvallis. Liskevych has a career record of 326-199 and helped OSU produce its first ever All-American. The Loyola (Ill.) graduate won an Olympic Bronze Medal in 1992 when the U.S. men's and women's teams swept the volleyball bronze medals.
DAVIS MAKING MOVES: Sophomore setter Alyssa Davis made her presence known last season by cracking the top-15 EMU all-time assist leaders. After one season, Davis has 657 assists to her credit and looks to make her way up the ranks of the best setters in Eastern's history. Kate Sulewski (2004-07) holds the all-time record for assists with 5,474.
NO BORDER WAR FOR EMU VOLLEYBALL: Eastern's squad does not hold a grudge between individuals from Michigan or Ohio. Actually, EMU has six athletes that hail from the Buckeye State which is the most of any state. There are five athletes from here in the Great Lakes State. EMU keeps its recent recruiting in the Midwest, as the volleyball team has three athletes from Illinois and one from Indiana as well.
CATCH THE ACTION ON EAGLE ALL-ACCESS: For the fifth consecutive year the Eastern Michigan Athletic Media Relations Department will offer live broadcasts of each EMU volleyball match during the 2013 season. Chad Bush will be your play-by-play man, while Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations, Greg Steiner, will serve as the analyst.
All 11 home matches will be provided over the internet with both audio and video coverage. To subscribe to Eagle All-Access, head to EMUEagles.com/showcase. Subscriptions start at $6.95 for a 24-hour pass, $10.95 for an entire month and $79.95 for a full calendar year. The next scheduled broadcast is Sept. 4, when the Eagles square off with Oregon State. The coverage will start at 6:50 p.m.
BERRINGTON'S 18TH SEASON AT EMU: Head Coach Kim Berrington is entering her 18th season as head coach of the Eastern Michigan University volleyball team. The seventh coach in the program's history, Berrington became its winningest coach on Sept. 20, 2003, as the Eagles posted a victory over East Carolina in the Coastal Carolina Tournament. The victory was Berrington's 110th win at the helm of the EMU program. During her tenure as head coach at EMU, Berrington has posted an overall record of 269-260 and a 132-151 mark in conference play.
In 12 of the last 13 seasons, she has led the Eagles to the MAC Tournament, with the 1999 campaign marking the first time the squad played in the postseason event since the 1990 season. Her teams have also led the MAC in digs in eight of the last 13 seasons, including ranking nationally in six of those campaigns, including last season when 17.49 digs per set was good for 30th in the NCAA.
EAGLES PICKED FIFTH IN MAC PRESEASON POLL: EMU was selected to finish fifth in the West Division of the 2013 Mid-American Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll. Western Michigan was the league coaches' decision to finish first in the West, while Bowling Green was selected as the top team in the East.
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