Eagles Suffer First Setback of 2013 at the Hands of Cleveland State

Photo Gallery.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team suffered its first loss of the 2013 campaign Saturday, Aug. 31, dropping a four-set match to Cleveland State University at the 2013 Golden Griffin Invitational. EMU lost the first set, 25-27, before taking the second, 25-23. The Eagles then fell behind, 2-1, after the Vikings posted a 25-19 third set victory. EMU took CSU into extra points in the fourth set, but came up short, 32-30.

Paige Roback (Maumee, Ohio-Notre Dame Academy) paced the Eagles' offense with her third double-double of the season. The senior accumulated 15 kills and 17 digs, for her efforts throughout the weekend, Roback was named to the 2013 Golden Griffin All-Tournament Team. Erin Short (Orrville, Ohio-Orrville) notched a .393 (12-1-28) attack percentage with 12 kills and one attack error throughout the match. Stacey Perinar (Channahon, Ill.-Minooka Community) added her third double-digit kill performance with 10. Alyssa Davis (Kalamazoo, Mich.-Plainwell) and Jill Briner (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park and River Forest (Northeastern)) split the setting duties, picking up 25 and 19 assists, respectively. Defensively, Kelsey Jones (Reed City, Mich.-Reed City) had four block assists, while Short notched three of her own. Freshman Devon Murray (Shelby, Ohio-Shelby) had a solo block and one block assist in the loss. Corynne Smith (Norwalk, Ohio-St. Paul) led the match for EMU with 24 digs.

As a team, the Eagles hit .125 (14-8-48) in the 25-27 opening -set loss. Short posted five kills, while Roback added four. Despite holding Cleveland State to a .130 (15-9-46) attack percentage, the Vikings used a balanced attack with five student-athletes posting two-or-more kills to take a 1-0 lead after the opening frame.

EMU stepped up its offense in the second set by posting a .244 (15-4-45) hitting percentage en route to a 25-23 win. Perinar led the offense with four kills, while Megan Crawshaw (Mattawan, Mich.-Mattawan), Jones and Roback each contributed three. Eastern's defense continued to hold the CSU offense to a low attack percentage, as the Vikings hit just .143 (14-8-42) in the frame.

Cleveland State came out hot in the third set to take a 25-19 decision. CSU's Maggie Hannon contributed a perfect 5-for-5 frame to lead the Vikings to their .333 (16-5-33) attack percentage. EMU's offense struggled in the set, hitting just .062 (9-7-32) with nine kills to fall behind, 2-1.

The Eagles and Vikings played toe-to-toe in the fourth and final set as EMU fell, 30-32. Roback contributed five kills as Eastern hit .217 (15-5-46) in the set, but Hannon added eight to her total in the set to lead Cleveland State to its second win of the season.

The Eagles return to Ypsilanti Wednesday, Sept. 4, for their first home match of the 2013 campaign. The Green and White will host Oregon State University for the first time in the history of the program. This will also be the first time EMU takes on a Pac-12 team in history. The match is slated to begin at 7 p.m. at the Convocation Center.

Eagles Suffer First Setback of 2013 at the Hands of Cleveland State

Next Event

Team Stats

Paige Roback

Erin Short

Stacey Perinar

Megan Crawshaw

Eastern Michigan Athletics