Eastern Cruises to Three Set Victory Over Holy Cross

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team used its most outstanding offensive output of the season to put away Holy Cross University in straight sets Saturday, Sept. 14. It was the third-straight three set victory for EMU (6-4), as they moved to 2-0 at the 2013 Brown Invitational. The Eagles knocked off the Crusaders (3-5), 25-16, 25-13 and 25-21.

Eastern posted the best team attack percentage, .320 (40-11-90), of the season in its win over Holy Cross. Individually, Megan Crawshaw (Mattawan, Mich.-Mattawan) posted a season-high .545 (8-2-11) attack percentage when she banged home eight kills, with just two attack errors in 11 attempts. Erin Short (Orrville, Ohio-Orrville) notched a .400 (8-0-20) hitting percentage and did not make an attack error in 20 tries. Paige Roback (Maumee, Ohio-Notre Dame Academy) led the Eagles in kills with nine, while Jill Briner (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park and River Forest (Northeastern)) went a perfect 4-for-4 in attacks. Briner also setup the EMU offense throughout the match, leading in assists with 18. Corynne Smith (Norwalk, Ohio-St. Paul) set a career-high in assists with seven of her own.

Defensively, the Eagles rejected attack attempts nine times. Kelsey Jones (Reed City, Mich.-Reed City) led the Green and White with one solo block and five block assists, while Short added five block assists of her own. Smith set the pace for the match on the defensive side with 12 digs, while Roback added 10. EMU held the Crusaders to a .031 (25-22-97) attack percentage for the match, which is the lowest of any opponent this season.

Crawshaw was an offensive force in the opening set, posting most of her offense in the set. The junior accumulated five of her eight kills in that set going 5-for-6 in attack attempts, good for an .833 percentage. Briner was solid setting up the offense as she earned eight assists in the frame. The Eagles spread the offense across the team as six members of the sqaud had at least two kills in the set. Overall, the offense posted a .424 (16-2-33) hitting percentage in the 25-16 set victory, while holding the Crusaders to a .172 (9-4-29) attack percentage, their best of any set in the match.

Eastern's defense proved to be the catalyst in set two as they totaled four blocks. Jones had one solo and three assists in that frame alone, while Short had three of her five block assists in the set. Offensively, seven Eagles had a kill in the frame. The Green and White notched a .280 (13-6-25) attack percentage in 25-13 set win, while the Crusaders posted a -.138 (4-8-29) with just four kills and a total of eight attack errors in 29 attempts.

EMU closed the door in set three, 25-21. Roback did the majority of her offensive work in the final set, marking six kills in 10 attempts, hitting .600. Despite it being the worst attack percentage of the match, hitting .250 (11-3-32), the Eagles held Holy Cross to a .051 (12-10-39) percentage. Eastern posted four more blocks in that set, including three block assists from Katie Krasowski (Oak Lawn, Ill.-Marist).

Eastern completes their portion of the Brown Invitational Saturday night, Sept. 14, when they take on the host Bears of Brown University. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Pizzitola Sports Center.

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Team Stats

Paige Roback

Erin Short

Megan Crawshaw

Stacey Perinar

Eastern Michigan Athletics