Eastern Hosts NIU and WMU on Homecoming Weekend

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team has completed its non-conference portion of the 2014 campaign and will appear solely in Mid-American Conference contests for the rest of the season beginning Friday, Oct. 10, when the Eagles (11-7, 2-2 MAC) host MAC West leading Northern Illinois University at 7 p.m. inside the Convocation Center.

Following the matchup with Northern Illinois (10-7, 4-0 MAC), the Green and White will square off with another MAC West opponent, Western Michigan University Saturday, Oct. 11. The Broncos (10-7, 2-2 MAC) will stampede into the Convo for another 7 p.m. match on EMU's Homecoming weekend.

For Friday's matchup with NIU, the first 50 fans through the gates will receive an EMU volleyball slingpack. On Saturday, the first 100 will be given an EMU spirit bandana. Not only will fans be given the bandana but it is EMU volleyball alumni day and all spectators with a ticket stub from the Eastern football game at Rynearson Stadium earlier in the day will be given free entry at the volleyball match.

SPLITTING IT OPEN: After two weekends of Mid-American Conference play, the Eagles have split both weekends. Eastern is 2-2 on the year after defeating Kent State and Toledo, but falling to Central Michigan and Ball State.

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES: The Eagles and Northern Illinois have met on the hardwood 49 times in the history of each program. Eastern Michigan is trailing that series, 21-28, including losses in both of last season's meetings. In the most recent contest, EMU came away from a Nov. 9, 2013 matchup on the wrong end of a 1-3 decision on Senior Day at the Convocation Center.

The Huskies are off to a hot start in Mid-American Conference play coming into Friday's contest with a perfect 4-0 record. Overall on the season, NIU is 11-7, but have four losses to teams from the "power conferences". Mackenzie Roddy paces the Huskies' offense from the outside, averaging 3.91 kills per set, good for third in the conference rankings. At the setter position, Alexis Gonzalez posts 9.99 assists per match, to rank fourth overall in the MAC. On the other side of the net, the Huskies are not quite as powerful. Jenna Radtke leads Northern Illinois with 0.76 blocks per set, while Anna Brereton posts a team-best 3.94 digs per set.

HAVING A LOOK-SEE AT THE BRONCOS: Western Michigan has been dominant in the series with EMU. The Eagles trail by a 21-57 margin over its opponent from Kalamazoo, Mich., including losses in the last seven matches with WMU. Last time out, the Green and White dropped a 1-3 decision to Western Michigan inside the Convocation Center. Eastern welcomed the Broncos to Ypsilanti on the final weekend of the season and fell, Nov. 8, 2013.

Western comes into the contest at the Convo with a 10-7 overall record. The Broncos have split four Mid-American Conference matches this year. WMU is led by Alysia Baznik at the net, she averages 3.13 kills per set, while Lexie Pawlik's 10.71 assists per frame is good for second in the conference. Defensively, Sydney LeMay leads Western with 0.80 blocks per game, while Sierra Hubbard-Neil boasts 3.42 digs per set and Caroline Rose notches 3.26 per frame.

CONTINUING TO DOMINATE OAKLAND: Eastern continued to keep its record versus in-state rival Oakland University with its 3-0 victory, Sept. 30. The Eagles moved their all-time record with the Golden Grizzlies to 25-4, including victories in four of the last five meetings. Stacey Perinar paced the Eagles with 17 kills and a .324 attack percentage in the EMU victory.

IN MAC PLAY...: Eastern has been known as one of the top squads on the defensive side of the net in the Mid-American Conference and this season has been no different. In MAC contests EMU leads the conference in digs with 285 overall, good for a 17.81 per set average, while they rank fourth in blocks with 2.25 per frame. In addition, the Eagles hold their opponents to a .168 attack percentage, which is good for second in the MAC.

RESPECT FOR SMITH: After posting a .957 reception percentage and proving to be one of the best defensive players in the MAC during the 2013 season, Corynne Smith has earned some respect amongst the Eagles' opponents. The Norwalk, Ohio native averaged 5.09 reception attempts per set last season. This season, it seems as though the opposition is veering away from the libero as she is averaging just 4.51 reception attempts per game. However, when she is targeted, the 5-foot-3 junior has been stout, making just six errors in 252 attempts, good for a .974 reception percentage.

MIDDLE ATTACK SQUAD: The EMU volleyball squad has shown quite the improvement in the middle this season, especially on the offensive side. The three primary middle blockers have accounted for just over 47.3 percent of the Eagles' kills, while last season the Green and White had just 30.4 percent of its kills come from the middles.

BLOCK BOOKS: Eastern senior middle blocker Megan Crawshaw has proven to be a force at the net defensively. In her first three seasons, Crawshaw recorded 278 block assists which ranked eighth in EMU's all-time records. This season, Crawshaw has recorded 45 block assists, ranking her fourth all-time in Eastern laurels with 337 block assists. She trails Eastern's leader Jill Hutton by 65. At her current average, Crawshaw needs to play in 68 more sets through the rest of the season to break Hutton's mark.

CLOSING IN ON 400: Head coach Kim Berrington is in her 19th season at Eastern Michigan and her 22nd overall as a collegiate volleyball coach. With that being said, the former South Carolina student-athlete has racked up 383 career wins including her time as the head coach at Concordia (Mich.).

AMONG THE CONFERENCE RANKS: Individually, multiple Eagles can be touted as the top student-athletes in their respective positions based on the statistics so far this season. From the setter position Jill Briner has proved to be a dual-threat. Not only is Briner seventh in the MAC in assists per contest (8.88 apg) but she ranks fourth in the league in attack percentage (.333).

Stacey Perinar is fifth in the MAC in kills per set (3.32), while Corynne Smith is averaging 4.54 digs per contest, which is third in the conference. Finally, Natalie Folk is averaging 0.29 aces per game, which is seventh in the MAC.

SMITH NAMED MAC WEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Junior libero Corynne Smith was named the Mid-American Conference West Defensive Player of the Week for the period ending Sept. 28. The honor marks the third of Smith's career.

Smith put together a stellar week for the Eagles. Overall in the opening Mid-American Conference weekend, Smith totaled 43 digs and a .968 reception percentage. In the Green and White's four-set match with Central Michigan, she posted 22 digs for an average of 5.5 per set, which is impressive in itself, but her play in EMU's home contest versus Kent State topped that as she averaged seven digs per frame after posting 21 total in Eastern's three-set victory over the Golden Flashes. In total, she averaged 6.14 digs per set on the weekend, which would rank third nationally based on the most recent NCAA rankings (Sept. 22).

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Players Mentioned

Jill Briner

Megan Crawshaw

Natalie Folk

Stacey Perinar

Corynne Smith

Eastern Michigan Athletics