Eagles Flock West to Close Out Regular Season

Complete Release

vs. WMU: Stats/Video

vs. NIU: Stats/Video

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team's 2014 regular season will close out this weekend when the Eagles (17-11, 8-6 MAC) travel to Western Michigan University, Nov. 14, and Northern Illinois University, Nov. 15. Currently, EMU is holding on to the No. 5-seed for the 2014 Mid-American Conference Volleyball Tournament which will be hosted in Athens, Ohio, by Ohio University. Eastern will attempt to move ahead of Ball State University with a pair of victories this weekend. EMU can move as high as fourth in the seedings as Ohio, NIU and Miami University have a stranglehold on the top-three spots.

The Green and White will square off with the Broncos (16-13, 7-7 MAC) at 6 p.m. on Friday before taking on the Huskies (20-8, 13-1 MAC) Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Saturday's contest with Northern Illinois will be aired live on ESPN3. Andy Garcia will be on the call at the NIU Convocation Center.

BUCKIN' BRONCOS: Western Michigan has been dominant in the series with EMU. The Eagles trail by a 21-58 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 0-3 decision to Western Michigan inside the Convocation Center. Eastern welcomed the Broncos to Ypsilanti but fell, Oct. 13, 2014.

Western comes into the contest at the Convo with a 16-13 overall record. The Broncos have split 14 Mid-American Conference matches this year. WMU is led by Alysia Baznik at the net, she averages 2.96 kills per set, while Lexie Pawlik's 11.12 assists per frame is the best in the conference. Defensively, Sydney LeMay leads Western with 0.77 blocks per game, while Sierra Hubbard-Neil boasts 3.87 digs per set.

LET'S HEAR ABOUT THE HUSKIES: The Eagles and Northern Illinois have met on the hardwood 50 times in the history of each program. Eastern Michigan is trailing that series, 21-29, including losses in both of last season's meetings and a 1-3 loss earlier this season, Oct. 10.

The Huskies are the leaders in the MAC West coming into Saturday's contest with a 13-1 conference record. Overall on the season, NIU is 20-8 with Mackenzie Roddy pacing the Huskies' offense from the outside, averaging 4.28 kills per set, which leads the conference rankings. At the setter position, Alexis Gonzalez posts 10.61 assists per match to rank second overall in the MAC. On the other side of the net, the Huskies are not quite as powerful. Jenna Radtke leads Northern Illinois with 0.86 blocks per set, while Anna Brereton posts a team-best 4.11 digs per set.

HONORING THREE EAGLES: The Eastern Michigan volleyball team honored its seniors Jill Briner, Megan Crawshaw and Natalie Folk Saturday, Nov. 8, following the Eagles' match with Ball State. The trio of seniors received a nice early-graduation gift when the Green and White knocked off the Cardinals, 3-2. In fact, Crawshaw put together a career-day by cleaning up at the net with 18 kills.

CRAWSHAW AND SMITH TAKE HOME MAC WEEKLY AWARDS: A pair of Eastern Michigan University volleyball players were honored by the Mid-American Conference Monday, Nov. 10. Senior middle blocker Megan Crawshaw 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 Nov. 9. It was the first MAC weekly honor of her career for Crawshaw, while Smith earned her fourth for the season and sixth of her career. It is also the second week in a row that Smith notched a weekly award.

Crawshaw led the Green and White to a perfect weekend and helped the Eagles secure a spot in the 2014 MAC Tournament. Crawshaw began the weekend by recording 10 kills while hitting .348 and serving up five aces in the Eagles' 3-1 victory over Toledo before piling up a career-high 18 kills on the back of a .341 attack percentage against Ball State, Nov. 8. In total, the senior hit at an astounding .344 rate, while making just six attack errors in 64 attempts. The Mattawan, Mich. native totaled 28 kills, while recording five service aces. The senior averaged 3.11 kills per set, along with 0.56 aces per frame and 4.06 points per set. In addition to her strong offensive numbers, Crawshaw added seven block assists on the weekend.

The Eastern junior libero was the rock defensively for EMU this weekend, leading the Eagles to a perfect record, in addition to locking up a spot in the 2014 MAC Tournament. First, in Eastern's 3-1 victory over Toledo, Nov. 7, Smith recorded a season-best 26 digs, averaging 6.5 per set versus the Rockets, while making just one reception error. The Norwalk, Ohio native continued her stellar play in the Green and White's 3-2 Senior Night victory against Ball State. The junior added 25 more digs while going a perfect 29-for-29 in reception attempts. Overall on the weekend, Smith compiled a .973 reception percentage after totaling 51 digs, good for an average of 5.67 per frame.

BRINER EARNS CoSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT FIRST TEAM HONORS: Eastern Michigan's Jill Briner has been recognized as a member of the Capital One Academic All-District First Team, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), Nov. 6. Briner was one-of-seven MAC student-athletes selected for the NCAA Division I District Five CoSIDA Academic All-District teams. She is the first CoSIDA Academic All-District award winner since Rachel Iaquaniello during the 2012 campaign, and she is the first EMU volleyball athlete to record first team honors since Jill Wolosiansky did in 2008.

SEEDING SCENARIOS: Eastern can only move as far up as the No. 4-seed in the 2014 MAC Tournament. For this to happen, the Eagles must win versus both Western Michigan and Northern Illinois and move to 10-6, while Ball State could lose both matches and fall to 9-7. Another way is if BSU drops a match to Toledo this weekend and EMU wins both, the Eagles would take the No. 4 seed by defeating Northern Illinois.

However, there is a chance that EMU could fall as low as the No. 7 seed. Both WMU and Kent State are 7-7 on the season and could catch Eastern. The only way Kent could jump EMU is if Eastern lost both of its matches, while the Golden Flashes win both. Western holds the tiebreaker over EMU currently, which could hurt the Eagles and allow the Broncos to leap frog the Eagles. A tie between the three teams would currently put EMU as the sixth seed.

EAGLES AND HUSKIES TABBED FOR ESPN3: Eastern Michigan's match with Northern Illinois, Nov. 15, had its start time changed after being selected to air on ESPN3. The Eagles (17-11, 8-6 MAC) will close out the regular season with a 7:30 p.m. (CT) start time Saturday evening against the Huskies (20-8, 13-1 MAC) at the NIU Convocation Center. Eastern's matchup with Northern Illinois will be the first time the Eagles have had a match carried on ESPN3 since the season finale of the 2013 season when the Green and White squared off with Ohio University in the 2013 MAC Tournament championship match.

STRAIGHT UP THE MIDDLE: Eastern's middle blockers have become a force for the Eagles on both offense and defense since beginning MAC play. In 14 conference tilts, the middles have provided nearly half of the Green and White's kills (46.4 percent). Additionally, the blockers, although its no surprise, have accounted for 68 percent of the Eagles' blocks. In total, the middle blockers have totaled 354 points, good for 47.5 percent of EMU's total in conference matches.

LOOKING AHEAD: This season's Mid-American Conference Volleyball Tournament will be held at the Ohio University Convocation Center. According to league rules, the previous season's tournament winner will host the following season's tournament. Currently, Ohio (14-0) would enter as the No. 1 seed, followed by No. 2 Northern Illinois (13-1), No. 3 Miami (11-3), No. 4 Ball State (9-5), No. 5 Eastern Michigan (8-6), No. 6 Kent State (7-7), No. 7 Western Michigan (7-7) and No. 8 Central Michigan (5-9).

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 82 block assists, ranking her second all-time in Eastern laurels with 371 block assists. She trails Eastern's leader Jill Hutton by 31.

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Players Mentioned

Jill Briner

Megan Crawshaw

Natalie Folk

Corynne Smith

Eastern Michigan Athletics