Virginia Hands Eastern its First Loss of the 2014 Season, 3-1

HUNTINGTON, W. Va. (EMUEagles.com) – After opening the 2014 campaign with a thrilling comeback victory Friday, Aug. 29, the Eastern Michigan University volleyball team saw its first setback of the year Saturday, Aug. 30, at the Thunder Invitational. The Eagles (1-1) dropped a four-set match to Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) foe, University of Virginia. After opening the match with a 25-21 first set win, the Cavaliers (2-0) rattled off three-straight sets (22-25, 24-26, 22-25) to take the 3-1 victory.

After her 14 kill performance in the Eagles win versus Marshall University, Katie Krasowski (Oak Lawn, Ill.-Marist) notched 11 kills while hitting .296 (11-3-27). Megan Crawshaw (Mattawan, Mich.-Mattawan) added a season-best 10 kills for EMU, while Jill Briner (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park and River Forest (Northeastern)) setup the Eagles' offense posting a match-high 34 assists. Corynne Smith (Norwalk, Ohio-St. Paul) notched a pair of aces, while Briner, Alyssa Davis (Kalamazoo, Mich.-Plainwell) and Krasowski each served up an ace.

Defensively, the Green and White saw Stacey Perinar (Channahon, Ill.-Minooka Community) led the squad with 23 digs, while Smith picked up 13 of her own and Natalie Folk (Saline, Mich.-Saline) contributed 14. Crawshaw stuffed the Cavaliers on five different occasions, recording four block assists and one solo. Perinar helped out at the net defensively, added four block assists.

The Eagles opened up the match with a 25-21 set victory to take a 1-0 lead. Crawshaw and Perinar led the offensive charge with four kills each. Crawshaw posted a .571 attack percentage (4-0-7), while Perinar added four kills in 10 attempts with just one error. In addition, Briner notched nine assists while hitting 2-of-5. Defensively, Perinar added five digs, while Kelsey Jones (Reed City, Mich.-Reed City) stuffed the Cavaliers with a solo block.

Heading into the second frame, holding on to a one-set lead, the Green and White struggled offensively, hitting just .050 (12-10-40). The Eagles' 10 attack errors hindered their chances of grabbing a 2-0 lead and Virginia took set two, 22-25. Coupled with a UVA .270 attack percentage (13-3-37) and five total blocks, Eastern was unable to keep the Cavaliers off the board and Virginia knotted things up at one set apiece heading into halftime.

Set three proved to be another struggle for EMU offensively. The Eagles hit just .077 (13-9-52) with nine more errors, while the Cavaliers added another four total blocks to take a 24-26 set win, earning a 2-1 lead. Krasowskis posted five of her kills in the third frame, while Periner picked up 10 of her 23 digs in the set.

Again EMU struggled to make an offensive push, hitting .047 (10-8-43) in set four. In addition, UVA's Natalie Bausback blocked the Eagles three times on her own, while Kayla Sears and Jasmine Burton each totaled four kills in the final set. The Green and White saw Virginia walk away with the 22-25 set final, handing the Eagles their first loss of the 2014 campaign.

EMU closes out the 2014 Thunder Invitational Saturday evening when the Eagles square off with the University of Illinois-Chicago. First serve is slated for 5 p.m. at Cam Henderson Arena.

Virginia Hands Eastern its First Loss of the 2014 Season, 3-1

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Team Stats

Katie Krasowski

Megan Crawshaw

Stacey Perinar

Jill Briner

Eastern Michigan Athletics