Eagles Hit the Road for Three Matches This Week

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at Oakland: Live Stats/Live Video

at Ball State: Live Stats/Live Video

at Toledo: Live Stats/Live Video

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team will complete its non-conference schedule this week when it travels just over 53 miles to the Athletics Center O'Rena at Oakland University Tuesday, Sept. 30. The Eagles (9-6) will tangle with the Golden Grizzlies (10-6) at 7 p.m. before continuing the Mid-American Conference schedule.

Following the final non-conference match of the year, Eastern will continue the three-match road swing, heading to Ball State University, Oct. 3, and the University of Toledo, Oct. 4. EMU will meet up with the Cardinals (7-8, 1-1 MAC) for a 7 p.m. match at John E. Worthen Arena before they take on the Rockets (1-14, 0-2 MAC) at 5 p.m. inside Savage Arena.

SPLITTING IT OPEN: Eastern Michigan began the MAC campaign last weekend by dropping a four-setter to Central Michigan, Sept. 25, before sweeping Kent State, Sept. 27.

SETTING THE BEAR TRAP: It will be the 29th matchup in volleyball history between Eastern Michigan and Oakland Tuesday, Sept. 30. The Eagles have dominated in the all-time series 24-4. EMU has won three of the last four meetings between the two Michigan-based institutions

This season, Oakland is 10-6, while being led by Melissa Deastch. Deatsch tops the OU charts with 189 kills, good for 3.15 per frame, while Ciara Schultz is the setter for Oakland, posting an average of 10.05 assists per game. Defensively, Amanda Baker and Sammy Condon have each been solid at the net for the Grizzlies, stuffing the offense 0.76 and 0.78 times per frame, respectively. Finally, Taylor Humm's 4.02 dig average tops the OU season box score as she has totaled 241 digs this season.

AN EYE ON THE CARDINALS: The Eagles and Ball State have met on the hardwood 66 times in the history of each program. Eastern Michigan is trailing that series, 22-44, including losses in the last three meetings. In the most recent contest, EMU left Muncie, Ind. with an 0-3 defeat, Nov. 2, 2013.

The Cardinals are off to an average start, notching a 7-8 record overall, and splitting the first weekend of MAC play. Hayley Benson is the offensive leader for BSU, averaging 2.48 kills per frame, along with a .315 attack percentage, while Jenna Spadafora's 572 assists is the most on the team. Defensively, Benson is averaging 0.92 blocks per frame, while Amanda Raker is adding 0.73 per set. While the Cardinals have four members of its squad with 100-or-more digs this season, Alex Fuelling leads the squad with a total of 229, good for an average of 3.82 per game.

INSPECTING THE ROCKETS: Eastern Michigan has been dominant in the series with the Toledo Rockets. The Eagles hold a 50-13 edge over its opponent from the Glass City, including victories in four of the last five matches with UT. Last time out, the Green and White was able to come away with a thrilling five-set victory versus Toledo in the quarterfinal matchup of the 2013 MAC Volleyball Tournament, Nov. 22. That win helped lead EMU to the MAC championship match.

The Rockets are struggling out of the gate this season, posting just a 1-14 record, along with an 0-2 record in conference play. Alyssa Ehrhardt leads the squad with 2.9 kills per contest, while the next closest is Rachel Vidcurek with 2.17. Alex Hines is UT's primary setter who posts 8.16 assists per game, while Lauren Bakaitis leads Toledo with 3.9 digs per set.

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).

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 381 career wins including her time as the head coach at Concordia (Mich.).

MARVELOUS MURRAY: Sophomore Devon Murray put together a career-match versus Kansas State, Sept. 19, when she hit .476 in the Eagles 3-1 loss. The Shelby, Ohio native posted 11 kills on 21 attempts, with just one error in the match. Along with her offensive performance, Murray notched the first solo block of her career.

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 48.1 percent of the Eagles' kills, while last season the Green and White had just 30.4 percent of its kills come from the middles.

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 4.42 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 .976 reception percentage.

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 sixth in the MAC in assists per contest (9.09 apg) but she ranks fourth in the league in attack percentage (.331). In addition to Briner's stout offensive play, Megan Crawshaw is hitting .296 which is the ninth-best in the conference.

Stacey Perinar is fourth in the MAC in kills per set (3.39), while Corynne Smith is averaging 4.53 digs per contest, which is third in the conference. Finally, Natalie Folk is averaging 0.35 aces per game, which is sixth in the MAC.

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Players Mentioned

Jill Briner

Megan Crawshaw

Natalie Folk

Devon Murray

Stacey Perinar

Corynne Smith

Eastern Michigan Athletics