Eagles Open Home Season Before Heading to UMBC

Complete Release

vs. IPFW: Stats/Video

vs. UMBC: Stats/Video

vs. Coppin State: Stats

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team continues the 2014 campaign with its first home contest of the season Tuesday, Sept. 9, versus IPFW. The match is slated to begin at 7 p.m. inside the Convocation Center.

EMU will then head to Baltimore, Md. for a three-team tournament, Sept. 12-13, hosted by the University of Maryland Baltimore County. The Green and White will square off with UMBC Friday night, Sept. 12 at 7 p.m. before concluding its portion of the tournament with Coppin State University Saturday at noon.

EAGLES TAKE HOME THE NKU VOLLEYBALL INVITE TITLE: Eastern Michigan completed the Northern Kentucky Volleyball Invitational with a 2-1 record. The Eagles first defeated SIU Edwardsville, 3-1, Sept. 5, before dropping a tough five set match with Samford, Sept. 6. Eastern Michigan bounced back to knock off the tournament host, 3-0, walking away from Highland Heights, Ky. with its first tournament title of 2014.

MASTODON PROBLEMS: Despite holding a 7-8 record against IPFW, the Eagles have struggled in recent history against the foe from Fort Wayne, Ind. Eastern has dropped seven of the last eight matches with the Mastadons. Prior to last season's 3-0 victory, Sept. 17, 2013. the last win for the Green and White over IPFW came back in 2005, when it won in five sets, Oct. 18.

This season, IPFW comes into the Tuesday evening affair with a stout 5-1 record. Leading the way for the Mastodons is Emily Spencer. Spencer is hitting at a .274 clip, while averaging 4.71 kills per game. She was just named the Summit League's most recent Offensive Player of the Week. Mallory Slyder is averaging 7.62 assists per set to pace IPFW, while Olivia Hahn's 58 digs set the standard for the Mastodons. IPFW have a few defensive forces at the net. Both Hailie Ripley and Sarah Hackman are averaging 1.05 blocks per set this season.

REVIEWING THE RETRIEVERS: The Eagles and Retrievers hit the hardwood with a short series between the two programs. UMBC leads the one-match series with a 1-0 advantage. The only match between these two saw a 2-3 decision in favor of the Retrievers, Aug. 30, 2008 at a tournament hosted by William and Mary.

The Retrievers are 4-3 this season, but two of those losses came versus top-10 ranked oppositions, No. 10 Brigham Young and No. 5 Washington. Hannah Schmidt leads the Retrievers with 57 kills, while Casey Griffith's 90 digs tops UMBC's charts. Finally Paige Miller's 8.87 assists per contest are the best of any Retriever.

EYING THE EAGLES: Saturday afternoon's matchup will mark the beginning of a series between the two flocks of Eagles. Coppin State and Eastern Michigan have never squared off in volleyball.

Coppin State is 4-3 to this point, winning a pair of matches in Philadelphia, Pa. at La Salle University and two matches at Towson's tournament. Cindy Okpegbue has been a force for the CSU Eagles. She has posted 131 kills and is averaging 4.52 per set. Chelsee Sauni has been the primary setter for Coppin State and is averaging 10.72 assists per set, while Gabielle Otero is posting 4.14 digs per frame along with Bailee Jackson's 3.76.

CRAWSHAW NAMED NKU VOLLEYBALL INVITE MVP: Senior middle blocker Megan Crawshaw put together an outstanding weekend at the Northern Kentucky Volleyball Invitational en route to being named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. EMU went 2-1 and was named the tournament champion after knocking off Northern Kentucky. Overall on the weekend, the Mattawan, Mich. native hit .350-or-better in all three matches. The senior had just three attack errors in 69 attempts over the course of 12 sets. In total, Crawshaw hit .406 on the weekend, including a season-best .526. She also put together two 10-plus kill matches with 13 versus Samford and 10 against NKU.

BRINER AND PERINAR NAMED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: After taking home the NKU Volleyball Invitational, Jill Briner and Stacey Perinar were each named to the invite's all-tournament team.

Briner averaged a solid 9.67 assists per frame, while hitting .340 with 21 kills through 12 games (1.75 kpg).

Perinar was the Green and White's leader at the net with 41 kills in 12 sets (3.42 kpg). In addition, Perinar averaged 2.75 digs per contest as an outside hitter.

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 eighth in the MAC in assists per contest (8.62 apg) but she ranks fourth in the league in attack percentage (.352).

Stacey Perinar's 3.04 kills per set rank as the eighth-best, while Corynne Smith is averaging 3.77 digs per contest, also the eighth-best in the conference. Finally, Natalie Folk is averaging 0.38 aces per game, which is again, the eighth best in the MAC.

BLOCK BOOKS: Eastern senior middle blocker Megan Crawshaw has proven to be a force at the net defensively. In three seasons, Crawshaw had recorded 278 block assists which ranked eighth in EMU's all-time records. This season, Crawshaw has recorded 18 block assists, putting her seventh all-time in Eastern laurels with 296 block assists. She trails Eastern's leader Jill Hutton by 106.

PERINAR EARNS FIRST-EVER MAC WEEKLY AWARD: Eastern Michigan University junior Stacey Perinar was named the Mid-American Conference West Defensive Player of the Week for the period ending Aug. 31. The honor marks the first of Perinar's career.

The junior outside hitter was a force for the Eagles on both sides of the net this weekend at the 2014 Thunder Invitational. The Channahon, Ill. native posted 2.71 kills per set on the offensive end, including an 18-kill performance in the Eagles' five set victory over Marshall, Aug. 29. On the defensive side of the net, Perinar averaged 0.57 blocks per frame, while also picking up 3.79 digs per set. The junior notched a pair of double-doubles, posting 18 kills and 16 digs versus Marshall and also notching 11 kills and 12 digs against Illinois-Chicago, Aug. 30. Perinar posted a season-best 25 digs versus Virginia,Aug. 30, and totaled 53 digs and a .976 reception percentage with just two errors in 82 chances.

BRINER AND KRASOWSKI START THE YEAR RIGHT: Senior setter Jill Briner and redshirt junior middle blocker Katie Krasowski each produced successful starts to the 2014 campaign at last weekend's 2014 Thunder Invitational. For their efforts, both were named to the Thunder Invitational All-Tournament Team, while the Eagles went 2-1, falling to just Virginia.

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Players Mentioned

Jill Briner

Megan Crawshaw

Natalie Folk

Katie Krasowski

Stacey Perinar

Corynne Smith

Eastern Michigan Athletics