Volleyball Defeats Central Michigan in Home Opener

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YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) — The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team began the home portion of their 2015 schedule Thursday, Oct. 1, with a win against Central Michigan University, 3-1, in the Eagles' (9-7, 1-2 MAC) first home match of the 2015 campaign. Eastern used 25-19, 21-25, 25-18 and 25-22 decisions to mark its first Mid-American Conference victory of the year. The win marks the first of two matches with the Chippewas (6-10, 1-2 MAC) this season, as the second will take place in Mount Pleasant, Mich., Nov. 6.

Stacey Perinar (Channahon, Ill.-Minooka Community) and Jordan Smith (Solon, Iowa-Solon) paced the Eagles' offense pouring in 15 and 14 kills, respectively, leading EMU to it .275 attack percentage. In addition, Devon Murray (Shelby, Ohio-Shelby) added 10 kills on 29 attempts, with just one error, good for a .310 average, while middle blockers Katie Krasowski (Oak Lawn, Ill.-Marist) and Cassie Haut (Monroe, Mich.-St. Mary's Catholic Central) notched seven and six kills of their own. Mallory Rajewski (Midland, Mich.-Midland) posted a career-best 41 assists, in addition to 11 digs and a season-best two kills. Corynne Smith (Norwalk, Ohio-St. Paul) continued to anchor the EMU defense with a match-high 23 digs, while Haut stuffed the Chips on four occasions with four block assists.

The Eagles held Central Michigan to a .241 attack percentage. CMU's stars of the match were Taylor Robertson with 16 kills and Jordan Bueter who grabbed 12 kills, 10 digs and a pair of solo blocks. Central's setter, Kathia Sanchez, posted 41 assists to match Rajewski's, while Jamison Wolffis grabbed 21 digs from the Chippewas' libero position.

The match began with Eastern racing to a quick, 5-1 lead behind kills from Haut and Murray. The Eagles continued to hold onto the lead, but could not gain any ground, as back and forth play kept the score close. The Chips closed the EMU lead to 12-10, but the Green and White, led by Jordan Smith with two kills and one assist, forced CMU to take a timeout with the score sitting at 16-12. A nice finesse move from Perinar put Eastern up 18-14, but a long volley that ended up favoring CMU kept the Chips in the set. However, an ace from Corynne Smith forced CMU to call their second timeout. From that point, the Eagles closed out the set with a score of 25-19.

EMU began the second set with a quick kill from Jordan Smith, but CMU pulled ahead early on. A long volley then led to a Murray kill, but EMU was still down, 4-2. The Eagles went on to tie the score, 4-4, but could not take the lead. Jordan Smith continued her solid play, but a sneaky kill by Central's Sanchez put the Chippewas up 10-7, leading to an Eagles timeout. The Chips continued to build their lead, culminating in a score of 14-7, but the Eagles trimmed it down to 16-11 behind an ace from Krasowski. From that point on, the Eagles kept it relatively close, but could not close out the set, as CMU won the second set by a score of 25-21.

The third set began with more back and forth play, but the Green and White managed to take an early 5-3 lead. Central roared back to tie it up at nine points each, but solid kills from Perinar and a CMU serving error gave the lead back to EMU, 14-10. The Eagles continued to cling to the lead, but the Chips kept it close. However, CMU was unable to capitalize and a kill from Murray ultimately sealed the set, 25-18, in favor of the Eagles.

The fourth set began with a long volley, which led to an Eagles point off the bat. However, the teams continued to trade points and tied the set at 3-3. An Eagle kill broke the tie, but CMU quickly answered and jumped ahead, 6-5. Mallory Rajewski answered with a sneaky kill of her own, tying the match at eight points. The Eagles continued to trade points, but Haut and Jordan Smith came up with a big block to put the Green and White out front, 11-10. The Chips managed to retake the lead, culminating in a score of 17-15 CMU, but they did not hold that position for long. Behind another long volley ending in EMU's favor, the Eagles increased their lead to 23-20. CMU managed to cut the lead yet again to 23-22, but EMU fought off the late rally and took the set, 25-22, as well as the match.

Eastern Michigan continues their 2015 season at home against Ohio University Saturday, Oct. 3, with the match slated to begin at 5 p.m. Following the tilt with the Bobcats (13-3, 3-0 MAC), the Eagles remain at home next week for EMU's Homecoming Weekend with contests against the University of Toledo, Oct. 9, and Ball State University, Oct. 10.

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Team Stats

Stacey Perinar

Jordan Smith

Devon Murray

Katie Krasowski

Players Mentioned

Cassie Haut

Katie Krasowski

Devon Murray

Stacey Perinar

Mallory Rajewski

Corynne Smith

Jordan Smith

Players Mentioned

Cassie Haut

Katie Krasowski

Devon Murray

Stacey Perinar

Mallory Rajewski

Corynne Smith

Jordan Smith

Eastern Michigan Athletics