Eastern Michigan Athletics
Friday, October 23
Convocation Center
7 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
vs
Buffalo
Photo by: EMU Athletics/Chloe Smith
Eastern Returns for a Four Match Homestand
10/21/2015 4:10:00 PM | Volleyball
EMU opens the homestand with Buffalo and Akron
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YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- Eastern Michigan University's volleyball team returns to the Convocation Center for a pair of Mid-American Conference cross divisional matchups this weekend, Oct. 23-24. The Eagles (12-9, 4-4 MAC) are beginning to jocky for position at the 2015 MAC Volleyball Tournament, Nov. 20-22, at Ohio University.
EMU will square off with the University at Buffalo Friday night, Oct. 23. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. at the Convo. The Bulls (3-17, 2-6 MAC) are coming off of a 3-2 loss to Northern Illinois University and is looking for their first win versus a MAC West opponent. The match will mark the 20th in the history between the two programs.
The Green and White will then host the University of Akron on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 5 p.m. Eastern welcomes the Zips (7-14, 1-7 MAC) to Ypsilanti for the 35th meeting in the history of the two programs.
STAMPEDING THE BULLS: The Eagles and Buffalo have met on the hardwood 19 times in the history of each program. EMU has been dominant in that series, boasting an 18-1 advantage in the all-time series. Last season, the Green and White came away with a five set victory in Buffalo, N.Y., Oct. 24.
The Bulls have begun Mid-American Conference play 2-6, and sit fourth in the MAC East Division behind Ohio, Miami and Kent State. UB's offense is led by Megan Lipski who has totaled 223 kills on the season, good for 3.05 per frame, the eighth-most in the MAC. The Bulls run their offense through Marissa Prinzbach who leads the squad with 567 assists, good for 9.30 per set, the sixth-highest total in the MAC. Defensively, Lipski leads Buffalo with 229 digs and an average of 3.14 per set, while Tessa Ooyama add 3.03 per frame. Cassie Shado leads Buffalo at the net with 1.05 blocks per set, while Amber Hatchett is posting 0.93 per frame.
ZIPPITY DOO DAH: Akron and Eastern Michigan have had a closely contested series history in 34 matches. The Eagles trail the Zips 16-18, including a sweeping victory for EMU last season in Akron, Ohio.
Akron comes into Saturday's contest riding the proverbial "struggle bus", dropping its last seven matches in a row. The Zips hold an 7-14 record this year, while owning a 1-7 record in Mid-American Conference play. Akron's lone MAC victory came against Buffalo to open its conference schedule, Sept. 24. Amanda Bedell leads the Zips' offense with 204 kills, while Karley Kusan and Ashley Holder have split time setting. Kusan averages 6.24 assists per frame, while Holder posts a 4.50 mark. Brenna Mack paces the Zips in digs with a 2.73 average, while Kelsey Wilson is Akron's best blocker, posting 0.77 per frame.
MAKING HER MARK: Following last weekend, senior outside hitter Stacey Perinar has upped her career kill total to 997. With her next three kills, Perinar will become the 14th Eagle in the history of EMU volleyball to reach the 1,000-kill plateau. She will also be the first since the 2013 campaign when both Paige Roback and Erin Short each notched their 1,000th kills as seniors.
CHASING 2,000: Senior libero Corynne Smith has put together an extremely successful career at Eastern Michigan. Smith is already fourth on the all-time digs list and will move into third with just 13 more digs this season. Smith currently has 1,884 digs for her career. If she can grab 116 more this year, the Norwalk, Ohio native will become just the third student-athlete in EMU histroy to record 2,000 digs.
SOLVING THE SETTER DISPUTE: Heading into Mid-American Conference play, the Eagles were splitting time between senior Alyssa Davis and redshirt freshman Mallory Rajewski at the setter position. Following running a two-setter offense through the first 15 matches of the 2015 season, it looks as though Rajewski has earned the nod at setter, starting each match since the Oct. 1 contest versus Central Michigan. Through six matches, the Green and White is 4-2 and the Midland, Mich. native is averaging 9.70 assists per frame which would be fourth-best in the conference.
OLSON LOOKING TO JOIN ELITE COMPANY: First-year Head Coach Kimi Olson is the eighth coach in Eastern Michigan volleyball history. Currently sporting a 12-9 record, Olson is attempting to become just the third coach to open their tenure by putting together a winning record in the first season. Dennis Caldwell, EMU's head coach in its inaugural season of varsity volleyball, posted a 15-10-2 record in 1976, while eight-year head coach Nona Richardson posted a 14-11 record during the 1988 campaign.
ANOTHER WEEKLY HONOR FOR SMITH: Senior libero Corynne Smith was rewarded by the Mid-American Conference with her third MAC West Defensive Player of the Year award, Oct. 13. Smith helped the Eagles to a perfect 2-0 weekend, Oct. 9-10, to help the Green and White celebrate the university's 95th annual homecoming. Smith posted a .971 reception percentage throughout the weekend, making just one reception error in 34 attempts. Her exceptional receiving play was highlighted by a total of 41 digs in EMU's two MAC matches. Overall, Smith averaged 5.86 digs per set, including posting 7.25 per set in Eastern's four-set win over Ball State. Her 5.86 digs per set over the weekend is more than 0.40 digs per frame better than the MAC's current leader's overall number this season.
EMU will square off with the University at Buffalo Friday night, Oct. 23. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. at the Convo. The Bulls (3-17, 2-6 MAC) are coming off of a 3-2 loss to Northern Illinois University and is looking for their first win versus a MAC West opponent. The match will mark the 20th in the history between the two programs.
The Green and White will then host the University of Akron on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 5 p.m. Eastern welcomes the Zips (7-14, 1-7 MAC) to Ypsilanti for the 35th meeting in the history of the two programs.
STAMPEDING THE BULLS: The Eagles and Buffalo have met on the hardwood 19 times in the history of each program. EMU has been dominant in that series, boasting an 18-1 advantage in the all-time series. Last season, the Green and White came away with a five set victory in Buffalo, N.Y., Oct. 24.
The Bulls have begun Mid-American Conference play 2-6, and sit fourth in the MAC East Division behind Ohio, Miami and Kent State. UB's offense is led by Megan Lipski who has totaled 223 kills on the season, good for 3.05 per frame, the eighth-most in the MAC. The Bulls run their offense through Marissa Prinzbach who leads the squad with 567 assists, good for 9.30 per set, the sixth-highest total in the MAC. Defensively, Lipski leads Buffalo with 229 digs and an average of 3.14 per set, while Tessa Ooyama add 3.03 per frame. Cassie Shado leads Buffalo at the net with 1.05 blocks per set, while Amber Hatchett is posting 0.93 per frame.
ZIPPITY DOO DAH: Akron and Eastern Michigan have had a closely contested series history in 34 matches. The Eagles trail the Zips 16-18, including a sweeping victory for EMU last season in Akron, Ohio.
Akron comes into Saturday's contest riding the proverbial "struggle bus", dropping its last seven matches in a row. The Zips hold an 7-14 record this year, while owning a 1-7 record in Mid-American Conference play. Akron's lone MAC victory came against Buffalo to open its conference schedule, Sept. 24. Amanda Bedell leads the Zips' offense with 204 kills, while Karley Kusan and Ashley Holder have split time setting. Kusan averages 6.24 assists per frame, while Holder posts a 4.50 mark. Brenna Mack paces the Zips in digs with a 2.73 average, while Kelsey Wilson is Akron's best blocker, posting 0.77 per frame.
MAKING HER MARK: Following last weekend, senior outside hitter Stacey Perinar has upped her career kill total to 997. With her next three kills, Perinar will become the 14th Eagle in the history of EMU volleyball to reach the 1,000-kill plateau. She will also be the first since the 2013 campaign when both Paige Roback and Erin Short each notched their 1,000th kills as seniors.
CHASING 2,000: Senior libero Corynne Smith has put together an extremely successful career at Eastern Michigan. Smith is already fourth on the all-time digs list and will move into third with just 13 more digs this season. Smith currently has 1,884 digs for her career. If she can grab 116 more this year, the Norwalk, Ohio native will become just the third student-athlete in EMU histroy to record 2,000 digs.
SOLVING THE SETTER DISPUTE: Heading into Mid-American Conference play, the Eagles were splitting time between senior Alyssa Davis and redshirt freshman Mallory Rajewski at the setter position. Following running a two-setter offense through the first 15 matches of the 2015 season, it looks as though Rajewski has earned the nod at setter, starting each match since the Oct. 1 contest versus Central Michigan. Through six matches, the Green and White is 4-2 and the Midland, Mich. native is averaging 9.70 assists per frame which would be fourth-best in the conference.
OLSON LOOKING TO JOIN ELITE COMPANY: First-year Head Coach Kimi Olson is the eighth coach in Eastern Michigan volleyball history. Currently sporting a 12-9 record, Olson is attempting to become just the third coach to open their tenure by putting together a winning record in the first season. Dennis Caldwell, EMU's head coach in its inaugural season of varsity volleyball, posted a 15-10-2 record in 1976, while eight-year head coach Nona Richardson posted a 14-11 record during the 1988 campaign.
ANOTHER WEEKLY HONOR FOR SMITH: Senior libero Corynne Smith was rewarded by the Mid-American Conference with her third MAC West Defensive Player of the Year award, Oct. 13. Smith helped the Eagles to a perfect 2-0 weekend, Oct. 9-10, to help the Green and White celebrate the university's 95th annual homecoming. Smith posted a .971 reception percentage throughout the weekend, making just one reception error in 34 attempts. Her exceptional receiving play was highlighted by a total of 41 digs in EMU's two MAC matches. Overall, Smith averaged 5.86 digs per set, including posting 7.25 per set in Eastern's four-set win over Ball State. Her 5.86 digs per set over the weekend is more than 0.40 digs per frame better than the MAC's current leader's overall number this season.
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