Eagles Take to the Road for Cross Divisional Contests

Volleyball at Akron and Buffalo
Date:	Friday, Oct. 21 at Akron \| Saturday, Oct. 22 at Buffalo
Location:	Akron, Ohio \| Buffalo, N.Y.
Weekly Notes:	EMU Notes
Live Stats:	at Akron \| at Buffalo
Watch Live:	at Akron \| at Buffalo

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- Currently riding a five-match losing streak, the Eastern Michigan University volleyball team hits the road to continue Mid-American Conference action. Following a two-loss weekend, the Eagles (7-14, 2-6 MAC) look to right the ship as they head into a pair of MAC cross divisional matches against the University of Akron and the University at Buffalo.

The #MACtion continues Friday night, Oct. 21, when the Green and White travel to MAC East foe Akron. The Zips (5-15, 0-8 MAC) come into the contest after a five-set loss at MAC West leading Northern Illinois Saturday, Oct. 15. The match is scheduled for 7 p.m. at James A. Rhodes Arena. Friday evening's contest can be streamed live on Akron Zips All-Access at GoZips.com. Following their match with UA, the Eagles will square off with the Buffalo Bulls. The Bulls (2-19, 1-7 MAC) have won just two games this season and most recently dropped a four-set contest to Western Michigan in Kalamazoo, Mich. That match is slated for 6 p.m. at Alumni Arena in Buffalo, N.Y.

ALL-TIME VERSUS THIS WEEKEND'S OPPONENTS: After four weekends of Mid-American Conference play in the books, the Eagles trek out east for a pair of cross-divisional matches on the road. In all, the Green and White has met this weekend's opponents a total of 55 times, holding a 34-21 record against UA and UB.

EXAMINING THE ZIPS: Eastern Michigan will begin the weekend with MAC East foe Akron on Friday night. The Eagles and Zips have met on the hardwood 34 times. The series is pretty even between the two squads, but the Green and White trail, 16-19. A year ago, the Eagles met the Zips on a single occasion, with Eastern coming away on the wrong end of a 3-1 decision at the Convocation Center. In fact, Akron and Eastern Michigan have split their last eight meetings.

BESTING THE BULLS: Through the all-time series between Eastern Michigan and Buffalo, the Eagles have owned the 20-game set. The Green and White have dropped just two matches versus Buffalo. Last season, the Eagles fell in five sets at the Convocation Center, Oct. 23, but won five-straight prior to that. The last loss before the 2015 campaign came during the 2009 season when the Bulls defeated Eastern, 3-1.

WEEKEND ROUNDUP: Eastern posted a 0-2 record when it completed the fourth weekend of Mid-American Conference play. The Eagles returned home for both matches, first falling in three sets to Bowling Green, Oct. 14, before welcoming the MAC East leading Miami RedHawks to the Convocation Center Saturday, Oct. 15. The RedHawks were able to walk away from Ypsilanti with a victory, but not before EMU became just the second MAC team to take a set away from MU.

ROAD WOES: Like most teams in intercollegiate athletics, EMU has had much less success on the road. So far this season, the Eagles are 1-8 in true road matches. In the history of the program, the Green and White maintains a 183-265 overall record away from Ypsilanti. In addition to that number, Eastern Michigan holds just a 100-164 mark away from the Convo. Last year, EMU went 5-8 in true road matches.

COMFORTS OF THE CONVO: Since beginning play in 1976, Eastern Michigan has compiled a 227-168 record on their home court, highlighted by a 116-81 mark since moving to the Convocation Center in 1998.

ALUMNI ARENA ADVANTAGE: Eastern holds an 18-2 all-time record versus the University at Buffalo. With that being said, the Eagles have never lost at Alumni Arena during the course of the series. The only two losses to UB have come at the Convocation Center, while EMU has gone 10-0 in Buffalo.

TIME TO STRIKE: With the Eagles opening up a weekend on the road against a struggling Akron squad, they will look to take advantage in hopes of snapping their five-match losing streak. The Zips have lost eight in a row, picking up their last win, Sept. 17, when they defeated Winthrop, 3-0, at the West Virginia Invitational in Morgantown, W. Va.

AN EARLY LOOK AT THE MAC TOURNAMENT: The way things currently stand, the EMU volleyball team would be on the outside looking in for the 2016 MAC Volleyball Tournament. Halfway through the MAC season, the Eagles hold a 2-6 record, which is tied for ninth-best in the conference. Additionally, with Central Michigan defeating the Green and White earlier this season, the Chippewas hold a tiebreaker over EMU, putting Eastern in 10th currently. Miami and Northern Illinois are tied for the top spot, while Ohio holds the third seed. Bowling Green and Toledo are currently tied for fourth, while Ball State and Kent State hold the sixth and seventh spots, respectively. Finally, Western Michigan is in the eighth position as of right now.

OFFENSIVE STRUGGLES: The Eastern Michigan offense has struggled so far this season. In fact, the squad ranks 11th in the conference in hitting percentage (.175), assists (11.15/set) and kills (11.90/set).

TAYLOR HAS TAKEN OVER: Although both freshman Riley Taylor and redshirt sophomore Mallory Rajewski have been starting matches as of late, Taylor has become the Green and White's main setter since starting Mid-American Conference play. Overall, Taylor is posting 29.75 assists per match and 7.00 assists per set.

ALREADY IN THE RANKS: Redshirt sophomore setter Mallory Rajewski racked up 794 assists in her first year competing for the Green and White. This season, Rajewski has registered 280 assists, pushing her career total to 1,210. That number ranks as the 12th-most in Eastern Michigan history. Rajewski does have quite a bit of ground to make up, as Kate Sulewski holds the all-time career assists record with 5,474.

ON THE HORIZON: After hitting the road for a pair of Mid-American Conference cross-divisional matches this weekend, Oct. 21-22, the Eagles will return to Ypsilanti again next weekend. EMU will take on Ball State Friday, Oct. 28, before hosting Toledo, Saturday, Oct. 29. Both match times are different than a normal EMU volleyball weekend as the Friday contest is set for noon and the Saturday matchup is slated for 8 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Mallory Rajewski

Riley Taylor

Eastern Michigan Athletics