Eagles Head to the Coast for a Trio of Matches

Volleyball at CofC Classic
Date:	September 9-10
Location:	Charleston, S.C. \| TD Arena
Weekly Notes:	EMU Notes
Live Stats:	vs. CSU \| vs. VCU \| vs. CofC

CHARLESTON, S.C. (EMUEagles.com) -- Currently riding a four-match losing streak, the Eastern Michigan University volleyball team looks to get back on track this weekend, Sept. 9-10, at the College of Charleston Classic.The Eagles (2-5) will compete in three matches in Charleston, S.C., first taking on Charleston Southern University Friday afternoon, Sept. 9, at 4:30 p.m. Eastern will follow up their contest versus CSU with a doubleheader Saturday, Sept. 10. The Green and White opens up the double dip with a 10:30 a.m. match against VCU before squaring off with the host Cougars that evening at 7 p.m.

All matches at the Classic will be played at TD Arena in Charleston. College of Charleston will be providing live stats for each match of the tournament, which can be found by following the links provided on the EMU volleyball schedule online at EMUEagles.com. There will be no live audio or video stream available for any of the Eagles' matches this weekend at the Classic.

ALL-TIME VERSUS CofC CLAASIC FIELD: Eastern Michigan has seen each of this weekend's opponents on the court prior to the 2016 campaign. In total, the Green and White is 3-1 versus the tournament field.

Against Charleston Southern, EMU holds a 2-0 record, defeating the Buccaneers first during their MAC West Championship season, 3-0, Sept. 2, 2005, before knocking off CSU, 3-1, in 2008.

The Eagles only loss against this weekend's field came to Virginia Commonwealth in the 2008 campaign. VCU topped Eastern Michigan, 3-1, Sept. 19.

Finally, the Green and White has met College of Charleston just one time, defeating the Cougars, 3-1, on Sept. 15, 2006.

TIES TO THE COAST: It will be a homecoming of sorts for each of the members of the Eastern Michigan volleyball coaching staff when the Eagles head to the College of Charleston Classic this weekend. Each of EMU's coaches have ties to the College of Charleston volleyball program. Second year head coach Kimi Olson spent five seasons as an assistant with the Cougars, a stint that saw CofC record three conference regular season championships and two conference tournament championships. Assistant coach Michael Shearer served as an assistant in the Holy City for two seasons, 2009-11, while Darcy Dorton graduated from the College of Charleston in 2014, earning three letters as a Cougar on her way to being named the Colonial Athletic Association's Player of the Year in 2013.

MASTODON PROBLEMS: Eastern Michigan dropped its fourth-straight match Tuesday night, Sept. 6, as the Fort Wayne Mastodons grounded the Eagles in three sets on Arnie Ball Court in Fort Wayne, Ind. EMU's offensive struggles continued as the Green and White hit at just an .092 clip, The Mastodons overpowered the Eagles, connecting at a .226 clip, despite Eastern racking up nine blocks on the night. Junior transfer Kelly Ferguson and freshman Alysa Sutton led EMU with six kills apiece. On the defensive end, the Eagles saw Samantha Falco pick up a career-best eight blocks, while both Mallory Rajewski and Sutton each grabbed 12 digs.

LAST WEEKEND ROUNDUP: The Buckeye State was not kind to the Green and White over the weekend, Sept. 2-3, as the Eagles dropped all three of their matches while splitting time at the Cleveland State Invite and the Golden Flashes Classic. In Cleveland, EMU was swept 3-0 by tournament host CSU before falling in a tight four-set match to Tennessee, 3-1. The Eagles closed out the weekend with a 3-0 loss to Wright State, Sept. 3.

SUTTON REELS IN RECOGNITION: Freshman Alysa Sutton shined for the Eagles over the weekend, Sept. 2-3, ultimately taking home Cleveland State Invite All-Tournament honors. In EMU's second match of the weekend, Sutton posted the first double-double of her career, registering a career-high 16 kills and 11 digs, both of which led the team. She rounded out her stat line with three assists, two aces, and a block against Tennessee. Then, in the Eagles' finial match of the weekend, Sutton posted her second double-double in as many matches. Hitting a team-best .320, Sutton tallied 11 kills and a career-high 13 digs to pace the Green and White. Overall, Sutton accounted for 35 points on the weekend and led the Eagles in kills (32) and ranked second on the team in digs (26).

ATTACKING WOES: Struggling to find consistency on attack has plagued the Eagles in the early part of the season. As a team, the Green and White is hitting at a .180 clip, the ninth-ranked attack in the MAC. Eastern is holding opponents to the fifth-lowest hitting percentage in the league at .213, but has hit above .250 in a match just twice, EMU's record has fallen to 2-5.

LOCKING DOWN A LIBERO: The EMU volleyball program saw one of the best liberos in program history graduate following the 2015 campaign. Corynne Smith finished her Eagle career with 2,119 digs, ranking third all-time in Eastern Michigan record book. Head coach Kimi Olson had an opportunity to give several players time at the spot over the first two weekends and looks like sophomore Alyssa LaFace has taken the lead in the race for the starting job. LaFace has registered a team-high 63 digs, along with a squad-best 2.86 digs per set.

EMU DUO EARNS ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS: Following a 2-1 performance at the Maryland Invite, the EMU volleyball team had two of its student-athletes named to the all-tournament team. Jordan Smith and Mallory Rajewski were recognized after their sensational starts to the season. Smith hit at a .395 clip while totaling 35 kills, 15 digs, seven blocks, and two aces. Rajewski churned out 68 assists, fueling the Eagles attack to a .241 attacking percentage, and added 14 digs and four kills.

STUFFING THE STAT SHEET: In Eastern Michigan's 3-1 win over Sacred Heart, Aug, 27, sophomore Jordan Smith filled up the stat sheet in a career day on the court. Smith paved the way for an Eagles attack that hit .288 in the match, cranking out 20 kills while boasting a .395 attacking percentage. Smith added five digs and four blocks to round out her stat line and fuel the Eagles to their first win of the 2016 season.

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 139 assists, pushing her career total to 933. That number ranks as the 15th-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.

SEVEN NEW EAGLES LAND IN YPSI: With Kimi Olson looking ahead to her second season at the helm of the EMU volleyball program, the New Castle, Ind. native has revamped the Eagles' roster with seven newcomers for the 2016 campaign. Olson added six freshmen to the roster in Mary Helen Beacom, Rachel Irbe, Ariel Hamby, Camille Schomer, Alysa Sutton and Riley Taylor, while junior middle blocker Kelly Ferguson joins Eastern Michigan after spending two seasons competing for Austin Peay University.

A LOT OF NUMBERS TO REPLACE: Head coach Kimi Olson will need to rely heavily on her newcomers. The Eagles lost five of their starters from a season ago, including its all-conference libero Corynne Smith. This season, the Green and White will need to replace multiple student-athletes ranked in the top-15 of multiple career statistical categories. Alyssa Davis ranks 12th in all-time digs, while Katie Krasowski and Kelsey Jones each rank in the top-15 in block assists. Stacey Perinar is 10th in kills, fourth in attack attempts and 14th in aces, while Smith ranks third all-time in digs.

QUICK LOOK BACK AT 2015: Under then first-year head coach Kimi Olson, the Eagles went 14-16 overall, while posting a 6-10 MAC record. Despite being on the outside looking in heading into the last weekend of the regular season, the Green and White were able to rattle off a pair of road victories to make it to the MAC Tournament. The Eagles had one route into the tournament and were able to make it happen by defeating Ball State, 3-1, before going five sets with Toledo, but squeaking out the victory in the Glass City.

EMU PICKED FIFTH IN THE WEST: After ballots were filled out by all of the head volleyball coaches in the Mid-American Conference, the EMU squad is slated to finish fifth in the MAC West Division. Northern Illinois was selected as the division favorite with 11 first place votes, while Miami ranks at the top of the MAC poll in the East Division after garnering nine first place votes. As for the predicted MAC Tournament Champions, Miami led the race with five votes to take the championship, while Northern Illinois received four, Kent State grabbed two and Western Michigan earned a single vote.

EMU VOLLEYBALL LIVE: With Eastern Michigan Athletics heading into its second season of production on ESPN3, while also utilizing Eagle All-Access for a seventh consecutive season, EMU volleyball fans will be able to watch 11 home matches over the web during the 2016 campaign. Currently, four matches are scheduled to appear live on ESPN3, while the remaining seven matches will air live on Eagle All-Access. The current home schedule is as follows:

Saturday, Sept. 17 - Colgate vs. Auburn at 11 a.m. (Eagle All-Access)
Saturday, Sept. 17 - vs. Auburn at 7 p.m. (Eagle All-Access)
Sunday, Sept. 18 - vs. Colgate at 1 p.m. (Eagle All-Access)
Friday, Sept. 30 - vs. Western Michigan at 7 p.m. (ESPN3)
Saturday, Oct. 1 - vs. Northern Illinois at 5 p.m. (Eagle All-Access)
Friday, Oct. 14 - vs. Bowling Green at 7 p.m. (Eagle All-Access)
Saturday, Oct. 15 - vs. Miami at 5 p.m. (Eagle All-Access)
Friday, Oct. 28 - vs. Ball State at Noon (ESPN3)
Saturday, Oct. 29 - vs. Toledo at 7:30 p.m. (Eagle All-Access)
Thursday, Nov. 10 - vs. Central Michigan at 7 p.m. (ESPN3)
Saturday, Nov. 12 - vs. Kent State at 5 p.m. (ESPN3)

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Players Mentioned

Mary Helen Beacom

Alyssa Davis

Samantha Falco

Kelly Ferguson

Ariel Hamby

Rachel Irbe

Kelsey Jones

Katie Krasowski

Alyssa LaFace

Stacey Perinar

Mallory Rajewski

Camille Schomer

Corynne Smith

Jordan Smith

Alysa Sutton

Riley Taylor

Eastern Michigan Athletics