EMU Volleyball Hosts Akron and Buffalo Homecoming Weekend

Volleyball vs. Akron & Buffalo
Date	Friday, Oct. 20 - Saturday, Oct. 21
Location	Ypsilanti, Mich. - Convocation Center
Game Notes	EMU Notes
Live Stats	vs. Akron \| vs. Buffalo
Live Video	vs. Akron \| vs. Buffalo
Twitter	@EMU Volleyball \| @EMUAthletics

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team returns to the Convocation Center for a pair of Mid-American Conference matches this weekend, welcoming the University of Akron Friday, Oct. 20 for a 7 p.m. match and returning to action Saturday, Oct. 21 when the Bulls of the University at Buffalo come to town for another 7 p.m. match.

EMU (10-14, 2-6 MAC) has lost five straight matches, with its last win coming Sept. 29 at Northern Illinois. The Eagles are just 1-4 at home this season, with their lone win coming in a 3-0 sweep against Toledo, Sept. 23.

Eastern put together a stellar defensive weekend playing against the top two teams in the MAC East standings. In the Eagles' four-set loss to Bowling Green, the Green and White had 10 blocks and averaged 23.8 digs per set. In Saturday's sweep by Miami, EMU once again put up 10 blocks and averaged 23.6 digs per set. For reference, the nation's leading average for digs per set by a team is 20.2.

Junior Jordan Smith (Solon, Iowa-Solon) continued her strong play all over the court, registering two more double-doubles to give her nine on the season and three in a row. She led the Eagles in kills in both matches over the weekend with 16 at Bowling Green and 14 at Miami. The Solon, Iowa native has finished with double-digit kills in five of the last six matches.

Setter Mallory Rajewski (Midland, Mich.-Midland) made an impact offensively and defensively over the weekend as well, averaging 7.0 assists and 4.8 digs per set. The Midland, Mich. native also set new season-highs in kills in each match, finishing with four against Bowling Green and topping that the next night with five at Miami.

The senior middle blocking duo of Kelly Ferguson (Lemont, Ill.-Lemont) and Samantha Falco (Antioch, Ill.-Antioch Community) were impressive compliments to each other over the weekend, with Ferguson finishing with 15 kills and Falco 18 blocks in the Eagles' two games. Ferguson is second in the MAC in attack percentage (.382) and Falco leads the conference in total blocks (103).

Eastern Michigan surpassed its 2016 total for wins with its 3-0 victory over Toledo Sept. 23 and needs one more MAC win to equal last season's mark. Fans can follow the games via live stats through the links found on the volleyball schedule page of EMUEagles.com. Additionally, the action on the court will be live-tweeted from the team's account, @EMUVolleyball.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE OPPONENTS: Eastern Michigan and Akron have had a close history since their first meeting, with the Zips holding a 19-17 advantage in the series. The Eagles have a 10-9 record against Akron since the 1999 season, including having won five of the last seven meetings. Eastern has dominated the series with Buffalo over the course of history, holding a record of 18-3 against the Bulls all-time. UB has held the advantage in the series of late, however, winning both of its previous two meetings with EMU.

CLIMBING THE RANKS: The 2017 season serves as a special opportunity for setter Mallory Rajewski, as the junior is quickly climbing the Eagle ranks in career assists. In her third season with the Green and White, the Midland, Mich. native moved into ninth-place on the all-time list, passing Lauren Viney (2002-03), in a Sept. 22 loss to Ball State. She's surpassed 1,800 assist mark and needs 87 more to reach 1,800. The junior currently trails eighth place by 150. After a 2015 campaign in which she tallied the fifth-most assists by a freshman (747), Rajewski totaled 479 assists in 2016 and already has 540 in 2017.

Also making her way up the Eastern Michigan record books this season is junior Jordan Smith, who collected her 700th kill Sept. 29 at Northern Illinois. The Solon, Iowa native has averaged over 233 kills per season in her first two years, and is already at 202 in 2017. She is 257 kills away from joining the Eagles' Top 15.

BLOCK PARTY: Not only are the Eagles' the MAC leaders in blocks per set (2.48), the senior middle blocking duo of Samantha Falco and Kelly Ferguson are each in the top three of blocks per set. Falco is currently in second place in the conference with an average of 1.18 blocks per set, while Ferguson sits in third place with a 1.06 average. As a team, EMU eclipsed its 2016 block total in just 19 matches this season, roaring past its mark of 179.5 blocks with a 17-block performance against Northern Illinois, Sept. 29.

MAC TOURNAMENT PICTURE: EMU is currently on the outside looking in at the MAC Tournament picture. At 2-6 in conference play, the Eagles are tied with Akron, Kent State, and Central Michigan at the bottom of the standings with eight games to play.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern Michigan hits the road for a crucial two-match swing beginning at 7 p.m., Friday, Oct. 27 at the University of Toledo. After taking on the Rockets, the Eagles head to Muncie, Ind. to play Ball State Saturday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Samantha Falco

Kelly Ferguson

Mallory Rajewski

Jordan Smith

Eastern Michigan Athletics