Eastern Michigan Athletics
Thursday, October 5
Convocation Center
7 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
vs
Central Michigan
Eastern Volleyball Hosts Central Michigan for Dig Pink Night Thursday
10/3/2017 1:54:00 PM | Volleyball
The Eagles take on the Chippewas Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. and play Ohio Oct. 7 at 5 p.m.
| Volleyball vs. Central Michigan & Ohio | |
|---|---|
| Date | Thursday, Oct. 5 - Saturday, Oct. 7 |
| Location | Ypsilanti, Mich. - Convocation Center |
| Game Notes | EMU Notes |
| Live Stats | vs. Central Michigan | vs. Ohio |
| Live Video | vs. Central Michigan | vs. Ohio |
| @EMUVolleyball | @EMUAthletics | |
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team welcomes Central Michigan University to town for its 2017 Dig Pink match at 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 5, and returns to Mid-American Conference action Saturday, Oct. 7 when it hosts Ohio University at 5 p.m.
EMU (10-10, 2-2 MAC) is coming off another 1-1 weekend in conference play, taking an exciting five-set match from Northern Illinois University. The Eagles followed up the victory Friday with a four set loss at Western Michigan Saturday.
DIG PINK
Thursday is a Pink Day Doubleheader at EMU Soccer and Volleyball. There will be a silent auction beginning at the soccer match against Bowling Green that will run through the end of halftime for fans to bid on items. Once the second half of soccer begins, the silent auction table will transition to the volleyball match at the Convo. Fans who bid on items at soccer will have to attend the volleyball match in order to claim their prize or continue to bid on the item. All proceeds benefit the Side-Out Foundation.
More information on the Side-Out Foundation can be found HERE.
This Thursday, @EMUVolleyball plays for more than just a victory.
— EMU Athletics (@EMUAthletics) October 3, 2017
Here's @kfergs on the importance of DIG PINK pic.twitter.com/YezPgtPyxQ
Redshirt sophomore Cassie Haut (Monroe, Mich.-St. Mary Catholic Central) put together one of her strongest outings of the season over the weekend, finishing with 2.56 kills per match and 10 total blocks. She led all Eagles with 23 kills, pin hitters with a .260 attack percentage, and set a season-high for blocks in a match with nine against Northern Illinois.
The Eagles also got a career-performance against NIU from senior Samantha Falco (Antioch, Ill.-Antioch Community), who set new highs in kills (11) and blocks (11). It was the second time this season that Falco reached double-digits in total blocks (had 10 in the opening weekend against Stony Brook). The double-double was the first of Falco's senior season.
Junior outside hitter Jordan Smith (Solon, Iowa-Solon) continues to lead the Eagles in total kills on the season (202) and kills per set (2.73). She's also averaging 2.35 digs per set, good for fourth on the team. The Solon, Iowa native is closing in on 800 career kills and 600 career digs.
Freshman Franki Strefling (Niles, Mich.-Buchanan) continues her gradual improvement in her first collegiate season, moving into second on the team in kills (191) and averaging 2.55 kills per set. The rookie has recorded double-digit kills in eight of the Eagles' last 10 matches, has five double-doubles on the season, and is averaging 2.53 digs per set.
Eastern Michigan surpassed its 2016 total for wins with its 3-0 victory over Toledo Sept. 23. The win over the Rockets was also the first at home for the Eagles, bringing their record at the Convocation Center to 1-2. Friday's road victory at Northern Illinois was EMU's first in DeKalb, Ill. since Nov. 11, 2014.
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 is 25-58 against Central Michigan in the all-time series, but has had the upper hand in recent history. The Eagles have a 20-17 record against the Chippewas since the 1999 season, including an 11-7 mark at home. CMU, however, has won each of the last three games against EMU.
Eastern trails Ohio by a considerable margin when it comes to the all-time series, holding a record of 16-37-1 against the Bobcats. The Eagles have lost 17 straight to Ohio, having last defeated OU 3-0 at home, Oct. 19, 2001.
CLIMBING THE RANKS
The 2017 season serves as a special opportunity for setter Mallory Rajewski (Midland, Mich.-Midland), 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 the ninth-place spot on the all-time list, passing Lauren Viney (2002-03), in a Sept. 22 loss to Ball State. She's just surpassed 1,700 assist mark and needs 98 more to reach 1,800. The junior currently trails eighth place by 261. 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 429 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.
SPREADING THE WEALTH
In EMU's 3-2 win over Northern Illinois Sept. 29, five individuals had 10 or more kills, a first since a 3-2 victory over Central Michigan in 2014. Setters Mallory Rajewski and Riley Taylor distributed the ball evenly among Franki Strefling (14), Cassie Haut (13), Jordan Smith (12), Samantha Falco (11) and Kelly Ferguson (11) in the Eagles' 3-2 win at NIU.
ON THE HORIZON
Eastern Michigan hits the road for a pair of MAC matchups, traveling to Bowling Green to take on the Falcons Friday, Oct. 13 at 5 p.m. The Eagles then head to Oxford, Ohio to take on Miami, Saturday, Oct. 14 at 5 p.m.
Players Mentioned
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MB/RS
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