EMU Travels to Wyoming for UniWyo Invitational

Volleyball at UniWyo Invitational
Date	Friday-Saturday, Sept. 1-2
Location	Laramie, Wyo. - UniWyo Sports Complex
Game Notes	EMU Notes
Live Stats	at Wyoming \| vs. Purdue \| vs. Jacksonville
Live Video	at Wyoming
Twitter	@EMU Volleyball \| @EMUAthletics

LARAMIE, Wyo. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team returns to action in the second week of the season with three matches at the UniWyo Invitational, hosted by the University of Wyoming, Sept. 1-2.
EMU's weekend gets underway with a matchup against the host Wyoming Cowgirls Friday, Sept. 1 at 8:30 p.m. The Eagles will return to action Saturday, Sept. 2 with Purdue at 12 p.m. and then conclude play for the weekend with a 7 p.m. match against Jacksonville.
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.

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING: The Eagles will make their way to the Cowboy State for a match for the first time in program history this weekend. Since 1983, Eastern Michigan volleyball has not had a single player from the state of Wyoming. Saturday's match against Purdue also marks the first time the Eagles will play the Boilermakers in program history.
EMU will travel over 1,240 miles to get to Laramie, Wyo. for the weekend's games, nearly four times the distance as its farthest Mid-American Conference matchup (Northern Illinois, 312 miles).

2017 CAPTAINS: Leading the Green and White for the 2017 campaign are senior Kelly Ferguson and redshirt sophomore Cassie Haut. The two will be serving as EMU's team captains for the first time in their careers.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE OPPONENTS: EMU goes into the second weekend of the year knowing it will face three unfamiliar opponents, having only played Jacksonville before the 2017 season and playing both Wyoming and Purdue for the first time.
Eastern Michigan last played Jacksonville Sept. 18, 2015, when they took down the Dolphins 3-0 at the Flyer Tournament, hosted by the University of Dayton. The other two match-ups in history date back to the early 2000's, when EMU traveled to Jacksonville and came out with a pair of 3-0 wins in 2002 and 2005.
Though EMU has previously played both Wyoming and Purdue in other sports (most recently football and women's basketball, respectively), the volleyball team has never played the Cowgirls or Boilermakers.

FALCO NAMED MAC WEST DEFENSIVE POW: Eagles' senior Samantha Falco was named the Mid-American Conference West Division Defensive Player of the Week Monday, Aug. 28. Falco put together a strong performance on the first day of the Butler Tournament, finishing with 15 total blocks in matches against Oakland and Robert Morris. The senior's six-block, four-kill performance against Oakland was backed up by a nine-block, six-kill showing against Robert Morris.
The Illinois native followed up the first day's performance with 13 more blocks against Stony Brook and Butler on day two. Her 10 block performance against Stony Brook was the second double-digit block effort by Falco in her career, having done it against Buffalo in 2016.
In total, Falco averaged 7.0 total blocks per match while also adding 21 kills and five solo blocks in the four matches.

NEWCOMERS: Four new Eagles were added to the 2017 team in the form of Polk State transfer Alejandra Sanabria and incoming freshmen, Carissa Spalt, Franki Strefling, and April Houston.
Sanabria spent two seasons at Polk State before signing her NLI to join the EMU volleyball program, giving her two more years of eligibility. As a sophomore, Sanabria appeared in all 35 matches for the Eagles. Hitting at a .258 clip, the 6-foot tall middle blocker notched 0.77 kills per set, while recording 0.87 blocks per set. Her 111 total blocks ranked second on the team and she also appeared in the second-most sets of any member of the 2016 Polk State team. Prior to traveling to Lakeland, Fla. to compete for Polk State, Sanabria was a four-time varsity letterwinner at Monarch High School in Coconut Creek, Fla. She was named to the all-county team following her senior season as a Knight, where she averaged 1.3 blocks, while notching 1.8 kills per set, and attacked at a .369 clip
Spalt, a Sabino High School product, has an impressive list of recognitions including: AIA Honorable Mention, First Team AIA All-Section, First Team AIA All-Region, AIA Regional Offensive Player of the Year, AIA All-Conference First Team Selection and an AVCA Player of the Week award. She was also named Max Prep's leader in kills per set for the state of Arizona in the 2016 season.
Strefling and Houston were both four-year letterwinners for their respective high schools.

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. Rajewski currently sits at 12th all-time in total assits with 1,368. After a 2015 campaign in which she tallied the fifth-most assists by a freshman (747), Rajewski totaled 479 assists in 2016. The Midland, Mich. native enters the weekend 120 short of the 11th-place mark set by Alyssa Davis.

PETER WINTERS ASSUMES NEW ROLE: After serving as a volunteer assistant coach in the spring, Peter Winters was promoted to a full time assistant coach earlier this fall.
Prior to joining Olson's staff, Winters served as the Director of Training, Recruiting, and Coordinator and National Team Coach for the Huron Valley Volleyball Club in Saline, Mich. Winters began his volleyball coaching career as an assistant at the University of Michigan-Dearborn for the 2014-15 season. There, he organized and maintained inventory of equipment, coordinated team meals, oversaw video operations, and assisted the head coach with recruiting and talent evaluation. Before getting his start as a volleyball coach, Winters was the Head Swim Coach and Assistant Pool Manager at Forestbrooke Athletic Club and a Development Coach at LumberJack Aquatics, accumulating more than five years of coaching experience Winters graduated from Northern Arizona University in 2013 with a degree in parks and recreation management. He currently resides in Ann Arbor.

TEN-HUT!: Head Coach Kimi Olson had an interesting opportunity to attend a Marine Corps coaching workshop in Quantico, Va. last May. Olson was one of only five Division I coaches to be selected for the conference. The four-day workshop was created to teach coaches how Marine Officers are recruited, screened, and developed into leaders. CONTINUED ON PAGE FOUR Olson was put through various physical training, obstacle courses, leadership reaction courses, and even martial arts/combat demos.

RETURN OF HAUT: Cassie Haut, the rising star, was redshirted in 2016 after sustaining an injury. Using the season to recover, the redshirt sophomore is poised to return to her position as a leader on the team. In 2015, Haut was able to make an immediate impact as a freshman, ranking near the top of the team in multiple categories and earning All-MAC Freshman Team honors. The middle blocker led the team and ranked 10th in the MAC in blocks per set (0.85) and ranked second on the team in kills (221), points (275.5) and points per set (2.53), as well as third in kills per set (2.03) and hitting percentage (.218), and fourth in total attacks (537). Throughout the season she had nine different matches with double-digit kills, two of which with at least 15. The then-freshman appeared in all 30 matches, starting in 17 of them, earning MAC West Offensive Player of the Year honors in November.

EXPERIENCE AT MIDDLE BLOCKER: The positional group with the most experience is undoubtedly the middle blockers, as the position is home to EMU's pair of seniors in Kelly Ferguson and Samantha Falco. The position also includes redshirt sophomore Cassie Haut, incoming junior Alejandra Sanabria and freshman April Houston.
Falco and Ferguson are both coming off career seasons. In the 2016 campaign, Falco set career highs in kills (116), attacking percentage (.205), assists (2), solo blocks (17), block assists (56), and total blocks (76). Her 76 total blocks led the Green and White. Ferguson started all 29 matches in her first year at EMU. She racked up 214 kills and 59 blocks, the third and second most on the team, respectively.

DEPTH AT LIBERO: After seeing one of Eastern Michigan's all-time greatest liberos leave the team in form of Corynne Smith in 2015, the Eagles were in search of a replacement last season and had to rely on a group of newcomers to assume the role. Stepping into the position were then-sophomore Alyssa LaFace and then-freshman Camille Schomer. The two successfully filled the big shoes, as LaFace ranked seventh in the MAC and led the team in digs with 405 over 27 matches played. LaFace also led the Eagles in digs per set with 4.09 and ranked third on the team in assists with 83. Although LaFace saw majority of the playing time, Schomer played a strong supporting role, recording 122 digs, and ranking second in digs per set (2.35) over 20 matches.

SPECIAL JUNIOR CLASS: The Eastern Michigan volleyball team has talent in every class, however, the junior class may be the frontrunners in terms of combined experience, talent, and statistical leaders. To start, redshirt junior setter Mallory Rajewski enters the 2017 season ranked 12th in EMU history in career assists with 1,273. Last season, Rajewski appeared in 28 matches, recording career highs in attacking percentage (.258), aces (21), and blocks (13).
Another student-athlete with a career season in 2016 was junior outside hitter Jordan Smith. Smith started 24 of a possible 29 matches last season, setting career-highs in double-doubles (8), kills (326), attacking percentage (.153), aces (18), digs (209), blocks (31), and points (362). Her kills total ranked eighth in the MAC and first on the team, while her point total was also a team-high.
Alyssa LaFace brings experience as a defensive specialist, as she played in 27 matches last season, leading the Green and White in digs (405), and digs per set (4.09). LaFace also tallied 83 assists and 12 aces, which ranked third and sixth on the team, respectively.
Junior Alejandra Sanabria will be in her first year donning the Green and White this season, however she brings collegiate experience from her former school, Polk State. As a sophomore, Sanabria tallied 0.77 kills per set with a .258 hitting percentage, while also providing excellent defensive support, totalling 111 blocks, which was good for second on her team.

EMU VOLLEYBALL LIVE: With Eastern Michigan Athletics heading into its third season of production on ESPN3, while also utilizing Eagle All-Access for an eighth consecutive season, EMU volleyball fans will be able to watch nine home matches over the web during the 2017 campaign. Currently, six matches are scheduled to appear live on ESPN3, while the remaining three matches will air live on Eagle All-Access.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Samantha Falco

Kelly Ferguson

Cassie Haut

April Houston

Alyssa LaFace

Mallory Rajewski

Alejandra Sanabria

Camille Schomer

Jordan Smith

Carissa Spalt

Franki Strefling

Eastern Michigan Athletics