EMU Volleyball Hits the Road for Pair of MAC West Matchups

Volleyball at Northern Illinois & Western Michigan
Date	Friday, Sept. 29 - Saturday, Sept. 30
Location	DeKalb, Ill. - Victor E. Court Kalamazoo, Mich. - Read Fieldhouse/University Arena
Game Notes	EMU Notes
Live Stats	at Northern Illinois \| at Western Michigan
Live Video
Twitter	@EMU Volleyball \| @EMUAthletics

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team returns to Mid-American Conference play this weekend, traveling west to take on Northern Illinois University (7 p.m., Fri. Sept. 29) and then Western Michigan (3:30 p.m., Sat. Sept. 30).
EMU (9-9, 1-1 MAC) is coming off a 1-1 weekend to open up conference play, giving MAC West preseason favorite Ball State a run for its money Friday, before falling 3-1. The Eagles followed up the loss with a convincing sweep of Toledo.

Senior Kelly Ferguson (Lemont, Ill.-Lemont) had a strong weekend for the Green and White, finishing with 2.57 kills per set and 1.57 blocks per set in EMU's two matches. She hit at a .326 clip, second to only fellow senior and middle blocker Samantha Falco (Antioch, Ill.-Antioch Community). Junior libero Alyssa LaFace (Allen Park, Mich.-Allen Park) set a modern-era record for digs in a three-set match against Toledo, putting up 24 (8.00 per set) in the Eastern victory.

Junior outside hitter Jordan Smith (Solon, Iowa-Solon) continues to lead the Eagles in total kills on the season (180) and kills per set (2.77). She's also averaging 2.38 digs per set, good for fourth on the team. Freshman Franki Strefling (Niles, Mich.-Buchanan) continues to improve in her first season, moving into second on the team in kills (170) and averaging 2.58 kills per set. The rookie has recorded double-digit kills in seven of the Eagles' last eight matches, has four double-doubles on the season, and is averaging 2.47 digs per set.

Eastern Michigan surpassed its 2016 total for wins with its 3-0 victory over Toledo. The win over the Rockets was also the first at home for the Eagles, bringing their record at the Convocation Center to 1-2.

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 holds a 22-33 all-time record against Northern Illinois, and have lost seven of their last eight against the Huskies. The lone win for the Eagles came in DeKalb, Nov. 15, 2014, when EMU came out on top in five sets.
The Green and White haven't had much success against Western Michigan in its history, compiling a 22-63 record all-time. Eastern did come out on the winning end of one of last year's matches, however, upending the Broncos in four sets in the Convo. The last time EMU won in Kalamazoo was a 3-0 sweep of WMU in the 2013 season.

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 now 67 assists shy of the 1,700 mark, and currently trails eighth place by 330. 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 375 in 2017.
Also making her way up the Eastern Michigan record books this season is junior Jordan Smith, who collected her 600th kill Sept. 12 against Fort Wayne. The Solon, Iowa native has averaged over 233 kills per season in her first two years, and is already at 180 in 2017. She is 324 kills away from joining the Eagles' Top 15.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern Michigan returns to the friendly confines of the Convocation Center Thursday, Oct. 5, when they host Central Michigan University at 7 p.m. The game will be the Eagles' annual Dig Pink game for breast cancer awareness. EMU will then welcome Ohio University to Ypsilanti Saturday, Oct. 7 for a 5 p.m. match.

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Players Mentioned

Samantha Falco

Kelly Ferguson

Alyssa LaFace

Mallory Rajewski

Jordan Smith

Franki Strefling

Eastern Michigan Athletics