Eagles Travel to Towson Tigers Invitational This Weekend

Volleyball at Towson Tigers Invitational
Date	Friday-Sunday, Sept. 8-10
Location	Towson, Md. - SECU Arena
Game Notes	EMU Notes
Live Stats	vs. Quinnipiac \| vs. George Mason \| vs. Cal State Fullerton vs. Lafayette \| at Towson
Live Video	vs. Quinnipiac \| at Towson
Twitter	@EMU Volleyball \| @EMUAthletics

TOWSON, Md. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team takes part in the Towson Tiger Invitational this week, kicking off three days of competition Friday, Sept. 8, and playing through Sunday, Sept. 10.
EMU's busy weekend begins with a 10 a.m. match against Quinnipiac, Sept. 8. The Eagles follow that up with a 2:30 p.m. showdown with George Mason.

Saturday, Sept. 9, Eastern Michigan takes on Cal State Fullerton at 10 a.m., and plays its second match of the day against Lafayette College at 4:45 p.m.The final day of the Towson Tiger Invitational pits the Eagles against host Towson at 12 p.m.

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.

A TOURNAMENT OF FIRSTS: All five of the Eagles' opponents this weekend are teams that EMU has not played in the history of the volleyball program. In fact, Eastern Michigan has only played in the state of Maryland one previous time (University of Maryland Invitational, 2016).

2017 CAPTAINS: Leading the Green and White for the 2017 campaign are senior Kelly Ferguson (Lemont, Ill.-Lemont) and redshirt sophomore Cassie Haut (Monro, Mich.-St. Mary Catholic Central). The two will be serving as EMU's team captains for the first time in their careers.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE OPPONENTS: EMU has not played any of its opponents at the Towson Tigers Invitational. Head coach Kimi Olson and assistant coach Darcy Dorton have some experience with Towson, however, as both were apart of the Colonial Athletic Conference during their days at the College of Charleston.

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. Coming into her third season, Rajewski currently sits at 12th all-time in total assits with 1,391. 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.

FALCO NAMED MAC WEST DEFENSIVE POW: Eagles' senior Samantha Falco (Antioch, Ill.-Antioch Community) was named the Mid-American Conference West Division Defensive Player of the Week on 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 first double-digit block effort for an Eagle since Becky Reenders had 11 in the 2007 season.
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 (Coconut Creek, Fla.-Monarch) and incoming freshmen, Carissa Spalt (Tucson, Ariz.-Sabino), Franki Strefling (Niles, Mich.-Buchanan), and April Houston (Minneapolis, Minn.-Southwest).
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.

UP NEXT: After a busy weekend at the Towson Tiger Invitational, Eastern Michigan opens up its 2017 home schedule Tuesday, Sept. 12 with Fort Wayne at 6 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Samantha Falco

Kelly Ferguson

Cassie Haut

April Houston

Mallory Rajewski

Alejandra Sanabria

Carissa Spalt

Franki Strefling

Eastern Michigan Athletics