Volleyball Wraps Four-Match Homestand with Miami and Bowling Green

Volleyball vs. Miami \| vs. Bowling Green
Date	Friday Oct. 12, 7 p.m. \| Saturday Oct. 13, 7 p.m.
Venue	Ypsilanti, Mich. - Convocation Center
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	vs. Miami \| vs. Bowling Green
Video Broadcast	vs. Miami \| vs. Bowling Green
Twitter	@EMUVolleyball \| @EMUAthletics

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team wraps up a four-match home streak with a pair of matches in the Convocation Center, welcoming Miami University Friday, Oct. 12, and Bowling Green State University Saturday, Oct. 13. Both matches are scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
   Friday's match between the Eagles and Huskies will be broadcast on ESPN+, with Adam Jaksa bringing play-by-play and Kilee Goetz as analyst. EMU's Saturday match against BGSU can be found on Eagle All-Access. Live stats will be available for both matches.

SERIES HISTORY: Eastern has a long history against both of this weekend's aviary adversaries, having played Miami 54 times and Bowling Green 59 times since the program's inception in 1976.
   The Eagles fell 3-0 in its lone matchup with the RedHawks in the 2018 season. In fact, EMU has not defeated MU since a 3-0 road sweep in the 2011 season. The Green and White's last victory over Miami in the Convocation Center was in 2010.
   EMU took a road loss to BGSU last year, playing in its first match without then-freshman Franki Strefling (Niles, Mich.-Buchanan). The Eagles last defeated the Falcons in Bowling Green, 3-2, during head coach Kimi Olson's first season of 2015. The last time Eastern took down Bowling Green at home was a 3-0 sweep in 2010.

RECORD-SETTING RAJEWSKI: Senior setter Mallory Rajewski (Midland, Mich.-Midland) set the modern-era three-set record for assists when she dished out 47 in the Eagles' sweep of Northern Illinois, Oct. 5. Only two other setters have ever had 40+ assists in a three-set match: Jill Briner, who previously held the record with 44, and Ashley Mason, who had 40 or more in a three-set match seven times in her career.
   Rajewski also became just the fifth player in the 42-year history of the program to amass 2,500+ assists and 1,000+ digs when she reached the 1,000 dig club against Ball State, Sept. 28, joining Kate Sulewski, Ashley Mason, Sherry Anderson, and Camila Olaio.
   The Midland, Mich. native spent the 2017 season chasing 2,000 assists, becoming just the eighth player in EMU history to pass the mark, and currently sits in seventh place in Eastern laurels with 2,604 assists. The Midland, Mich. native set a personal-best for assists in a season with 891 last year, and needs 703 assists to move into the top five all-time.

SURGING SMITH: Senior Jordan Smith (Solon, Iowa-Solon) is clearly saving her best performance for last, as the outside hitter is putting up the best numbers of her career in her final season in the Green and White. The Solon, Iowa native has 243 kills and a hitting percentage of .222, nearly 100 points higher than her career average coming into the season (.132).
   The disparity is even greater when looking at the senior's numbers in Mid-American Conference play, as Smith has 69 kills with a .245 attack percentage in 2018, compared to her .120 MAC career attack average coming into the season.

LEADING THE LEAGUE: Eastern Michigan's superb 2018 season has the Eagles ranked near the top in almost every major statistical category in the Mid-American Conference. EMU leads in assists per set (13.17), kills per set (13.87), and opponent hitting percentage (.145), while coming in second in hitting percentage (.238), digs per set (18.31), and third in blocks per set (2.19). The Eagles' lowest team ranking is in service aces per set, where it is currently ranked sixth (1.34).
   The Green and White's 18.31 digs per set average also ranks fourth in the NCAA, while libero Alyssa LaFace's (Allen Park, Mich.-Allen Park) 6.16 digs per set is fifth nationally.

CHASING THE 1,000/1,000 CLUB: Only seven women in the history of Eastern Michigan volleyball have reached 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs for their respective careers. After reaching the 1,000 kill mark against Savannah State, Sept. 8, senior Jordan Smith has the chance to become number eight.
   The outside hitter has 852 digs in her career, and would be the first Eagle to join the 1,000/1,000 club since Paige Roback in 2013.

HAMBY ELEVATES GAME: Junior Ariel Hamby (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) has taken her game to a new level in 2018, helping Eastern to its best start in MAC play since 2010. The right side attacker has already surpassed her career total for kills (141) this season, and is also averaging more than twice her best kills per set rate (2.14) so far.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern Michigan hits the road for the first time in the month of October next weekend, traveling east to play the University at Buffalo and the University of Akron. The Eagles' swing through the MAC East begins in Buffalo at 6 p.m. on Oct. 19, and wraps up at 5 p.m. in Akron, Oct. 20.
   EMU returns to the friendly confines of the Convocation Center for a home match against in-state rival Central Michigan University Thurday, Oct. 24, at 6 p.m. for its annual Dig Pink match.

Volleyball Wraps Four-Match Homestand with Miami and Bowling Green

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jill Briner

Ariel Hamby

Alyssa LaFace

Mallory Rajewski

Jordan Smith

Franki Strefling

Eastern Michigan Athletics