Volleyball Hosts Northern Illinois and Western Michigan in #MACtion Weekend

Volleyball vs. Northern Illinois \| vs. Western Michigan
Date	Friday Oct. 5, 7 p.m. \| Saturday Oct. 6, 5 p.m.
Venue	Ypsilanti, Mich. - Convocation Center
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	vs. Northern Illinois \| vs. Western Michigan
Video Broadcast	vs. Northern Illinois \| vs. Western Michigan
Twitter	@EMUVolleyball \| @EMUAthletics

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team returns to the friendly confines of the Convocation Center for two Mid-American Conference West Division showdowns this weekend, Oct. 5-6, taking on Northern Illinois University Friday and Western Michigan University Saturday.
   Friday's match between the Eagles and Huskies will be broadcast on ESPN+, with Greg Steiner bringing play-by-play and Kylie Goetz as analyst. EMU's Saturday match against WMU can be found on Eagle All-Access. Live stats will be available for both matches.

SERIES HISTORY: Eastern has historically struggled against Western Michigan and Northern Illinois, holding an all-time record of 23-64 against the Broncos and 24-33 against the Huskies.
   Last season, the Green and White took both matchups against Northern Illinois, winning 3-2 in DeKalb and sweeping the Huskies, 3-0, in Ypsilanti. Eastern looks to make it three consecutive wins over Northern for the first time in program history.
   EMU and WMU split their 2017 matches, each winning in the friendly confines of its own venues. The Eagles' swept the Broncos in the Convocation Center last season, starting a four-match winning streak that catapulted EMU into the MAC Tournament.

HAUT NAMED MAC OFFENSIVE POW: Redshirt junior Cassie Haut (Monroe, Mich.-St. Mary Catholic Central) was named the Mid-American Conference West Offensive Player of the Week, Oct. 2, for her performances at Ball State and Toledo.
   The middle blocker finished with 23 kills while hitting .500 overall on the weekend. The Monroe, Mich. native's 14 kills against Toledo marked the ninth time this season she finished with double-digit kills, and the fourth time she has done so while committing one or less errors.
   The Player of the Week honor was the first for Haut since winning Offensive Player of the Week Nov. 17, 2015. It also marked the sixth Player of the Week honor for Eastern Michigan in the 2018 season, its most since winning seven in 2015.

RARE AIR: Senior setter Mallory Rajewski (Midland, Mich.-Midland) joined rarified air against Ball State, becoming just the fifth player in the 42-year history of the program to amass 2,500+ assists and 1,000+ digs, joining Kate Sulewski, Ashley Mason, Sherry Anderson, and Camila Olaio.
   Rajewski 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 782 assists to move into the top five all-time.

HAMBY ELEVATES GAME: Junior Ariel Hamby (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) has taken her game to a whole new level in 2018, already amassing 119 kills this season. The right side attacker needs just 21 kills to pass her total from her first two seasons in the Green and White.

LEADING THE LEAGUE: Eastern Michigan's start to the 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 (13.06), kills per set (13.76), and opponent hitting percentage (.154), while coming in second in hitting percentage (.229), digs per set (18.63), and third in blocks per set (2.22). The Eagles' lowest team ranking is in service aces per set, where it is currently ranked sixth (1.37).
   The Green and White's 18.58 digs per set average also ranks fourth in the NCAA, while libero Alyssa LaFace's 6.16 digs per set is second nationally.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK (THE GOOD): With the announcement that redshirt junior Cassie Haut was the Mid-American Conference West Offensive Player of the Week, Oct. 1, Eastern Michigan now has four individuals that have earned player of the week honors in 2018, its most for a single season in program history.
   For the first time since the Mid-American Conference began awarding both offensive and defensive Player of the Week awards, Eastern Michigan has garnered multiple MAC West Players of the Week multiple times. Senior Alyssa LaFace (Allen Park, Mich.-Allen Park) was named MAC Defensive Player of the Week while redshirt senior Mallory Rajewski and junior Riley Taylor (Indianapolis, Ind.-Perry Meridan) were collectively MAC West Setter of the Week, Sept. 24. It marked the second win of the season for both LaFace and the setting duo of Rajewski and Taylor.
   Senior Jordan Smith (Solon, Iowa) has also earned conference honors this season, as she was named MAC West Offensive Player of the Week, Sept. 5.
   The last time EMU had multiple Player of the Week honors in the same week was Nov. 17, 2015, when Corynne Smith and then-freshman Cassie Haut were crowned by the conference as Defensive and Offensive Players of the Week, respectively.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK (THE BAD): In each instance that Eastern has won a Mid-American Conference Player of the Week honor, the Eagles have gone on to lose their first match following the announcement.
   Libero Alyssa LaFace won MAC West Defensive POW, Sept. 1, and EMU fell on the road to Purdue Fort Wayne in four on the same day. Outside hitter Jordan Smith and setters Mallory Rajewski and Riley Taylor won Offensive Player and Setter of the Week, respectively, Sept. 10, and the Green and White fell to Houston in four at the Robert Morris Invitational. Most recently, when LaFace, Rajewski, and Taylor earned defensive player and setter of the week, respectively, Sept. 22, Eastern was swept on the road by Ball State.

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 838 digs in her career, and would be the first Eagle to join the 1,000/1,000 club since Paige Roback in 2013.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern Michigan continues its longest home stretch of the season, Oct. 12-13, as it welcomes a pair of Mid-American Conference East opponents to Ypsilanti.
   The Eagles host reigning MAC Tournament Champion Miami University in the Convocation Center Friday, Oct. 12, and then take on Bowling Green State University Saturday, Oct. 13. Both matches are set for 7 p.m. starts.

Volleyball Hosts Northern Illinois and Western Michigan in #MACtion Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Ariel Hamby

Cassie Haut

Alyssa LaFace

Mallory Rajewski

Corynne Smith

Jordan Smith

Riley Taylor

Eastern Michigan Athletics