Volleyball Kicks Off MAC Tournament Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

Volleyball at Mid-American Conference Tournament
Date	Thursday Nov. 15, 4:30 p.m.
Venue	Oxford, Ohio - Millett Hall
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	vs. Kent State
Video Broadcast	ESPN+
Twitter	@EMUVolleyball \| @EMUAthletics

OXFORD, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team heads back to Oxford, Ohio and the campus of Miami University for the 2018 Mid-American Conference Tournament, serving as the No. 5 seed of the tournament. EMU opens play with a 4:30 p.m. match against No. 8 Kent State University in Millett Hall.
   The Eagles' match against the Golden Flashes will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Randy Hollowell and Lisa Dankovich on the call.

SERIES HISTORY: Eastern has held the upperhand against Kent State in the all-time history between the two, holding a 36-20-1 advantage over the Golden Flashes.
   EMU dispatched KSU in straight sets on the first weekend of the conference slate of 2018. The Eagles were led by a balanced attack, as no player finished with double-digit kills. Senior Jordan Smith (Solon, Iowa-Solon) and redshirt junior Cassie Haut (Monroe, Mich.-St. Mary's Catholic Central) led the way with nine kills each, while Julia Fisher (Kailua, Hawaii-Le Jardin Academy) contributed seven.
   The setting duo of redshirt senior Mallory Rajewski (Midland, Mich.-Midland) and junior Riley Taylor (Indianapolis, Ind.-Perry Meridian) combined for 35 assists while also adding 12 digs, and senior libero Alyssa LaFace put up 22 digs in the sweep. With those performances, along with great matches at Central Michigan, the trio was named MAC West Setter and Defensive players of the week.

EMU VS KSU IN THE MAC TOURNEY: Eastern Michigan and Kent State have squared off in the Mid-American Conference Tournament just twice in the programs' respected histories.
   The Golden Flashes came out on top in the most recent postseason matchup, defeating the Eagles, 3-1, Nov. 21, 2014. EMU took down KSU in the opening round of the 2006 MAC Tournament by a final score of 3-1.

SMITH NAMED MAC WEST OFFENSIVE POW: Senior Jordan Smith was named the MAC West Offensive Player of the Week Monday, Nov. 13, for her performances against Western Michigan and Northern Illinois.
   The Solon, Iowa native turned in a career-best performance in the 2018 regular season finale at NIU, tying the Eastern Michigan modern-era record for kills in a four-set match when she went for 27. The outside hitter turned in 42 kills for the weekend and put up 18 digs in the two matches.

THE EAGLES' DOZEN: With the announcement of senior Jordan Smith as the MAC West Offensive Player of the Week, Nov. 12, EMU finishes the 2018 season with 12 player of the week nods in the season. The dozen winners marks a new program record for individual MAC honors in a season. For the full list of 2018 weekly winners, see page four.

PRETTAY, PRETTY GOOD: With all the individual accomplishments on the court this season, its no wonder that the team record reflects the same success.
   The 17 wins are the most for an EMU squad in the Kimi Olson era, as is the team's 9-7 mark in the Mid-American Conference. In fact, the second-place finish by the Eagles in the MAC West is the highest finish for an Eastern team since winning the West Divsion in 2005 with a record of 14-2.

RECORD-SETTING RAJEWSKI: Redshirt senior setter Mallory Rajewski tied the modern-era (2008-present) record for assists in a four-set match when she dished out 56 against Northern Illinois in the regular season finale, Nov. 10. She tied the record set by Kim Hildreth during the 2012 season.
   Earlier this season, the redshirt senior set the modern-era three-set record for assists when she dished out 47 in the Eagles' sweep of NIU, 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.

LEADING THE LEAGUE: Eastern Michigan's 2018 season has the Eagles ranked in the top half of almost every major statistical category in the Mid-American Conference. EMU leads in assists per set (13.26) and kills per set 14.03), while coming in second in opponent hitting percentage (.160), hitting percentage (.233), digs per set (18.06), and fifth in blocks per set (2.05).
   Individually, redshirt junior Cassie Haut leads the league with a .370 attack percentage, while libero Alyssa LaFace's 5.82 digs per set is fifth nationally.

SHE'S DIGGIN' IT: Not only has Alyssa LaFace's final year in the Green and White ranked as one of the top in the nation, she is climbing up the all-time single-season leaderboard as well. The libero has 623 digs on the season and is just five digs from moving into the EMU's top-five (Corynne Smith, 627).
   In fact, the top-three is within striking distance as well, as LaFace currently trails Ashley Cudney (640) and Haley Stein (645), by 17 and 22, respectively.

SURGING SMITH: Senior Jordan Smith 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 379 kills and a hitting percentage of .219, nearly 90 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 205 kills with a .223 attack percentage in 2018, compared to her .120 career attack average in the MAC coming into the season.

SENIOR NIGHT SPECTACULAR: EMU won its final home match of the 2018 season, its first senior night win since 2014, topping Ball State in a five-set thriller. The Eagles' three seniors, Alyssa LaFace, Mallory Rajewski, and Jordan Smith, all made major contributions to the victory.
   Rajewski distributed an impressive 40 assists, her 11th match of 30-or-more assists on the season and her sixth 40+ assist performance of 2018. Smith had a match-high 18 kills and also hit .385, while LaFace had 18 digs to lead the way for all players.
   The win over Ball State marked the first victory over the Cardinals for Eastern Michigan since 2015, snapping a five-match losing skid.

STAYING HAUT: Redshirt junior Cassie Haut leads the Mid-American Conference in hitting percentage on the season with an incredible .370 average, and is hitting an outstanding .389 in conference play. She's also fifth in total blocks (107) and blocks per set (1.02).
   The Eagles' middle blocker won MAC West Offensive Player of the Week two times on the season.

STREFLING THE DEFENSIVE WIZ: After proving herself as one of the top attacking freshmen in the MAC in 2017, sophomore Franki Strefling has upped her game on the defensive side of the ball in 2018. The Niles, Mich. native has 17 double-digit dig performances this season, compared to 10 a season ago. The outside hitter has also averaged 3.29 digs per set over the last 10 games.

ON THE HORIZON: Should the Eagles win their opening round game, they would then take on No. 4 Buffalo at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 16.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jill Briner

Julia Fisher

Cassie Haut

Alyssa LaFace

Mallory Rajewski

Corynne Smith

Jordan Smith

Franki Strefling

Riley Taylor

Eastern Michigan Athletics