Eastern Michigan Athletics
Saturday, November 17
Oxford, Ohio
4:30 PM
Eastern Michigan University
20-13
3
vs
1
Bowling Green
19-11
1
2
3
4
F
Eastern Michigan
25
25
23
25
3
Bowling Green
13
14
25
20
1
No. 5 EMU Shocks Top-Seeded Bowling Green to Advance to MAC Championship Match
11/17/2018 7:17:00 PM | Volleyball
Eastern plays in its first MAC Championship game since 2013 Sunday, Nov. 18
OXFORD, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – The No. 5 Eastern Michigan University volleyball team continued its Cinderella march at the 2018 Mid-American Conference Tournament, knocking out No. 1 seed Bowling Green State University, 3-1, at Millett Hall to advance to the MAC Tournament Championship for the first time since 2013.
The Eagles (20-13, 9-7 MAC) came out of the gate on fire and never looked back, winning handedly in the first two sets by scores of 25-13 and 25-14. After the Falcons took a close third set, 25-23, the Green and White rallied to finish off the tournament's top seed, 25-20.
Senior Jordan Smith (Solon, Iowa-Solon) was stellar for Eastern, leading all players with 19 kills and turning in a double-double with 17 digs. Redshirt junior Cassie Haut (Monroe, Mich.-St. Mary's Catholic Central) added 16 kills and sophomore April Houston (Minneapolis, Minn.-Southwest) had 13 kills hitting at a blistering .591 clip.
The defense was led by senior Alyssa LaFace (Allen Park, Mich.-Allen Park) and sophomore Franki Strefling (Niles, Mich.-Buchanan), who each put up 23 digs. Joining the pair with double-digit digs was redshirt senior setter Mallory Rajewski (Midland, Mich.-Midland), who added 10.
Junior Riley Taylor (Indianapolis, Ind.-Perry Meridian) led the Eagles with 30 assists, and Rajewski completed the double-double with 26.
Overall, the Eagles out-paced the Falcons .268 to .114 in attack percentage, while also finishing with more kills (62 to 42), assists (62 to 37), digs (93 to 77), and service aces (9 to 1).
With its 20th win of the season, Eastern Michigan secures its most wins in a season since 2011. In search of the first MAC Tournament title in program history, Eastern will take on the winner of No. 2 Miami University and No. 3 Ball State University at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 18, in Millett Hall.
The Eagles (20-13, 9-7 MAC) came out of the gate on fire and never looked back, winning handedly in the first two sets by scores of 25-13 and 25-14. After the Falcons took a close third set, 25-23, the Green and White rallied to finish off the tournament's top seed, 25-20.
Senior Jordan Smith (Solon, Iowa-Solon) was stellar for Eastern, leading all players with 19 kills and turning in a double-double with 17 digs. Redshirt junior Cassie Haut (Monroe, Mich.-St. Mary's Catholic Central) added 16 kills and sophomore April Houston (Minneapolis, Minn.-Southwest) had 13 kills hitting at a blistering .591 clip.
The defense was led by senior Alyssa LaFace (Allen Park, Mich.-Allen Park) and sophomore Franki Strefling (Niles, Mich.-Buchanan), who each put up 23 digs. Joining the pair with double-digit digs was redshirt senior setter Mallory Rajewski (Midland, Mich.-Midland), who added 10.
Junior Riley Taylor (Indianapolis, Ind.-Perry Meridian) led the Eagles with 30 assists, and Rajewski completed the double-double with 26.
Overall, the Eagles out-paced the Falcons .268 to .114 in attack percentage, while also finishing with more kills (62 to 42), assists (62 to 37), digs (93 to 77), and service aces (9 to 1).
With its 20th win of the season, Eastern Michigan secures its most wins in a season since 2011. In search of the first MAC Tournament title in program history, Eastern will take on the winner of No. 2 Miami University and No. 3 Ball State University at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 18, in Millett Hall.
Team Stats
EMU
BGSU
Kills
62
42
Errors
17
23
Attempts
168
167
Hitting %
.268
.114
Points
76.0
52.0
Assists
62
37
Aces
9
1
Blocks
5.0
9.0
Game Leaders
Kills
19
Aces
2
Blocks
2
Kills
16
Aces
4
Blocks
0
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
6
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
MB/RS
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
DS/L
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
S
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