Eastern Michigan Athletics
Saturday, November 3
Convocation Center
7 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
16-12 (8-6MAC)
3
vs
2
Ball State
19-8 (10-4MAC)
1
2
3
4
5
F
Ball State
17
17
25
25
9
2
Eastern Michigan
25
25
23
17
15
3
Volleyball Sends Off Seniors with Five-Set Victory Over Ball State
11/3/2018 10:08:00 PM | Volleyball
Senior Jordan Smith led all players with 18 kills while hitting .385
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team came out on top, 3-2, in a thriller of a battle with Ball State University Saturday, Nov. 3 in the Convocation Center. In the final home match of their Eagle careers, redshirt senior Mallory Rajewski (Midland, Mich.-Midland) and seniors Jordan Smith (Solon, Iowa-Solon) and Alyssa LaFace (Allen Park, Mich.-Allen Park) shone bright, defeating Ball State for the first time since 2015.
Smith highlighted the Senior Day performance, pounding out 18 kills while hitting .385 for the match. Rajewski distributed 40 assists and added eight digs, while LaFace led the Eagles with 18 digs.
Eastern (16-12, 8-6 MAC) was able to jump in front with two impressive victories to start the match, winning 25-17, 25-17 while hitting .471 and .452, respectively. Ball State (19-8, 10-4 MAC) made it a match by fighting back to take the third set, 25-23, and fourth set, 25-17, but the Green and White saved its best for the fifth set.
The Eagles jumped ahead to a 4-1 lead in the decisive frame and never looked back, and ended the match with their largest lead at 15-9. EMU dominated at the net, hitting .524 while holding BSU to just .167 in the set.
Smith's 18 kills led a quartet of Eagles in double-digits, as redshirt junior Cassie Haut (Monroe, Mich.-St. Mary's Central Catholic) had 16 kills with a .406 attack percentage, and both sophomore Franki Strefling (Niles, Mich.-Buchanan) and freshman Julia Fisher (Kailua, Hawaii-Le Jardin Academy) added 10. Strefling also finished with 13 digs, marking her sixth double-double of the season. Junior Riley Taylor (Indianapolis, Ind.-Perry Meridian) added 18 assists and seven digs to the winning effort.
EMU finished with an advantage in attack percentage (.331 to .214), kills (71 to 59), assists (65 to 49), digs (59 to 56), and blocks (10 to 8).
With the victory, the Eagles have secured a place in the Mid-American Conference Tournament, hosted by the University of Miami in Oxford, Ohio.
Eastern has two matches remaining before the trek to the conference tournament, traveling to Western Michigan, Nov. 9, for a 7 p.m. match, and finishing the season at Northern Illinois, Nov. 10, at 7 p.m.
Smith highlighted the Senior Day performance, pounding out 18 kills while hitting .385 for the match. Rajewski distributed 40 assists and added eight digs, while LaFace led the Eagles with 18 digs.
Eastern (16-12, 8-6 MAC) was able to jump in front with two impressive victories to start the match, winning 25-17, 25-17 while hitting .471 and .452, respectively. Ball State (19-8, 10-4 MAC) made it a match by fighting back to take the third set, 25-23, and fourth set, 25-17, but the Green and White saved its best for the fifth set.
The Eagles jumped ahead to a 4-1 lead in the decisive frame and never looked back, and ended the match with their largest lead at 15-9. EMU dominated at the net, hitting .524 while holding BSU to just .167 in the set.
Smith's 18 kills led a quartet of Eagles in double-digits, as redshirt junior Cassie Haut (Monroe, Mich.-St. Mary's Central Catholic) had 16 kills with a .406 attack percentage, and both sophomore Franki Strefling (Niles, Mich.-Buchanan) and freshman Julia Fisher (Kailua, Hawaii-Le Jardin Academy) added 10. Strefling also finished with 13 digs, marking her sixth double-double of the season. Junior Riley Taylor (Indianapolis, Ind.-Perry Meridian) added 18 assists and seven digs to the winning effort.
EMU finished with an advantage in attack percentage (.331 to .214), kills (71 to 59), assists (65 to 49), digs (59 to 56), and blocks (10 to 8).
With the victory, the Eagles have secured a place in the Mid-American Conference Tournament, hosted by the University of Miami in Oxford, Ohio.
Eastern has two matches remaining before the trek to the conference tournament, traveling to Western Michigan, Nov. 9, for a 7 p.m. match, and finishing the season at Northern Illinois, Nov. 10, at 7 p.m.
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Team Stats
BSU
EMU
Kills
55
71
Errors
24
19
Attempts
145
157
Hitting %
.214
.331
Points
67.0
85.0
Assists
49
65
Aces
4
4
Blocks
8.0
10.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
18
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
16
Aces
0
Blocks
6
Kills
10
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
MB/RS
/ VolleyballMB/RS
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DS/L
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S
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