Eastern Michigan Athletics
Friday, November 30
Champaign, Ill.
8 p.m.
Eastern Michigan University
21-14
0
at
3
Illinois
29-3
1
2
3
F
Eastern Michigan
14
9
20
0
Illinois
25
25
25
3
Photo by: Walt Middleton Photography 2018
Volleyball Falls to No. 3 Illinois in NCAA First Round
11/30/2018 10:42:00 PM | Volleyball
Senior Jordan Smith led all players with 11 kills in the match
PHOTO GALLERY
POSTGAME VIDEO
PRESS CONFERENCE
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team bowed out of the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday, Nov. 30, falling to the No. 3 overall seed University of Illinois, 3-0, at Huff Hall.
Illinois flexed its muscles from the outset, never allowing the Eagles to lead by more than two points in the entire match. The Illini took set one, 25-14, and finished out the match by winning set two, 25-9, and set three 25-20.
Senior Jordan Smith (Solon, Iowa-Solon) led EMU with 11 kills, redshirt junior Cassie Haut (Monroe, Mich.-St. Mary Catholic Central) turned in six while hitting a team-high .273, and senior Alyssa LaFace (Allen Park, Mich.-Allen Park) led the team with seven digs. The setting combination of junior Riley Taylor (Indianapolis, Ind.-Perry Meridian) and redshirt senior Mallory Rajewski (Midland, Mich.-Midland) finished the game with 10 and nine assists, respectively.
The Illini proved worthy of their No. 3 ranking, out-hitting the Eagles, .455 to .066, finishing with more blocks (11 to 1), digs (27 to 21), and aces (8 to 4).
The match marks the end of three fantastic Eastern Michigan careers, as LaFace, Rajewski, and Smith all don the Green and White for the final time. LaFace finished the year with the second-most digs in a single season with 725, and is fifth all-time with 1,673 career digs. Rajewski is sixth in EMU laurels with 3,129 assists, and is just the fifth player in program history to have 3,000+ career assists and 1,000+ career digs. Smith finishes her career with 1,341 kills, the fifth-most in Eastern history.
Eastern Michigan finishes its season as Mid-American Conference Tournament Champions and with a record of 21-14, its best mark under head coach Kimi Olson in her four-year tenure.
POSTGAME VIDEO
PRESS CONFERENCE
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team bowed out of the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday, Nov. 30, falling to the No. 3 overall seed University of Illinois, 3-0, at Huff Hall.
Illinois flexed its muscles from the outset, never allowing the Eagles to lead by more than two points in the entire match. The Illini took set one, 25-14, and finished out the match by winning set two, 25-9, and set three 25-20.
Senior Jordan Smith (Solon, Iowa-Solon) led EMU with 11 kills, redshirt junior Cassie Haut (Monroe, Mich.-St. Mary Catholic Central) turned in six while hitting a team-high .273, and senior Alyssa LaFace (Allen Park, Mich.-Allen Park) led the team with seven digs. The setting combination of junior Riley Taylor (Indianapolis, Ind.-Perry Meridian) and redshirt senior Mallory Rajewski (Midland, Mich.-Midland) finished the game with 10 and nine assists, respectively.
The Illini proved worthy of their No. 3 ranking, out-hitting the Eagles, .455 to .066, finishing with more blocks (11 to 1), digs (27 to 21), and aces (8 to 4).
The match marks the end of three fantastic Eastern Michigan careers, as LaFace, Rajewski, and Smith all don the Green and White for the final time. LaFace finished the year with the second-most digs in a single season with 725, and is fifth all-time with 1,673 career digs. Rajewski is sixth in EMU laurels with 3,129 assists, and is just the fifth player in program history to have 3,000+ career assists and 1,000+ career digs. Smith finishes her career with 1,341 kills, the fifth-most in Eastern history.
Eastern Michigan finishes its season as Mid-American Conference Tournament Champions and with a record of 21-14, its best mark under head coach Kimi Olson in her four-year tenure.
Team Stats
EMU
ILL
Kills
25
36
Errors
20
6
Attempts
76
66
Hitting %
.066
.455
Points
30.0
55.0
Assists
23
31
Aces
4
8
Blocks
1.0
11.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
11
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
6
Aces
1
Blocks
0
Kills
4
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
1
Aces
1
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
MB/RS
/ Volleyball
DS/L
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
S
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