Volleyball Wraps Regular Season at WMU and NIU This Weekend

Volleyball at Western Michigan & Northern Illinois
Date	Friday Nov. 9, 7 p.m. \| Saturday Nov. 10, 7 p.m.
Venue	Ypsilanti, Mich. - Convocation Center
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	at Western Michigan \| at Northern Illinois
Video Broadcast	at Western Michigan \| at Northern Illinois
Twitter	@EMUVolleyball \| @EMUAthletics

KALAMAZOO, Mich. & DEKALB, Ill. – The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team wraps up its regular season with a roadtrip west, taking on Western Michigan University Friday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. ET and Northern Illinois University Saturday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. CT.
   The Eagles match against the Broncos will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Evan Stockton and Theresa Beeckman on the call. Fans can find Eastern's second match of the weekend against Northern on ESPN3 with Andy Garcia providing play-by-play and Sam Eakes serving as analyst.

SERIES HISTORY: Though the Eagles have struggled against Western Michigan and Northern Illinois historically, Eastern took down both the Broncos and Huskies in convincing fashion earlier in 2018, beating WMU 3-1 and NIU 3-0 in Ypsilanti.
Eastern's all-time record against the Broncos is just 24-64, and the Eagles hold a 25-33 record against the Huskies.
    EMU and WMU split their matchup a season ago, 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.
    In 2017, 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 for its first-ever four-match win streak over NIU.

ANOTHER MAC WEST SETTER OF THE WEEK: For the fourth time in 2018, the Eastern Michigan setting duo of redshirt senior Mallory Rajewski (Midland, Mich.-Midland) and junior Riley Taylor (Indianapolis, Ind.-Perry Meridian) were named MAC West Setter of the Week Monday, Nov. 5.
   The pair once again orchestrated a nearly flawless attack for Eastern Michigan in a 2-0 weekend, helping the Eagles hit .322 in wins over Toledo (.310) and Ball State (.331). The pair dished out 31 assists in EMU's second sweep of Toledo this season, and saved their best for the final home game of 2018, distributing 58 assists and tacking on 15 digs in Eastern's first victory over Ball State since 2015. The duo averaged 11.13 assists per set on the weekend.
   EMU has won a conference honor 11 times this season, setting a new program record.

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 (Allen Park, Mich.-Allen Park), Mallory Rajewski, and Jordan Smith (Solon, Iowa-Solon), 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.

SEE YOU IN OXFORD: For the second consecutive season under head coach Kimi Olson the Eagles have secured a spot in the Mid-American Conference Tournament. After sneaking in on the final day of competition in 2017, Eastern has secured its fate as a tournament team, but still waits to find out its seeding for 2018.

LEADING THE LEAGUE: Eastern Michigan's 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 (13.23), kills per set (13.99), and opponent hitting percentage (.155), while coming in second in hitting percentage (.234), digs per set (18.13), and fourth in blocks per set (2.09).
   The Green and White's 18.64 digs per set average ranks 12th in the NCAA while its .155 opponent attack percentage is good for 15th overall. Libero Alyssa LaFace's 5.88 digs per set is third nationally.

HOUSTON WE HAVE LIFT OFF: After having just one double-digit kill performance on the year through the first seven weeks of the season, sophomore April Houston (Minneapolis, Minn.-Southwest) has put together four 10+ kill performances in the past nine matches. The Minneapolis, Minn. native pounded out a season-high 14 against Miami, Oct. 12, finished with 12 against Bowling Green, Oct. 13, added 11 at Buffalo, Oct. 19, and had 10 against Central Michigan, Oct. 25. She's also hit at a higher percentage in that stretch, upping her season average from .215 to .259.

STREFLING THE DEFENSIVE WIZ: After proving herself as one of the top attacking freshmen in the MAC in 2017, sophomore Franki Strefling (Niles, Mich.-Buchanan) has upped her game on the defensive side of the ball in 2018. The Niles, Mich. native has 16 double-digit dig performances this season, compared to 10 a season ago. The outside hitter has averaged 3.14 digs per set over the last 10 games.

STAYING HAUT: Redshirt junior Cassie Haut (Monroe, Mich.-St. Mary's Catholic Central) leads the Mid-American Conference in hitting percentage on the season with an incredible .371 average, and is hitting an outstanding .387 in conference play. She's also fifth in total blocks (97) and blocks per set (1.02).
   The Eagles' middle blocker has won MAC West Offensive Player of the Week two times on the season.

LA-FAH-CHAY IN YOUR FACE: Senior Alyssa LaFace has won four Defensive Player of the Week honors in 2018, and needs just one more to match fellow libero Corynne Smith for most POW awards in a single season.
   The libero registered her sixth 30+ dig match of the season with her 35-dig output at Buffalo, Oct. 19, and currently ranks third in the nation in digs per set (5.88)

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 337 kills and a hitting percentage of .215, 80 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 163 kills with a .216 attack percentage in 2018, compared to her .120 career attack average in the MAC coming into the season.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern's final standing among the Mid-American Conference is yet to be determined, but what is known is that the Eagles will travel to Oxford, Ohio and the campus of Miami University to take part in the 2018 MAC Tournament, Nov. 15-18..

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Players Mentioned

Cassie Haut

April Houston

Alyssa LaFace

Mallory Rajewski

Corynne Smith

Jordan Smith

Franki Strefling

Riley Taylor

Eastern Michigan Athletics