Eastern Volleyball Opens Season at St. John's Kaiser Classic

Volleyball at St. John's University Kaiser Classic
Date	Friday, Aug. 24 - 11 a.m. & 3 p.m. \| Saturday, Aug. 25 - 1 p.m. & 4 p.m.
Venue	Queens, N.Y. - Carnesecca Arena
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	Live Stats
Twitter	@EMUVolleyball \| @EMUAthletics

QUEENS, N.Y. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team begins the 2018 campaign on the road this weekend, Aug. 24-25. EMU takes part in the St. John's Kaiser Classic, with matches schedules against Fordham University, Central Connecticut State University, Manhattan College, and St. John's University.
The Eagles kick off action with an 11 a.m. match against Fordham, Friday, Aug. 24, and finish the day with a 3 p.m. battle with Central Connecticut. Day two of the Kaiser Classic matches the Green and White against Manhattan at 1 p.m. and host St. John's at 4 p.m.

SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Michigan is playing all four opponents of the Kaiser Classic for the first time in program history this weekend.
Since 1976, EMU has played 19 matches against the Atlantic 10, going 11-8 all-time. In matches against Central Connecticut's conference, the Northeast Conference, Eastern holds a mark of 6-2 in its history.
The Eagles have only played against Manhattan's conference, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, eight times, holding a record of 7-1. Though never playing St. John's, Eastern has played 21 matches against the Big East and currently holds a 16-5 mark.

LID LIFTERS: Eastern Michigan is 1-2 in season opening matches in the Kimi Olson era, but has never had a losing record in the opening tournament of the campaign. In 2017, the Eagles went 2-2 at the Butler Invitational with wins over Robert Morris and Butler, while adding two 2-1 starts to the season in 2016 and 2015.
In fact, EMU has not left a season-opening tournament with a losing record since the 2009 season. On two occasions, the Green and White went 4-0 (2010 and 2012).

PRESEASON ACCOLADES FOR SMITH: Senior outside hitter Jordan Smith (Solon, Iowa-Solon) was named to the Preseason All-Mid-American Conference West Team prior to the start of the 2018 season. The Solon, Iowa native posted a career-high 373 kills a year ago, marking the second straight season she led the team in kills.

MILESTONE WATCH: Senior setter Mallory Rajewski (Midland, Mich.-Midland) spent the 2017 season chasing 2,000 assists, becoming just the eighth player in EMU history to pass the mark and moving into seventh place in Eastern laurels with 2,164 assists. The Midland, Mich. native set a personal-best for assists in a season with 891 last year, and needs 1,222 assists to move into the top five all-time.

STAYING HAUT: No player was on more of a hot streak than redshirt junior Cassie Haut (Monroe, Mich.-St. Mary Catholic Central) to end the 2017 season, and the Monroe, Mich. native will look to build off that momentum into her third season in the Green and White. Haut averaged 13.4 kills per set over the final five matches of 2017, including a career-best 23 kills at rival Central Michigan in which she also added a .298 attack percentage.

WORST TO FIRST: One of Eastern's keys to success in 2017 was its ability to block as a team, leading the Mid-American Conference with 320 total blocks. The Eagles finished 2016 with just 179.5 blocks, last place in the conference.
In addition, two Eagles, Sam Falco and Kelly Ferguson, finished in the top three in blocking as individuals. Falco led the league with 148 total blocks, while Ferguson ended the season with the third-best number of 131.

CHASING 1,000: After two consecutive years leading the team in kills, senior Jordan Smith now sits at 885 for her career. Not only is 1,000 kills in sight, but the Solon, Iowa native also needs just 294 digs to reach the 1,000 digs plateau. She would become just the sixth player in Eastern history to reach the 1,000 kill and 1,000 dig plateau.
In addition, fellow senior Alyssa LaFace (Allen Park, Mich.-Allen Park) needs just 52 digs to reach the 1,000 mark. While playing primarily at libero during her junior campaign, LaFace put up 5.12 digs per set and finished with 486 digs on the season.

EXPANDING THE RECRUITING TERRITORY: Head Coach Kimi Olson and her staff have worked hard to expand the area to find future Eagles since taking over in 2016, and the 2018 class shows this well. Of the five freshman, just one is from the state of Michgian (Heidi Fausze, Temperance, Mich.), while the first players in program history from California (Abbey Kearney, Pacific Palisades, Calif.) and Hawaii (Julia Fisher, Kailua, Hawaii) also join the class.

WELCOME BACK FRANKI: After a sparkling start to her rookie campaign, outside hitter Franki Strefling (Niles, Mich.-Buchanan) had her season cut short due to an ACL injury suffered Oct. 7 against Ohio. The Niles, Mich. native averaged 2.65 kills per set and 2.54 digs per set, and at the time of her injury was second on the team in total kills with 225. She returns to action with a clean bill of health and is expected to play right away.

DELAYED DEBUT: Also making her debut at the St. John's Kaiser Classic is redshirt freshman Carissa Spalt (Tucson, Ariz.-Sabino), who sat out the entirity of the 2017 season. The Tucson, Ariz. native is the first player in EMU history from the Grand Canyon State and plays outside hitter.

HOUSTON WE HAVE LIFT OFF: Sophomore April Houston (Minneapolis, Minn.-Southwest) came on strong as a net presence in the latter half of the 2017 season, playing both middle blocker and right side at various times, and finished the year with 97 kills and 46 total blocks. The Minneapolis, Minn. native will primarily see time at middle blocker to start the 2018 campaign.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern Michigan returns to Washtenaw County to take part in the Michigan Invitational, co-hosted by the University of Michigan and EMU, Sept. 1-2. The Eagles kick off the weekend playing the Wolverines at U-M at noon, Saturday, Sept. 1, and cap off the day with their home opener against Cleveland State at 7 p.m. inside the Convocation Center.
The weekend wraps with another home game for the Green and White, hosting the Crimson of Harvard in a 1 p.m. match, Sunday, Sept. 2.

Eastern Volleyball Opens Season at St. John's Kaiser Classic

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Players Mentioned

Heidi Fausze

Kelly Ferguson

Julia Fisher

Cassie Haut

April Houston

Abbey Kearney

Alyssa LaFace

Mallory Rajewski

Jordan Smith

Carissa Spalt

Franki Strefling

Eastern Michigan Athletics