Eastern Michigan Athletics
Friday, September 14
Moon Township, Pa.
10 a.m.
Eastern Michigan University
8-4, 0-0
1
vs
3
Houston
12-1, 0-0
1
2
3
4
F
Houston
27
23
25
25
3
Eastern Michigan
25
25
19
21
1
Eastern Volleyball Falls in Two Matches to Start Robert Morris Invitational
9/14/2018 7:55:00 PM | Volleyball
EMU fell 3-1 to Houston and 3-2 to tournament host Robert Morris
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team fell in both of their day one matchups at the Robert Morris Sheraton Innvitational, falling 3-1 to the University of Houston and getting tripped up in the nightcap, 3-2, by Robert Morris University.
HOUSTON 3 EASTERN MICHIGAN 1
The day started with EMU taking on a Houston squad that had just one loss in 2018 entering the
tournament, and though a strong showing, the Eagles were unable to top the Cougars, falling 25-27, 25-23, 25-19, 25-21.
Senior Jordan Smith (Solon, Iowa-Solon) led the Green and White with 12 kills, while redshirt junior Cassie Haut (Monroe, Mich.-St. Mary Catholic Central) added 11 kills and hit .364 in the match. The setting duo of redshirt senior Mallory Rajewski (Midland, Mich.-Midland) and junior Riley Taylor (Indianapolis, Ind.-Perry Meridian) had 21 and 18 assists, respectively, while Rajewski registered another double-double by adding 10 digs.
Eastern's defense was the highlight of the match for the Eagles, nearly doubling Houston's block effort,13 to 7. Three players also registered double-digit dig performances, as senior Alyssa LaFace (Allen Park, Mich.-Allen Park), and sophomore Franki Strefling (Niles, Mich.-Buchanan) joined Rajewski with 25 and 13, respectively.
Houston held the edge in nearly every major statistical category, hitting .173 to Eastern's .157, taking the edge in kills, 59 to 49, and finishing with four aces to EMU's one.
ROBERT MORRIS 3 EASTERN MICHIGAN 2
Though Eastern held advantages in most of the major statistical categories, the Eagles fell to tournament-host Robert Morris, 25-19, 25-27, 25-15, 25-27, 13-15.
EMU had a higher attack percentage (.180 to .122), as well as more total points (82 to 72), kills (63 to 60), blocks (15 to 6), assists (59 to 58), digs (110 to 102) than RMU, but the Colonials were able to pull out the victory in the end.
Jordan Smith once again led the Green and White in kills with 19, adding 16 digs for a double-double. Sophomore April Houston (Minneapolis, Minn.-Southwest) finished with a season-high 12 kills and registered her first career double-double thanks to 10 digs. The middle blocker also added seven total blocks and two service aces.
Junior Ariel Hamby (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) had seven total blocks for a new career-high, as well as her fourth double-digit kill performance thanks to a 10-kill night.
In the day's second match, it was Riley Taylor who led the distribution efforts of the Eagles, finishing with 30 assists. Mallory Rajewski finished with 25 assists of her own, while Alyssa LaFace put up a match-high 36 digs in the loss.
Eastern plays one final match at the Robert Morris Sheraton Innvitational, squaring off with Duquesne University Saturday, Sept. 15, at 1 p.m. The Eagles then open up Mid-American Conference play Thursday, Sept. 20, when they travel to in-state rival Central Michigan University for a 7 p.m. match.
HOUSTON 3 EASTERN MICHIGAN 1
The day started with EMU taking on a Houston squad that had just one loss in 2018 entering the
tournament, and though a strong showing, the Eagles were unable to top the Cougars, falling 25-27, 25-23, 25-19, 25-21.
Senior Jordan Smith (Solon, Iowa-Solon) led the Green and White with 12 kills, while redshirt junior Cassie Haut (Monroe, Mich.-St. Mary Catholic Central) added 11 kills and hit .364 in the match. The setting duo of redshirt senior Mallory Rajewski (Midland, Mich.-Midland) and junior Riley Taylor (Indianapolis, Ind.-Perry Meridian) had 21 and 18 assists, respectively, while Rajewski registered another double-double by adding 10 digs.
Eastern's defense was the highlight of the match for the Eagles, nearly doubling Houston's block effort,13 to 7. Three players also registered double-digit dig performances, as senior Alyssa LaFace (Allen Park, Mich.-Allen Park), and sophomore Franki Strefling (Niles, Mich.-Buchanan) joined Rajewski with 25 and 13, respectively.
Houston held the edge in nearly every major statistical category, hitting .173 to Eastern's .157, taking the edge in kills, 59 to 49, and finishing with four aces to EMU's one.
ROBERT MORRIS 3 EASTERN MICHIGAN 2
Though Eastern held advantages in most of the major statistical categories, the Eagles fell to tournament-host Robert Morris, 25-19, 25-27, 25-15, 25-27, 13-15.
EMU had a higher attack percentage (.180 to .122), as well as more total points (82 to 72), kills (63 to 60), blocks (15 to 6), assists (59 to 58), digs (110 to 102) than RMU, but the Colonials were able to pull out the victory in the end.
Jordan Smith once again led the Green and White in kills with 19, adding 16 digs for a double-double. Sophomore April Houston (Minneapolis, Minn.-Southwest) finished with a season-high 12 kills and registered her first career double-double thanks to 10 digs. The middle blocker also added seven total blocks and two service aces.
Junior Ariel Hamby (Oak Park, Ill.-Oak Park River Forest) had seven total blocks for a new career-high, as well as her fourth double-digit kill performance thanks to a 10-kill night.
In the day's second match, it was Riley Taylor who led the distribution efforts of the Eagles, finishing with 30 assists. Mallory Rajewski finished with 25 assists of her own, while Alyssa LaFace put up a match-high 36 digs in the loss.
Eastern plays one final match at the Robert Morris Sheraton Innvitational, squaring off with Duquesne University Saturday, Sept. 15, at 1 p.m. The Eagles then open up Mid-American Conference play Thursday, Sept. 20, when they travel to in-state rival Central Michigan University for a 7 p.m. match.
Team Stats
HOU
EMU
Kills
59
49
Errors
30
24
Attempts
168
159
Hitting %
.173
.157
Points
70.0
63.0
Assists
50
45
Aces
4
1
Blocks
7.0
13.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
7
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
RS
/ VolleyballMB/RS
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
DS/L
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
S
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