Eagles Volleyball Heads to Fort Wayne for Mid-Week Bout With Mastadons

Volleyball at Purdue Fort Wayne
Date	Tuesday, Sept. 4 - 6 p.m.
Venue	Fort Wayne, Ind. - Arnie Ball Court
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	at Purdue Fort Wayne
Video Broadcast	Mastadon All-Access
Audio Broadcast	at Purdue Fort Wayne
Twitter	@EMUVolleyball \| @EMUAthletics

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University volleyball returns to action for its lone mid-week non-conference match of the 2018 season, traveling to Fort Wayne, Ind. to take on Purdue University at Fort Wayne, Tuesday, Sept. 4 at 6 p.m.
   The contest will be broadcast on Mastodon All-Access, Stretch Internet broadcast, and can be followed on Sidearm live stats.

SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Michigan and Purdue Fort Wayne have played at least once each year since 2001. It has been a while since EMU has found success in the Hoosier State, having not defeated Purdue Fort Wayne in Fort Wayne since 2005, a stretch of five matches. The Eagles defeated the Mastadons, 3-1, in Head Coach Kimi Olson's first season at the Indiana State Sycamore Holiday Inn Classic. Overall, Purdue Fort Wayne holds a narrow, 10-9 lead in the all-time series over Eastern.

LaFACE AND HAMBY NAMED ALL-TOURNAMENT: Senior Alyssa LaFace and junior Ariel Hamby were named to the Michigan Invitational All-Tournament team for their performances against Michigan, Cleveland State, and Harvard, Sept. 1 & 2.
   LaFace had 73 digs and just one reception error on 34 attempts in the Eagles' 2-1 showing. Her 6.64 digs per set average led the MAC for the weekend.
   Hamby was one of two Eagles to have a positive hitting percentage in all three matches on the weekend, hitting a season-high .364 in an 11-kill performance against Cleveland State.

LEADING THE LEAGUE: After a 2-1 weekend as part of the University of Michigan Invitational, Eastern Michigan leads the Mid-American Conference in assists per set (.12.96) and opponent hitting percentage (.151). The Eagles are also in the top-four in the MAC in digs per set (2nd - 18.6), kills per set (2nd - 13.40), blocks per set (3rd - 2.32), and hitting percentage (4th - .227).
   Individually, redshirt junior Cassie Haut leads the MAC in hitting percentage with a .419 mark. Sophomore April Houston is tops in blocks per set (1.17) and second-best in total blocks (27), while redshirt senior Mallory Rajewski is fourth in assists per set (8.77).
   The 2017 season saw the Green and White lead the league in blocks per set (2.46), assists (1,558), total attacks (4,831), and total blocks (320.0).

MILESTONE ALERT: With senior Alyssa LaFace's 37-dig performance against Harvard Universty, Sept. 2, the Allen Park, Michigan native tied the Eastern Michigan modern-era (2008-present) record for digs in a four-set match. The libero also topped the 1,000-dig plateau for her career with a 33-dig performance against St. John's University, Aug. 25.

STAYING HAUT: Redshirt junior Cassie Haut was named to the St. John's Kaiser Classic All-Tournament team after posting double-digit kill efforts in all three matches she played in and averaging 3.64 kills per set at an exceptional .466 attack percentage.
   The Monroe, Mich. tied a career-high with 23 kills against Harvard, Sept. 2, while also hitting .629 in the match. She is leading the Mid-American Conference in attack percentage at .419, and is also averaging 3.23 kills per set, and 1.14 blocks per set.

CHASING 1,000: After two consecutive years leading the team in kills, senior Jordan Smith now sits at 967 for her career. Not only is 1,000 kills in sight, but the Solon, Iowa native also needs just 246 digs to reach the 1,000 digs plateau. She would become just the sixth player in Eastern history to join the 1,000 kill - 1,000 dig club.

HOW MAY I ASSIST YOU?: Redshirt senior Mallory Rajewski registered two more double-doubles over the weekend, bringing her season total to four. The setter dished out 29 assists and picked up 19 digs against Cleveland State, and added 37 assists and 14 digs in Eastern's match with Harvard. Her season average of 8.77 assists per set ranks fourth in the Mid-American Conference.
   The Midland, Mich. native set a new career-high for assists in a three-set match, distributing 40 in the Eagles' sweep of Central Connecticut State. The total tied the mark for fifth-most assists in a three-set match since the modern statistical era began (2008).

FAUSZE-Y BEAR STEPS UP: After seeing action in just three sets through the first six matches of the season, freshman Heidi Fausze stepped up to provide Eastern a much-needed lift against Harvard. The rookie finished with a season-best six kills and .313 hitting percentage.

HOUSTON WE HAVE LIFT OFF: Sophomore April Houston followed up her strong performance at the St. John's Kaiser Classic with another high-quality weekend in the Michigan Invitational, averaging 1.55 kills per set and a team-high 1.18 blocks per set mark. Her 27 total blocks over the first seven matches is second in the Mid-American Conference.

MILESTONE WATCH: Senior setter Mallory Rajewski spent the 2017 season chasing 2,000 assists, becoming just the eighth player in EMU history to pass the mark and sits in seventh place in Eastern laurels with 2,357 assists. The Midland, Mich. native set a personal-best for assists in a season with 891 last year, and needs 1,029 assists to move into the top five all-time.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern Michigan travels to Williamsburg, Va. for a trio of games against Norfolk State University, Savannah State University, and William and Mary College as part of the Colonial Classic, Sept. 7-8.
   EMU kicks off the Classic with a 3:30 p.m. match against Norfolk State, Friday, Sept. 7, and then plays a double-header on Saturday, Sept. 8. The day starts with Savannah State at 10:30 a.m. and finishes with a match against tournament host William and Mary.

Eagles Volleyball Heads to Fort Wayne for Mid-Week Bout With Mastadons

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Players Mentioned

Heidi Fausze

Ariel Hamby

Cassie Haut

April Houston

Alyssa LaFace

Mallory Rajewski

Jordan Smith

Eastern Michigan Athletics