EMU Volleyball Kicks Off 2019 at Utah State Tournament

Volleyball at Utah State Tournament
Date	Friday, Aug. 30 \| 12 p.m. MT 4:30 p.m. MT Saturday, Aug. 31 \| 12 p.m.
Venue	Logan, Utah \| Wayne Estes Center (1,400)
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	Fan Stats
Watch	Big West Network
Twitter	@EMUVolleyball \| @EMUAthletics

LOGAN, Utah (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team kicks off the 2019 campaign with a trip to the Beehive State to take part in the Utah State Tournament. The Eagles begin action with a 12 p.m. MT showdown with the tournament host Aggies on Friday, Aug. 30, and follow that with a match against Southern Utah at 4:30 p.m. MT. Eastern's opening weekend wraps with a match against Xavier University Saturday, Aug. 31, starting at 12 p.m. MT.
   All three of Eastern's matches will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network with Adam Larson, Logan Black, and Kyle Rasmussen on the call.

RETURNING FIREPOWER: Though losing three key seniors from the 2018 Mid-American Conference Tournament championship team, EMU returns plenty of firepower for 2019. Leading the way will be redshirt senior Cassie Haut, who was named MAC West Preseason team this week on top of being 2018's MAC Tournament Most Valuable Player, and an All-MAC First Team member. The Monroe, Mich. native led the league in hitting percentage (.387) and finished sixth in total kills (415). Haut was the only player to appear on both lists' top 10.
   Also returning to the fray will be juniors Franki Strefling and April Houston. Strefling, an outside hitter, finished third on the team with 232 kills and showed prowess on the defensive side of the ball, averaging 2.92 digs per set. Houston provides a point-scoring weapon in multiple facets, finishing 2018 with 220 kills and 105 total blocks.
   Orchestrating the offense will be senior setter Riley Taylor. As a junior, Taylor combined with Mallory Rajewski to win MAC Setter of the Week on four occasions. The Indianapolis, Ind. native had 507 assists in 2018 for an average of 4.12 assists per set, while also leading the Eagles with 39 service aces.
   On the right side, the combination of Ariel Hamby and Julia Fisher returns to add size and strength on the front line. Hamby finished the season with 225 kills, good for fourth on the team, and also finished with 68 total blocks. Fisher finished her freshman campaign with 134 kills and 53 total blocks.
   Taking on the libero role in 2019 will be senior Camille Schomer. The Rochester, Mich. native had 95 digs a season ago and for her career has a 2.35 digs per set average to go along with 495 digs.

SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Michigan will be playing both Utah State and Southern Utah for the first time in program history when the teams meet Friday, Aug. 30. In fact, the Eagles have flown west to play in the Beehive State just twice in program history, playing at the University of Utah each time.
Eastern does have a history with Xavier, however, holding a 4-2 mark against the Musketeers all-time. The last time EMU squared off with XU was Aug. 29, 2015, when the Green and White fell 3-1 in the Queen City Classic. EMU's last victory over the Musketeers was Sept. 1, 2007, when it won 3-1 at the Xavier Tournament.

MAC PRESEASON POLL: The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team was picked to finish third in the Mid-American Conference West Division, but did receive one vote to win the division.

West Division
1. Ball State (10) - 68
2. Western Michigan (1) - 57
3. Eastern Michigan (1) - 43
4. Central Michigan - 39
5. Northern Illinois - 24
6. Toledo - 21

Ball State was pegged to win in the MAC West, while Western Michigan was also picked ahead of Eastern. Both WMU and EMU received one vote to win the regular season, while the Eagles' third-place preseason pick is the highest in the last five seasons.
In the East Division, Miami was picked to win with nine first-place votes and a total of 68 points. The RedHawks were also selected as the MAC Regular Season and Tournament favorite.

HAUT NAMED TO MAC PRESEASON TEAM: With the announcement of the Mid-American Conference preseason poll, the league also announced its 12-member preseason team. Redshirt senior Cassie Haut was one of six players named to the All-MAC West Preseason Team.
A season ago, the Monroe, Mich. native posted a career-high 392 kills while leading the conference with a .376 attack percentage.

LEADING THE LEAGUE: Eastern Michigan's 2018 season had the Eagles ranked near the top in almost every major statistical category in the Mid-American Conference. EMU led in assists per set (13.27), and kills per set (14.07), while coming in second in opponent hitting percentage (.164), team hitting percentage (.232).
The Green and White's 17.99 digs per set average ranked 11th in the NCAA in 2018, while its 13.22 assists per set mark was good for 15th overall. Former libero Alyssa LaFace's 5.75 digs per set finished seventh nationally.

RECORD-BREAKING DOZEN: The 2018 Eastern Michigan volleyball team set a new standard for Mid-American Conference Player of the Week wins, taking home the honors 12 times during the campaign. The dozen marks a new single-season high for the EMUVB program. The setting tandem of Riley Taylor and Mallory Rajewski won setter of the week four times during the season, while libero Alyssa LaFace donned the defensive player of the week honor four times as well. Outside hitter Jordan Smith and middle blocker Cassie Haut each earned the honor of offensive player of the week twice.

STAYING HAUT: Redshirt senior Cassie Haut led the Mid-American Conference in hitting percentage on the season with an incredible .371 average, and hit an outstanding .387 in conference play. She's also finished tied for second in total blocks (124) and sixth in blocks per set (0.98).
   The Eagles' middle blocker won MAC West Offensive Player of the Week two times in the 2018 season.

STREFLING THE DEFENSIVE WIZ: After proving herself as one of the top attacking freshmen in the Mid-American Conference in 2017, junior Franki Strefling upped her game on the defensive side of the ball in 2018.
   The Niles, Mich. native had 21 double-digit dig performances a season ago, compared to 10 in her rookie campaign. The outside hitter also averaged 13.7 digs per contest over the final six matches, good for 3.73 dig per set. She still finished third on the team in kills with 232, and added 265.5 total points during the year.

HOUSTON WE HAVE LIFT OFF: After having just one double-digit kill performance the first seven weeks of the season in 2018, April Houston put together seven 10+ kill performances during MAC play. The Minneapolis, Minn. native pounded out a season-high 14 kills 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 also came up clutch in the MAC Tournament, pounding out 13 kills in the semi-final match against No. 1 Bowling Green, and another 10 in the finals against No. 2 Miami.

NEW FACES FROM NEW PLACES: Head Coach Darcy Dorton and her staff have worked hard to expand the area to find future Eagles since joining the program in 2015. In the last three years, the Eagles have brought in the first players in program history from Arizona (Carissa Spalt, Tucson, Ariz.), California (Abbey Kearney, Pacific Palisades, Calif.), Hawaii (Julia Fisher, Kailua, Hawaii), and Wisconsin (Alayna Jansky, Mukwonago, Wis.) while also bringing in the first players from Ohio (Samantha Basham, Granville, Ohio, and Kamryn Stilwell, Parma, Ohio) since 2016.

PRAIRIE RIDGE PIPELINE: Eastern Michigan has added two players in the past two seasons from Prairie Ridge High School in Crystal Lake, Ill. In 2018, defensive specialist/setter Mackenzie Garis joined the Eagles, and in 2019 setter Jayden Otto followed suit.

A FAMILY AFFAIR: A native of Detroit, Mich., freshman Krista Blakely comes to EMU as a 'legacy' student-athlete. Blakely is the daughter of Werner Blakely and Donna (Stevenson) Davis, both of whom were student-athletes at Eastern. Blakely was a four-year letterwinner in football (1988-91), while Davis was a member of the 1990 EMU volleyball team that won a program-record 30 games.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern jumps one time zone closer in its second week of action for 2019, participating in the Sawyer Camillo Memorial Classic, hosted by the University of Louisiana. The Eagles kick off the event Friday, Sep. 6 at 11 a.m. CT by taking on Florida A&M, and wrap the day with a bout against the tournament host Ragin' Cajuns at 6:30 p.m.
EMU's trip to the Bayou State finishes with a 10 a.m. CT showdown with fellow 2018 NCAA Tournament participant McNeese State.

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Players Mentioned

Samantha Basham

Krista Blakely

Julia Fisher

Mackenzie Garis

Ariel Hamby

Cassie Haut

April Houston

Alayna Jansky

Abbey Kearney

Alyssa LaFace

Jayden Otto

Mallory Rajewski

Camille Schomer

Jordan Smith

Carissa Spalt

Kamryn Stilwell

Franki Strefling

Riley Taylor

Eastern Michigan Athletics