EMU Volleyball Co-Hosts Michigan Invitational This Weekend

Volleyball at the Michigan Challenge
Date	Saturday, Sept. 14 \| 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 15 \| 1 p.m.
Venue	Ypsilanti, Mich. \| Convocation Center (8,751) Ann Arbor, Mich. \| Crisler Center (12,707
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Live Stats	vs. Navy \| at Michigan
Watch	BTN+
Twitter	@EMUVolleyball \| @EMUAthletics

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team returns to Washtenaw County for a pair of matches this weekend, Sept. 14-15, as it co-hosts the three-team Michigan Challenge with the University of Michigan.
   The Eagles begin their portion of the Challenge with a Saturday night bout against the Midshipmen of Navy, beginning at 5 p.m. in the Convocation Center.EMU then heads to Ann Arbor to take on Michigan, Sunday at 1 p.m. inside the Crisler Center.
Both matches will provide live stats.

BORN FOR THE BAYOU: The Eastern Michigan duo of juniors, Franki Strefling and April Houston, were named to the All-Tournament team at the Sawyer Camillo Memorial Classic at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Sept. 6-7.
   Strefling continued her torrid start to the 2019 campaign, putting up double-digits in both kills and digs in all three matches. The Niles, Mich. native had kill totals of 13, 11, and 13, while putting up 16, 11, and 16 digs.
   Houston was a menace up front, averaging 7.2 kills per match while hitting .314 for the weekend.

KEEP FIRING AWAY, FRANKI: Junior Franki Strefling has been one of the top all-around performers in the Mid-American Conference this season, leading the Eagles with 79 kills and a 3.59 kills-per-set mark, while also hitting at a strong .274. Her 83.5 total points and 3.80 points per set mark are both second for Eastern.
   The junior isn't just performing on the offensive end either. Strefling is second on the team with 80 digs, and has a 3.64 digs-per-set average. She also leads the team with a .941 reception percentage (min. 50 attempts).

STAYING HAUT: Redshirt senior Cassie Haut kept her steady course of high-level volleyball over the weekend at Louisiana-Lafayette, finishing with 34 kills, a .309 attack percentage, 11 digs, and 11 total blocks.
   The Monroe, Mich. native now has 73 kills on the season and his hitting .383 overall. She's leading the team with 4.14 points per set, whil also adding 23 total blocks, 18 digs, and five service aces.

SERIES HISTORY: Each of Eastern's opponents of the Michigan Challenge were also 2018 NCAA Tournament teams, as EMU will be playing Navy for just the second time in program history on Saturday. Eastern defeated the Ships 2-0 in 1983.
   Eastern Michigan has a long history against Washtenaw County foe Michigan, holding a 10-42 record against the Wolverines all-time. EMU and U-of-M last played in the 2018 Michigan Challenge, with the Maize and Blue sweeping the match. Eastern's last win over Michigan was Sept. 7, 1994, when the Green and White took a 3-1 victory by scores of 15-12, 8-15, 16-14, and 15-9.
   Eastern's last win over a Big Ten opponent was Sept. 10, 2010, when the Eagles captured the Spartan Invitational crown with a 3-2 victory over Michigan State.

1,000 KILL CASSIE: Redshirt senior Cassie Haut passed the 1,000 kill threshold with her 12-kill performance against McNeese State Saturday, Sept. 7. The Monroe, Mich. product is now just 127 kills from entering the top 10 in the Eastern Michigan record book.

COMING UP CAM: Senior Camille Schomer has stepped into the libero role for Eastern in 2019, and is leading the team in both total digs (83) and digs per set (3.77). She's also been able to provide to the offensive attack, already nearing a career-high with 35 assists on the campaign.

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.

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.

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.

NEW BENCH BOSS: First year head coach Darcy Dorton is not a new face to the EMU program, having served as an assistant coach for the past four season. In her time in the Green and White, Dorton helped the program to its first ever MAC Touranment Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance, and has seen five Eagles named All-MAC selections, including middle blockers Kelly Ferguson and Cassie Haut, who were Dorton's primary responsibility as an assistant.

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.

KADERA JOINS THE STAFF: First year assistant coach Kassie Kadera joins Eastern as a former head coach from the NCAA DII realm, but is very familiar with the Mid-American Conference. Not only did Kadera spend a year as a volunteer assistant at Akron, but she is also a highly-decorated setter from the University of Toledo (2008-11). Kadera led the conference in assists-per-set in 2009 and ranked third in the league in each of her other four seasons, earning All-MAC Second Team honors three times.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern hosts its second home match of the 2019 season when it welcomes Purdue Fort Wayne to the friendly confines of the Convocation Center Tuesday, Sept. 17 for a 6 p.m. match.
   The Eagles wrap up the non-conference portion of the schedule at the Purdue Tournament, Sept. 20-21. EMU will take on Murray State Friday at 12:30 p.m., and finish the day against Texas A&M - Corpus Christi at 5 p.m. The tournament wraps with a 3 p.m. match against host Purdue Saturday at 3 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Samantha Basham

Krista Blakely

Julia Fisher

Mackenzie Garis

Cassie Haut

April Houston

Alayna Jansky

Abbey Kearney

Jayden Otto

Camille Schomer

Carissa Spalt

Kamryn Stilwell

Franki Strefling

Eastern Michigan Athletics