Eastern Michigan Athletics
Friday, September 6
Lafayette, La.
11 a.m. CT
Eastern Michigan University
vs
Florida A&M
Photo by: Walt Middleton Photography
EMU Volleyball Heads to Louisiana for Weekend Tournament
9/4/2019 4:00:00 PM | Volleyball
The Eagles will take on Florida A&M, Louisiana, and McNeese State
LAFAYETTE, La. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team returns to action this weekend, Sept. 6-7, taking on Florida A&M, Louisiana, and McNeese State at the Sawyer Camillo Memorial Classic, hosted by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
The Eagles begin the tournament against Florida A&M at 11 a.m. CT, and take on tournment host Louisiana at 6:30 p.m. CT. The weekend finishes with a showdown against the Cowgirls of McNeese State at 10 a.m. CT on Saturday, Sept. 7.
All three of Eastern's matches will be available online, with its match against Louisiana featuring commentary from Dan McDonald.
BYE BYE TO THE BEEHIVE STATE: Eastern's trip to the Beehive State of Utah did not treat the Eagles well, coming away with a 1-2 record out of opening weekend. EMU kicked off the Utah State Tournament with a hard-fought 3-2 win over the tournament host Aggies, but then fell 3-0 to Southern Utah and 3-1 to Xavier.
Junior Franki Strefling proved to be an all-around force, collecting two double-doubles of kills and digs. The outside hitter started the season with a 16-kill, 20-dig performance against Utah State, and also garnered a 17-kill, 10-dig game against Xavier. The Niles, Mich. native had double-digit kills in all three matches for EMU.
Joining in the offensive fun was redshirt senior Cassie Haut, who was named to the Utah State Tournament All-Tournament team after a fantastic weekend. The middle blocker hit .452 on the weekend with 39 kills and 12 total blocks. Her best all-around performance came in Eastern's win over Utah State when she had 15 kills, two aces, one digs, and six total blocks.
SETTING UP SUCCESS: Senior setter Riley Taylor had a solid opening weekend, registering two double-doubles while the Eagles ran their 6-2 offense, and finishing all three matches with 26-or-more assists. The Indianapolis, Ind. native has 1,693 assists in her career, and is now ninth all-time in Eastern Michigan laurels.
Freshman Jayden Otto made her collegiate debut against Utah State, Aug. 30, and finished the match with 18 assists and six digs. Sophomore Mackenzie Garis switched roles from defensive specialist to setter this season, making her setting debut against Xavier, Aug. 31. The Crystal Lake, Ill. native dished out 18 assists in her first match as a 6-2 distributor.
SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Michigan will be playing both Florida A&M and McNeese State for the first time in program history when the teams meet Friday, Sept. 6 and Saturday, Sept. 7, respectively.
Oddly enough, the Eagles have taken on Louisiana two different times, but neither match was played in Lafayette or Ypsilanti. EMU defeated the Ragin' Cajuns, 3-1, as part of the Sam Houston State Invitational in Huntsville, Texas Aug. 28, 2010, and Louisiana came out on top, 3-1, at the Chicago State Tournament in Chicago, Sept. 16, 2017.
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 2018 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 returns to the Mitten to co-host the Michigan Challenge with the University of Michigan, Sept. 14-15.
EMU hosts Navy for the first home match of 2019 Saturday, Sept. 14 at 5 p.m. inside the Convocation Center. The Eagles then make the short trip into Ann Arbor Sunday, Sept. 15 to take on No. 14 Michigan at 1 p.m. at the Crisler Center.
The Eagles begin the tournament against Florida A&M at 11 a.m. CT, and take on tournment host Louisiana at 6:30 p.m. CT. The weekend finishes with a showdown against the Cowgirls of McNeese State at 10 a.m. CT on Saturday, Sept. 7.
All three of Eastern's matches will be available online, with its match against Louisiana featuring commentary from Dan McDonald.
BYE BYE TO THE BEEHIVE STATE: Eastern's trip to the Beehive State of Utah did not treat the Eagles well, coming away with a 1-2 record out of opening weekend. EMU kicked off the Utah State Tournament with a hard-fought 3-2 win over the tournament host Aggies, but then fell 3-0 to Southern Utah and 3-1 to Xavier.
Junior Franki Strefling proved to be an all-around force, collecting two double-doubles of kills and digs. The outside hitter started the season with a 16-kill, 20-dig performance against Utah State, and also garnered a 17-kill, 10-dig game against Xavier. The Niles, Mich. native had double-digit kills in all three matches for EMU.
Joining in the offensive fun was redshirt senior Cassie Haut, who was named to the Utah State Tournament All-Tournament team after a fantastic weekend. The middle blocker hit .452 on the weekend with 39 kills and 12 total blocks. Her best all-around performance came in Eastern's win over Utah State when she had 15 kills, two aces, one digs, and six total blocks.
SETTING UP SUCCESS: Senior setter Riley Taylor had a solid opening weekend, registering two double-doubles while the Eagles ran their 6-2 offense, and finishing all three matches with 26-or-more assists. The Indianapolis, Ind. native has 1,693 assists in her career, and is now ninth all-time in Eastern Michigan laurels.
Freshman Jayden Otto made her collegiate debut against Utah State, Aug. 30, and finished the match with 18 assists and six digs. Sophomore Mackenzie Garis switched roles from defensive specialist to setter this season, making her setting debut against Xavier, Aug. 31. The Crystal Lake, Ill. native dished out 18 assists in her first match as a 6-2 distributor.
SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Michigan will be playing both Florida A&M and McNeese State for the first time in program history when the teams meet Friday, Sept. 6 and Saturday, Sept. 7, respectively.
Oddly enough, the Eagles have taken on Louisiana two different times, but neither match was played in Lafayette or Ypsilanti. EMU defeated the Ragin' Cajuns, 3-1, as part of the Sam Houston State Invitational in Huntsville, Texas Aug. 28, 2010, and Louisiana came out on top, 3-1, at the Chicago State Tournament in Chicago, Sept. 16, 2017.
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 2018 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 returns to the Mitten to co-host the Michigan Challenge with the University of Michigan, Sept. 14-15.
EMU hosts Navy for the first home match of 2019 Saturday, Sept. 14 at 5 p.m. inside the Convocation Center. The Eagles then make the short trip into Ann Arbor Sunday, Sept. 15 to take on No. 14 Michigan at 1 p.m. at the Crisler Center.
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