Volleyball Continues MAC Play at Bowling Green Friday

Volleyball at Bowling Green
Date	Friday, Oct. 22 at 6 p.m. \| Saturday, Oct. 23 at 5 p.m.
Venue	Stroh Center - Bowling Green, Ohio
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Watch	ESPN+ (Friday) \| ESPN3 (Saturday)
Live Stats	Live Stats
Twitter	@EMUVolleyball \| @EMUAthletics

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team will travel south on US-23 to challenge Bowling Green State University Friday-Saturday, Oct. 22-23, inside the Stroh Center. Friday's match is slated for 6 p.m. while Saturday's match is set to begin at 5 p.m.
   EMU (8-12, 3-6 MAC) dropped a conference affair to in-state rival Central Michigan, 3-2, Oct. 20. BGSU (13-6, 9-0 MAC) has yet to lose a league match this season. Most recently, the Falcons posted a three-set victory at Miami, Oct. 20.
   Fans can catch Friday's match on ESPN+ and Saturday's contest on ESPN3. As always, fans can follow along on EMUEagles.com/livestats or Twitter by following @EMUVolleyball.

AMONG THE LEADERS: Eastern Michigan ranks fourth in the Mid-American Conference averaging 2.30 blocks per set, and fifth in aces with 1.37.
   Individually, redshirt sophomore Raeven Chase leads the conference in both blocks per set (1.29) and hitting percentage at .359 (195-49-407). Sophomore Kamryn Stilwell is averaging 4.48 digs per set, which is good for fifth in the league, while classmate Jayden Otto ranks sixth in assists (9.81 aps). Additionally, sophomore Samantha Basham is 10th averaging 3.03 kills per set.

IF THE MAC TOURNAMENT STARTED TODAY: If the Mid-American Conference started today, Eastern Michigan would just barely miss the cut into the top-six spots. With a 3-6 conference record, the Eagles are tied for seventh place.
   Bowling Green would be the No. 1 seed in the tournament with a 9-0 league record, followed by Ball State (8-1) and Western Michigan (7-2). Toledo (6-3), Ohio (5-4), and Kent State (4-5) would round the last three spots.
   The regular season champion will host the tournament which will be played Nov. 22-24.

BACK-TO-BACK-TO_BACK: Sophomore Samantha Basham recorded three straight double-doubles in the series against Miami, Oct. 14-15, and Central Michigan, Oct. 20. The outside hitter tallied 19 kills and 16 digs in a 3-1 loss to the RedHawks, Oct. 14. The following day, Basham recorded a career-high 17 digs and 15 kills in a four-set victory. Against the Chippewas, Basham notched 10 kills and 11 digs.
   Basham has four career double-doubles, all from the 2021 fall season.

CHASE-IN RECORDS: Redshirt sophomore Raeven Chase tallied five solo blocks against Central Michigan, Oct. 20, to pass Sharon Dunovsky (1986-89) for 10th-place in the EMU record books with 54 career solo blocks. The middle blocker needs two to move into eighth place.
   Former all-region selection Roxanne Munch (1986-1989) holds the record at 140.

BASHAM HEATING UP: Sophomore Samantha Basham has continued to prove why she is EMU's primary outside hitter. Basham recorded strong performances against Miami, Oct. 14-15, and Central Michigan, Oct. 20
   The outside hitter tallied three straight double-doubles. Basham recorded 19 digs and 16 digs in a 3-1 loss to MU, Oct. 14. The following day, she added 15 kills and a career-high 17 digs in a four-set win, Oct. 15. Against the Chippewas, the sophomore racked up 10 kills and 11 digs. Additionally, the sophomore has three career double-doubles, all from this season.
   Basham leads the team averaging 3.03 kills per set (221 total) and has led the Eagles in the category eight times. Additionally, Basham has tallied 10-or-more kills in 11 matches this season. In Mid-American Conference play, the Granville, Ohio native averages 3.26 kills per set (124 total), which ranks ninth.

CAN YOU DIG IT?: Sophomore Kamryn Stilwell has started as Eastern's primary libero in every match so far this season. The defensive specialist has tallied a team-high 336 digs, which doubles the next highest at 144. She's averaging 4.48 digs per set, good for fifth in the Mid-American Conference.
   Stilwell has recorded double-figure digs in 10 straight matches, with her most recent performance with 25 versus Central Michigan, Oct. 20. In MAC play, the defensive specialist ranks seventh averaging 5.05 digs per set.

BLOCK PARTY: Redshirt sophomore Raeven Chase continues to be a strong force at the net for Eastern Michigan. She leads the team with 97 total blocks (28-69) for a 1.29 blocks-per-set average which leads the Mid-American Conference. In league play, Chase averages 1.55 blocks, good to lead the MAC.
   Chase tied a season-high nine blocks (3-6) in a 3-1 loss against Miami, Oct. 14. Additionally, she has led the team in blocks in 17 matches this season.
   The middle blocker has tallied 266 career blocks (54-212). With her five solo block performance against Central Michigan, Oct. 20, Chase passed Sharon Dunovsky (1986-89) for 10th place in the EMU record book with 54 career solo blocks. Additionally, she needs 42 block assists to break into the top-10 of the EMU record book.

OTTO-MATIC: Quarterbacking the EMU offense again this season is sophomore Jayden Otto. Most recently, the setter notched 44 assists and eight digs in a 3-2 loss to Central Michigan, Oct. 20.
   Otto etched her name in the EMU record book as she tallied 40 assists in a 3-0 victory over Boston College, Sept. 18. The 40 assists tied for seventh in program history for a three-set match in the modern statistical era (since 2008). Additionally, the sophomore tallied 41 assists in a three-set sweep over Belmont, Sept. 11. Her 41-assist performance is tied for fifth in program history for a three-set match in the modern statistical era (since 2008).
   Otto averages 9.83 assists per set, which is good for sixth in the Mid-American Conference. She has led the Eagles in assists every match so far this season and needs 251 more assists (1,713 total) to break into the top-10 of the EMU record books.

ACE, ACE BABY: Eastern Michigan has tallied 103 service aces this season, which is more than what the Eagles produced all of last year (81 total).
   The Green and White average 1.37 aces per set, which ranks fifth in the Mid-American Conference. Last season, the Eagles tallied 1.0 aces per set.
   Six Eagles have recorded double-digit aces this season with sophomore Jayden Otto leading the way with 21. Freshman Madeline Timmerman and junior Mackenzie Garis follow Otto with 19 and 15, respectively. Sophomore Samantha Basham, freshman Annie Lockett, and freshman Bella Hommes have 15, 14, and 11, respectively.

SCOUTING BOWLING GREEN: Led by 10th-year Head Coach Danijela Tomic, Bowling Green enters the week's two-match series with a 13-6 overall record and remains undefeated in Mid-American Conference (9-0). The Falcons claimed a 3-0 sweep against Miami, Oct. 20. BGSU has posted 10 three-set sweeps this season and has only gone to five sets three times.
   BGSU is paced offensively by Petra Indrova, who is averaging 3.87 kills per set. Her kills-per-set average ranks third in the MAC. Following Indrova is Katelyn Meyer, who is adding 3.43 kills per set. Guiding the Falcons' attack is Hanna Laube, who is averaging 10.68 assists per set which is good for third in the conference. Defensively, Julia Walz ranks fourth in the MAC averaging 4.61 digs per set, while Madelynn Luebcke and Katie Kidwell are adding 1.11 and 1.10 blocks per set.
   Bowling Green averages a MAC-best 13.97 kills per set and boasts a .250 hitting percentage (880-294-2347). The Falcons hold their opponents to a .162 attack percentage, which is good for first in the league. BGSU leads the MAC in both assists per set (12.98) and blocks per set (2.56). Additionally, Bowling Green is adding 17.02 digs per set which ranks second in the conference.

ALL-TIME VERSUS BOWLING GREEN: Friday and Saturday's matches will be the 65th and 66th meetings between the Eagles and Falcons in program history. Eastern Michigan trails in the all-time series, 28-36. EMU fell to BGSU, 3-0, in both matches during the 2021 spring season. Bowling Green has won the last three matches, and holds a 6-4 advantage over the last 10.

LAST TIME VERSUS THE FALCONS: Eastern Michigan dropped a Mid-American Conference affair to league front-runner, Bowling Green, in three sets (14-25, 20-25, 16-25), March 12, 2021.
   Franki Strefling paced the Eagles offensively with 14 kills, while April Houston was the second EMU player to reach double-figures with 10 kills. Additionally, Alayna Jansky and Raeven Chase added five each, respectively. Guiding the Green and White attack was Jayden Otto, who notched 34 assists to go along with seven digs
    Defensively, four Eagles recorded 10-plus digs on the afternoon. Strefling, Jansky, and Bella Hommes each dug 13 balls, while Mackenzie Garis garnered 11. Chase also led the Green and White with three total blocks.
    Eastern Michigan struggled offensively, as the Eagles posted a .188 attack percentage (36-14-117), while Bowling Green boasted a .333 percentage (53-10-129). Both teams tallied four total blocks, while the Falcons led in every other statistical category: kills (53-36), assists (47-36), service aces (3-1), and digs (59-58).

ALL-TIME VERSUS THE MAC: The Green and White hold a 279-354-1 program mark against Mid-American Conference teams. Eastern has played Western Michigan the most (95 times) while facing Central Michigan 92 times, and Ball State 80 times. Since the 1980 season when EMU started competing in the MAC, EMU has won one MAC Tournament title (2018) and one MAC West title (2005). Under Darcy Dorton, the Eagles hold a 17-28 MAC record.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern Michigan will return to Ypsilanti to host Buffalo Friday, Oct. 29, and Akron Saturday, Oct. 30. Friday's match is slated for 6 p.m. while Saturday's contest will begin at 3 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Samantha Basham

Raeven Chase

Mackenzie Garis

Bella Hommes

April Houston

Alayna Jansky

Annie Lockett

Jayden Otto

Kamryn Stilwell

Franki Strefling

Madeline Timmerman

Eastern Michigan Athletics