Volleyball Begins Road Tilt at Northern Illinois Thursday

Volleyball at Northern Illinois
Dates	Thursday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. (ET) \| Friday, Feb. 12 at 5 p.m. (ET)
Venue	DeKalb, Ill. \| Convocation Center
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Television	ESPN3 (Thursday) \| NIU All-Access (Friday)
Live Stats	Fan Stats \| Media Stats
Twitter	@EMUVolleyball \| @EMUAthletics

DEKALB, Ill. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team will begin a five-game road stint Thursday, Feb. 11, when the Eagle travel to DeKalb, Ill. to take on Northern Illinois University. EMU and NIU will play two matches, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. ET and Feb. 12 at 5 p.m. ET.
   Eastern Michigan (0-2, 0-2 MAC) dropped its first two matches of the shortened 2020-21 spring season to Western Michigan, Feb. 4-5. The Eagles lost 3-0 in the first match, then fell 3-1 the following day. Northern Illinois (1-5, 1-5 MAC) is on a three-game losing streak, as the Huskies fell 3-2 and 3-1 at Central Michigan, Feb. 4-5.
   Fans can catch the action on ESPN3 and can follow along on EMUEagles.com/livestats or on Twitter by following @EMUVolleyball.

CLOSING IN ON 1,000: Senior Franki Strefling is on pace to reach the 1,000-plateau in both career kills and career digs. The outside hitter needs 169 more kills (831 total) and 13 more digs (987 total) to reach 1,000 in each category. Strefling would be the 13th Eagle to record 1000-career kills and the 17th EMU volleyball player to accomplish this feat in digs.
   The Niles, Mich. native led the team in both categories with 28 kills and 28 digs.

MAKIN' HISTORE: Eastern Michigan is seven victories away from reaching 700 wins in the program's 44-year history. The Eagles hold an 693-695-16 overall record.
   The 1990 squad holds the program wins record with 30 victories. That team became the first EMU volleyball squad to reach a postseason tournament, when the Green and White played in the Women's Invitational Volleyball Championship. The Green and White also claimed the MAC West Division title in 2005, while the Eagles notched their first Mid-American Conference Tournament title in 2018 to advance to the NCAA Tournament.

CAREER DAY FOR BASHAM: Sophomore Samantha Basham had a career day against Western Michigan, Feb. 5. The outside hitter started her first collegiate match and notched a personal-best 14 kills on 40 attempts. Basham also added a career-high seven digs to her statline.
   The Granville, Ohio native ranks second on the team with 20 kills, averaging 2.86 per set.

OTTO-MATIC: This season, sophomore Jayden Otto has taken over as the "quarterback" of the Eastern Michigan offense. Against Western Michigan, Feb. 5, the setter notched career-highs in assists (43), digs (15), and kills (5), resulting in her first career double-double.
   Otto leads the team averaging 9.00 assists per set, which ranks sixth in the Mid-American Conference.

CAN YOU DIG IT?: Freshman Bella Hommes proved herself in Eastern Michigan's opening matches against Western Michigan, Feb. 4-5. Hommes earned her first collegiate start Friday, Feb. 4, before posting a career-high 20 digs against the Broncos Saturday, Feb. 5. The freshman also personal-best six assists.
   Hommes ranks second on the team with 27 digs, averaging 3.86 digs. Her per set average ranks 10th in the Mid-American Conference.

SCOUTING NORTHERN ILLINOIS: Led by 19th-year head coach Ray Gooden, Northern Illinois enters this week's matches with a 1-5 (1-5 MAC) overall record. The Huskies are on a three-match losing streak, most recently falling to Central Michigan, 3-1, Feb. 5.
   NIU is led by Katie Jablonski, who is averaging 2.88 kills per set (72 total) and has a team-high seven service aces. Additionally, JaDee Kovanda is adding 2.17 kills per set, while Kaitlyn Bell is recording 2.16, respectively. Grace Balensiefer is leading the NIU offense with 8.40 assists per set, which ranks seventh in the Mid-American Conference. Anchoring the Huskie defense is Samantha Juarez, who leads the team averaging 4.76 digs per set, which is good for sixth in the conference.
   Northern Illinois averages 11.0 kills per set and holds a .143 hitting percentage (275-146-905), while its opponents are recording 14.0 kills per set. Defensively, the Huskies are posting 15.8 digs per set and 2.1 blocks per set.

LAST TIME VERSUS THE HUSKIES: Eastern Michigan picked up a crucial home victory to boost its hopes of qualifying for the Mid-American Conference Tournament, sweeping aside Northern Illinois, 25-23, 26-24, and 25-22, Friday, Nov. 1, 2019. The Eagles bested the Huskies in straight sets at home for the second consecutive season. EMU out-aced the visitors by a 7-1 margin and recorded 47 kills compared to NIU's total of 45.
   Riley Taylor paced EMU with 28 assists and 10 digs for her 10th double-double of the season, while adding three kills and a pair of service aces. Julia Fisher notched a team-high 15 kills en route to a blistering .520 attacking percentage, while then-redshirt freshman Raeven Chase added a half-dozen kills for a .444 efficiency. Additionally, then-junior Franki Strefling recorded 11 kills, seven digs, and an ace, while Camille Schomer posted eight kills and four digs. For her part, Cassie Haut showed seven kills and led the Green and White with three service aces and a trio of block-assists.

ALL-TIME VERSUS NORTHERN ILLINOIS: Thursday and Friday's matches will be the 62nd and 63rd meetings between the Eagles and the Huskies. Northern Illinois holds the all-time series advantage, 34-27.
   Eastern and Northern Illinois split the 2019 season series with EMU posting a 3-0 win over NIU in the second-match of the series, Nov. 1, 2019. The Green and White has won five of the last six meetings.

ALL-TIME VERSUS THE MAC: The Green and White holds a 268-338-1 program mark against Mid-American Conference teams. Eastern has played Western Michigan the most (93 times), while facing Central Michigan 89 times, and Ball State 78 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 6-12 MAC record.

MAC PRESEASON POLL: Eastern Michigan was picked to finish fourth in the Mid-American Conference West Division as the league office announced, Jan. 21. In-state rival Central Michigan was selected to win the MAC West with 67 points and was also picked as the regular-season champion with seven first-place votes.
   Miami, who received four first-place votes, was pegged to win the MAC East with 62 points. Bowling Green was selected as the MAC Tournament favorite with five votes.

East Division (First-place votes)
1. Miami - 62 points (4)
2. Bowling Green - 60 points (5)
3. Ohio - 55 points (3)
4. Akron - 28 points
5. Kent State - 24 points
6. Buffalo - 23 points

West Division (First-place votes)
1. Central Michigan - 67 points (7)
2. Ball State - 64 points (5)
3. Western Michigan - 45 points
4. Eastern Michigan - 31 points
5. Toledo - 23 points
6. Northern Illinois - 22 points

MAC Tournament Champions: Bowling Green (5), Ball State (2), Central Michigan (2), Kent State (1), Miami (1), Ohio (1)

STREFLING EARNS PRESEASON HONOR: Senior Franki Strefling was named to the West Division Preseason All-MAC Team, the league office announced, Jan. 21. Strefling, one of three seniors for the Eagles, was one of six players named to the preseason squad. The Niles, Mich. native appeared in 28 matches, making 24 starts in 2019 for the Eagles. Strefling's 3.27 kills per set ranked sixth in the conference in 2019, and she ranked second the team averaging 3.74 digs a set.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern Michigan continues a five-game road tilt Monday, Feb. 15 with a make-up match at Kent State University. The match is scheduled for 5 p.m. in KSU's Development Center.
   The Eagles hold the all-time series advantage, 37-21-1. The Golden Flashes posted a 3-2 victory over EMU during the 2019 season. However, the Green and White has won three of the last four meetings.

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Players Mentioned

Samantha Basham

Raeven Chase

Julia Fisher

Cassie Haut

Bella Hommes

Jayden Otto

Camille Schomer

Franki Strefling

Riley Taylor

Eastern Michigan Athletics