Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
5-20,4-9MAC
Akron
5-19,2-11MAC
Eagles Come Out Victorious, Defeat Akron in Five-Set Thriller
10/29/2022 7:26:00 PM | Volleyball
Koger registers career-high 13 kills on the match
AKRON, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team earned its fourth Mid-American Conference victory of the 2022 season with a 3-2 decision at the University of Akron, tonight, Oct. 29, inside James A. Rhodes Arena.
The 3-2 conference win moves Eastern Michigan's overall record to 5-20 with a 4-9 mark in MAC play.
The Eagles offense was paced by senior Krista Blakely (Detroit,Mich.-University High School Academy), who finished with 17 kills on the day while accumulating a hitting percentage of .424. Fellow senior Samantha Basham (Granville, Ohio.-Newark Catholic) added 17 more and sophomore MeKayla Koger (Mansfield, Texas-Lake Ridge-Sam Houston State) chipped in with 13 as part of balanced Eastern Michigan attack. Defensively, had two players reach double figures in digs as freshman Emma McMahon (Monoreville, Ind.-Bellmont) had 19 and freshman Carlina Bender (Hudsonville, Mich.-Hudsonville) had 14.
How It Happened
SET 1 | The Eagles grabbed control of the set-one lead at 2-1 and held the it the rest of the way to win 25-21. Eastern Michigan led by as many as seven points at 12-5 before finishing off the set. The Green and White registered a solid defensive performance from a front row that blocked four Akron attacks in the stanza.
SET 2 | Eastern fell in set two 25-19 to even the match 1-1. EMU trailed by as many as seven points as Akron grabbed the advantage for good at 8-7 in a set that was tied up three times before the Zips took over the lead.
SET 3 | A third-set loss put Eastern Michigan down 2-1. The Eagles lost the set 25-23 in spite of a strong performance on the attacking end. EMU registered a .371 attack percentage with 17 kills in the set loss.
SET 4 | The team then broke their two set losing streak and forced a fifth set with a 25-14 victory in set number four. The Eagles took control of the set at 5-4 and held the lead the rest of the way. Eastern Michigan led by as many as 11 points at 24-13 before closing out the stanza.
SET 5 | Eastern battled back from down two sets to one to win two straight sets, culminating in a 15-5 fifth-set victory, and earn the 3-2 win. The Eagles led from the opening point on in set five to secure the victory and opened up as much as a 10 point lead at 13-3 before finishing off the set, collecting nine kills with a .750 attack percentage without committing an attack error in the set.
Match Notes
» After topping her previous season-high 15 kills at Xavier Universirty, Sept. 3, with her 16 last night at Buffalo, Blakely's 17 against the Zips ranks as her new season-high and is her second time in her career recording 17, previously doing so verse Miami, Oct. 15, 2021. Her lone block solo added another point to the seniors 18, matching her career-high set against Buffalo, Oct. 29, 2021.
» Eastern Michigan had three players in double figures in kills including . This marks the sixth match of the 2022 season in which Eastern has tallied three or more players with double-digit kills in a single match, the most recent coming at home against Ohio University, Oct. 7.
» Eastern Michigan attackers were helped by a match-high 56 assists from sophomore Kendall Burk (Bloomington, Ill.-University). The 56 goes down as the sophomores career-high, besting her previous 48 set against Bowling Green, Oct. 22.
» Koger was efficient in attacking situations in the match, accumulating 13 kills while hitting .619. The 13 kills is the transfers career-high, topping her previous three set in three different contests. With 13 kills tonight, the Texas native nearly doubled her season output, which stands at 30 on the season. Additionally, her 13 points also tops her previous high four coming at Ball State University, Oct. 1.
» Eastern Michigan attackers combined to hit .352 in the match. This was the highest hitting percentage of the season and first above .300. Moreover, the Green and White have out-hit their opponents in six matches and hold a 5-1 record in said matches. The lone loss was against Kent State University, Oct. 8.
» Eastern never trailed on the way to winning the fifth set 15-5. Additionally, with the set tied at eight in the fourth set, the Eagles went on a 32-11 run to win the fourth and fifth set, and ultimately the match.
» Eastern Michigan attackers earned a season high 66 kills in the win, improving from its previous 63 against Virginia Tech, Sept. 9.
» Tonight's five-setter was the eighth of the year. After losing the first six, the Eagles have won the last two five-set thrillers in a row.
» The Eagles are 2-0 this season when recording the same amount of kills as its opponent. Tonight, both Eastern and Akron finished the match with 66 kills each.
Historical Notes
» Saturday's match between the Eagles and Zips was the 44th meeting in program history, dating back to 1983. With its win, EMU has officially evened the series ledger at 22 apiece. Additionally, EMU has won seven of the last 10 matchups in the series, and is currently on a three-match win streak, its best over Akron since it hit the same total between 2016-18, respectively. The three-match win streak over UA ties as EMU's second-longest over the Zips.
» Eastern Michigan has won five of its last six matches inside James A. Rhodes Arena, marking the team's best six-match road stretch against the Zips in program history.
» Eastern Michigan mustered a .352 hitting percentage against the Zips, by far its highest mark of the season. The total is the best for any Eastern Michigan team since Sept. 11, 2021, when the team hit the same mark in a match against Belmont University. Tonight's effort ties for the best single-match hitting percentage under fourth-year Head Coach Darcy Dorton.
Up Next
After two road contests, the Eagles continue their away stretch with two matches in Kalamazoo, Mich. against the Broncos of Western Michigan University, Nov. 4-5. Friday's match is slated for a 6 p.m. serve while Saturday's will begin at 3 p.m.
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