Volleyball Falls at Western Michigan in Series Finale

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team dropped a three-setter to the Western Michigan University Broncos, Saturday, Nov. 5 inside University Arena on the campus of WMU.

The 3-0 conference loss moves Eastern Michigan's overall record to 5-22 with a 4-11 mark in Mid-American Conference play.

Senior Raeven Chase (Toronto, Ontario-Michael Power St. Joseph Catholic) finished with six kills on the day to lead the Eagles offense. The Green and White registered 17 digs from junior Bella Hommes (Grand Rapids, Mich.-Forrest Hills Northern) to lead them defensively.

How It Happened
SET 1 | The Eagles found themselves in an early hole, losing the first set 25-21. Western Michigan grabbed the advantage for good at 19-18 in a set that was tied up four times before the Broncos took over in the second half of the stanza.

SET 2 | A 25-15 set-two loss put Eastern Michigan down 2-0 in the match. The Eagles dropped the first point and couldn't take the lead before dropping the set.

SET 3 | Western Michigan finished off the sweep with a third-set victory. The Eagles lost a tough set 25-15. Eastern Michigan trailed by as many as 11 points as Western Michigan grabbed the advantage for good at 3-2 in a set that was knotted up two times before the Broncos took over the lead.

Match Notes
» Freshman Carlina Bender (Hudsonville, Mich.-Hudsonville) had a team-high two aces in the loss. The two in this match added with her previous 10 puts the rookie at 12 career aces.
» Eastern Michigan got a match-high 17 digs from Hommes. This was just the fourth time the junior has earned double-digit digs in the season and topped her previous season-high 15 set against Bowling Green State University, Oct. 22. Coupled with her 15 the night before, the junior earned 32 digs against the Broncos attack, the most in any series by the Grand Rapids native in the 2022 season. Hommes has tallied 147 total digs this season and 744 in her career.
» Eastern Michigan attackers were helped by a team-high 15 assists from sophomore Kendall Burk (Bloomington, Ill.-.University). Burk leads the Green and White in helpers. She has totaled 613 assists, all in this season.
» Despite the outcome, the defense managed to come out victorious over the Broncos in the blocking category once again. EMU out blocked Western 6-to-2 in the match. Eastern Michigan has bested its opponent in the total blocks battle 13 times this season (48%). Moreover, the Eagles 199 total blocks this season ranks second in the Mid-American Conference.

Historical Notes
» Saturday's match between the Eagles and the Broncos was the 95th meeting in program history, dating back to 1976. The Green and White have taken 24 of those matches with the most recent being Oct. 6, 2018, when the Eagles defeated the Broncos in a match decided by four sets inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center. The victory marked the eighth time Eastern had consecutive wins over the inter-state rival in the 95 match stretch.
» Prior to this series, this was the first weekend the Eagles have traveled to University Arena since Sept. 27, 2019 when the Eagles fell in Kalamazoo, Mich. Since then, the Broncos have traveled to Ypsilanti, Mich. for five consecutive competitions prior to this series.

Up Next
The team will return home to the George Gervin GameAbove Center for the remainder of the 2022 regular season. The Eagles will play host to Northern Illinois University Friday, Nov. 11 and Saturday, Nov. 12 with Saturday's match being dubbed senior day for four Eagles. Then, the Eagles will close the 2022 season with one more midweek match up with Central Michigan University, Wednesday, Nov. 16.

Next Event

Team Stats

Raeven Chase

Krista Blakely

Mekayla Koger

Samantha Basham

Eastern Michigan Athletics