Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
1-11,0-0MAC
Liberty
7-5,0-0ASUN
Volleyball Comes Up Short in Finale Against Liberty
9/17/2022 5:06:00 PM | Volleyball
The Eagles finish the Liberty Tournament 1-2
LYNCHBURG, Va. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team dropped its final match of the Liberty University Tournament Saturday, Sept. 17, in straight-sets against the Flames in non-conference action at Liberty Arena.
The 3-0 setback moved Eastern Michigan to 1-11 overall and closed the lid on the non-conference season.
Senior Krista Blakely (Detroit, Mich.-University Academy) finished with six kills on the day to lead the Eagles attack. The team received 12 digs from freshman Emma McMahon (Monroeville, Ind.-Bellmont) along with six blocks from sophomore Mekayla Koger (Mansfield, Texas-Lake Ridge-Sam Houston State) to lead them defensively.
How It Happened
SET 1 | The Eagles fell behind early, dropping the first set 25-20. Eastern Michigan trailed by as many as nine points as Liberty never gave up the lead in a set that was knotted up just once before the Flames took control.
SET 2 | Eastern then lost set two 25-14 to fall behind in the match two sets to none.
SET 3 | EMU could not prolong the match and lost in set number three. The Eagles lost the set 25-22 in spite of a strong performance on the attacking side. Eastern Michigan put together a .303 attack percentage with 12 kills in the set loss.
Match Notes
» McMahon had a team-high two aces in the loss. The two service aces ranks as the rookie's career-best. Also earning service aces on the match with one each was both graduate student Callie Minshew (Brandon, Miss.-Brandon-Mississippi State) and Kendall Burk (Bloomington, Ill.-University). The two hold the season-record 4 aces in a single match.
» Koger had a match-high six blocks against the Flames. The sophomore tied her previously set match record of six blocks against Xavier University, Sept. 3. Seniors Samantha Basham (Granville, Ohio-Newark Catholic) and Blakely each produced three stops each to add to the Eagles 15 total blocks.
» Blakely had a team-high six kills for Eastern Michigan to add to her total 395 career kills. The senior is just four kills shy from her next career milestone of 400 kills.
» The Green and White collected a match-high 12 digs from McMahon for her tenth-consecutive match with double-digit figures in digs. The rookie currently leads the Eagles in digs with 187.
» Earning the match-high in assists was Burk with 14 helpers. The Illinois-native has registered 152 assists trailing teammate Olivia Szylar (Itasca, Ill.-Lake Park) in total assists who leads with 305.
Historical Notes
» In their first meeting, the Flames take a 1-0 all-time series record over the Eagles.
» The three-set loss was just the third time of the 2022 season the Eagles have been swept by their opponent. The last time the Green and White lost in three was the day before, Sept. 16, against Coppin State University.
» Under Head Coach Darcy Dorton, the Green and White are now 1-2 on the season in games decided by three sets and 12-20 overall.
Up Next
The Eastern Michigan Volleyball team will open its Mid-American Conference play, Thursday, Sept. 22, against the Rockets of University of Toledo. The match will be located in the George Gervin GameAbove Center as it will also play the role of Eastern's home-opener. The contest is set to begin at 6 p.m. and will be broadcasted via ESPN+.
