Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
0-5,0-0MAC
Xavier
4-1,0-0Big East
Volleyball Pushes Xavier and Virginia to the Limits in the Queen City
9/3/2022 6:25:00 PM | Volleyball
Eagles come up short in five-setter with Cavaliers
MATCH 1 | Eastern Michigan 1, Xavier 3 (14-25, 14-25, 25-23, 21-25)
MATCH 2 | Eastern Michigan 2, Virginia 3 (19-25, 20-25, 26-24, 25-20, 6-15)
CINCINNATI, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team dropped a pair of matches Saturday, Sept. 3, to close out its time at the Xavier Tournament hosted in the Cintas Center on the campus of Xavier University. The Green and White's overall record drops to 0-6 on the season with the setbacks.
Against Xavier, the Eagles attack was paced by Krista Blakely (Detroit, Mich.–University Academy), who finished with 15 kills on the day while accumulating a hitting percentage of .393, and by Callie Minshew (Brandon, Miss.–Brandon–Mississippi State), who had 11 kills while hitting .350. Defensively, Eastern had two players reach double figures in digs as Emma McMahon (Monroeville, Ind. – Bellmont) had 17 and Sabrina Gremm (North Royalton, Ohio-Gilmour Academy) had 15. From the front row, Mekayla Koger (Mansfield, Texas-Lake Ridge–Sam Houston State) contributed six blocks.
The Eagles were led by a double-double from Gremm against the University of Virginia. The freshman registered 10 kills and 10 digs. Minshew added nine kills to help the attack for a total 20 kills in her debut as an Eagle. On the defensive end, McMahon chipped in for with 18 digs to go with six blocks from Madeline Timmerman (Crystal Lake, Ill.–Central).
How It Happened – Match 1
SET 1 | The Eagles found themselves in an early deficit, losing a tough first set 25-14. Eastern trailed by as many as 11 points as Xavier grabbed the advantage for good at 8-7 in a set that was knotted up five times before the Musketeers took control.
SET 2 | A 25-14 set-two loss put Eastern Michigan in a 2-0 hole. Similar to the first set, Eastern Michigan trailed by as many as 11 points. The Musketeers took over the lead at 4-3 in a set that was tied up just once.
SET 3 | Eastern Michigan rallied back to pull within two sets to one, winning their first set of the match in the third stanza. The Eagles won the set 25-23 helped by a solid showing on the attacking side. The Green and White put together a .333 attack percentage with 20 kills in the set win. The Eagles opened up a 22-16 lead in the stanza and coasted to victory from there.
SET 4 | EMU couldn't keep the momentum and lost in set four 25-21 to drop the match. The Eagles fell in a back-and-forth set, losing in a stanza that featured six lead changes and was tied seven times. Neither team opened up a lead of more than four points along the way.
Match Notes – Match 1
» Minshew appeared in her first three sets with the Eagles collecting 11 kills on 20 swings (.350%), one service ace, and two total blocks for a total 13 points on the match.
» Blakely registered her first match-high of 2022 with15 kills for Eastern Michigan. This is her second match of the 2022 campaign in double-digit kills and 13th in her career.
» Eastern Michigan got a match-high 17 digs from McMahon. The rookie was shy one dig to match her career-high 18 at Michigan State University, Aug. 27. However, McMahon registered a career-high two assists in the match.
» Eastern Michigan attackers were helped by a team-high 21 assists from Olivia Szylar (Itasca, Ill.–Lake Park). The 21 against Xavier added with the 13 she collected the night before puts Szylar just four assists away from her 150 career assists milestone.
» The four-setter was the second time the Eagles lost in four in the 2022 campaign.
How It Happened – Match 2
SET 1 | The Eagles found themselves in an early hole once again, dropping a tough first set 25-19. Eastern Michigan trailed by as many as six points as Virginia grabbed the advantage for good at 7-6 in a set that was knotted up six times.
SET 2 | The team then fell in set two 25-20 to trail in the match two sets to none. The Eagles were behind by as many as six points when Virginia grabbed the advantage for good at 11-10 in a set that was tied up six times before the Cavaliers took over the lead.
SET 3 | Eastern Michigan stayed alive with a win in the third set to make it a 2-1 match. The Eagles persevered past a furious Virginia rally in the set, holding on to win 26-24 after leading by eight points at 20-12 earlier in the stanza. Eastern Michigan's front row had a solid defensive performance, blocking five Virginia attacks in the stanza.
SET 4 | The Green and White then kept the comeback train rolling, winning the fourth set 25-20 to bring the match level at two sets apiece. The Eagles scored first and never trailed in the set to secure the victory. Eastern Michigan opened up as much as a seven-point lead at 12-5 before finishing off the stanza. Eastern Michigan also supplemented their offense with three aces in the set.
SET 5 | Eastern Michigan lost the first two sets, but rallied to even it at two sets apiece before falling 15-6 in the final set. The Eagles lost the first point and fought from behind the rest of the way.
Match Notes – Match 2
» Minshew continued to have a day registering a match-high four aces to add to her one versus Xavier.
» Gremm collected her fourth career double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs. This match also registers as her fourth contest in double figure kills and fifth in digs. Her 10 kills on the match was a team-high.
» Gremm had a team-high 10 kills for Eastern Michigan.
» Eastern Michigan got a team-high 18 digs from McMahon for the second time on the day. The Indiana native needed one more dig to overcome her previously set record 18 digs at Michigan State, Aug. 27.
» Eastern Michigan never trailed on the way to winning the fourth set 25-20 and was helped by a team-high 21 assists from Szylar to put her at 166 total. Szylar entered the Virginia match needing just four assists to break her 150-assists milestone.
» Timmerman's six blocks was a new season-high for the sophomore, tying her previous career-high 16 set at Northern Illinois University, Oct. 1, 2021.
Historical Notes
» Overall, the Eagles all-time record with the Muskateers drops to 4-4 and with the Cavaliers 2-2.
» In the 2022 campaign, Gremm leads the Eagle's in kills (65), and tied for second with Basham and Minshew in service aces (5).
Up Next
Showing improvement along the way with a three-four-five set weekend, the Green and White will travel to Chicago, Ill. to participate in the DePaul Tournament, Friday-Saturday, Sept. 9-10. Friday will see the Eagles take on Virginia Tech University at 11 a.m. central, before seeing Saint Louis University in the evening.
