Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
2-17,0-7MAC
Buffalo
15-3,5-1MAC
Volleyball Falls in Three-Set Sweep to Buffalo
10/6/2023 7:34:00 PM | Volleyball
Minshew led the Eagles with 12 kills, while Howard paced them in digs with eight
BUFFALO, NY (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team lost to the Bulls of the University at Buffalo in straight sets (17-25, 23-25, 9-25) Friday evening on the road at Alumni Arena.
The loss dropped Eastern Michigan's record to 2-17 overall and 0-7 in MAC play.
Callie Minshew (Brandon, Miss./Brandon/Mississippi State) finished with 12 kills on the day to lead the Eagles attack while finishing with a hitting percentage of .296. EMU got eight digs from Hannah Howard (Toledo, Ohio/Saint Ursula Academy) to lead them defensively.
How It Happened
SET 1 | The Eagles found themselves in an early hole, dropping a tough first set, 25-17. Eastern Michigan trailed by as many as eight points as Buffalo grabbed the advantage for good at 5-4 in a set that was tied up three times before the Bulls took control.
SET 2 | EMU lost set two, 25-23, digging a 2-0 hole in the match. The Eagles fought back from an eight-point 18-10 hole, but Buffalo held on to take the set.
SET 3 | Eastern was not able to win the third set and was swept by Buffalo. The Green and White fell behind on the first point and fought from behind the rest of the way before losing the set, 25-9.
Match Notes
» As a team, the Green and White are averaging 15.93 digs per set, good for second in the MAC behind Toledo's 15.97. Howard is leading the Eagles in the category for the 2023 season with 261 total digs, 242-of-261 of her digs have come against MAC opponents. Howard's total digs ranks her eighth in the conference and she has led EMU in digs 10 times this season.
» Elle McLoughlin (Zanesville, Ohio./Tri-Valley/Ashland) paced the Eagles in assists, with 12 on the night. the sophomore tabbed her 559th assist in the loss, ranking her fifth in the conference in total assists as she also ranks fifth in assists per set with 8.29.
» Sophomore Abigail Stanford (Zanesville, Ohio/Tri Valley/Ashland) registered her eighth serving ace of the season tonight, and finished one shy of tying her career-best mark (two). Previously, she has put together two three-game streaks with at least one serving ace from Aug. 25-Sept. 1, and Sept. 2-8.
» Minshew finished with 12 kills in the contest, putting her at 249 for the 2023 campaign. For the moment, the Mississippi native ranks first in the conference as she eclipsed Ohio University's Caitlin O'Farrell who sits at 246 prior to the Bobcat's contest tonight against the Western Michigan University Broncos.
Historical Notes
» Despite the loss, the Eagles trump Buffalo 22-9 overall including a 13-win streak between 1996 and 2008. Dating back to 1996, the two teams have met a total of 31 times after tonight's meeting.
» A five-year member of the volleyball program, Samantha Basham (Granville, Ohio/Newark Catholic) is approaching the 1,000 career kills milestone as she currently sits just 14 kills away after her one in today's match. The fifth-year is currently averaging 1.88 kills per set in the 2023 season.
Up Next
Following the split series with Akron and Buffalo, the Eagles are slated to stay on the road as the team travels to DeKalb, Ill., Thursday-Friday, Oct. 12-13, to meet with the Huskies of Northern Illinois University. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. CT and will be streamed on ESPN+.
