Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
3-23,1-13MAC
Ohio
14-12,9-5MAC
Eagles Fall in 3-0 Sweep to Ohio
11/3/2023 8:41:00 PM | Volleyball
Second match of series scheduled for Saturday
ATHENS, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team suffered a three-set sweep in the opening match of a two-game series with Ohio University Friday, Nov. 3, inside the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio.
Samantha Basham (Granville, Ohio/Newark Catholic) recorded eight kills on the night to lead the Eagles' attack while finishing with a hitting percentage of .280. The Green and White saw nine digs from Hannah Howard (Toledo, Ohio./Saint Ursula Academy) and Callie Minshew (Brandon, Miss./Brandon/Mississippi State) to lead them defensively.
How It Happened
SET 1 | The Eagles found themselves in an early deficit, dropping a tough first set 25-18. Eastern Michigan trailed by as many as seven points as Ohio grabbed the advantage for good at 14-13 in a set that was tied up five times before the Bobcats took over in the second half of the stanza.
SET 2 | A 25-18 set-two loss put Eastern Michigan in a 2-0 hole in the match. The Green and White trailed by as many as seven points as Ohio grabbed the advantage for good at 8-7 in a set that was tied up five times before the Bobcats took over the lead.
SET 3 | Eastern Michigan couldn't prolong the match and lost in set number three. The Eagles fell in set three 25-23. Ohio grabbed the advantage for good at 23-22 in a set that was tied up four times before the Bobcats took over in the second half of the stanza.
Match Notes
» Minshew recorded two service aces in the match and now sits just one away from hitting her career milestone mark of 100 serving aces. The graduate student has registered a single service ace in 17-of-26 matches played this season and leads the team with 27 total aces.
» Minshew's nine digs was tied for the team lead, marking just the second time this season that she led the team in digs in a match (Sept. 26 against Central Michigan University).
» Howard's nine digs were enough to mark her 15th match of the season with the top total in digs. Howard's 3.89 digs per set ranks her in the top-10 in the conference. She is one of only two underclassmen to be listed in the top-10 rankings for digs/set joining the University of Akron's Vanessa Del Real.
» Howard recorded her first career kill in the match.
» Junior Mekayla Koger (Mansfield, Texas/Lake Ridge/Sam Houston State) made her sixth start of the season, recording three kills. Koger also tallied a career-high two service aces.
» As a team, Eastern Michigan recorded seven total blocks, led by three from Elle McLoughlin (Zanesville, Ohio/Tri Valley). The seven stops topped Ohio's six, marking the team's eighth match out-blocking its opponent and the third consecutive after doing so against Bowling Green State University (Oct. 26) and Miami University (Oct. 27) the night before. It marks the first time this season that EMU has won the blocking battle in three-straight matches.
Historical Notes
» With the result of tonight's matchup, Eastern trails Ohio 19-38, dating back to their first meeting in 1980. The Eagles took a 2-1 victory over the Bobcats at home, Oct. 17, 1980 to begin the all-time series. Over the years, the Green and White of Eastern Michigan have swept the Green and White of Ohio a total of nine times. Three of the last five matches have been in favor of the Eagles as their 2019 victory broke a 17-year win streak for OU which started in 2002.
Up Next
» The Eagles will conclude its two-match series against the Ohio Bobcats Saturday, Nov. 4. First serve is set to begin at 4 p.m. Fans can follow live stats on EMUEagles.com/livestats.There is no TV feed.
