ON THE SCHEDULE: Volleyball Prepares for Popcorn Classic

Volleyball at POPCORN CLASSIC
Date	Friday, Sept. 1 at 1 p.m. CT and 6 p.m. CT \| Saturday, Sept. 2 at 2 p.m. CT
Venue	Athletics-Recreation Center (ARC)
Preview Info	EMU Notes
Watch	ESPN+
Live Stats	Live Stats
Twitter	@EMUVolleyball \| @EMUAthletics

VALPARAISO, Ind.(EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team will continue its non-conference slate as it readies to embark in its only trip to the Hoosier State this season. The Eagles are slated to partake in the Popcorn Classic, hosted by Valparaiso University, Sept. 1-2, in the Athletics-Recreation Center (ARC) in Valparaiso, Ind. The Green and White will take on the Golden Grizzlies of Oakland University Friday, Sept., at 1 p.m. CT, before meeting with the host Beacons at 6 p.m. CT. Saturday's match will see the Eagles face the Leathernecks of Western Illinois University at 2 p.m. CT.
      Fans can watch the action live as all three matches are scheduled to stream on ESPN+. Todd Ickow and Jamie Stangel will have the call for the match against Oakland while Brian Jennings and Renee Turpa will take over for the Valparaiso and Western Illinois matches. Of course, you can also follow the action for free via live stats at EMUEagles.com/livestats.

QUICK SERVES:
» The program's 48th season began with the announcing of a new coaching staff. Head coach Kevin Foeman joined the Eagles in March and added Lainey Stephenson as his assistant coach. Additionally, the program named Remy Foeman as the Director of Volleyball Operations.
» This season, the Eagles opened their nest to four "true" freshmen and five transfers to complete their "soar of eagles".
» Callie Minshew led the team in kills in all three matches over the weekend and was named to the CEFCU Invitational All-Tournament Team.
» Two Eagles contributed double-double performances at the CEFCU Invitational in Hannah Kivett (17 ast/10 digs vs. SIUE, Aug. 25) and Callie Minshew (15 kills/13 digs at Bradley, Aug. 26).
» Four transfers donned the Green and White for the first time, three of which earned starts. Hannah Kivett, Angel Baylark, Abigail Stanford, and Elle McLoughlin appeared in their first match as EMU Eagles with McLoughlin, Baylark, and Stanford earning their first starts of the season against SIUE, Aug. 25.
» Three freshmen Eagles made their career debuts over the weekend in Hannah Howard, Ava Siefke, and Surabhi Srinivasan.

WEEKEND IN REVIEW: Callie Minshew, named to the all-tournament team, led the Eagles in kills in all three matches of the CEFCU Invitational, Aug. 25-26, adding one more kill to her total than she did before in each match. Defensively, Bella Hommes held the line as she led the team in digs in all three matches, as well. A total of four players collected double-digit kills throughout the tournament, while five different Eagles put up multiple blocks against the opposing attack. The Eagles avoided the sweep in all three matches, taking IUPUI to the fifth, Aug. 25.

OPENED ACCOUNTS: Three freshmen Eagles made their career debuts over the weekend. Hannah Howard appeared in 12 sets, collecting 18 digs, two assists, and three service aces, while Ava Siefke played in six sets, earning nine kills, one assist, one block, and two digs. Surabhi Srinivasan appeared in a match for the first time Saturday against Bradley where she collected one dig.

EMU IN SEASON OPENERS: The Green and White opened the 2023 campaign at the CEFCU Invitational hosted by Bradley University, Aug. 25-26, where the team suffered three back-to-back setbacks. After the opening weekend, the Eagles have compiled a 29-19-1 record (.592 percent) in season openers, including a 21-19 mark (.525 percent) on the road.

EMU IN THE CEFCU INVITATIONAL: The Green and White competed in the CEFCU Invitational hosted by Bradley for the first time in program history. However, the tournament marked the third meeting with SIU-Edwardsville (1-2), the fifth with IUPUI (3-2), and the seventh with the Braves (2-5) in program history.

DOUBLING THOSE DIGITS: Four different Eagles racked up double-digit kills throughout the CEFCU Invitational. Along with Callie Minshew's three-day double-digit performances (13 vs. SIUE, 14 vs. IUPUI, 15 at Bradley), Samantha Basham posted 15 against Bradley, while Mackenzie Gross collected 13 against the Braves. Rounding out the double-digit getters was Abigail Stanford, who posted 10 against IUPUI.
      Moreover, three Eagles registered double-digit digs in a single match with Callie Minshew and Samantha Basham posting 15 against the Braves, while Mackenzie Gross posted 13. The last time three or more Eagles recorded double figure kills in a single match was in a four-set loss to Northern Illinois University, Nov. 11, 2022. In that match, Minshew led the team with 15 while former Eagles Raeven Chase and Krista Blakely had 13 and 10, respectively.

SEEING DOUBLE: Two Eagles contributed double-double performances in the same weekend. Callie Minshew recorded 15 kills and 13 digs against Bradley after Hannah Kivett accomplished the feat with 17 assists and 10 digs against IUPUI the night before. It was Kivett's first career double-double while Minshew recorded her seventh and first since the 2019 season. As a freshman, the Mississippi native recorded six double-doubles featuring kills and digs for the Bulldogs. The last match she accomplished the feat was at Arkansas, Nov. 24, 2019, when she put up 12 kills along with 13 digs.
      Last season, the double-double mark was reached a total of eight times by three different Eagles (Sabrina Gremm (4), Kendall Burk (3), Raeven Chase (1)).

HOP ON THE ASSISTS WAGON!: Eight different Eagles recorded at least one helper in the match against IUPUI. The last time an EMU roster was remotely close to achieving this feat was last season when seven different Eagles recorded at least one assist in the Sept. 3, 2022 setback to Xavier University.

BLOCK PARTY: The Eagles produced a total of 19 stops against the Jaguars' offense, Aug. 25. The last time the team reached 19 blocks in a single match was in a sweep over Miami University, Oct. 15, 2022, when the team earned 20.

ACE-ACE-BABY: The Eagles defeated the Cougars in service aces as the Green and White recorded seven to the opposing four from SIUE, Aug. 25. The last time the Eagles aced their opponent seven or more times was in a five-set victory at the University of Akron, Oct. 29, 2022.

CAREER-HIGH WEEKEND: Mackenzie Gross' 13 kills against the Braves, Aug. 26, topped her previous career-high eight set just the night before against the Jaguars of IUPUI, Aug. 25. Prior to the weekend, the junior had a career-high six kills set in three different occasions during her time at EMU.

ELLE'S HELPING HANDS: Elle McLoughlin recorded a team-leading 49 helpers against Bradley. In addition to leading the team in assists for the second consecutive match after doing so with 36 against IUPUI, the transfer topped her previous career-high 39 set against Salem, Aug. 24, 2022.

CONSISTENT CALLIE: Callie Minshew led the Eagles in kills in all three matches of the CEFCU Invitational, collecting just one more kill than she did before in each match as she put up 13 against SIUE, 14 against IUPUI, and 15 versus Bradley. Last season, the graduate student led the team in kills in just two appearances, versus Saint Louis University, Sept. 9, 2022 (13), and then again at Ball State University, Oct. 1, 2022 (8). After the weekend, Minshew has topped her previous number.

WHO NEEDS A SHOVEL?: Nine different Eagles registered a single dig in the match against IUPUI, Aug. 25 with Bella Hommes' 22 leading the team. Along with Hommes, two other players reached double-digit digs in Emma McMahon (10) and Hannah Howard (10).

A BLOCKING ANGEL: Angel Baylark recorded multiple blocks in all three matches over the weekend as she stopped three SIUE attacks, three IUPUI hits, and rejected the Jaguars twice. Her career high nine blocks was set against Tennessee Tech, Nov. 12, 2022.

MAC PRESEASON POLL: Eastern was picked to finish sixth in the West Division in a vote by the
Mid-American Conference's 12 head coaches, the league announced, Aug. 24. The Eagles received 13 points in the preseason poll. Defending MAC Tournament champion Bowling Green State University (61 points) was chosen to take the East Division's regular season title with 11 first place votes, and had six predicted tournament champion votes-the most of any school. Predicted to be the West Division's regular season champion, also with 11 first place votes, and five predicted tournament champion votes was Ball State University (61 points). The only remaining school to receive any predicted tournament champion votes was Western Michigan University with one.

ALL-TIME VS. OAKLAND: Friday's contest will mark the 32nd meeting between EMU and the Oakland Golden Grizzlies. The Eagles hold an impressive 25-6 record over Oakland dating back to their first meeting in 1977. After dropping the very first match, 2-1, Oct. 6, 1977, the Green and White went on what would have been a 22-game win streak from the year 1977 to 2008 if the Golden Grizzlies hadn't interrupted the streak in 2000 with a 3-0 sweep over the Eagles. EMU holds a 6-4 record in the last 10 matchups versus Oakland with the Golden Grizzlies coming away with the last two.

SWEEP CITY: The Eagles hold an impressive 25-6 record over Oakland dating back to their first meeting in 1977. In those 25 victories, the Eagles swept the Golden Grizzlies 22 times.

LAST TIME VERSUS THE GOLDEN GRIZZLIES: The last time EMU faced Oakland was in 2021 when the Eagles fell in three sets in the Golden Grizzlies Invitational finale held in Rochester, Mich. Raeven Chase finished with nine kills on the day to lead the Eagles' attack and finished with a hitting percentage of .333 (9-3-18). EMU got 17 digs from Kamryn Stilwell to pace them defensively.

ALL-TIME VS. VALPARAISO: Eastern and Valparaiso will meet for the eighth time in their respective program histories Friday, Sept. 1. The two schools first played in Ypsilanti, Sept. 22, 1990, with the Eagles coming away with the win in a three-set sweep over the Beacons. Valpo returned fire in the next match, four years later, defeating the Eagles in three during a tournament in Toledo, Ohio. EMU came away with the following three from the years 1997-2002, while the Beacons hold the last two showings, placing the Eagles ahead by one win in a 4-3 all-time series record.

LAST TIME AGAINST THE BEACONS: The last time the Eagles faced the Beacons was in Valparaiso, Ind., when EMU fell in the fifth set, Sept. 6, 2013. The Eagles' offense was paced by Stacey Perinar, who notched 17 kills and a .220 (17-6-50) attack percentage. Erin Short and Paige Roback each posted double-figure kill performances; Short contributed 14, while Roback added 12.

ALL-TIME VS. WESTERN ILLINOIS: EMU holds a 4-1 all-time record over Western Illinois ahead of their sixth meeting, Saturday, Sept. 2. The Leathernecks overcame the Eagles in the first meeting, Sept. 13, 1985, in a five-set thriller at a neutral location. EMU then took the next four matches from the year 1986-2003. Three of the four consecutive victories were held in Ypsilanti, Mich., with the other coming in Macomb, Ill.

LAST TIME AGAINST THE LEATHERNECKS: Saturday's contest will mark 20 year since the two schools have faced eachother. The last time EMU and WIU met was in the 2013 season. The Eagles topped the visiting Leathernecks in three quick sets to take the win, Sept. 13, 2003.

ON THE HORIZON: Following the Popcorn Classic in Valparaiso, Ind., the team will take a short trip to Rochester, Mich., to partake in the Golden Grizzlies Invitational, hosted by Oakland University, Sept. 8-9. The Eagles are scheduled to face the tournament hosts, for the second time this season, Friday, Sept. 8, at noon before meeting with Chicago State University at 5 p.m. Saturday's match will see the Green and White take on the University of Missouri-Kansas City at noon.

FOLLOW THE ACTION ALL SEASON LONG: Stay connected with the Eagles all season long by following @EMUVolleyball and @EMUAthletics on Twitter for all of the latest EMU volleyball updates. Be sure to also follow the Green and White on Instagram, @EMU_Volleyball.

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Players Mentioned

Samantha Basham

Angel Baylark

Krista Blakely

Kendall Burk

Raeven Chase

Sabrina Gremm

Mackenzie Gross

Bella Hommes

Hannah Howard

Hannah Kivett

Elle McLoughlin

Callie Minshew

Ava Siefke

Surabhi Srinivasan

Abby Stanford

Kamryn Stilwell

Eastern Michigan Athletics