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Stayer Posts Double-Double, Volleyball Drops Four-Set Match to Buffalo
11/15/2024 8:34:00 PM | Volleyball
Stayer's double-double marked her sixth of the season and seventh of her career
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BUFFALO, N.Y. (EMUEagles.com) – Graduate student Maddie Stayer secured her sixth double-double of the season as the Eastern Michigan University volleyball team lost to the Buffalo Bulls in four sets, 3-1, inside Alumni Arena Friday, Nov. 15.
Stayer (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor/Southern Miss./Jacksonville State) collected 12 digs defensively and dished 10 assists for her sixth game with 10+ digs and 14th with double figures in assists this season.
Kaili Doctor (Mars, Pa./Pine-Richland/N.C. A&T State) finished with 12 kills on the day to lead the Eagles attack while finishing with a hitting percentage of .250. Defensively, Eastern had three players reach double figures in digs, including Hannah Blaney's (Saline, Mich./Saline/Rhode Island) 17, 12 from Stayer, and 11 more from Ava Siefke (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Ursula Academy).
From the front row, Hatteras Welker (Sunbury, Ohio/Big Walnut) contributed seven blocks and Siefke added five rejections.
How it Happened
SET 1 | The Eagles found themselves in an early deficit, losing a tough first set 25-13. Eastern Michigan trailed by as many as 12 points as Buffalo never surrendered the lead in a set that was tied up just once before the Bulls took control.
SET 2 | Eastern then lost the second set, 25-23, to fall behind in the match, 2-0. Buffalo grabbed the advantage for good at 11-10 in a set that was knotted up five times before the Bulls took over the lead.
SET 3 | Eastern fought back to pull within two sets to one, winning their first set of the match in the third stanza. The Eagles trailed by as many as seven points at 10-3 before rallying to win, 25-21. Eastern Michigan grabbed the lead at 22-21 and held on to take the set. The Eagle's front row had a solid defensive performance, blocking five Buffalo attacks in the stanza and capitalizing on 10 Buffalo attacking errors on the way to victory.
SET 4 | Eastern Michigan couldn't build off the set-three victory and lost in set four, 25-19 to drop the match. The Eagles trailed by as many as seven points as Buffalo grabbed the advantage for good at 5-4.
Match Notes
» Eastern had more digs than its opponent for the 17th time this season and more blocks than its foe for the 18th time. The Eagles are 10-7 when out-digging their opponent and 10-8 when totaling more blocks than it.
» Doctor led the team in kills for the 12th time this season as she drilled 12. The performance marked her team-leading 14th double-digit kill outing. Doctor leads the team in kills with 228 on the year and has notched at least 10 in 14 of her 22 matches.
» Stayer secured her fifth double-double of the season and seventh of her career with 10 assists and 12 digs. The game marked Stayer's sixth with 10+ digs and 14th with double figures in assists. Additionally, Stayer is now second on the team in double-doubles to teammate Ella Voorhees (Morgantown, W. Va./Morgantown/Southern Miss.).
» Eastern has had at least one player record a double-double in 12 games this season, It is 9-3 when doing so.
» Taylor Smith (Pewamo, Mich./Pewamo-Westphalia) led the team with 14 assists. Smith has led the squad in dimes eight times this season and dished at least 10 assists in 17 of her 20 matches.
» Blaney led the squad in digs for the 25th time this season with 17 on the night. Blaney leads the MAC with 491 digs and has recorded at least 10 in 64-of-104 (61.5%) career matches.
» Siefke tied a career-best with five blocks and recorded her 12th match with double-digit digs, as she grabbed 11.
Historical Notes
» Friday night's match marked the 33rd all-time between the Eagles and Bulls. Overall, the Eagles hold a 22-10 all-time record against Buffalo and 10-5 mark when facing it in Western New York.
» The 2024 team has proven to be one of the best blocking teams in Eastern history as it has totaled 296.5 rejections this season. That number is good for the second most in program history. Eastern would need 28 more TB to tie the 2017 squad (320 TB) for the most in a single season in program history.
» In terms of blocks per set, the 2024 team currently holds the top spot in program history, averaging 2.49 rejections per set.
» Welker increased her block total to 131 on the season, tying for third all-time in the Eastern rally scoring era (2008-pres.) with Kelly Ferguson (2017). Welker currently holds the freshman blocks record and needs one more total block to take over sole possession of the No. 3 spot, five more TB to rank second all-time (Raeven Chase – 2021(35), and 18 more to break the single-season program record held by Sam Falco, who totaled 148 blocks in the 2017 campaign.
Up Next
The Eagles conclude their 2024 season tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 16 with a 4 p.m. match against the Bulls.
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