Volleyball to Compete at Comfort Inn Invitational

Volleyball at Comfort Inn Invitational
Date	Friday, Sept. 13, 1 p.m. vs. Evansville, 7 p.m. at Morehead State \| Saturday, Sept. 14, 11 a.m. vs. Duquesne
Venue	Johnson Arena \| Morehead State University \| Morehead, Ky.
Preview Info	EMU Notes (PDF)
Watch	Watch at Morehead State
Live Stats	vs. Evansville \| at Morehead State \| vs. Duquesne
Social Media	X: @EMUVolleyball \| @EMUAthletics \| IG: @emu_volleyball \| @emuathletics

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team will hit the road for its third tournament of the 2024 season in the Comfort Inn Invitational, hosted by Morehead State University at the Johnson Arena in Morehead, Ky., Friday-Saturday, Sept. 13-14.

The Eagles will first face the University of Evansville Friday at 1 p.m., before taking on host Morehead State later that day, 7 p.m. EMU will close out the tournament with a match against Duquesne University Saturday morning, 11 a.m.

Fans can follow along with the action using the watch and live stats link that can be found on the EMU volleyball schedule page at emueagles.com/volleyball/schedule. Fans can also follow the team's social media accounts on X, Instagram, and Facebook @EMUVolleyball for live in-match updates. A post-match recap will also be posted to EMUEagles.com following Friday and Saturday's action.

NATIONALLY RANKED: TEAM BLOCKS
The Eagles stand fifth in the nation and first in the Mid-American Conference in team total blocks, as they total 72.0 through seven matches. Eastern also ranks highly in blocks per set, slotting 50th in America and first in the MAC with a 2.57 mark.

NATIONALLY RANKED: ANGEL BAYLARK/HATTERAS WELKER BLOCKS
Leading the Eagles' defense up front are Hatteras Welker and Angel Baylark. Welker is ranked 13th in the country in total blocks, and first in the MAC with 36 denials in 2024. Baylark stands just behind her, ranking second in the conference and 32nd nationally in the statistic with 30 blocks. The duo also ranks high in blocks per set, with Baylark standing 31st nationally and second in the MAC (1.43), while Welker checks in at 75th in the country and third in the conference (1.29).

NATIONALLY RANKED: AVA SIEFKE SERVICE ACES
Sophomore Ava Siefke has been lethal from behind the serve line this season. She has recorded 14 service aces this season, a figure that ranks her 21st in the nation and third in the MAC. Siefke has led the Eagles in the category in 4-of-7 matches this season, and recently matched a career-best with four aces against SIU-Edwardsville, Aug. 30.

HIGH IN THE MAC STANDINGS
Eastern ranks in the top four in the MAC standings in four statistical categories.

Category                      Rank          Figure
Points                         1st             413
Total Blocks               1st             72
Assists                        4th            280
Kills                             4th            303

HATTERAS WELKER: CAREER-BEST IN ACES
Freshman Hatteras Welker set a career-best with three aces against George Washington, Sept. 6, she tied her career mark in the very next match with another three aces against Marshall, Sept. 7.

STAYER'S DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Maddie Stayer notched her second career double-double with 22 assists and 10 digs against Marshall, Sept. 7. She became the second Eagle this season, along with Ella Voorhees to secure a double-double. Stayer's last double-double was nearly a triple-double, securing 12 kills, 21 assists, and nine digs against Louisiana Tech, Nov. 9, 2023, as a member of the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. Coincidentally, Stayer's double-double against the Thundering Herd was three kills away from a triple-double as she recorded seven kills in the match.

DOUBLE-DIGIT DOCTOR
First-year Eagle Kaili Doctor paces the team in kills with 68 on the season. Doctor has reached double-digit figures in the category in 5-of-7 games this season. She has the most games of double-digit kills of any Eagle thus far. Last season with North Carolina A&T, Doctor posted 11 games with 10+ kills on her way to winning CAA Rookie of the Year.

TAELEY MAHLER CAREER DEBUT
One of seven Eastern freshman, Taeley Mahler made her career debut against Marshall, Sept. 7, later that day in a match against Oakland she posted four kills on a .800 hitting percentage.

TAYLOR SMITH YPSILANTI DEBUT
Reigning Michigan Miss Volleyball, Taylor Smith, made her Ypsilanti debut in the five-set match against George Washington, Sept. 6. The first-year did not disappoint, as she recorded a career-best and team-high 19 assists to go along with nine digs, falling one dig shy of notching her first double-double in her home debut.

SEASON-HIGH IN KILLS
Eastern drilled a season-high 55 kills against George Washington, Sept. 6. It accrued more kills than that in only five matches all of last season, with its highest watermark being 64 against Central Michigan University, Sept. 26.

OVER THE HILL - MATCHES WITH 10+ DIGS
Senior Hannah Blaney notched 13 digs in the contest against Marshall, Sept. 6. The outing went down as her 51st career match with double digit digs. Through 80 career matches, Blaney has registered 10 or more digs in 64% of them.

TOURNAMENT CHAMPS - HAMPTON INN INVITATIONAL
The Eagles recently won the Hampton Inn Invitational, besting IU-Indy (3-2) and Valparaiso (3-1) in consecutive matches, Aug. 30-31. They were led defensively by Hatteras Welker and Angel Baylark, who totaled 20 and 16 blocks in the three matches, respectively. Furthermore, the 2-1 mark in the tourney went down as Eastern's best tournament record since they also went 2-1 at the UIC Invitational, Sept. 10-11, 2021.

BAYLARK: FOUR-SET MATCH BLOCKS RECORD
Angel Baylark excelled in front of the net defensively in the 3-1 win over Valparaiso, Aug. 31. The graduate student totaled 12 blocks (one solo, 11 assisted), setting an EMU four-set match record in the category while also marking a career-high. Additionally, her 12 blocks rank as a single-match high in the MAC.

MAC SINGLE-MATCH HIGH IN BLOCKS
Eastern tabbed total 21 blocks to Valparaiso's five in the 3-1 victory, Aug. 31. The Eagles also hold the second-highest block total in the league having recorded 17 in a five-set win over IU-Indy, Aug. 30. Outside of Eastern, the highest team total blocks count comes from Central Michigan, when it swatted 16 against Lindenwood, Aug. 30.

TOURNAMENT MVP
After totaling double-digit assists in all three contests, including two matches with a assists/digs double-double, first-year Eagle Ella Voorhees was named the Hampton Inn Invitational MVP, Aug. 31. She was also named to the all-tournament team. Moreover, Voorhees is one of two Eagles to achieve a double-double this season, and she has led the team in assists in all four matches.

ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS
Joining Ella Voorhees as an all-tournament honoree was another first-year Eagle, Hannah Blaney. Blaney notched three straight matches with double-digit digs, with her most coming against IU-Indy (24), Aug. 30. The Saline, Mich., native has the most digs on the team (97) and also leads in digs per set (3.59).

OUT-HITTING OPPONENTS
Eastern out-hit Valparaiso, .269 to .078. This instance marks the eighth time Eastern has done so under Foeman, it is now 6-3 in such games. Moreover, its .269 hitting percentage is the best under him, and marks the second time Eastern has achieved a percentage better than .250 since the start of the 2023 season. EMU last did so against Bradley, hitting .255 in a four-set loss, Aug. 26, 2023.

STAYER'S SETS
Graduate student Maddie Stayer has played the connector role on the Eastern offense, as she has totaled 83 assists this season, reaching double-digit figures in 4-of-6 matches played this season. Stayer currently has the second-most helpers on the team to Ella Voorhees' 126.

KENDAL BONNEY: CAREER-HIGH IN KILLS
Kendal Bonney is off to a strong start in 2024. She tabbed a career-high with 13 kills against George Washington, Sept. 6. The match also marked the junior's third time setting a career-best in the category. Bonney currently stands second on the team with 62 kills, and has reached double figure kills in 4-of-7 matches played this season.

MORE DIGS, MORE DUBS
Eastern has out-dug its opponent in each of its first two victories, with a season-high 67 coming in the win over Valparaiso. The Eagles are now 2-0 this season when out-digging their foe. EMU has recorded more digs than its opponent six times under Foeman.

WINNING THREE STRAIGHT SETS
After falling in the first stanza against Valparaiso, the Eagles won three consecutive sets to grab the win, the fourth time they have done so under Foeman. Additionally, four of the seven wins under him have come when winning three consecutive sets.

FIVE-SET WINNERS
Eastern won a five-set thriller against IU-Indy, Aug. 30, marking the first five-set win for the Eagles since Sept. 2, 2023 when they topped Western Illinois in five. The win was also the first time Eastern has won a five-set contest in the opening weekend of the season since it bested Montana in five at the College of Charleston Invitational, Aug. 28, 2021.

BACK-TO-BACK WINS
With consecutive wins over IU-Indy, Aug. 30, and Valparaiso, Aug. 31, Eastern has secured back-to-back victories for the second time in the Kevin Foeman era. They previously topped Kent State in consecutive days last season, Nov. 10-11, 2023

STRONG START
The Eagles got off to their first 2-1 start since the 2021 season and have the chance to win three of their first four matches. The last time EMU accomplished the feat came in the 2018 season, when Eastern won its first three games before falling to St. John's in five sets in its fourth. 2018 was also the last time the Eagles won a MAC Championship, as they were crowned the tournament champions that season.

ALL-TIME AGAINST EVANSVILLE
The Eagles and the Purple Aces have met just one time prior to Friday's match up. In 2007, Eastern beat Evansville in four sets (3-1) in the Xavier Tournament, Sept. 1, a tourney where the Eagles went a perfect 3-0.

ALL-TIME AGAINST MOREHEAD STATE
Eastern and Morehead State will face off for the seventh time on Friday evening. EMU holds the all-time series edge with a 5-1 record against MSU, dating back to the institution's first meeting, a 2-1 victory for Eastern, Sept. 26, 1981. Last season, Eastern fell in four sets to Morehead (3-1) in its final game of the Chattanooga Classic.

ALL-TIME AGAINST DUQUESNE
Eastern holds a 3-1 all-time record against the Dukes. It won the series' first three matches, including the first meeting, a 3-0 sweep of Duquesne in Ypsilanti, Sept. 11, 1992. In the last meeting, Eastern was swept by the Dukes in its final game of the Robert Morris Invitational, Sept. 15, 2018.

UP NEXT
Eastern will return home to Ypsilanti for a home match against in-state foe, Michigan State University inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center Monday, Sept. 16, 6 p.m.

FOLLOW US
Stay connected with the Eagles all season long by following @EMUVolleyball and @EMUAthletics on X 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

Angel Baylark

Hannah Blaney

Kendal Bonney

Kaili Doctor

Taeley Mahler

Ava Siefke

Taylor Smith

Maddie Stayer

Ella Voorhees

Hatteras Welker

Eastern Michigan Athletics