2016 Rolls On as Volleyball Travels to Ohio

Volleyball at Cleveland State Invites
Date:	Sept. 2-3
Location:	Cleveland, Ohio \| Woodling Gymnasium \| Kent, Ohio \| M.A.C. Center
Weekly Notes:	EMU Notes
Live Stats:	vs. Cleveland State \| vs. Tennessee \| vs. Wright State
Live Stream:	vs. Cleveland State (ESPN3)

CLEVELAND, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team continues the 2016 campaign in Ohio, Sept. 2-3. Beginning the weekend at the Cleveland State Invitational, the Eagles will square off with the Vikings of Cleveland State University and the University of Tennessee, Sept. 2. Then, the Green and White will make a stop in Kent, Ohio for a match versus Wright State, Sept. 3, at the Golden Flashes Classic.

The Eagles begin the weekend by taking on the host Vikings of CSU at 10 a.m. at Woodling Gymnasium Friday, Sept. 2. The Eagles match versus CSU can be watched live on ESPN3.

Eastern Michigan will follow that up with a match versus UT at 2:30 p.m. before closing out the weekend against Wright State Saturday, Sept. 3, at 1 p.m.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE OPPONENTS: The Eagles will hit the floor against a trio of opponents this weekend that they have seen several times previously. Overall versus this weekend's opposition, the Green and White are 14-20.

EMU has battled Cleveland State the most, as the two squads have squared off 19 times. The Green and White trail in the all-time series, 9-10, having most recently dropped a 3-1 match in 2015.

This weekend's match against Tennessee marks just the fifth time the Eagles will face in the Vols in program history. Trailing in the all-time series, 1-3, the Eagles will face UT for the first time since being swept Sept. 17, 1999.

The Green and White hold a 4-7 ledger against Wright State, but found success in their latest clash, taking down the Raiders, 3-0, Sept. 28, 2010.

RECAPPING OPENING WEEKEND: The EMU volleyball team opened the season with a 2-1 mark at the Maryland Invite, Aug. 26-27. After dropping their opening match, 3-0, to Maryland, the Eagles bounced back with back-to-back wins to close out the weekend. Behind a 20-kill performance by Jordan Smith, the Green and White took down Sacred Heart, 3-1. EMU then wrapped up the weekend with a sweep of Delaware State. Eastern held DSU to just a 0.025 attacking percentage as the Green and White relied on several newcomers to claim the win.

EMU DUO EARNS ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS: Following a 2-1 performance at the Maryland Invite, the EMU volleyball team had two of its student-athletes named to the all-tournament team. Jordan Smith and Mallory Rajewski were recognized after their sensational starts to the season. Smith hit at a .395 clip while totaling 35 kills, 15 digs, seven blocks, and two aces. Rajewski churned out 68 assists, fueling the Eagles attack to a .241 attacking percentage, and added 14 digs and four kills.

LOCKING DOWN A LIBERO: The EMU volleyball program saw one of the best liberos in program history graduate following the 2015 campaign. Corynne Smith finished her Eagle career with 2,119 digs, ranking third all-time in Eastern Michigan record book. Head coach Kimi Olson had an opportunity to give several players time at the spot at the Cleveland State Invitational, Aug. 26-27, and look to have it narrowed down to sophomore Alyssa LaFace and freshman Camile Schomer. LaFace compiled 24 digs, two aces, and two assists at the CSU Invite, while Schomer added 24 digs in her first taste of collegiate action.

STACKING UP IN THE MAC: As one of four teams in the Mid-American Conference boasting a 2-1 record after opening weekend, the Eagles find themselves near the top of a few statistical categories. As a team, the Green and White hit at a .241 clip, the second-best in the league. Defensively, the Eagles were even sharper, as EMU held opponents to a conference-best .156 hitting percentage.

IT BEGINS AT THE NET: A large part of EMU's opening weekend success stemmed from the balanced blocking by the Eagles. Eastern saw four players post seven blocks or more over the weekend, led by Samantha Falco's eight denials. Meanwhile, Melva Smith, Jordan Smith, and Kelly Ferguson added seven blocks apiece. Collectively, the unit ranks fifth in the MAC in blocks per set.

STUFFING THE STAT SHEET: In Eastern Michigan's 3-1 win over Sacred Heart, sophomore Jordan Smith filled up the stat sheet in a career day on the court. Smith paved the way for an Eagles attack that hit .288 in the match, cranking out 20 kills while boasting a .395 attacking percentage. Smith added five digs and four blocks to round out her stat line and fuel the Eagles to their first win of the 2016 season.

ALREADY IN THE RANKS: Redshirt sophomore setter Mallory Rajewski racked up 794 assists in her first year competing for the Green and White. This season, Rajewski has registered 68 assists, pushing her career total to 862. That number ranks as the 15th-most in Eastern Michigan history. Rajewski does have quite a bit of ground to make up, as Kate Sulewski holds the all-time career assists record with 5,474.

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Players Mentioned

Samantha Falco

Kelly Ferguson

Alyssa LaFace

Mallory Rajewski

Corynne Smith

Jordan Smith

Melva Smith

Eastern Michigan Athletics