Volleyball Travels to Indiana for Tuesday Tuneup Versus Fort Wayne

Volleyball at Fort Wayne
Date:	Tuesday, Sept. 6
Location:	Fort Wayne, Ind. \| Hilliard Gates Sports Center
Weekly Notes:	EMU Notes \| Fort Wayne Notes
Live Stats:	GoMastodons.com
Live Audio:	GoMastodons.com
Live Stream:	Mastodon All-Access

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (EMUEagles.com) -- Looking to bounce back from a tough weekend in Ohio, the Eastern Michigan University volleyball team travels to Fort Wayne, Ind., Tuesday, Sept. 6, for a clash with the Mastodons of Fort Wayne. The match is slated for 6 p.m.

Fans can follow the match via live stream, live stats, or an audio broadcast through the links on the EMUEagles.com schedule page.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE DONS: Tuesday night's match versus the Mastodons marks the 18th time the Eagles and Fort Wayne will square off on the hardwood. EMU holds a 9-8 edge in the all-time series, after securing a 3-1 win in last season's meeting. Stacey Perinar and Jordan Smith paced the Eagles offense in the win, recording 19 and 13, respectively. Perinar also added 17 digs and two aces to lead the Green and White. As a team, the Eagles hit at a .265 while EMU's 11 blocks and stout defensive effort held the Dons to a .197 attacking percentage.

SUTTON REELS IN RECOGNITION: Freshman Alysa Sutton shined for the Eagles over the weekend, Sept. 2-3, ultimately taking home Cleveland State Invite All-Tournament honors. In EMU's second match of the weekend, Sutton posted the first double-double of her career, registering a career-high 16 kills and 11 digs, both of which led the team. She rounded out her stat line with three assists, two aces, and a block against Tennessee. Then, in the Eagles' finial match of the weekend, Sutton posted her second double-double in as many matches. Hitting a team-best .320, Sutton tallied 11 kills and a career-high 13 digs to pace the Green and White. Overall, Sutton accounted for 35 points on the weekend and led the Eagles in kills (32) and ranked second on the team in digs (26).

WEEKEND ROUNDUP: The Buckeye State was not kind to the Green and White over the weekend, Sept. 2-3, as the Eagles dropped all three of their matches while splitting time at the Cleveland State Invite and the Golden Flashes Classic. In Cleveland, EMU was swept 3-0 by tournament host CSU before falling in a tight four-set match to Tennessee, 3-1. The Eagles closed out the weekend with a 3-0 loss to Wright State, Sept. 3.

ATTACKING WOES: Struggling to find consistency on attack has plagued the Eagles in the early part of the season. As a team, the Green and White are hitting at a .180 clip, the ninth-ranked attack in the MAC. Eastern is holding opponents to the fifth-lowest hitting percentage in the league at .213, but having hit above .250 in a match just twice, EMU's record has fallen to 2-4.

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 over the first two weekends and looks to have it narrowed down to sophomore Alyssa LaFace and freshman Camile Schomer. LaFace has registered a team-high 56 digs so far this season, while Schomer's 3.00 digs per set leads the team.

EMU DUO EARNS ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS: Following a 2-1 performance at the Maryland Invite, Aug. 26-27, 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.

STUFFING THE STAT SHEET: In Eastern Michigan's 3-1 win over Sacred Heart, Aug, 27, 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 139 assists, pushing her career total to 933. 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.

Volleyball Travels to Indiana for Tuesday Tuneup Versus Fort Wayne

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Players Mentioned

Alyssa LaFace

Stacey Perinar

Mallory Rajewski

Corynne Smith

Jordan Smith

Alysa Sutton

Eastern Michigan Athletics