EMU Volleyball Finishes Non-Conference Competition This Weekend

Volleyball at Chicago State Tournament
Date	Friday, Sept. 15 - Saturday, Sept. 16
Location	Chicago, Ill. - Jacoby Dickens Center
Game Notes	EMU Notes
Live Stats	vs. S E Missouri State \| vs. Chicago State \| vs. Louisiana Lafayette
Live Video	vs. Chicago State
Twitter	@EMU Volleyball \| @EMUAthletics

CHICAGO, Ill. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team travels to the Chicago State Tournament for its final non-conference tournament of the 2017 season. The Eagles face Southeast Missouri State (4 p.m., Fri. Sept. 15), Chicago State (8 p.m., Fri. Sept. 15), and Louisiana Lafayette (3 p.m., Sat. Sept. 16) in the two-day event.

EMU has won five of its last seven contests, including a 4-1 weekend at the Towson Tiger Invitational last weekend. The Eagles won five-straight matches from Sept. 2 - Sept. 9, its longest win streak since the 2013 season.

Freshman Franki Strefling (Niles, Mich.-Buchanan) was named to the Towson Tiger Invitational all-tournament team after turning in an average of 2.89 kills per set while averaging 2.50 digs per set. Strefling also chipped in the second-most blocks for the weekend with 16, and tied for the most on the team with seven aces.

Eastern Michigan is now one win away from matching its season total from a year ago. EMU is 6-3 on the season in neutral site matches and 0-2 in away bouts.

Fans can follow the games via live stats through the links found on the volleyball schedule page of EMUEagles.com. Additionally, the action on the court will be live-tweeted from the team's account, @EMUVolleyball.

ALL-TIME AGAINST THE OPPONENTS: EMU has played all three opponents it's scheduled to face at the Chicago State Tournament, holding a perfect 6-0 record. The Eagles are 1-0 against SEMO, 4-0 against Chicago State, and 1-0 against Louisiana Lafayette.

Eastern Michigan last played Louisiana-Lafayette in 2010, taking on the Rajun' Cajuns at the Sam Houston State Invitational, and won 3-1. It will be the first time since 1999 that the Eagles play Chicago State, last beating the Cougars at the EMU Classic, 3-0. The Green and White's lone match against Southeast Missouri State came back in 1991, and the Eagles came away with a 3-2 victory.

CLIMBING THE RANKS: The 2017 season serves as a special opportunity for setter Mallory Rajewski (Midland, Mich.-Midland), as the junior is quickly climbing the Eagle ranks in career assists. In her third season with the Green and White, the Midland, Mich. native moved into the 11th-place spot on the all-time list, passing Alyssa Davis, in a Sept. 12 loss to Fort Wayne. After a 2015 campaign in which she tallied the fifth-most assists by a freshman (747), Rajewski totaled 479 assists in 2016 and already has 217 in 2017.

Also making her way up the Eastern Michigan record books this season is junior Jordan Smith (Solon, Iowa-Solon), who collected her 600th kill Sept. 12 against Fort Wayne. The Solon, Iowa native has averaged over 233 kills per season in her first two years, and is already at 133 in 2017. She is 371 kills away from joining the Eagles' Top 15.

RECORD SETTING WEEKEND: Not only were the Eagles able to run a win streak to five games (the team's best mark since 2013), EMU also had several individuals set new career-bests. Strefling had a career-high 17 kills against undefeated Towson and also recorded 13 digs to register her first collegiate double-double.

EMU also saw the return of Alyssa LaFace (Allen Park, Mich.-Allen Park) over the weekend, as the junior stepped in at libero and promptly averaged 4.85 digs per set and set a new personal-best with 34 digs in EMU's match against Towson.

ON THE HORIZON: After EMU finishes its non-conference slate at the Chicago State Tournament, the Eagles open up Mid-American Conference play by hosting Ball State Friday, Sept. 22 at 3 p.m. and then Toledo Saturday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m.

EMU Volleyball Finishes Non-Conference Competition This Weekend

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Alyssa LaFace

Mallory Rajewski

Jordan Smith

Franki Strefling

Eastern Michigan Athletics