At the 2013 Valpo Popcorn Classic in Valparaiso, Ind. the Eastern Michigan University women’s volleyball team dropped two out of the three games. The tournament brought the Eagles to a 3-4 overall record.
EMU lost its first game Sept. 6 when it played the host team, the Valparaiso Crusaders. Although the match lasted all five sets (24-26, 26-24, 20-25, 25-20 and 5-15), the Eagles were unable to finish off the game with a victory.
The Eagles brought the first set into extra points but were unable to solidify a win. In the next set, EMU pushed forward and amped up the attack percentage. The Crusaders were kept to a .195 (15-7-41) while the Eagles held a .306 (15-4-36).
EMU sophomore outside hitter Stacey Perinar led her team offensively with 17 kills. Perinar was followed by seniors Erin Short and Paige Roback who put up 14 and 12 kills, respectively.
Eagles sophomore setter Alyssa Davis marked 31 more assists and 11 digs to her name. Sophomore libero Corynne Smith helped her team with a high of 28 digs.
A new day started for EMU on Sept. 7 at 9 a.m. when the team played the United States Military Academy Army Black Knights. The Eagles only lost one set, walking away with a 3-1 victory (24-26, 25-19, 25-20, 25-21).
While Perinar led the Eagles in hitting against the Crusaders and even against the Black Knights with 16 kills, it was junior middle blocker Megan Crawshaw who led with a high kill ratio of .407 (11 kills). Crawshaw made no hitting errors and even put up a block by herself and 6 assisted blocks.
More Eagles stood out as Smith led once again with 26 digs. Not far behind her were junior Jill Briner with 17 digs, Perinar with 16 digs, and sophomore Sierra Reed with 10 digs.
The setting duties were split between Davis and Briner with 19 and 21 assists, respectively.
With only one game left for EMU, the Eagles were ready to play the University of Iowa Hawkeyes. Iowa claimed the win 3-1 (24-26, 20-25, 25- 19, 17- 25).
The Eagles were off to a bad start, letting Iowa get a four point lead right away. After that, EMU never fully gained control of the first set.
In the second set, EMU seemed to have recovered a bit as the Eagles kept the scores fairly close. With a two point lead at the 20-18 mark, the Eagles took a timeout. Once the teams began play again, the Hawkeyes scored four more in a row from one kill, one ace, and two attack errors from the Green and White. Another timeout was taken but it didn’t result in a comeback.
Right from the start of the third set, EMU scored six consecutive points. This proved to be the best set out of the game for the Eagles when they won and kept a .222 attack percentage compared to Iowa’s .095.
Once again, Crawshaw led her team in attacking with a .350 attack percentage. Following Crawshaw’s 12 kills, Roback notched 10 kills, Short contributed seven kills, and redshirt sophomore middle blocker Kelsey Jones added six kills.
