The Eastern Michigan University women's volleyball team lost 3-1 to Akron at the Convocation Center Oct. 6. The Eagles won the third set 25-23, but they fell in the other three sets. Eastern Michigan is now 8-14 on the season and 3-7 against conference opponents.
The Eagles fell short in their third to last home game of the season, and they lost 25-18 in the first set. Eastern Michigan wasn’t able to keep up with the Zips in the opening set, but the second set was a bit closer. Despite the Zips coming away with another victory, the Eagles competed more and lost 25-20.
Eastern Michigan earned its first win of the day in the third set. It was a very close set that came down to the end, but EMU came away with a 25-23 victory. However, the Zips came back and finished the match the way they started it, with a 25-18 win. Akron’s win over EMU earned the Zips their 15th win of the season.
Eastern Michigan senior Riley Taylor accomplished a team-high 43 assists, while senior Camille Schomer had 28 digs in the loss. Franki Strefling had 15 kills for the Eagles, as well. Cassie Haut had a team-high three blocks for Eastern Michigan.
The Zips had an advantage in assists, digs, kills and blocks as Elya Karsner had a game-high 19 kills and Taylor Sharitts had 23 digs. Other standouts were Ashley Richardson with nine blocks and Emily Weigand with 44 assists for the Zips in the victory.
All together, Akron produced 73 points, 55 kills, 49 digs, 14 blocks and four aces. Eastern Michigan finished the match with 57 points, 49 kills, 47 assists, six blocks and two aces. Richardson led the Zips with 16 kills and nine blocks.
Akron now has a 15-6 record and is 8-2 against conference opponents. The Zips are 7-1 at home and 6-2 on the road. The only losses for the Zips versus MAC teams were against Ohio (3-1) and Central Michigan (3-0). Akron’s next three games are versus Buffalo, Toledo and Miami (OH).
Eastern Michigan is now 4-4 on its home floor and just 1-7 on the road. The Eagles are 1-4 in their previous five matches with losses to Ball State, Miami (OH), Bowling Green and Akron. The only victory came against Buffalo on Thursday, Oct. 24.
Eastern Michigan’s next two matches are at home against Northern Illinois on Friday, Nov. 1 and Western Michigan on Saturday, Nov. 2. Both matches begin at 7 p.m. at the Convocation Center.
With six matches left in the regular season, the Eagles are currently tied for fourth place in the MAC West division with Western Michigan. Central Michigan (8-2), Ball State (5-5) and Northern Illinois (5-5) are the top-three teams in the MAC West. Akron and Miami (OH) lead the MAC East with 8-2 conference records. Bowling Green is in third place in the MAC East with a 7-3 record.
