The Eastern Michigan women’s volleyball team has had an up-and-down season thus far through 18 matches.
The Eagles won two straight games against Ohio and Toledo before falling to Ball State at the Convocation Center Oct. 12. The Cardinals won the match 3-2.
The team is made up of 17 players, which includes seven freshman, five sophomores, two juniors and three seniors. They have a lot of inexperience following the 2018 team who won the MAC championship and reached the NCAA Tournament. The team is also coached by first-year head coach Darcy Dorton. She is accompanied by assistant coaches Kassie Kadera and Peter Winters.
In the 18 games the Eagles have played thus far, they have a 7-11 record overall. The Eagles are 2-4 in the Mid-American Conference and have a 3-3 record on their home floor. Eastern Michigan is 4-8 on the road or at a neutral site. The team has totaled 1,079 digs, 884 kills, 829 assists and 57 aces to this point in the year.
Eastern Michigan has had victories against Utah State, Florida A&M, McNeese, Purdue-Fort Wayne, A&M Corpus-Christi, Ohio and Toledo. The losses have been to Southern Utah, Xavier, Louisiana, Navy, Murray State, Purdue, Western Michigan, Northern Illinois, Central Michigan and Ball State. The last four were versus conference opponents.
In the first win of the season over Utah State, junior Franki Strefling had 16 kills. Alayna Jansky and Cassie Haut helped out with two aces. Riley Taylor, who is a senior, has 30 assists. The Eagles’ recent victory was against the University of Toledo on Oct. 11, with approximately 176 people in attendance. The team won behind 74 digs, 59 kills, 53 assists, 10 blocks and four aces. The team leaders that game were Haut, Strefling, Raeven Chase, Mackenzie Garis and Taylor.
Riley had a team-high 50 assists, while Haut led the team with 16 kills in the win. Chase made a big difference on the defensive end, compiling six blocks during the match. The Rockets were led by Megan Beasley, who totaled 29 assists in the loss. The Eagles won the match by a score of 25-23, 25-16, 24-26 and 25-15.
Haut was named MAC Offensive Player of the Week for her performances against Toledo and Ball State. Despite losing the second match, Haut impressed with a season-high 21 kills against the Cardinals. Haut, who won the MAC Tournament MVP last season, has a .329 hitting percentage, which currently ranks eighth in the MAC.
The Echo reached out to EMU Media Relations, but no one was made available for comment.
The Eagles next outing will be against Miami (OH) on the road on Friday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. Eastern Michigan’s next home game will be versus the Buffalo Bulls on Thursday, Oct. 24 at the Convocation Center.
In between those two outings, EMU will also face Bowling Green on the road on Saturday, Oct. 19. The Eagles will look to win their second straight conference championship as they will compete in the MAC Tournament beginning Nov. 21 in Bowling Green.
