EMU Volleyball's Third-Set Rally Comes Up Short Against Rockets - EMU Eagles

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YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com)

- The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team put up a valiant fight in the third set, but the Eagles were unable to extend the match past the minimum in a 3-0 Mid-American Conference setback to the University of Toledo Friday, Sept. 23, inside the George GervinGameAbove Center.

The conference loss drops the Eagles to 1-13 overall, and 0-2 in conference play.

Senior Raeven Chase (Toronto, Ontario-Michael Power St. Joseph Catholic) finished with nine kills on the day to lead the Eagles' offense while finishing with a hitting percentage of .444. The team received seven digs from sophomore Kendall Burk (Bloomington, Ill.-University) to lead them defensively.

How It Happened
SET 1 | The Eagles lost the first set 25-17 despite a solid showing on the attacking end. Eastern Michigan put together a .375 attack percentage with 10 kills in the set loss.

SET 2 | Eastern Michigan then lost set two 25-16 to fall behind in the match two sets to none. Eastern trailed by as many as 10 points as Toledo grabbed the advantage for good at 8-7 in a set that was tied up six times before the Rockets took over the lead.

SET 3 | The Eagles came up short in a back-and-forth battle, losing 25-22 in a set that featured five lead changes and was tied eight times. Neither team had a lead of more than three points along the way.

Match Notes
» Burk had a big day as far as helping the team get some points on the board, tallying 14 assists on seven digs for the contest. The seven digs tie a season-high for the sophomore setter, having previously done it on Sept. 17, vs Liberty. Burk also had her 10th match of the season with double-digit helpers and sixth consecutive match with this feat.
» Chase notched 9 kills for the contest. Having this total, it is the eighth time this season that she has tallied at least 9 kills.
» Chase also had a block solo for EMU, the 76th of her career as an Eagle. The middle blocker is one block solo away from obtaining sole possession of the number six position in all-time block solos in program history. Currently, Lindsay Piccolini (2003-06) holds the number six spot with 77 block solos.
» Samantha Basham (Granville, Ohio-Newark Catholic) contributed seven kills for the team which marked the 13th time in 14 matches that the senior had at least seven kills.
» Basham also smashed her season-high in hitting percentage with .429. Her previous season's best hitting percentage came against the University of Virginia, Sept. 3 (.292).
» Senior Krista Blakely (Detroit, Mich.-University High School) totaled eight kills for the Green and White. It is the ninth time this season that Blakely has registered at least eight kills for the Eagles. Her eight kills on 15 swings were good for a season-high .400 kill percentage. Blakely is now five kills away from 500 in her entire career.
» Sophomore Mackenzie Gross (Grand Haven, Mich.-Grand Haven) totaled two digs for the team, which is her new season-high, one short of her career-high, which came against the University of Montana, Aug 28, 2021.
» Outside Hitter Callie Minshew (Brandon, Miss.-Brandon-Mississippi State) hit for .500 on eight swings, earning a season-high with the Eagles, and tying her career-high set against Louisiana State University, Oct. 21, 2020.
» Eastern as a group bested the Rockets in the total blocks battle earning five total with the lone block-solo of the match giving the Eagles the edge. Moreover, EMU recorded a perfect blocking percentage, while Toledo registered two errors in the match.

Historical Notes
» As a team, Eastern Michigan tallied a hitting percentage of .265. Furthermore, the effort was just the third time this season that Eastern had a hitting percentage of over .200, doing so Sept. 9, and Sept 16, against Radford University and Virginia Tech University, respectively. Additionally, the .265 kill percentage overpowers the team's season-high .223 set against Radford, Sept. 9, and goes down as the first match in the 2022 campaign with a hitting percentage above .250.
» After the result of tonight's match, Eastern still leads the all-time series record over Toledo, now 61-21. It is just the sixth loss Eastern has been handed against Toledo in the 24-year history inside of the George Gervin GameAbove Center.
» The three-set loss is the fifth match of the 2022 campaign decided by three sets. The Eastern Michigan volleyball team has competed in 34 three-set matches in the Darcy Dorton era, with a 12-22 record.

Up Next
The Eagles return to action in exactly one week from tonight when they take on the defending Mid-American Conference tournament champions, Ball State University. The Cardinals will play host to the Green and White in their home court in Muncie, Ind. First serve is set for 6 p.m. and fans can stream the match on ESPN+ as well as follow along via live stats.

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