East Michigan News

The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team faced a defeat against Central Michigan University, losing 3-1 in a match held at the George Gervin GameAbove Center on Tuesday, November 5, coinciding with the 2024 presidential election night.

Kaili Doctor and Hatteras Welker led Eastern's offense with 11 kills each. Taylor Smith contributed significantly by achieving a career-best of 24 assists. On defense, Hannah Blaney recorded a match-high of 21 digs, while Abby Stanford made four blocks.

In the first set, EMU initially led but lost momentum as CMU secured five consecutive points to win 25-18. The second set saw Eastern trailing by up to ten points before CMU claimed it with the same scoreline. EMU rallied in the third set, taking advantage after three lead changes and winning it with strong offensive play and six blocks. However, they could not maintain this comeback in the fourth set and fell short at 25-20.

Despite having more digs than CMU (72 to 70), Eastern's efforts were insufficient for victory. This was only their second loss when out-acing opponents this season. Kaili Doctor achieved her thirteenth double-digit kill performance of the year and became the first Eagle to surpass 200 kills in 2024.

Maddie Stayer provided significant support with 19 assists during her tenth game reaching double figures this season. Meanwhile, Welker achieved personal bests in both kills and digs.

Taylor Smith led assists for the fifth time this year, recording over twenty assists for her fourth match in total. Hannah Blaney topped EMU's dig statistics for the twenty-second time this season.

Historically speaking, Tuesday marked their second-ever game on an election night since defeating Michigan Wolverines back in November of '84 during Ronald Reagan’s re-election campaign.

The Eagles will next face Akron at home on Friday evening at six o'clock.

Stay updated throughout their season via @EMUVolleyball or @EMUAthletics on X as well as Instagram accounts @EMU_Volleyballand and @emuathletics.