East Michigan News

The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team faced a setback against Akron, losing in three straight sets on Friday, November 8, at the George Gervin GameAbove Center.

In the first set, the Eagles struggled early and were defeated 25-16. Akron maintained control throughout, never relinquishing their lead. The second set was more competitive but ended with a 25-22 loss for Eastern Michigan. The set saw ten ties before Akron secured their advantage at 23-22. In the final set, Eastern Michigan fell short again with a score of 25-21. Despite tying seven times during the set, Akron took decisive control at 14-13.

Freshman Taylor Smith from Pewamo led her team in assists for the sixth time this season and achieved double-digit assists for the fifteenth time in her career. She ranks third among all MAC freshmen in assists. Hannah Blaney of Saline led in digs for the twenty-third time this season, accumulating a total of 453 digs so far. Maddie Stayer added two assists to bring her career total to 493.

Historically, this match marked the forty-sixth meeting between Eastern Michigan and Akron, with an overall tied record of 23 wins each and an 11-12 record when playing in Ypsilanti. The current team has demonstrated strong blocking abilities with a total of 278.5 blocks this season, placing them second in program history behind only the 2017 squad's record of 320 blocks.

Welker increased her block count to 120 for the season, ranking fifth all-time since rally scoring began in 2008 and setting a freshman record for blocks.

Eastern Michigan will face Akron again on Saturday at 6 p.m., marking Senior Night as they honor their senior class.

Fans can follow updates on EMU Volleyball by following @EMUVolleyball and @EMUAthletics on X or Instagram via @EMU_Volleyballand @emuathletics.