East Michigan News

The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team wrapped up its 2024 season with a four-set defeat against the Buffalo Bulls on Saturday, November 16, at Alumni Arena in Buffalo, New York. Despite the loss, the Eagles showed significant improvement from their previous season under Head Coach Kevin Foeman.

Ava Siefke led the Eagles with a double-double performance, recording 12 kills and 11 digs. Kaili Doctor contributed 10 kills, while Hannah Blaney added 13 digs and Hatteras Welker made four blocks.

In the first set, Eastern Michigan lost narrowly to Buffalo with a score of 26-24. The Eagles bounced back in the second set with a 25-22 win but fell behind again after losing the third set 25-19. The fourth set saw Buffalo securing victory with a decisive 25-12 scoreline.

Eastern Michigan recorded more digs than Buffalo for the 18th time this season. "Doctor posted 10 kills," marking her team-leading fifteenth double-digit kill outing. Maddie Stayer led in assists for the tenth time this season with 24 assists. Blaney led in digs for the twenty-sixth time this season and ended second in the MAC with 504 digs.

Siefke's performance marked her third double-double of the season and seventh of her career. "Eastern has had at least one player record a double-double in thirteen matches this season."

Historically, Eastern Michigan increased their win total by eight compared to last year, marking their best improvement since 2017. The match was their thirty-fourth encounter against Buffalo, holding an all-time record of 22-11 against them.

The team also excelled defensively this year, setting a program record for blocks per set and achieving the second-highest total blocks in program history. Welker tied for second all-time in blocks during Eastern's rally scoring era.

For updates on EMU volleyball, fans can follow @EMUVolleyball and @EMUAthletics on X or Instagram.