Women's Volleyball | September 29, 2016
KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan volleyball team heads back on the road to take on Mid-American Conference rivals Eastern Michigan on Friday at 7 p.m. and Central Michigan on Saturday at 3 p.m. The match against the Eagles can be seen live on ESPN3.com.
LAST WEEK
WMU opened MAC play at Northern Illinois and then at home against Miami. Against the Huskies the Broncos won the first set 25-23. From there it was all NIU, winning three straight sets 25-13, 25-15, 25-19. WMU hosted the MAC East favorite RedHawks on Saturday but fell 3-0.
AT A GLANCE: EASTERN MICHIGAN EAGLES // 6-9, 1-1 MAC
Eastern Michigan enters Friday's match having split with Toledo and Ball State to open conference play last weekend. EMU won at UT 3-2 (17-25, 25-19, 25-23, 14-25, 15-12) and fell at BSU 2-3 (20-25, 25-14, 15-25, 25-20, 11-15). The Eagles are 2-1 at home this season with wins over Charleston Southern and Auburn.
Offensively the Eagles are 11th in the MAC in hitting percentage at .168. Sophomore outside hitter Jordan Smith is the team's top attacker, averaging 2.59 kills per set. Alyssa Sutton is second on the team at 2.13 kills per set and is tied for fourth on the team in digs at 2.24. Two Eagles have been used as primary setters on the season, led by sophomore Mallory Rajewski and her 6.98 assists per set. Taylor Riley has averaged 4.13, starting in five of the team's 15 matches.
Sophomore libero Alyssa LaFace leads the team in digs per set at 3.61, but Camile Schomer sits just behind her with 3.39. As a team, Eastern Michigan has five players that average at least 2.0 digs per set. Samantha Falco is the top blocker on the team with 44 total blocks and an average of 1.07 per set.
AT A GLANCE: CENTRAL MICHIGAN CHIPPEWAS // 6-8, 0-2 MAC
Central Michigan opened MAC play with a 3-2 (26-28, 21-25, 25-23, 25-21, 11-15) loss at Ball State and then a 3-0 (19-25, 21-25, 11-25) loss at Toledo. CMU hosts NIU for its home-opener on Friday night before hosting the Broncos on Saturday afternoon. Saturday's game will also be the first matchup between WMU head coach Colleen Munson and the Chippewas' first-year head coach Mike Gawlik.
CMU has the fourth-best hitting percentage in the MAC at .226. Junior Jordan Bueter leads the team in kills per set at 3.04, also ranking seventh in the MAC. Taylor Robertson (2.57), Laura Wilson (2.26) and Carey Paige (2.00) all average at least 2.0 kills per set or higher.
Freshman defensive specialist Megan Kern averages 3.00 digs per set, while Bueter sits just behind her at 2.96. Paige leads the team in blocks per set with 0.92, while Jayla Wesley averages 0.85.
DOUBLE YOUR FUN
Senior outside hitter Mikaela Ryshytylo notched her third-straight double-double in WMU's loss against Northern Illinois with 10 kills and 12 digs. It was her fourth double-double of the season, expanding upon her new career high. Previously Ryshytylo had two last season and one during her sophomore season.
GETTING CLOSER
After 23 total kills over the weekend, WMU junior middle blocker Sydney LeMay sits just 110 away from reaching the elite mark of 1,000. With Alysia Baznik reaching 1,000 back on Aug. 30 against Fort Wayne, it would be the first time since 2008 (Michelle Moore and Katie Eberling) that two Broncos have reached 1,000 kills in the same season. LeMay could become the 22nd Bronco in program history to reach the mark.
