Volleyball drops fifth straight match

The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team suffered its fifth straight loss on Friday night, dropping a match against Central Michigan University in four sets (27-25, 25-22, 25-23 and 25-20), making qualifying for the Mid-American Conference a little more difficult as the end of the season approaches.

The match wasn’t all bad for the Eagles (12-14, 4-9 MAC), who kept all four games close but it was to take the final step to force a fifth game out of the Chippewas (11-15, 6-7 MAC)

The first set was the closest, and the Eagles forced extra points, but lost the set mostly due to defensive errors and a lack of consistent offense. On the other side of the net, the Chippewas took advantage of Eastern Michigan’s problems, only committing three errors in the first game.

The Eagles took the second set, riding a season’s best defensive game from libero Corynne Smith. Smith led the team in digs, earning 37 which is a season best for the senior. Smith was one dig short of tying her career best.

Central Michigan eventually took the last two sets to earn a victory at home. Smith put together a run of 13 digs in the third set and seven in the fourth for a break-out night from the senior.

Eastern will hope to change its fortune on Saturday Nov. 7 when the team travels to Ohio, taking on Kent State University. Kent State (16-9, 10-3 MAC) currently sits tied for first in the MAC East

Eastern Michigan is currently on the outside of the MAC Tournament picture, sitting in the ninth overall spot. The top eight teams earn berths into the tournament.