The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team ended its two-match losing streak Tuesday with a 3-0 (25-14, 25-19, 25-10) win against the Youngstown State Penguins. The match was EMU’s home opener, after having played 14 times on the road this season.
Tuesday’s win put the Eagles at a 12-3, while the Penguins fell to 2-12 on their season.
For 15th-year coach Kim Berrington, the match was about adjusting to the qualities Youngstown offered that EMU had not faced yet.
“We haven’t seen a big leftie, which poses some different problems for us,” Berrington said before the match.
The match was almost completely dominated by the Eagles, who lost the lead only three times, and found themselves tied with the Penguins just six times throughout the entire three games. They reached an overall hitting percentage of .444 for the game, controlling the net all night long.
EMU was led in kills by sophomore outside hitter Rachel Iaquaniello (12). By herself, Iaquaniello was just five kills away from out-hitting the Penguins who, as a whole, made 17 kills. She finished with a hitting percentage of .346 for the night.
Sophomore middle blocker Kristen Baker and freshman outside hitter Paige Roback added nine kills each with Roback also putting in 13 digs. Junior libero Haley Stein was just behind her with 12 digs. Junior setter Ashley Mason had 30 assists.
The Eagles came out strong, taking the lead early on in the first game. They took a 12-4 lead and the Penguins would come no closer to them before the set came to an end with a kill by Baker would end the game.
In the second game, it was tied four times with two lead changes, the most this game would see. The Penguins would see their biggest lead of the night, 9-8. However EMU responded by regaining the lead 13-12 off of an Iaquaniello kill, and would hold on to it until the set came to a close.
Eastern stormed past Youngstown in the third game to gain an 11-3 lead after an eight-point run. The gap would just continue to grow as the Eagles sealed a quick 25-10 win.
The Penguins were led in offense by their Junior rightside hitter Tasha Reid, who had six kills to end with a .267 hitting percentage. On the defensive side, they were led by junior defensive specialist Brianna Kern, who had nine digs on the night.
Tuesday’s win put the Eagles at a 12-3 start to the young season, while the Penguins fell to 2-12 on their season.
EMU is having its best start since 2003 and Berrington says “it’s been a year-long process” that began last season and endured through spring competitions.
Eastern will open up their conference play on Thursday, September 23 when they will suit up against the Central Michigan University Chippewas. Game time is set for 7pm at the Convocation Center.
