There is no doubt in coach Denise Van De Walle’s mind that the volleyball team’s struggling season can be turned around.

‘Oh, definitely. Oh, absolutely we can,’ she said. ‘We’re still trying to find some pin hitters that can do the job at both pins. We need some pin hitters that can consistently put the ball away.

‘And we do. The key word there is consistency. We have to have someone who can put the ball away in crunch time and we’ve been relying on (Shari) Luther and (Emily) Kauth to do that.’

The Falcons (7-14, 0-6 Mid-American Conference) will hope to find some pin hitters that can do just that this weekend as they host Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan at Anderson Arena.

Eastern Michigan struggled early in their non-conference schedule, losing the first eight matches they played. They’ve won two of their last five games, giving them a 3-19 overall record (2-4, MAC).

When the Eagles have been successful, it has been by digging the ball. As a team, they are averaging 15.43 digs per set. EMU’s Haley Stein is averaging a team-high 4.39 digs per set.

‘I know they’ve struggled early on,’ Van De Walle said. ‘They’ve got a couple MAC wins under their belt. They’re young.’

Central Michigan (10-6, 3-3, MAC) is averaging 1.79 aces per set. Kaitlyn Hurt and Lauren Krupsky both have at least 20 aces on the season, and they’re a big reason why CMU has one of the best service games in the country.

‘Central [Michigan] is definitely going to be the more experienced team this weekend,’ Van De Walle said.

Senior Kaitlin Jackson said the team is not hanging their heads too low since the 11 straight losses have all been relatively close.

‘I think we need to be more aggressive at times,’ she said. ‘I think we need to not play safe and go after other teams. Every match, whether win or lose, you can take something from it. We’ve been learning a lot about ourselves. I am still hopeful that our season can turn around. We just need that little something.’