Courtesy of MAC Sport Information Departments
Central Michigan 3, Ball State 1
Box Score
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Same pattern, same result.
Perhaps a new source of motivation.
Any way you cut it, it never gets old for the Central Michigan volleyball team.
The Chippewas downed Ball State in four sets in a Mid-American Conference match on Friday at McGuirk Arena, winning its 10thconsecutive to improve to 15-2, 5-0 league, and upping its lead in the MAC West to two games over the Cardinals and Northern Illinois, both of which are 3-2 in conference play.
The Chippewas dropped the first set, 26-24, then won three straight, 25-14, 26-24, 25-19. They followed the same script, dropping the first and then winning three, in beating Eastern Michigan and then Kent State in their previous two matches.
"Coming into this match," CMU coach Mike Gawlik said, "we as a team were saying that these are the kind of moments that we want to be in at the beginning of the year. I was really proud of our group for stepping in there and playing tough
"I thought we played a pretty complete match. Outside of the hiccups in set one that they took from us … I don't like the habit of losing set one. But, I do like that we're able to separate each set and we played pretty well."
How It Happened
With the match even at one set each, CMU found itself down 23-20 in the pivotal third. The Chippewas closed with a 6-1 run to take the set.
They never trailed in the fourth set, streaking to a 7-1 lead. Ball State never got closer than four points the rest of the way.
The spurt to end the third set was sparked by Hannah Warners, who calmed down the Chippewas with a reminder that they had been in such situations before.
"We had this exact same situation in practice," CMU's Kalina Smith said. "As soon as we got in the huddle (after a timeout), Warners looked at our entire group and said, 'We did this in practice yesterday. It's a simple game.'
"We went out there with that mindset instead of thinking 'Oh crap, we're down.' Those situations in practice help prepare us for the game."
Said Gawlik: "Hats off to Warners. She was a player that wasn't in uniform tonight. But she changed the focus of the group in a tough time. Our bench tonight as a whole created great energy."
Leaders
Smith led the Chippewas with 17 kills and a career-high 26 digs. Lisbeth Rosario-Martinez added 16 kills on a team-high .483 attacking percentage.
"The biggest thing is to be put in the position to be aggressive," Smith said. "My setters do a nice job of putting a nice, high ball out there that allows me to put a (powerful) swing on it. Our defense dug a lot of balls today.
"We did a really good job of getting the digs nice and high, and not only getting the ball up in the air, but a quality dig to where our setters could set the ball up, and it makes my job really easy. It's not hard to kill balls where you have setters and defensive players like we do."
Rosario-Martinez also credited the setters, Grace Butler and Kendall Braate, along with the Chippewas on the bench.
"They were pushing me all the time like 'Lisbeth, let's go,'" she said. "And the (sets) were good; thanks to the setters. When you hear the bench and they're like 'We got this, we can do it,' they try to make us feel better, relaxed, and help us do a better job."
Butler posted a season-high 30 assists, while Braate added 24. Savannah Thompson finished with a season-high 24 digs along with 10 kills, while Megan Kern added 20 digs, and Anna Erickson had 11 kills for the Chippewas.
Numbers
CMU finished with a season-high 67 kills on a .235 attacking percentage, and finished with 59 digs, also a season high. They posted 92 digs, matching their season best in that category for a four-set match. Ball State finished with a .121 attacking percentage.
Win Total
With 15 victories, the Chippewas matched the 2017 team for the most in a single season in Gawlik's four years at the helm of the program.
Next
CMU will be back at home on Saturday (8 p.m.) when it entertains Toledo at McGuirk Arena in a MAC match. The Rockets are 7-10, 0-5 after a four-set loss at Eastern Michigan on Friday.
Fans displaying a ticket stub from CMU's football homecoming game on Saturday will be admitted free to the volleyball match.
Eastern Michigan 3, Toledo 1
Box Score
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University volleyball team notched a four-set victory over the University of Toledo Friday, Oct. 11, inside the Convocation Center. The Eagles (7-10, 2-3 MAC) defeated the Rockets (7-10, 0-5 MAC), 25-23, 25-16, 24-26, and 25-15 to earn their second consecutive win in Mid-American Conference play.
Senior Riley Taylor (Indianapolis, Ind.-Perry Meridian) matched a career-high by dishing out 50 of EMU's 53 assists while contributing 11 digs for her sixth double-double of the campaign. Junior Franki Strefling (Niles, Mich.-Buchanan) added 14 kills and 14 digs as she recorded her 13th double-double of the year.
For good measure, senior Camille Schomer (Rochester, Mich.-Oakland Christian) paced the Eagles with 23 digs, while sophomore Mackenzie Garis (Crystal Lake, Ill.-Prairie Ridge) set a personal-best with 11 of her own. Additionally, redshirt senior Cassie Haut (Monroe, Mich-St. Mary Catholic Central) led the Green and White with 16 kills, as freshman Raeven Chase (Toronto, Ontario-Michael Power St. Joseph Catholic)tallied a dozen kills along with a team-high two solo blocks and four block-assists.
EMU was the superior team at both ends, posting an impressive .305 efficiency as Toledo struggled to a .138 clip. The Eagles also tallied more digs (74-59), assists (53-44), kills (59-48) and blocks (10-8) than their MAC West rivals. Only a call overturned by a coach's challenge prevented the Green and White from clinching their third consecutive sweep of the Rockets.
Eastern concludes its four-match home stand Saturday, Oct. 12 with a matchup against Ball State University at 8 p.m.
Kent State 3, Buffalo 0
Box Score
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Kent State captured its first Mid-American Conference victory of the season Friday evening inside of Alumni Arena, defeating host Buffalo, 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-23).
The Golden Flashes (8-9, 1-4 MAC) posted 48 kills and a .336 hitting percentage, the highest against a conference opponent in just over two years, in one of their top offensive performances of the season. Sophomore Melissa Kolurbasi led the way with kills on 18 errorless attempts for a career-high .611 hitting percentage. Senior Myla Kinghad eight kills while hitting at a .500 clip, and freshman Morgan Copley also finished the night with eight kills. In addition to running an efficient offense and handing out 38 assists, redshirt sophomore Alex Haffner had a career-high seven kills.
A slow start saw Kent State trailing 5-2 when Melissa Kolurbasi delivered back-to-back kills to help the Flashes settle in. Morgan Copley and Myla King accounted for every point in a 5-1 run that put Kent State ahead, 10-7. Back-to-back kills from King made it 21-15, matching the largest lead of the opening set. Buffalo made a run to get within 21-20, but a strong swing by Copley led to an overpass that was put away by Savannah Matthews. Kent State took the next three points as well to win the set, 25-20.
The Flashes played from behind by four early in the second set, but a strong serving run by Erin Gardner allowed them to go ahead 13-11. Buffalo countered with its own run to retake the lead, 17-14. The Bulls' lead was trimmed to two, 19-17, a few points later when the Flashes scored four straight to lead by two. The lead was 22-21 following two kills and a service ace by UB. Despite having difficulty finishing close sets during the first two weekends of conference play, Kent State once again found a way to come out on top by scoring the next three points. It started with a quick middle set to King for a kill, followed by an ace from Gardner that prompted a UB timeout. Another strong serve by Gardner allow the Flashes to receive a free-ball and feed Danie Tyson in system for a kill and 25-21 victory. Kent State finished the set with a .452 hitting percentage.
The match appeared to be in-hand with Kent State leading 18-11 in the third set. However, the Bulls continued fighting and used a pair of three-point runs to slowly chip away at the deficit. The Flashes' red-hot offense, which had already totaled 15 kills in the set, went without a kill for 11 straight points as Buffalo took a 23-22 lead. Alex Haffner was able to win a huge joust at the net on the ensuing point to even the score. An overpass on the next point allowed Tyson to record a kill and put the Flashes in position to end the match. Another strong serve by Ashley Makruski got the Bulls out of system, and Tyson was able to blast through the block for the 25-23 win.
Sophomore Erin Gardner led the defense with 14 digs. Junior Kaeleigh Stang added 10 digs and freshman Savannah Matthews was right behind with nine.
Kent State will look to make it two in a row with a Crystal Clinic Wagon Wheel Challenge match at rival Akron on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Ohio 3, Akron 1
Box Score
AKRON, Ohio – The Ohio Volleyball team (11-7, 3-2 MAC) took down Mid-American Conference leader Akron (11-5, 4-1 MAC), 3-1, on Friday evening inside the James A. Rhodes Arena.
"It was a great win tonight against a very good Akron team," head coach Deane Webb said. "They gave us all we could handle. Our defense was much better tonight than last weekend, particularly at the net."
Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Dahlias Bouyer (Brownstown, Mich.) was red hot, posting 10 kills on 16 swings with no errors for a .625 attacking clip. Bouyer also tied a career-best with seven blocks (three solo, four assisted).
"Dahlias (Bouyer) performed at a high level on both sides of the ball," Webb added. "We're happy to see her continue to progress."
Junior opposite Maggie Nedoma (Brook Park, Ohio) led the way for Ohio with 15 kills. Junior middle blocker Tia Jimerson (Sugar Hill, Ga.) had 14 kills while hitting .250. Sophomore outside hitter/right side Lauren Park (Millersburg, Ohio) produced a season-best nine kills. Freshman outside hitter Olivia Margolies (Galena, Ohio) had eight hammers.
"Maggie (Nedoma) was an absolute difference maker tonight," Webb said. "She had several swings out of both the front row and back row that were next level."
Junior setter Vera Giacomazzi (San Vendemiano, Italy) put up 51 assists in the four set win, helping Ohio hit .218 with 57 kills. Ohio outkilled Akron, 57-54. The Zips were held to .180 attacking clip, including a .059 hitting percentage in the third set.
Jimerson also added seven blocks, including four solo stuffs. She tied Bouyer for a match-high of seven. Park had three blocks (one solo, two assisted) while Nedoma also put up three. Giacomazzi had two while the team had 15 blocks and outblocked Akron, 15-8.
Junior libero Macy Reihing (Lexington, Ky.) had 21 digs while Ohio put up 63 as a team. Giacomazzi recorded her 11thdouble-double of the season when she added 13 scoops. Nedoma was one short of her own double-double with nine digs. Nine Bobcats recorded at least one dig in the match.
Ohio had four aces, with Giacomazzi, senior defensive specialist Meredith Howe (Grand Rapids, Mich.), Reihing and Margolies all recording one.
The Bobcats will continue MAC play tomorrow at Buffalo. First serve is set for 6 p.m.
