Central Michigan University Athletics
Chippewas Face Full Week Of Action
2/16/2000 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 8, 1999
Mount Pleasant -
The final homestand of the year could be just what the Central Michigan University volleyball team (5-19, 2-12 Mid-American) needs to break a 10-match losing steak, the longest in school history.
The Chippewas' full week of action in Rose Arena begins with a non-conference tilt against Oakland University (6-22, 2-11 Mid-Continent) on Tuesday, Nov. 9. CMU then hosts Eastern Michigan (16-10, 7-7 Mid-American) on Thursday, Nov. 11, and Ball State (22-5, 13-1 Mid-American) on Saturday, Nov. 13. All three matches begin at 7 p.m.
"We've seen Oakland once this season, so we kind of know what to expect," coach Elaine Piha said. "We know Eastern Michigan is a solid team that plays hard and has long rallies. That could present a danger to us because we're not real patient. We'll need to communicate more and block better. Ball State is an offensive team that is playing well right now."
The Chippewas dropped three matches last week, losing 3-0 at Northern Illinois on Wednesday, 3-1 at home to Kent on Friday and 3-0 to Akron on Saturday.
"Everyone on the team is not showing up to play every night," Piha said. "We have maybe two players who come to compete each match. We may be a young team but we have played in 24 matches. We just aren't taking advantage of the opportunities to play. The coaches have tried every approach, positive, aggressive and nonchalant, but the competitive mentality is what we lack. We have all the athletic ability, we just need to improve out mentality."
CMU led late in both of the first two games at Northern Illinois, but couldn't hold on for the win. Kristin Tack (Saginaw/So.) led the Chippewas with 13 kills and five digs. Jennifer Mitchell (Lake Odessa/Jr.) added 13 kills and nine digs.
Central Michigan looked strong in game one against Kent and won it 15-11 before falling in the next three. Four Chippewas had double-figure kill totals including Mitchell with 15, Tennille Hileski (Allegan/Sr.) with 13 and Jenny Young (Plymouth/Fr.) and Tack with 12 each. Four Chippewas were in double figures in digs with Jessica Rocho (Honolulu, HI/Jr.) leading the way with 25. CMU totalled 94 digs on the night and 71 kills. Both were the second highest totals on the season.
The Maroon and Gold struggled against Akron as 12 different players saw action in the match. Mitchell posted a team-high 14 kills and Rocho added a team-high 11 digs. Stacey Bida (Royal Oak/Fr.) was solid off the bench with seven kills in two games of work and Kendra DeVries (Fremont/Fr.) added two kills and three blocks. COACH PIHA: Head coach Elaine Piha is in her second season at the helm of the Chippewa program. She has a career record of 16-35 after guiding Central to a 11-16 finish last season as an interim head coach. The 1998 team made a four-match improvement in the win column from the previous year. Piha was a CMU assistant for two seasons before assuming the head job. She came to CMU from Missouri Valley College where she was a head basketball coach and assistant volleyball coach. Piha is joined by second-year assistant Teri Wilholt and first-year graduate assistant Sara Plinska. SCOUTING THE GOLDEN GRIZZLIES: Oakland won a pair of matches last Saturday to break an eight-match losing streak. The Golden Grizzlies had lost 15 of their last 16 before Saturday. OU is 6-22 overall and 2-11 in the Mid-Continent Conference.
Tess Pierce leads the offensive attack with 3.16 kills and 1.17 blocks per game. Carmen Trippett adds 2.94 kills per game.
Central leads the all-time series, 9-0. The Chippewas won a 3-2 thriller in Rochester earlier this season on Sept. 8. With CMU down 14-10 in the rally-scoring round, Kristin Tack served for six straight points and the CMU win. Jennifer Mitchell had a match-high 23 kills.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES: Eastern Michigan is right at the .500 mark in conference play with a 7-7 record. The Eagles split last weekend, defeating Miami (3-0) and then losing to Kent (3-2).
Jill Hutton averages 3.93 kills and 1.10 blocks per game and Sara Schaub posts 3.59 kills and 3.63 digs per game.
Thursday will be the first and only meeting between the two rivals this season. CMU leads the all-time series, 41-6. The Chippewas won two of three meetings last season. SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: Ball State is one of the MAC's hottest teams entering the weekend. The Cardinals have won 11 straight and trail Western Michigan by a few percentage points for the top overall spot in the MAC. BSU is 22-5 overall and 13-1 in conference play.
Megan Hammons is one of the MAC's top hitters with a 4.66 kills per game average. BSU averages 2.54 blocks per game and is led by Julie Zylka's 1.22 and Susie Meshberger's 1.16 per game.
Central holds a slight lead in the all-time series, 23-21-1. The Chippewas have lost five straight to the Cardinals, including a 3-0 loss last season in Muncie, IN. WRONG WAY STREAK: The Chippewas have now lost a school-record 10 straight matches. The old record was seven which was held by two different teams, the 1997 and '91 squads. In CMU history, the Chippewas have lost 10 or fewer matches in 14 of 25 entire seasons.
CAREER-HIGH MARK: Junior Jessica Rocho posted a career-high 25 digs against Kent. The mark was also a season high for the team. Rocho leads CMU and ranks 11th in the MAC with 3.12 digs per game. The setter has 968 assists this season which is a career high. 700-KILL PLATEAU: Middle hitter Jennifer Mitchell reached the 700 career kill plateau last weekend with outings of 15 kills against Kent and 14 versus Akron. She now has 727 for her career and needs 169 to move into 10th place in the CMU record books. Her 290 kills and 87 blocks this season are both career highs. HITTING PERCENTAGE = WINS: The Chippewas have posted a better hitting percentage than their opponent in all five wins and have a worse mark than the opponent in every loss. CMU is hitting .168 on the year compared to the opponents average of .244. Central has not hit better than .300 in a match this season. MAC LEADERS: Junior Jennifer Mitchell ranks seventh in the MAC in services aces (0.37 per game) and 14th in blocks (0.98). Setter Jessica Rocho ranks 10th in assists (10.88) and 11th in digs (3.12). UP NEXT: The Chippewas close out the season next weekend with a rematch of last weekend's action. CMU is at Kent on Friday, Nov. 19, and Akron on Saturday, Nov. 20. PLAYOFF PICTURE: Half of the MAC tournament field is set with Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green and Western Michigan all clinching a spot. The remaining teams are fighting for the final four spots. The tournament will be held Nov. 23-27 with first round matches being played at campus sites and the final four being held at the highest remaining seed after the first round. The tournament winner receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. BOOKMARK US: Be sure to check out the CMU Athletics web site for more information on the CMU volleyball team. Information on all 16 of CMU's teams, including statistics, updates and more are available at: www.cmich.edu/~cmsports.
