Central Michigan University Athletics
Volatile West Division Teams Fighting For MAC Tournament Spot
11/18/2002 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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Nov. 18, 2002
MOUNT PLEASANT-The Central Michigan University volleyball team (12-18 overall, 7-9 Mid-American Conference) is trying to fight off its West division foes for a spot in the MAC tournament with two matches remaining.
Four teams (Akron, Ohio, Marshall, Kent State) in the East have secured their berths in the postseason while only Ball State and Eastern Michigan are guaranteed a spot from the West division. The teams in the East division have not changed ranking in six weeks.
"The tournament is our goal and we won't know until after Saturday if we'll make it or not," said head coach Elaine Piha. "We're still trying to get ahead of Western Michigan and Northern Illinois. Even Miami could have a chance. We need to buckle down and go for it."
The top-eight teams will make it into the MAC tournament with the top-four teams hosting. Currently, the Chippewas are seventh. Northern Illinois and Western Michigan (6-10 MAC) have identical conference records. The Chippewas swept the series over WMU, giving CMU an edge over the Broncos.
However, the Chippewas have two matches remaining to accomplish their tournament goals and to record a .500 conference record. The last time CMU posted a .500 record was in 2000 when the team went 9-9 and was the eighth seed in the MAC tournament.
CMU hosts Eastern Michigan (25-6, 12-5 MAC) on Wednesday, November 20, at 7 p.m., in Rose Arena CMU then takes on Bowling Green (9-19, 4-12 MAC) on Saturday, November 21, in Anderson Arena, at 3 p.m.
The Chippewas are 4-4 in conference home matches and 3-5 in conference road contests.
"The last time we played Eastern Michigan, we didn't play up to our potential and we still hung with it," said Piha. "This time, we'll be better prepared and we tend to play well at home. I'm excited to see what our players bring to this match."
Eastern Michigan is on a four-match winning streak and is 4-4 in road matches.
Head coach Kim Berrington won her 200th career match as a head coach over Marshall last weekend. EMU went to five games with MU while four Eagles posted double-digit kill figures.
Jennifer Nighswander has returned to EMU's offense. She had 11 kills and 30 digs in the win over the Thundering Herd. Nighswander played libero when CMU traveled to EMU earlier this season. She was named the MAC West Division "Player of the Week" for September 30. Nighswander ranks first in league digs with 5.21 digs per game.
Others earning "Player of the Week" honors for EMU are Camila Olaio (September 9) and Katie Wagenmaker (October 28). Olaio ranks third in assists per game (12.05), second in aces per game (0.49), and fifth in digs per game (4.34).
Wagenmaker leads EMU's offense. In MAC matches, she ranks second in hitting percentage (.342), fourth in blocks per game (1.42), and 11th in kills per game (3.38).
Olaio is now the all-time MAC leader in service aces and has captured EMU's single-season record. Earlier this season, she became the first EMU and the fourth player in MAC history to record 200 career service aces. Olaio has 74 aces this season with only one ace against Marshall last weekend.
EMU is first in digs (22.05), second in assists (14.38), third in opponent hitting percentage (.163), third in kills (15.88), fourth in hitting percentage (.204), fifth in blocks (2.70), and sixth in aces (1.54).
"Bowling Green is getting better," said Piha. "This match will be challenging because it is their last home match. We have to stay steady and have each player take care of their responsibilities."
Bowling Green split matches with Buffalo and Northern Illinois last weekend. The Falcons posted a 3-0 win over Buffalo and a 3-1 loss to NIU.
Senior middle hitter Kristin Gamby totaled 12 kills and 12 digs against UB and nailed 22 kills for a .486 hitting percentage. She needs only three kills to hit the 1,000 kills plateau.
Gamby ranks fifth in league kills with 3.74 kills per game.
The Falcons lost six seniors, including four starters, from the 2001 squad that won an East Division title.
Bowling Green is seventh in hitting percentage (.197), seventh in assists (13.30), eighth in kills (14.72), eighth in digs (16.00), ninth in aces (1.38), 10th in blocks (2.07), and 12th in opponent hitting percentage (.234).
In CMU's first seven home matches, the team was 7-0 in winning game one. In the last six matches, the Chippewas are 1-5 in game one.
"I think we need to focus on our consistency," said Piha. "We'll go up on teams and then let the opponent go on a run.
"I think when we play better teams we step up and are ready to go. We are less mentally prepared for others and find ourselves having to make our way back on the scoreboard."
LAST WEEKEND: For the first time since 1998, the Chippewas swept the Rockets in the series. CMU beat UT in a home match earlier this season.
The win over UT made it the second series sweep this season for CMU.
CMU 3, TOLEDO 1
CMU rallied back from a -.222 hitting percentage in game one to win the next three games defeating the Toledo Rockets on Friday night.
The game scores were 18-30, 30-18, 30-28, and 30-28.
UT blasted a .370 hitting percentage in game one with 13 kills and three errors in 27 attempts.
The Chippewas fought back in the next three sets to record hitting percentages of .326 in game two, .278 in game three, and .410 in game four.
Service errors haunted the Rockets. UT missed 14 serves while CMU only committed four service errors.
At the end of game two, Toledo was down 28-29 when it committed a service error to give the Chippewas the set.
For the match, the Rockets had a .259 hitting mark to CMU's .241 hitting percentage. Toledo outdug CMU, 72-63, and had 13 aces to CMU's eight.
Kendra DeVries (Fremont/Sr.) led the Chippewas with three service aces. She nailed 14 kills for a match-high .444 hitting percentage. DeVries had three block assists. She pounded one of her 14 kills to take the third game.
Outside hitter Emily Lovejoy (Traverse City/So.) posted a double-double with a team-high 19 kills and 12 digs.
Middle hitter Leslie Schroeder (McComb, Ohio/Sr.) grabbed 13 kills for a .345 hitting percentage. Schroeder had three block assists.
Freshman libero Ali McCrite (New Albany, Ind.) scooped up a match-high 20 digs.
Toledo's Bitsy Mayhle led the Rockets offense with 20 kills and a .385 hitting percentage. She picked up 16 digs for a double-double.
Rachel Mohler, Jessica Buck, and Natalie Mash added 19, 11, and 10 kills in the loss, respectively.
MIAMI 3, CMU 2
The Chippewas were taken down by the Miami RedHawks in five games on Saturday night.
CMU recorded 82 kills to Miami's 77, but MU posted a .296 hitting percentage and 15 team blocks to Central's .233 hitting percentage and 10 team blocks.
The game scores were 27-30, 26-30, 30-27, 30-27, and 9-15.
Both teams ran a balanced offense with five players each in double-digit kill figures.
The Chippewas trailed 2-0 and rallied back to win the next two sets. Miami crushed nine kills with one error for a .400 hitting percentage in the match-winning game.
For CMU, DeVries nailed a match-high 19 kills for a .429 hitting percentage. She had one block solo and one block assists.
Schroeder and Lovejoy each had16 kills. Schroeder tallied a .387 hitting mark and had six block assists. Lovejoy picked up 12 digs for a double-double.
Freshman Tamara Fant (New Baltimore) chipped in 14 kills and two block assists while Melissa Reynolds (Port Huron/Jr.) totaled 10 kills in the loss.
Setter Shaleene Glombowski (Marysville/Jr.) was credited with 67 assists, one shy of her career-high. Glombowski totaled six kills, 12 digs and six total blocks.
For Miami, Kelly McCullough pounded 18 kills for a .400 hitting percentage. She grabbed two aces, 11 digs, and seven total blocks.
Tara Buroker tallied 17 kills, two aces, 20 digs, and three total blocks.
Jennifer Eaton and Angie Zent each had 14 kills while Susan Poll tallied 13 kills.
TEAM SEASON HIGHS:
* Kills-85 (Kent State, 10/5)
* Attempts-233 (Oakland, 11/5)
* Attack percentage-.310 (Ohio, 10/12)
* Assists-78 (Western Michigan, 9/27)
* Aces-14 (Murray State, 9/7)
* Digs-99 (Austin Peay, 9/14)
* Block solos-3 (Marquette, 8/31; Miami 11/16)
* Block assists-28 (Northern Illinois, 9/28)
* Team blocks-14.0 (Northern Illinois, 9/28)
TEAM NOTES: In MAC matches, CMU ranks:
* Third in hitting percentage (.218)
* Third in assists (13.89)
* Fourth in kills (15.48)
* Ninth in digs (15.91)
* 10th in opponent hitting percentage (.227)
* 11th in service aces (1.34)
* 12th in blocks (1.91)
CLOSING IN ON 1,000: Emily Lovejoy recorded the 16th and 17th double-doubles of the season against Toledo (19 kills, 12 digs) and Miami (16 kills, 12 digs). She has scored five consecutive double-doubles. She had a career-high five aces at Miami.
Lovejoy has 858 career kills and needs 142 kills to become the 10th member at CMU to record 1,000 career kills.
Lovejoy has 1,328 total attempts this season, placing her first in CMU season record books. She has 2,443 total attempts in her career for 10th place in the books.
Lovejoy ranks first on the team with 3.95 kills per game and fourth in the MAC.
RANKING HIGH: Kendra DeVries had match-high hitting percentages (for attackers) in both matches last weekend. She helped lead the Chippewas to a win over Toledo with a season-high three aces.
On the weekend, she averaged 3.67 kpg and a .435 hitting percentage. DeVries has averaged a .429 or better hitting percentage in three of her last four matches.
DeVries ranks fourth in league hitting percentage (.324) and averages 2.56 kills per game.
SETTING THE STANDARDS: Setter Shaleene Glombowski has 2,706 career assists, good for fifth place in CMU history, recently passing Amanda Ault (1995-98).
Glombowski ranks second in the conference with 12.23 assists per game. She is first on the team in blocks with 0.88 blocks per game.
CONSISTENT: Libero Ali McCrite has 497 digs this season, good for second place in CMU season records, passing Carla Maul (1991). Patty Mitchell (1990) leads the category with 557 season digs.
McCrite posted 20 digs at Toledo and 14 digs at Miami. She ranks fourth in the MAC with 4.38 digs per game.
IMPROVING: Leslie Schroeder posted 16 kills at Miami for a career high. She also tallied six block assists in the match for a season-high.
Against Toledo, she nailed 13 kills for a .345 hitting percentage.
Schroeder averages 2.14 kills per game in MAC matches for a .209 hitting percentage.
THE SERIES: CMU leads the series with EMU, 42-10.
The Chippewas were taken down in three game in a road match earlier this season.
The Eagles nailed a .276 hitting percentage to CMU's .158. The Chippewas had 40 kills and three blocks in the match. EMU recorded 51 kills and five blocks.
Katie Wagenmaker pounded 15 kills for a .407 hitting percentage. Becky Baltare had 10 kills while Jennifer Nighswander played libero only and picked up 15 digs.
Bowling Green leads the series with CMU, 22-17.
BGSU took out CMU in three sets in a home match on October 25.
The Falcons blasted a .358 hitting percentage to the CMU's .106 hitting mark.
Kristin Gamby drilled 15 kills for a .400 hitting percentage.
Emily Lovejoy posted 18 kills and 10 digs.
UP NEXT: If CMU makes the MAC tournament, the Chippewas will play on Tuesday, November 26. The No.-8 seed will play Ball State at 7 p.m., in Muncie, Ind. The No.-7 seed will play the No.-2 seed which is to be announced.
ON THE TUBE: Select CMU home matches will be airing on CMU's student television station, MHTV, Channel 34, on a tape-delay basis. The following is a list of the games scheduled to be aired:
Nov. 20 vs. Eastern Michigan
