Central Michigan University Athletics
Chippewas Open MAC Tournament Play Friday
11/17/2003 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 17, 2003
MOUNT PLEASANT -- After clinching the Mid-American Conference West Division title last weekend, the Central Michigan University volleyball team (18-12, 11-5 Mid-American Conference) must wait to find out its opponent in the quarterfinals of the MAC tournament.
The second-seeded Chippewas will play the winner of No. 10 Toledo versus No. 7 Marshall on Friday, Nov. 21, at 1 p.m.
The match between the Thundering Herd and the Rockets will take place at Marshall on Tuesday, Nov. 17.
The quarterfinals through the finals of the tournament will take place at Ball State?s Worthen Arena.
The Rockets were defeated by Marshall at home on Nov. 18 in their only meeting of the season, 3-1.
The Chippewas are the hottest team in the MAC entering the tournament. They have a conference-high seven-match win streak and have won nine of their last ten.
CMU had won five straight by way of shutout and fell just one win short of breaking the school record of 18 consecutive games won after losing the third game of the Ball State match.
This will be CMU?s third trip to the MAC tournament quarterfinals in the past four years. The Chippewas lost to Western Michigan in 2000 and fell to Akron last season. They haven?t made a trip to the semifinals since 1996 and have never won the postseason tourney.
The MAC adopted a new tournament format for the 2003 season that allows all 13 teams into the field. Previously, only the top eight teams advanced to the tournament. The host school for the tournament was picked at random, with Ball State getting the nod this year, and will rotate alphabetically with CMU hosting in 2006.
ACROSS THE NET
There is a possibility that CMU could face any of the other 11 teams in the MAC at the season-ending tournament, but its first opponent will either be No. 10 Toledo or No. 7 Marshall.
#10 Toledo ?
The Rockets have given the Chippewas trouble this season. They are the only opponent to hand CMU two losses after winning two five-game matches.
Despite the two earlier losses, head coach Elaine Piha would welcome the opportunity to redeem themselves versus the Rockets.
?When I told the team who we had the possibility of playing they were excited to hear that Toledo was one of them,? said Piha. ?We feel that we could have won both the matches that we played against them and would like an opportunity for revenge.
?The Rockets serve the ball well and that disrupts our offense which is the strong point of our team.?
UT is tops in the MAC in service aces per game with a 2.29 average. It has two athletes in the top three in the conference in aces. Kelsey Culver is second with 0.55 aces per game and Rachel Mohler is just behind her with 0.47 per game.
#7 Marshall ?
The Thundering Herd have played inconsistently of late, going 3-3 in their last six.
?They have had some bad losses lately,? said Piha. ?But, you can?t overlook anyone at this point of the season.?
CMU and MU only played one time this year with the Chippewas grabbing a 3-2 victory in Rose Arena.
CMU fell behind 2-1 to the Thundering Herd on Oct. 18 before winning the final two games for the match victory.
Shaleene Glombowski had a career-high 80 assists and earned MAC West Division player of the week for her efforts.
Marshall is another team that would give the Chippewas problems with its service aces.
MU is second to Toledo in the conference in serving with a 2.06 aces per game average.
The Rest Of The MAC ?
The MAC standings this season were the closest that they have been in years.
Five teams were tied at 8-8 in MAC play while the distance from the fourth-place team to the last-place team was only five games.
The team to beat in the tournament is the No. 1 seed, Ohio. The Bobcats have spent most of the season ranked in the top 30 in the nation and have only one blemish on their MAC record.
The third seed, Akron, finished second in the East Division and was the only conference team to beat Ohio this season.
The five teams at 8-8 -- Marshall, Kent State, Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois and Western Michigan -- have all proven that they could win on any given night.
Buffalo and Toledo both finished at 5-11 in the MA C while Bowling Green and Miami finished in last with 4-12 records.
LAST WEEK
The Chippewas improved their win streak to seven games and clinched the MAC West Division title with wins over Ball State and Western Michigan after taking care of Oakland at home.
CMU 3, Oakland 0
The Chippewas handily defeated Oakland University on Tuesday night, 3-0, in a non-conference tune-up before its final two MAC contests.
The win was CMU's eighth straight at home.
A couple of Chippewas recorded some career firsts in the contest. Tamara Fant had a career-high .800 hitting percentage, Melanie Klein recorded her first career ace and Kristen Buter notched her first-career kill.
CMU couldn't shake the Grizzlies in the opening game. The Chippewas pulled ahead 13-8 but OU battled back and tied the score at 21. The home team eventually put the game away with a score of 30-25.
In game two, CMU led from wire-to-wire en route to a 30-22 win. Emily Lovejoy had six kills in the game and Tamara Fant had five of her team-high 12.
The Chippewas held a 27-19 lead in the final game before Oakland mounted a comeback and pulled within two points at 29-27. Klein notched her career-high fourth kill of the match to put the game away, 30-27.
CMU 3, Ball State 1
The Chippewas exorcised some past demons on Friday night with a 3-1 win over Ball State in Muncie, Ind.
Most importantly, the Chippewas clinched the MAC West-Division title and a first-round bye in the MAC tournament. CMU also picked up a victory over the Cardinals for the first time since 1995 and won for the first time in Muncie in 14 years.
Fittingly, it was the three senior co-captains that led the way in the division-clinching win. Shaleene Glombowski paced the Chippewas with a match-high 63 assists, 13 digs and four block assists.
Liz Passen had 12 kills on 16 attempts and no errors for a .750 hitting percentage and Melissa Reynolds had 19 digs and 11 kills.
The Chippewas dominated the opening stanza, grabbing a dominant 30-17 win.
Game two was a close battle with neither team gaining more than a four-point advantage through most of the game. With the score tied at 24, CMU won six of the next seven points to grab a 30-25 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Cardinals got on the board with a 30-24 win in the third game. BSU jumped on top early and the Chippewas could never catch up, pulling within three at 27-24 before the Cardinals won the next three points.
CMU shook off any effects from losing the third game and led from wire to wire in the fourth. The Chippewas opened up a four point lead at 10-6 and held the Cardinals at bay for the rest of the game, getting a convincing 30-22 win.
CMU 3, Western Michigan 2
In a match highlighted by emotional play from both sides, the Chippewas downed Western Michigan in five games on Saturday night, 3-2.
After falling behind 2-1, the Chippewas mounted a comeback and forced a fifth game. In the fifth, CMU dominated the Broncos, taking an 11-3 lead and holding on for the 15-8 win.
Shaleene Glombowski had a match-high 73 assists and 10 digs.
Emily Lovejoy and Tamara Fant were outstanding for CMU. Lovejoy had a season-high 26 to go along with her four blocks and Fant recorded a career-high 20.
