Chippewas To Put First Place On The Line

Nov. 4, 2003

MOUNT PLEASANT -- The Central Michigan University volleyball team (13-12, 7-5 Mid-American Conference) will attempt to hold on to its recently claimed top spot in the MAC West Division with a pair of matches at Rose Arena this weekend.

The Chippewas will welcome Northern Illinois (16-9, 5-7 MAC) to Mount Pleasant on Friday, Nov. 7, at 7 p.m. The Huskies will be able to pull within a game of CMU with a win.

On Saturday, Nov. 8, Miami (8-19, 2-10 MAC) will head into Rose Arena looking to take down the Chippewas. The match will be the second of two football/volleyball doubleheaders. CMU's football game with Akron will begin at 1 p.m., and the volleyball match will start at 7 p.m.

This weekend's matches will be the last regular-season conference tilts inside Rose Arena this season. The Chippewas will play Oakland in a non-conference matchup on Tuesday, Nov. 11, and could possibly host a first-round MAC Tournament contest.

CMU has won its last five home contests after losing at home to Toledo on Oct. 3.

The Chippewas continued their push up the MAC West Division standings with two wins last weekend. They blanked Buffalo at home on Friday and shutout Eastern Michigan on Saturday to claim a share of first place.

The division lead is shared by two other schools from Michigan, both Eastern and Western are tied with the Chippewas at 7-5.

The final weekend of the regular season is shaping up to be a showdown of division leaders. The Chippewas will head to second-place Ball State on Friday, Nov. 14 and will wrap up the season with a visit to co-division leader Western Michigan on Saturday, Nov. 15.

"We are starting to feel comfortable now that we are in the driver's seat," said head coach Elaine Piha. "Our team has a confidence every time they step onto the court."

CMU has struggled on the road this season going 2-4 in conference play.

ACROSS THE NET
Northern Illinois -
The Huskies are currently the fifth-best team in the MAC West, but only find themselves two games out of first place.

"Northern Illinois will be looking to come in here and get itself back in the conference race," said Piha. "We can't take anyone lightly right now."

NIU had a rollercoaster week last week. It knocked off Eastern Michigan by a count of 3-1 on Oct. 28, and then dropped matches to Western Michigan, 3-1, on Oct. 31, and Buffalo, 3-2, on Nov. 1.

The Huskies fell to Buffalo despite winning the first two games of the match. They notched 13 aces versus the Bulls and had 22 blocks in the loss.

This will be the only meeting between the Huskies and Chippewas this season. Last year, CMU lost 3-1 in DeKalb, Ill., and picked up a five-game win in Rose Arena. NIU has won seven of its last eight meetings with the Chippewas.

Northern Illinois' Tera Lobdell is one of the top offensive threats in the conference. She's third in the MAC in kills per game with a 4.24 average and fourth with 5.03 points per game.

Lobdell became NIU's fifth player in school history to record over 1,000 kills and 100 aces in a loss to Bowling Green on Oct. 18.

NIU setter Marie Zidek is fifth in the conference averaging 11.61 assists per game.

Miami -
The RedHawks have struggled in the conference season so far.

MU is 2-10 in the MAC and 8-19 overall. It broke a ten-game losing streak by defeating Marshall last Friday, 3-2.

Although they have not won many of matches, the RedHawks have been playing better lately. They took Kent State to five games on Saturday and nearly defeated Buffalo in five earlier in the year.

"Miami is coming close or else getting wins against good teams," said Piha. "It is near the end of the season and everyone will be playing at its best. We will have to be ready." The RedHawks are fourth in the conference in service aces (1.85 per game) but are last in kills per game (13.54).

MU is led by Angie Zent who is averaging 2.62 kills per game and 0.45 aces per game. The Chippewas have not defeated Miami in Rose Arena since a 3-1 win in 1996. Their last win versus the RedHawks came in 2000 in Oxford, Ohio.

LAST WEEK
CMU picked up two wins without dropping a game last weekend. The Chippewas defeated Buffalo and Eastern Michigan.

"The girls didn't just win last weekend," said Piha. "They executed and beat our opponents."

CMU 3, Buffalo 0
The Chippewas continued thier push up the MAC West Division standings with a 3-0 victory over Buffalo on Friday night in Rose Arena.

With their win, the Chippewas set up an opportunity to grab a share of first place in the division with a win over Eastern Michigan on Saturday night in Ypsilanti.

CMU dominated the match from beginning to end holding the Bulls to a .097 hitting percentage and hitting .388 itself.

Three Chippewas hit better than .500. Liz Passen and Emily Lovejoy led the way by hitting at .600 and Meghan Moore hit at .550.

Passen dominated in the first game notching, seven of her match-high 15 kills. CMU trailed early on, but took the lead at 12-11 and cruised to a 30-22 win.

Moore got things started in the second game by getting three blocks (two assisted) on the first three points and getting a kill on the next point to help the Chippewas to an early 6-0 lead. CMU continued to control the match and earned a 30-17 win in game No. 2.

The third game was much like the first two. The Chippewas grabbed a 9-3 lead and rode a .406 hitting percentage to a 30-20 win.

Ali McCrite had a match-high 12 digs and Shaleene Glombowski recorded a match-high 46 assists.

CMU 3, Eastern Michigan 0
The Chippewas claimed a share of first place in the MAC West Division with a 3-0 win over Eastern Michigan on Saturday night.

The Chippewas earned the tie-breaker over the Eagles by defeating them twice this season.

CMU did not look that much better on the stat sheet than the Eagles, having 11 service errors to EMU's three and notching 56 digs, the same as Eastern. The Chippewas had 56 kills to EMU's 35.

Lovejoy led the Maroon and Gold with a double-double. She had a match-high 19 kills and 16 digs.

Melissa Reynolds also notched a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs. Moore added 11 kills and six blocks for CMU.

The game scores were as follows: games No. 1 and 2 were 30-23, and game No. 3 was 30-25.

CMU failed to hit over .300 percent in any of the games but held the Eagles to .119 percent for the match.

McCrite had a match-high 18 digs and Glombowski added 37 digs for the Chippewas.

CHIPPEWA NOTES

These Girls Love A Rose -
The Chippewas have been unbeatable at Rose Arena as of late.

In its last five MAC contests at home, CMU has come away with victories. It suffered its only home loss of the MAC season in its conference home opener to Toledo on Oct. 3.

The Chippewas have played an equal amount of contests on the road without the same success. They are 2-4 in conference road matches.

CMU averages almost one and a half more assists at home (15.05) than on the road (13.57) and has had 12 more blocks in Mount Pleasant than elsewhere.

Hitting Their Stride -
After starting the MAC season 0-3, the Chippewas have gone 7-2.

In its last nine contests, CMU has gone 5-0 at home. It is hitting at a .293 percent after hitting .222 in its first 16 matches.

The Maroon and Gold are beating teams in a convincing fashion. In their last three wins, the Chippewas haven't lost a single game.

A major reason for the success is that the Chippewas have cut their services errors by almost one a game, averaging 3.60 in their first 16 and only 2.82 in their past nine.

Chippewa Honored -
Junior outside hitter Emily Lovejoy was named MAC West Division "Player of the Week" for the second time this season.

Lovejoy helped the Chippewas take control of first place by beating Buffalo and Eastern Michigan last week.

She averaged 5.17 kills and 3.67 digs per game last week while hitting .403 percent. Lovejoy recorded a double-double with 19 kills and 16 digs versus Eastern. She hit .550 and had 12 kills against Buffalo.

Emily also received the award on Oct. 13.

MAC Attack -
The Chippewas' Shaleene Glombowski and Emily Lovejoy are two of the best active players in the MAC in their respective specialties.

Glombowski is the leading active player in career assists with 4,093. Toledo's Carrie McCaw is in second with 3,256.

Glombowski ranks 15th on the all-time conference list and took over the top spot on the CMU chart earlier this season.

Lovejoy is fourth among active players in career kills. She has tallied 1,244 in her three-year career.

Lovejoy ranks sixth in the CMU record book and could move up as high as second by the end of the season. She is just the 10th Chippewa to record over 1,000 kills in her career.

Moore Points -
Freshman Meghan Moore continues to lead the Chippewas in total points. She holds a slim edge over Emily Lovejoy, 389.5-388.0.

The middle-hitter has made a big impact in her first season, also leading CMU in service aces (32) and blocks (114).

Moore joins Shaleene Glombowski and Ali McCrite as the only Chippewas to play in every game this season.