Volleyball Regular Season Ends With Loss
11/13/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 13, 2004
MOUNT PLEASANT - The Valparaiso Crusaders rolled to their 21st win in their last 22 outings with a 3-0 sweep over host Central Michigan on Saturday night in Rose Arena. Game scores for the nonleague match were 30-24, 30-22 and 30-22.
It marked CMU's regular season finale as the Chippewas finished 7-22. Valparaiso out of the Mid-Continent Conference improved to 27-4. CMU now heads the MAC Tournament where the No. 12 seed Chippewas will play at No. 5 seeded Eastern Michigan in a first-round match on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
The Chippewas were without senior Emily Lovejoy, CMU's career kills leader, who did not play because of injury.
Meghan Moore carried the CMU offense in her absence with 17 kills on .406 hitting. She also had five block assists for 19.5 points.
Valpo featured a balanced and proficient offensive attack that saw three players net double figures in the kills column while the Crusaders hit .328 as a team. Amy Palash and Lauren Moulton each tallied 12 kills in the victory.
CMU hung in early and trailed just 16-14 in game one before back-to-back blocks by the Crusaders allowed them to start to pull away. The Chippewas held Valpo to a .196 hitting mark in the opener but the Crusaders upped their marks to .372 and .500 in the next two games which they dominated.
The Chippewas hit just .150 as a team but CMU held an edge in both aces (4-3) and blocks (6-5).
Ali McCrite posted a team-high 12 digs while setter Jaimeson Whitman added eight and 37 assists.
Kristen Buter tallied eight kills and six digs and Melanie Klein notched five kills.