Central Michigan University Athletics
Chippewas Open MAC Play This Week
9/20/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 20, 2004
Complete Release (including MAC standings and CMU statistics) in PDF Format
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MOUNT PLEASANT -- A new season begins for the Central Michigan University volleyball team this week as it enters Mid-American Conference play and defense of its MAC West Division title from last season.
CMU (3-7, O-0 MAC) has three matches on tap and all three will be played in the friendly confines of Rose Arena. The Chippewas host Eastern Michigan (4-6, 0-0 MAC) on Wednesday, Sept. 22, Akron (8-4, 0-0 MAC) on Friday, Sept. 24, and Kent State (3-4, 0-0 MAC) on Saturday, Sept. 25.
All three matches are set to begin at 7 p.m.
"It's a new start for us," first-year coach Erik Olson said. "We move on to our next phase of goals. In the past, this program has really focussed on conference play and I assume we will step it up because it matters to this squad."
Olson is looking for the Chippewas to put it all together after 3-7 non-conference slate.
"If we go and fight from play-to-play throughout the entire match, we can expect results," he said. "The team learned that in our last match on Saturday against East Tennessee State. It was the first time we've seen that all season and that was encouraging. We're beginning to start to see what we can do when we put our skills together, along with heart and desire."
The Chippewas went 1-2 last weekend at the Mortar Board Premier hosted by Purdue. CMU opened with a 3-0 loss to Purdue as the Boilermakers hit .410. Emily Lovejoy led CMU with nine kills. The Chippewas took one game from eventual champion Kentucky, 3-1, behind a balanced attack of four CMU players in double digits in kills. Jesse Miller notched a career-high 12 kills on .450 hitting against the Wildcats.
CMU trailed East Tennessee State, 2-0, before rallying back to win the match. Meghan Moore notched a season-high 18 kills along with four blocks and Melanie Klein was big at the net with five kills and seven blocks (two solos).
"We started getting both middles going in this tournament and we got production out of Kristen Buter," Olson said. "Mary Ochmanek got some great experience on the outside and Ali McCrite had solid passing. These are little bright spots and there have been a lot of them this season. We just need to get at least five of our six cylinders firing at the same time."
Klein put together a solid showing overall and she was named to the all-tournament team for her efforts. She tallied a career-high eight kills against Kentucky and tied a career high with seven blocks in the win over ETSU.
A Look at the Opponents
Eastern Michigan Eagles
Eastern Michigan is 4-6 after going 0-3 last weekend at a tournament hosted by Cleveland State. Three Eagles average over 3.0 kills per game, including Becky Baltare who averages 3.86 kills and 4.94 digs per game. Emily Busch averages 4.07 points per game.
Akron Zips
Akron is 8-4 this season and does not have a midweek match. The Zips are 2-3 in their last five matches after winning six-in-a-row. Emily Kocinski is averaging 3.70 kills per game and Jennifer Stewart is right behind at 3.62. Magen Wood is one of the conference's top blockers with 1.26 per game. Akron is hitting .234 to the opponent's .155.
Kent State Golden Flashes
KSU is 3-4 this season and the Golden Flashes play only one match this week, Saturday's contest with CMU. Kent State went 1-2 last weekend at a tournament hosted by Indiana but the win was a 3-2 victory over the host Hoosiers. Anne Zakelj is second in the league with a .383 hitting percentage and Sarah Wilber ranks sixth in blocks with 1.26 per game. Danielle Holt posts 3.78 kills per game.
All-Tourney Team: Melanie Klein made the all-tournament team last weekend at Purdue, the first time she's taken home such an honor. Klein tallied a career-high eight kills with no hitting errors (.533) against Kentucky and she tied a career high with seven blocks against East Tennessee State. The middle blocker is tied for third on the team with 73.5 points this season. She's averaging a team-high 0.90 blocks per game, along with 1.38 kills.
Closing In: Emily Lovejoy picked up 56 kills last week to inch closer to the CMU career record. She now has 1,535 kills, 83 shy of tying the school mark set by Joanne Hoskins. Lovejoy also moved into sixth on the CMU career digs chart with 930. With 70 more digs, she will become just the third player in CMU history to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs. The other two are Jennifer Shump and Wendy Fast.
MAC Books: Emily Lovejoy made a big jump up the MAC career kills chart last weekend as well. Her 1,535 career kills now rank seventh in MAC history. The senior needs 12 more kills to move into fourth place and then she would trail just Ball State's Megan Hammons (1,827), Bowling Green's Tammy Schiller (1,709) and CMU's Joanne Hoskins (1,618).
Setting Battles: CMU used both of its setters last week in freshman Courtney Kersten and junior Jaimeson Whitman. Kersten started against Purdue and East Tennessee State and Whitman against Oakland and Kentucky. For the week, Kersten averaged 9.53 assists per game and Whitman 2.33. "We're looking for our setters to maintain their calmness and put the ball in a good location," Olson said. "Jaimeson has been putting it in a better location lately and I've said all along that it is a matter of who is setting best at the moment." Kersten ranks seventh in the MAC with 11.13 assists per game.
McCrite Jumps Into MAC Rankings: Junior libero Ali McCrite has jumped into the MAC career rankings for digs. She now has 1,224 which ranks 24th in MAC history and second in CMU annals. She needs just 66 to set a new CMU record. Her current total is third among active MAC players. McCrite has been aided by the new libero rule instituted in 2002 which allows the libero to replace any player in the back row without counting as a substitution. Prior to the rule change, only four players in CMU history had reached 1,000 career digs.
Buter Steps Up Big: Sophomore outside hitter Kristen Buter had a productive week for CMU, posting a 2.85 kills per game average in CMU's last four matches, the second highest mark on the team. She entered the week with eight total kills this season but she stepped up and notched a pair of double digit matches, including 12 against Oakland.
Hitting Percentage Key: The Chippewas are 3-0 this season when posting a better hitting percentage than the opponent. However, for the year, CMU is hitting .183 to the opponents .203. The Chippewas' .183 mark ranks 12th in the MAC.
Quick Volleys: Emily Lovejoy was held to a single digit kill total for the first time this season against Purdue when she tallied nine ... Redshirt freshman Jesse Miller posted 12 kills against Kentucky for her first double figure game ... CMU came back to win games four and five against East Tennessee State marking the first time this year that CMU won an individual game after the third set ... Oakland's victory over CMU last Tuesday snapped an 18-game CMU winning streak in the series and it marked the Golden Grizzlies' first win versus the Chippewas ... the MAC "Players of the Week" were Ohio's Stephanie Blackburn in the East Division and co-recipients Sarah Obras (Ball State) and Emi Holsclaw (Toledo) in the West.
