Central Michigan University Athletics
Chippewas Head to Clemson's Big Orange Bash
9/7/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 7, 2004
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MOUNT PLEASANT -- After starting the 2004 campaign at home last weekend with the Super 8 Invitational, the Central Michigan University volleyball team hits the road for the first time this weekend.
The Chippewas are participating in the Big Orange Bash, hosted by Clemson. CMU plays Louisiana-Lafayette (10 a.m.) and host Clemson (7 p.m.) on Friday, Sept. 10, before facing Coastal Carolina at 10 a.m., on Saturday, Sept. 11.
Clemson is currently receiving votes in the USA Today/CSTV Coaches Poll.
"Clemson is the second highest ranked team we play this season and it is a good, big team," coach Erik Olson said. "We match up well with the other two teams in the tournament."
The Chippewas are coming off a 1-2 showing last weekend at the CMU Super 8 Invitational. Indiana State won the tournament with a 3-0 record.
CMU defeated Wisconsin-Green Bay on Friday, 3-0, before falling to Indiana State (3-2) and IUPUI (3-1) on Saturday.
"At times we played great ball but we were way too inconsistent," Olson said. "We showed the ability to fight back, which from what I understand, this team didn't have in the past.
"Our big concern right now is we have to become consistent with our passing. That's the focus in practice. More consistent passing will make our attacking more consistent and we won't fall into those holes that we had to battle back from last weekend."
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS:
Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns
Louisiana-Lafayette is 2-4 this season after going 0-4 last weekend at its own Hibernia Bank Classic ... the Ragin' Cajuns play Tulane on Tuesday ... Elina Salomaki is averaging 3.26 kill per game ... the team is hitting .142 this season.
Clemson Tigers
Clemson (4-1) is receiving votes in this week's USA Today/CSTV Top 25 poll ... the Tigers went 3-1 at their own Clemson Invitational last weekend ... Lori Ashton and Leslie Finn were both preseason All-ACC picks ... Clemson was picked to finish fifth in the ACC this season ... the Tigers travel to rival South Carolina on Tuesday.
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
Coastal Carolina went 2-1 to place second at a tournament hosted by Dayton last weekend ... Jennifer Hampton and Katherine Jensen were named to the all-tournament team ... the Lady Chants were picked to finished second in the Big South this season.
A Chippewa First: First-year coach Erik Olson did something no other CMU volleyball coach was able to do until now ... win his/her first match as Chippewa head coach. Olson and the Chippewas defeated Wisconsin-Green Bay on Friday night, 3-0, to start his head coaching career.
Lovejoy's Big Numbers: Emily Lovejoy had a kill-dig double-double in all three of CMU's matches last week. Her 5.75 kills per game average was the second-best turned in by a MAC athlete last weekend (NIU's Tera Lobdell -- 5.87). "Emily carried us," coach Erik Olson said. "She was responsible for a lot of the comebacks we made and she's doing a lot defensively. Emily's a great fighter and we've got to get more people playing like her."
Career-High Kills: Emily Lovejoy's 36 kills in the five-game match against Indiana State tied for the ninth-best single match mark in Mid-American Conference history. The MAC record is 45 by Kent State's Danielle Holt in 2003. The CMU record is 37 by Wendy Feldman in 1997 It was the first time in her career that Lovejoy hit 30 or more kills. Her 69 kills from the weekend moved her into second place on CMU's career chart with 1,416. She now trails just CMU Hall of Famer Joanne Hoskins (1,618) for the school record.
Hayes Stepping Up: Sophomore Aislinn Hayes led the Chippewas with 15 kills in the opener against UW-GB and she tallied 13 against Indiana State. Hayes totalled just three total kills in limited action last season as a freshman.
Putting up Points: Meghan Moore was second on the team with 45.0 points in the Super 8 Invitational. She averaged 2.83 kills, 0.83 digs and 0.83 blocks per game. Moore tallied seven blocks (one solo) against IUPUI.
Big Blocker: Middle blocker Melanie Klein was a force at the net for CMU with 18 total blocks last weekend for a 1.50 per game average. That mark ranks sixth in the MAC. Klein tallied at least five total blocks in each match while also averaging 1.25 kills per game.
Dig It: Junior Ali McCrite earned the starting libero job in all three matches last weekend after being challenged in the preseason by newcomer Jillian Bouchey. McCrite led CMU with 5.17 digs per game, a mark that ranks fifth in the MAC. Her dig total increased each match and she tallied 26 in the finale against IUPUI.
Kersten Gets the Nod: Redshirt freshman Courtney Kersten was CMU's starting setter in all three matches last weekend. She tallied 11.25 assists per game, seventh best in the MAC. "Courtney is athletic and she works hard," Olson said. "She was a little erratic in our final match against IUPUI but we need to do a better of getting her more consistent passes." Kersten earned the starting role after battling junior Jaimeson Whitman in the preseason.
Hitting Percentage Key: CMU had a better hitting percentage than its opponent in just one match last weekend, the match it won versus Wisconsin-Green Bay. The Chippewas hit .179 for the weekend, a mark that was 12th best in the MAC's opening weekend. CMU hit .239 for the win against Wisconsin-Green Bay and then hit less than .100 in four of the nine games of the final two matches.
MAC Poll: Ohio is the favorite to repeat as MAC champions according to the MAC preseason coaches' poll. The Bobcats were picked to win the East Division and tied Western Michigan with the most votes to win the MAC Tournament. Kent State and Marshall were picked to finish behind Ohio in the division. In the West, Ball State is the favorite, followed by Western Michigan and Northern Illinois. The MAC only releases the top three picks in each division.
Quick Volleys: CMU travels to a tournament at Purdue next weekend and the Boilermakers are now ranked No. 24 nationally ... freshman Jaclyn Jonas has made the team as a walk-on. The 5-11 middle blocker is from Concord, Mich. ... Emily Lovejoy's 1,416 career kills are the most by an active MAC player while Ali McCrite's 1,261 career digs are third among active MAC players ... Toledo's Kelsey Culver and Akron's Lori Snider were named the MAC's West and East Division "Players of the Week," respectively.
