Central Michigan University Athletics
CMU Sweeps BGSU for Best MAC Start Since 1994
10/16/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
MOUNT PLEASANT -- Lauren Krupsky registered a team-high 14 kills and the Central Michigan volleyball team hit .362 in a sweep of Mid-American Conference foe Bowling Green at Rose Arena on Thursday.
The Falcons had won each of the past five meetings, but the West Division leading Chippewas snapped that streak with authority, holding BGSU to just a .160 hitting percentage and registering eight aces. Kaitlyn Schultz (eight kills, .500 hitting percentage) and Sarah Warner (eight kills, .421) helped Krupsky provide the bulk of the offense.
“Even if she’s playing average, Lauren is one of the most aggressive players I’ve ever coached,” head coach Erik Olson said. “We’re starting to work very well together as a team, and our strong play is a result of it.”
Setter Stephanie Budde paced the ace parade with three to go with 35 assists, while Whitney Evers and Kaitlyn Hurt each added two aces. Alexis Lonneman paced the CMU defense with 12 digs, while Erika Neumann added seven.
“It was a very clean match for us,” Olson said. “To sweep what I would consider is a top-four team in this conference is impressive. We had great hustle and made smart plays. We didn’t allow them to do what they wanted to offensively, and that was a tremendous asset.”
In the first set, the Chippewas jumped all over the Falcons for a 9-4 lead thanks to three aces by Budde. With Central up 15-10, CMU scored 10 of the next 15 points to claim a 1-0 lead.
With the second set tied at 13, Krupsky took over. She registered three consecutive kills and Central was aided by BGSU’s mistakes, taking a 21-15 lead. The Chippewas spread around the offense, getting kills from four different players to take a 2-0 lead into the break.
CMU once again took the early lead in set three, 11-6, before ballooning the advantage to nine, 18-9, on three consecutive attack errors by the Falcons. BGSU would climb back within five, 20-15, but a block by CMU combined with an ace by Hurt and a pair of attacking errors would seal the match for the Chippewas. Appropriately, Krupsky registered the match’s final point on a cross-court spike.
Budde, a junior in her first full season as the team’s starting setter, is starting to come into her own according to Olson.
“Stephanie is starting to understand what opposing defenses are trying to do to stop us, and she’s making smart decisions with the ball,” Olson said. “She sees when opponents are cheating to Whitney’s side, and is able to distribute it to either our two middles (Schultz and Hurt) who are playing very efficiently, along with Lauren and Sarah Warner.”
With the win, CMU (12-7, 6-1 MAC) is now off to its best start in league play since 1994, when the program won its first eight MAC matches on its way to a 10-1 start. Central will host East Division leader and 2007 MAC Tournament Champion Miami at Rose Arena Friday at 7 p.m. The RedHawks knocked the Chippewas out of last season’s conference tournament in the quarterfinals on their way to the crown.
