Central Michigan University Athletics
Eagles, Golden Flashes Await Chippewas
10/8/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
MOUNT PLEASANT -- Tangled in a three-way tie atop the Mid-American Conference West Division, the Central Michigan volleyball team (9-7, 3-1 MAC) will host Eastern Michigan on Thursday before traveling to Kent State on Saturday.
Both matches are slated for 7 p.m. starts.
Coming off an upset of Western Michigan (ranked 30th in RPI entering last weekend), the Chippewas will hope to continue their momentum having now won 10 of their last 12 regular season matches against league schools.
“Our determination could be even greater this week,” head coach Erik Olson said. “We got a lot of confidence out of the way we played on Saturday. EMU is always a battle for us, they’re always well coached and have a strong defense and that will motivate us to be strong offensively.”
The Eagles (7-11, 2-2 MAC) invade Mount Pleasant where they have won three of the past four meetings and seven of the past nine encounters with the Chippewas overall. EMU is led by Victoria Randolph (2.84 kills/set) and defending MAC West Division Player of the Week Hayvolla Leite (2.62) on offense but Eastern hits just .154 as a team, the lowest in the MAC.
“They dig the ball extremely well, but if you are struggling on offense it forces your defense into making more stops,” Olson said.
Although CMU holds a 25-15-1 all-time series edge over KSU, the Flashes have won each of the past 11 meetings, in a streak that started back in 1999 when Kent State swept the two-game season series.
Kent State (12-5, 2-2 MAC) finds itself ranked No. 3 in the league in overall hitting percentage (.239) and second in opponent hitting percentage (.158) and has allowed the fewest aces. The Flashes were swept in a pair of road games last week, edged 3-2 by Bowling Green and swept by Miami, and will host Ohio on Thursday before CMU’s arrival on Saturday.
KSU is led by Ashley Feutz, who is ranked second in the league in hitting percentage (.330) and No. 5 in kills (3.62).
“We’re going to watch a lot of film on her and learn her tendencies and what she wants to do,’ Olson said. “We want to force her into high risk swings and let our defense take care of the rest.”
Live stats and video will be available for Thursday’s match against EMU courtesy of cmuchippewas.com.
Both matches are slated for 7 p.m. starts.
Coming off an upset of Western Michigan (ranked 30th in RPI entering last weekend), the Chippewas will hope to continue their momentum having now won 10 of their last 12 regular season matches against league schools.
“Our determination could be even greater this week,” head coach Erik Olson said. “We got a lot of confidence out of the way we played on Saturday. EMU is always a battle for us, they’re always well coached and have a strong defense and that will motivate us to be strong offensively.”
The Eagles (7-11, 2-2 MAC) invade Mount Pleasant where they have won three of the past four meetings and seven of the past nine encounters with the Chippewas overall. EMU is led by Victoria Randolph (2.84 kills/set) and defending MAC West Division Player of the Week Hayvolla Leite (2.62) on offense but Eastern hits just .154 as a team, the lowest in the MAC.
“They dig the ball extremely well, but if you are struggling on offense it forces your defense into making more stops,” Olson said.
Although CMU holds a 25-15-1 all-time series edge over KSU, the Flashes have won each of the past 11 meetings, in a streak that started back in 1999 when Kent State swept the two-game season series.
Kent State (12-5, 2-2 MAC) finds itself ranked No. 3 in the league in overall hitting percentage (.239) and second in opponent hitting percentage (.158) and has allowed the fewest aces. The Flashes were swept in a pair of road games last week, edged 3-2 by Bowling Green and swept by Miami, and will host Ohio on Thursday before CMU’s arrival on Saturday.
KSU is led by Ashley Feutz, who is ranked second in the league in hitting percentage (.330) and No. 5 in kills (3.62).
“We’re going to watch a lot of film on her and learn her tendencies and what she wants to do,’ Olson said. “We want to force her into high risk swings and let our defense take care of the rest.”
Live stats and video will be available for Thursday’s match against EMU courtesy of cmuchippewas.com.
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