Central Michigan University Athletics
Season Review: Chippewas Cap Fourth-Straight Winning Season
12/15/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
MOUNT PLEASANT -- In a year that looked as though it could be a season of rebuilding turned into a season of promise and high points for the 2009 Central Michigan volleyball team.
The Chippewas (17-13) posted their fourth-consecutive winning season under sixth-year head coach Erik Olson, the first winning stretch of that length since the program’s first 13 campaigns under Marcy Weston that lasted from 1974-1986. CMU is now 75-47 over its last four seasons.
The Maroon and Gold also finished second in the Mid-American Conference West Division for the third straight year and reached the semifinals of the MAC Tournament for the first time since 1996.
"We wanted to continue reestablishing our tradition of winning and the competitive level we've established within the Mid-American Conference," Olson said. "I think we really were able to reload rather than rebuild this season."
Junior Lauren Krupsky (first-team) and sophomore Kaitlyn Schultz (second-team) earned All-MAC honors in 2009, guiding a team built around youth. CMU featured 11 freshmen and sophomores on its roster, one of the youngest squads in the conference.
"Lauren put in a lot of work last offseason and it really paid off into one of the better junior campaigns that we've had here at CMU," Olson said. "Kaitlyn had a little bit of a rough start to the year, but her second half of the MAC season she was outstanding. I think every team respected both of our middle blockers this season, and I think Schultz had a lot to do with our success."
Senior Alexis Lonneman also provided one of the season’s many bright spots in the regular-season finale against Northern Illinois. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native broke the program record for career digs and became the first player in Central Michigan history to cross the 2,000 career digs mark. She finished the year with 2,095 career digs and 534 on the season, her third year with at least 500 digs. Lonneman also owns three of the top-five single-season dig totals in program history.
Seniors Kaitlyn Hurt, Stephanie Budde and Lonneman provided a veteran leadership and a stabilizing presence for CMU’s youngsters. Hurt finished the season with career highs in kills (254), blocks (77) and aces (31) and Budde finished among the top-10 in program history in career assists.
The freshmen class was given a crash course in what it takes to build a winning volleyball program, and several made strong contributions to stake their claim on putting together the next group of building blocks. The young front line of Lindsey Dulude (1.84 kills, 23 aces), Danielle Gotham (1.67 kills, 0.64 blocks), Katie Schuette (1.41 kills, 2.00 digs) and Val DeWeerd (1.53 kills, 1.83 points) each had shinning moments throughout the campaign. Sophomore Kaitlyn Cooper (0.56 kills, 1.12 digs) also brought a stabilizing presence at some key points throughout the year.
The Chippewas’ defense, led by Lonneman, also improved for the third straight season. CMU held opponents to a .188 hitting percentage, the fourth-best mark in the MAC. Kelsey Detweiler (2.01 digs), Lisa Johnson (1.93) and Samantha Brawley have helped raise level of Central’s backline play to on par with any team in the conference.
Next season will feature new faces in two key places for CMU. The graduation of Budde and Lonneman means the Chippewas will have to replace their starting setter and libero in the same season.
Catherine Ludwig (7.85 assists/set) will compete with incoming freshman Kelly Maxwell for the setter position and the returning group of defensive specialists will compete with incoming freshman Jenna Coates for the libero spot.
The Chippewas also enjoyed success off the court as well. Attendance was up 15 percent from a season ago, and the team helped raise $1,664 for Dig Pink, a nation-wide effort sponsored by the Side-Out Foundation to raise money and awareness for breast cancer. The total monies raised by CMU represented a nine percent increase from its 2008 contributions. Over 1,000 schools nation-wide participated in the fund raiser and generated $878,535.84. In addition, the team was awarded its third-straight American Volleyball Coaches Association team academic award prior to the season, an honor given to programs who maintain a 3.30 grade-point average or better.
While the Chippewas have taken huge steps since Olson took over, he knows there are still plenty of objectives to reach for.
"We've started to turn things around going back to 2006, and certainly a big goal of ours coming in was to reach that semifinal match so it was nice to reach that goal,” Olson said. “I think it's extremely important to make sure the MAC knows that CMU will be right there challenging for a championship each and every year. We want to be consistently in the top three or four teams in the conference, and that's where we are starting to position ourselves at this point. We're very excited about the future."
The Chippewas (17-13) posted their fourth-consecutive winning season under sixth-year head coach Erik Olson, the first winning stretch of that length since the program’s first 13 campaigns under Marcy Weston that lasted from 1974-1986. CMU is now 75-47 over its last four seasons.
The Maroon and Gold also finished second in the Mid-American Conference West Division for the third straight year and reached the semifinals of the MAC Tournament for the first time since 1996.
"We wanted to continue reestablishing our tradition of winning and the competitive level we've established within the Mid-American Conference," Olson said. "I think we really were able to reload rather than rebuild this season."
Junior Lauren Krupsky (first-team) and sophomore Kaitlyn Schultz (second-team) earned All-MAC honors in 2009, guiding a team built around youth. CMU featured 11 freshmen and sophomores on its roster, one of the youngest squads in the conference.
"Lauren put in a lot of work last offseason and it really paid off into one of the better junior campaigns that we've had here at CMU," Olson said. "Kaitlyn had a little bit of a rough start to the year, but her second half of the MAC season she was outstanding. I think every team respected both of our middle blockers this season, and I think Schultz had a lot to do with our success."
Senior Alexis Lonneman also provided one of the season’s many bright spots in the regular-season finale against Northern Illinois. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native broke the program record for career digs and became the first player in Central Michigan history to cross the 2,000 career digs mark. She finished the year with 2,095 career digs and 534 on the season, her third year with at least 500 digs. Lonneman also owns three of the top-five single-season dig totals in program history.
Seniors Kaitlyn Hurt, Stephanie Budde and Lonneman provided a veteran leadership and a stabilizing presence for CMU’s youngsters. Hurt finished the season with career highs in kills (254), blocks (77) and aces (31) and Budde finished among the top-10 in program history in career assists.
The freshmen class was given a crash course in what it takes to build a winning volleyball program, and several made strong contributions to stake their claim on putting together the next group of building blocks. The young front line of Lindsey Dulude (1.84 kills, 23 aces), Danielle Gotham (1.67 kills, 0.64 blocks), Katie Schuette (1.41 kills, 2.00 digs) and Val DeWeerd (1.53 kills, 1.83 points) each had shinning moments throughout the campaign. Sophomore Kaitlyn Cooper (0.56 kills, 1.12 digs) also brought a stabilizing presence at some key points throughout the year.
The Chippewas’ defense, led by Lonneman, also improved for the third straight season. CMU held opponents to a .188 hitting percentage, the fourth-best mark in the MAC. Kelsey Detweiler (2.01 digs), Lisa Johnson (1.93) and Samantha Brawley have helped raise level of Central’s backline play to on par with any team in the conference.
Next season will feature new faces in two key places for CMU. The graduation of Budde and Lonneman means the Chippewas will have to replace their starting setter and libero in the same season.
Catherine Ludwig (7.85 assists/set) will compete with incoming freshman Kelly Maxwell for the setter position and the returning group of defensive specialists will compete with incoming freshman Jenna Coates for the libero spot.
The Chippewas also enjoyed success off the court as well. Attendance was up 15 percent from a season ago, and the team helped raise $1,664 for Dig Pink, a nation-wide effort sponsored by the Side-Out Foundation to raise money and awareness for breast cancer. The total monies raised by CMU represented a nine percent increase from its 2008 contributions. Over 1,000 schools nation-wide participated in the fund raiser and generated $878,535.84. In addition, the team was awarded its third-straight American Volleyball Coaches Association team academic award prior to the season, an honor given to programs who maintain a 3.30 grade-point average or better.
While the Chippewas have taken huge steps since Olson took over, he knows there are still plenty of objectives to reach for.
"We've started to turn things around going back to 2006, and certainly a big goal of ours coming in was to reach that semifinal match so it was nice to reach that goal,” Olson said. “I think it's extremely important to make sure the MAC knows that CMU will be right there challenging for a championship each and every year. We want to be consistently in the top three or four teams in the conference, and that's where we are starting to position ourselves at this point. We're very excited about the future."
Volleyball on Mackinac Island 2025
Wednesday, August 27
Interview With Adam Jaksa and Arielle Wilson
Tuesday, August 26
2 Days Until First Serve
Tuesday, August 26
2025 Volleyball Maroon & Gold Scrimmage
Sunday, August 24