Central Michigan University Athletics
Chippewas Split Final Day of Green Bay Invite
9/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Junior outside hitter Lauren Krupsky and senior libero Alexis Lonneman earned All-Green Bay Country Inn and Suites Invitational honors after the Central Michigan volleyball team split a pair of decisions on the final day of action at Kress Center on Saturday.
CMU fell to Iowa, 3-1, before sweeping South Dakota State, 3-0.
Krupsky finished the weekend with 41 kills and hit .254 while Lonneman paced CMU's defense with 54 digs.
"Krupsky was the best player in the gym this weekend," head coach Erik Olson said. "She was unbelievable. Lonneman also played very well and was the best part of some very strong play from our defensive specialists this weekend."
The Maroon and Gold now sit at 3-3 in 2009, and will have the week off before traveling to face Illinois-Chicago on Sept. 15.
Iowa 3, CMU 1
Lauren Krupsky and Kaitlyn Hurt each finished with 13 kills and Kaitlyn Schultz added 11 but the Chippewas were unable to take advantage of winning the first set, 25-22, falling to Iowa, 3-1 (25-22, 18-25, 22-25, 21-25).
Alexis Lonneman finished with 30 digs, while Kaitlyn Cooper and Stephanie Budde each added nine. Budde also had 44 assists.
"Friday's match against Green Bay was critical, because we came out and competed with a lot of passion," Olson said. "We proved to ourselves today that we can play with a team like Iowa. I was pleased with our effort against the Hawkeyes, but we just didn't execute late in sets when we needed it."
The Chippewas held Iowa to hitting percentages of .128 and .195 in the first two sets, but the Hawkeyes hit .324 and .294 in the match's final two sets. CMU hit .157 overall, compared to .224 for Iowa.
The opening set was closely contested; with 14 ties and nine lead changes. Iowa took a 21-20 lead, but CMU took consecutive points on a service error by IU and a Kelsey Detweiler ace for a 22-21 edge. After Iowa knotted the set back up at 22, the Chippewas closed it out with points on a Hawkeye attacking error and a pair of service aces by Val DeWeerd.
CMU couldn't overcome an early 12-5 deficit in the second set as Iowa evened the match at one, and the Hawkeyes used a 7-2 run after the third set was tied at 11 to claim an 18-13 lead. The Chippewas battled back to tie it up at 21 on back-to-back kills by Hurt and Krupsky, but a service error put Iowa up for good.
The fourth set was tied at seven before Iowa claimed a 13-9 lead, but CMU battled back to get within one, 16-15. Iowa jumped back in front 20-16, but the resilient Maroon and Gold once again battled back to within one, 22-21, on a service ace by Hurt. Iowa would claim the victory with three straight points to finish the match.
CMU 3, South Dakota State 0
The Chippewas put together a dominant effort, holding SDSU to just 14 kills in three sets as the Maroon and Gold swept the Jackrabbits, 3-0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-9).
CMU hit .338 while holding South Dakota State to a startling -.095. Lauren Krupsky finished with 10 kills, while Kaitlyn Hurt and Danielle Gotham each added nine.
Stephanie Budde finished with 31 assists, while Alexis Lonneman paced CMU with 10 digs. The senior libero also had three of Central's seven aces.
"We played well start to finish, passed well and had some players catch fire. We served well the entire weekend, and that was a huge advantage for us against SDSU," Olson said.
CMU hit just .143 in the first set, but held SDSU to -.032. The Jackrabbits didn't manage a positive hitting percentage in any of the three sets. Meanwhile, the Chippewas hit .462 and .526 respectively in the match's final two sets.
