Central Michigan University Athletics
Chippewas Snap Skid with Sweep of Rockets
10/2/2010 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Box Score
TOLEDO, Ohio -- Sophomore Lindsey Dulude had a match-best 15 kills and the Central Michigan volleyball team bounced back with a strong offensive effort in a 3-0 sweep (25-19, 25-22, 27-25) of the Toledo Rockets in Mid-American Conference action at Savage Arena on Saturday.
The Chippewas (7-9, 1-3 MAC) hit over .300 in each of the first two sets to hand the Rockets (5-10, 0-4 MAC) their fourth straight conference loss.
"I'm glad we could come off a tough loss," head coach Erik Olson said. "We had a conversation about playing harder with more emotion, and we showed that we really wanted this win today."
Dulude paced three CMU players in double-figures, along with senior Lauren Krupsky (11 kills) and junior Kaitlyn Schultz (10).
Senior libero Lisa Johnson had a match-best 17 digs and sophomore Katie Schuette added 11. Junior setter Catherine Ludwig finished with 37 assists.
"We changed up some of our strategy today, and it allowed Lindsey to play a little more effectively today from an offensive standpoint," Olson said. "Schuette is a phenomenal athlete and the challenge for me is to build a system that gets our best players on the floor. I think we're starting to find it."
Amber DeWeerdt led UT with 13 kills and Katie Westerfeld paced the Midnight Blue and Gold with 17 digs.
The Chippewas took a 16-9 lead early in the first set to pave the path for a 1-0 lead. CMU held a narrow 11-8 edge early in set two before expanding their lead midway through the set to as many as six to move into position for the sweep.
The two teams were tied at 16 in the third set before Toledo scored five straight. Central Michigan responded with seven straight. UT battled back to force extras, but kills by Krupsky and Schuette capped the victory.
"We came out of a couple late timeouts and played well in set three, and we were able to close it out," Olson said. "We've had some trouble doing that this season, so hopefully that was really good for our confidence."
CMU hit .267 for the match and held UT to a .174 clip.
The Chippewas open a four-game home stand on Oct. 8 against Northern Illinois.
