Central Michigan University Athletics
Chippewas Suffer First McGuirk Loss to Cardinals
10/8/2011 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
MOUNT PLESANT, Mich. - It was a tough night for the Central Michigan volleyball team, as Kelly Maxwell had 27 assists in the 3-0 loss to Ball State Friday night.
The Chippewas (9-7, 2-3) trailed set three 19-12 and were forced to use a timeout to stop the Cardinals' (16-2, 5-0) momentum. Three straight CMU attack errors put it further behind, 22-12. Danielle Gotham and Lindsey Dulude ended the 5-0 run with back-to-back kills and handed the Chippewas their last points of the set, as they fell 25-14.
"I think tonight started with our passing," said head coach Erik Olson. "BSU moved our passing around with their serving and got us out of system. We got to a point where we weren't adjusting well and listening to each other. We need to come out ready to do the little things. We need to play our best and want the match. We didn't do a very good job with that tonight and thus the outcome."
Set one began with BSU jumping out to an early 7-6 lead. CMU was forced into a timeout after seeing an 11-9 lead diminish to 14-11. Following the timeout Kaitlyn McIntyre had one of her four total kills and stopped the BSU 5-0 run. The Chippewas watched as the Cardinals went on two 4-0 runs to close the set and take a 25-19 win.
Hoping to change things around in the second set, CMU was out to an early 4-0 start before the Cardinals had to burn a timeout. The Chippewas would push their lead to 8-2 before the visitors came roaring back scoring seven unanswered points. CMU would add two more points before seeing another strong-seven point run put up by the Cardinals. The Maroon and Gold would chip away at the deficit and find themselves trailing 18-17. They only mustered three more points as BSU claimed set two 25-20.
Like the previous set the home team claimed an early 5-3 lead. They were held to five points on eight serves while BSU charged out to an 11-5 lead. Kaitlyn Schultz had three of her total four kills in set three as the Chippewas fell 25-14.
Both Gotham and Dulude added seven kills while Coates led the team with 11 digs, and Schultz and DeWeerd each had three block assists.
As a team the Chippewas only hit .144, their third-lowest hitting percentage on the season. They had no aces, while their opponent racked up six. BSU also had a team total of 12 blocks to the five from CMU.
The Maroon and Gold will host their McGuirk Grand Opening tomorrow at 7 p.m. against Toledo.
