Central Michigan University Athletics
Chippewas Battle Back to Beat Rockets 3-2
10/9/2011 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Box Score | Press Conference | Highlights | Rebroadcast
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Kaitlyn Schultz had 16 kills and hit .583 to lead the Central Michigan volleyball team back from a 0-2 deficit to defeat Toledo 3-2 Saturday night.
With the score 10-7 in favor of the Chippewas (10-7, 3-3) the Rockets were forced to burn a timeout. Following the timeout, Val DeWeerd hammered home a kill, but UT responded scoring two points. Kaitlyn McIntyre and the Chippewas answered holding the Rockets (6-11, 1-4) scoreless and scoring the final four points to claim set five 15-9.
"Tonight was very big," said head coach Erik Olson. "We were disappointed with our performance last night, but tonight to go down 0-2 and to fight back shows the character of this group. This team doesn't seem to doubt themselves. Tonight I said let's be fun to watch because I knew we would have a big crowd and I think we gave them something to cheer about."
The night began with both teams trading points, and knotting the score up 18 times. With a kill from McIntyre the Chippewas had the score tied at 25. The next two points would fall the Rocket's way as they claimed set one 27-25.
The Maroon and Gold jumped out in the second set 3-0. The Rockets charged right back and cut the lead to 9-7. They would go on a 6-1 run and claim a 13-10 lead. A few attack errors by UT along with a kill by DeWeerd and Danielle Gotham, allowed the Chippewas to tie the set at 18. UT marched off another run of 4-0 and claimed a 22-18 lead. The home team fought right back with kills from four different Chippewa hitters and the set was tied at 23. A CMU attack error and a Rocket ace handed UT set two 25-23.
After falling behind 5-1 to begin set three, CMU was able to grab the lead following a 7-0 run. Neither team was willing to give a cushion, and the lead went back and forth. The home team grabbed the lead following a kill by Lindsey Dulude at 21-19. Kelly Maxwell mixed up the offense with a kill and McIntyre added another point as CMU claimed set three 25-22.
The Rockets looked poised to win the fourth set when they jumped out to a 7-0 lead. Following the support of the 631 fans in attendance, the Chippewas responded with four kills by Dulude tying the score at 10. CMU wasn't done as they went on a 9-4 run with another three kills from the swing of Dulude. McIntyre and Schultz would team up to hand CMU the final two points winning set four 25-17.
All the momentum was on the Maroon and Gold's side heading into set five jumping out to 7-3. McIntyre would hammer home the final kill and hand CMU a set five win.
McIntyre finished the night with 14 kills while DeWeerd and Dulude added 13 and 12 respectively. Maxwell finished the night with 49 assists while Jenna Coates had 19 digs.
The Chippewas outhit their opponent .258 to .145 and had 13 blocks compared to the nine from UT.
CMU has made it through the first round of Mid-American Conference play and will take a break from the west division when it travels to Bowling Green on Friday for a 7 p.m. match.
