Central Michigan University Athletics
Central Michigan University
Northern Illinois
CMU Volleyball Falls 3-1 to Visiting NIU
10/11/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Highlights
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - The Central Michigan volleyball team fell to Northern Illinois, 3-1, Saturday night in McGuirk Arena, dropping its season record to 7-11 overall and 2-4 in the Mid American Conference.
"I did not like how we played this match tonight," head coach Erik Olson said. "It's been a long time since we played the way we did tonight. It's not what we want. We've got to get better."
Northern Illinois claimed sets one, 25-16, and two, 25-19, before CMU won set three, 25-23. The Huskies sealed the victory with a 25-17 win in the fourth.
"Our competitive intensity was just not there in sets one or two. We lit a fire under their butts a little bit in the locker room, but we shouldn't have to do that. That comes from the heart of our team, which is everyone on this team."
The Chippewas totaled 30 errors and posted a hitting percentage of just .197, while NIU recorded a .306. The Huskies also tallied 11 service aces.
Junior middle blocker Angelique White led the Chippewas in kills with 15 and had a hitting percentage of .406.
"Throughout the week, my coaches have been telling me to be great every play," White said. "I just made the decision to be great every play, and I've been successful."
CMU totaled 8.5 blocks on the night.
"We're a physical team and they're a physical team, so it was nice to see our blocks get in front of them," Olson said. "I think we could have done more with a little bit better setups than we did."
Northern Illinois showed up and did their thing. I don't think they did anything special. They have a nice record in the MAC. I sure would like another opportunity to play them with our team getting after it. We will down the road. Right now it seems like they're the hot team, but you never really know this early in the season. All we know is we have to get ready for next Thursday's match."
The Chippewas will play host to Bowling Green next Thursday, Oct. 16, and then Miami (Ohio) on Saturday, Oct. 18.
"We have some tricks up our sleeves as coaches," Olson said. "We'll get them going."
