Central Michigan University
Bowling Green
Chippewas Rebound With Win Over Bowling Green
10/16/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Highlights
Jared Porter, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - A team's true colors show when faced with adversity. And to the Central Michigan volleyball team, adversity has been no stranger.
The Chippewas had to deal with adversity at the beginning of their season after going winless in their first six matches. However, they responded valiantly by winning seven of their next nine outings.
CMU had another opportunity to show its colors on Thursday night in a Mid-Amerian Conference matchup with Bowling Green at McGuirk Arena. Central came into the bout on a three-match losing streak, and to make matters worse, two-time All-MAC awardee Kaitlyn McIntyre was sidelined by a coach's decision prior to the match.
But through a combined team effort, the Chippewas -- yet again -- responded in courageous fashion with a 3-1 victory, which lifted the Chippewas to 8-11, 3-4 MAC.
"There was a lot of adversity tonight," coach Erik Olson said after the match. "McIntyre is a very good player, but we decided to sit her by choice. She could have gone, but we felt like it was the better big picture to go without her.
"I said to our team, `We're a great team.' I thought we did a great job with our focus from point to point. We lost a little bit of that in set three, but when we focus from point to point, we're good. You bring that mentality to all the matches. That's what I call a competitive intensity. All athletes know it's about focus."
The Chippewas won set one, 25-23, and two, 25-22, before dropping the third, 25-19. CMU sealed the victory with a 25-18 win in set four.
Freshman setter Kylie Copple had 53 assists on the night.
"I think Kylie did a great job of distributing the ball," Olson said. "She set a match and got the ball, maybe not to the best choice, but to the high-percentage choice. And then our hitters went to work. I think that is a huge thing for our team. When we combine good decisions from the setters with good decisions from the attackers, that's good volleyball."
Olson said he hopes that filling the void without McIntyre on the floor will, in the long run, make the Chippewas that much stronger when she returns to the lineup.
"You hope that this is a stepping stone," Olson said. "If you can build from this, then that's fantastic. Our team took a couple steps back in the last two weeks or so. This is one of those moments where you say, `Alright, we just took a big step up.'"
Freshman outside hitter Jordan Bueter led the Chippewas with 18 kills and added 18 digs and 1.5 blocks on the night. Senior middle blocker Hallie Enderle saw an increased role in the absence of McIntyre and answered the challenge with 11 kills and a .421 hitting percentage.
"I didn't know until right before the match that I was taking (McIntrye's) spot," Bueter said. "It wasn't much or anything, but you know that you need to focus in. I know that my team's there for me and I have backup if I need it. I played alright. My team played better."
"What you don't see is that we have four extremely capable middle blockers on our roster," Enderle said. "We're constantly pushing each other and constantly working hard every day to get on the court and do our thing. It would be selfish of me to attribute my performance to just myself. It's just me being pushed by my teammates."
The Chippewas play host to Miami (Ohio) Saturday night. The Redhawks (10-8, 3-3) will play at Eastern Michigan on Friday.
"(Friday) we have practice and we'll get after it," Olson said. "Hopefully we'll get a little healthier in the next couple days. Our coaches will do their sit-down and scouting reviews offensively and defensively and put a practice together and get after it. That's what we do for every match."
