Central Michigan University
Miami (Oh)
Chippewas Fall in Three Sets to Miami
10/18/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Highlights
Jared Porter, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - The Central Michigan volleyball team knew it was in a hole before Saturday's home matchup with Miami (Ohio) when news broke that two-time All-Mid-American Conference selection Kaitlyn McIntrye would be sidelined by an injury.
It was the second straight match McIntyre sat out, with the first instance occurring in the Chippewas' 3-1 victory over Bowling Green on Thursday night.
But unlike Thursday's match, CMU was unable to overcome its misfortune and fell to the Redhawks, 3-0, dropping its record to 8-12, 3-5 in the MAC.
"(McIntyre) is a good passer and I think that's the thing that I miss," Olson said after Saturday's match. "When I found out that she was injured, I thought that would be the biggest impact. We need to pass better whether we're with or without (McIntyre). But I'm hopeful that she'll return to the lineup soon."
The RedHawks won set one, 27-25, and two, 25-17, before sealing their victory by taking the third set, 25-20.
CMU struggled with its setter-hitter connection throughout the night, recording an overall hitting percentage of .156 and an average sideout of 47 percent. The Chippewas allowed Miami -- which ranks 11the in the MAC in blocks -- 10 total blocks on the night.
Due to the poor connection between the Chippewas' hitters and setters, Olson said he chose to rotate at the setter position between freshman Kylie Copple and senior Danielle Thompson.
"I think the location of our sets weren't great," Olson said. "We were having some ball handling errors out of it as well. When all of your hitters are kind of struggling, generally my rule is to change the setters. We just weren't very efficient with the second contact tonight."
Freshman outside hitter Jessica Meichtry recorded seven kills and led CMU with a .385 hitting percentage. She also had four digs and 1.5 blocks on the night.
"I knew I had to help on the offensive side," Meichtry said. "Everyone works really hard in practice and it just shows how much depth we have on our team and how everyone's getting after it."
The Chippewas had 65 digs in the match, including 18 from junior defensive specialist Kristen Reenders.
"I thought our block did pretty well tonight, especially on the outside," Reenders said. "We had a lot of help and, especially in the third game, we had some more people talking. That really helped."
The Chippewas hit the road next week for MAC matches with Akron and Buffalo.
"I need the whole bunch there next week," Olson said. "We need to improve our serve-receive and I'd also like to add McIntyre back to the lineup. I would like to get crisper in our free ball transition and crisper in our defensive transition. I'd like for us to serve tougher. Those are all things we worked on all week. It's a repetitious thing.
"I think with an athlete, the mindset is how you prepare for playing the match. These guys have all these tools. They're very talented, but you've got to come with the right fight in your teeth and get after it."
