Central Michigan University
Ball State
Chippewas Drop Home Match to Ball State
11/7/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Highlights
Jared Porter, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Same opponent. Different day. Same result.
The Central Michigan volleyball team played host to Ball State Friday night in a rematch of early October's outing that resulted in a 3-1 Cardinals victory.
And again, the Chippewas suffered a 3-1 loss to Ball State, dropping their record to 9-16, 4-9 in Mid-American Conference play. The Cardinals are 15-11, 9-4.
The Chippewas entered the weekend tied with Bowling Green and Buffalo for the eighth and final MAC tournament slot. All three teams dropped their most recent matches -- Bowling Green lost to Miami on Thursday, Buffalo fell to Kent State on Friday -- leaving intact the three-way tie.
CMU lost sets one and two in Friday night's match, 25-23 and 25-17 respectively, before claiming the third, 25-21. The Cardinals sealed the match with a 25-20 victory in the fourth.
"I think we had the right amount of effort and passion tonight," CMU coach Erik Olson said. "There were strings of points that allowed us to get in holes. That's the basis of it. We were playing from behind tonight, but I liked what we did defensively and I liked our serving. I think our transition game could have been a lot more effective."
Despite dropping themselves in a 2-0 hole after the first couple sets in the match, Olson said he was happy with the Chippewas' overall energy.
"There were less things to celebrate in the first two sets," Olson said. "But when we did have things to celebrate, we did. We had a lot of great blocks, a lot of great digs, so there were good things. I felt like we had good energy."
CMU struggled on the attack, recording an overall hitting percentage of .130 and a sideout percentage of 52 percent, while totaling 27 errors in four sets.
The Cardinals had a .193 hitting percentage mark and tallied 54 kills, including a match-high 14 from senior outside hitter Alex Fuelling. Ball State also had 13 blocks on the night.
"Ball State was successful in getting blocks on us," Olson said. "The hard part is the one-on-one situations where we're getting blocked. It wasn't a matter of intent. It wasn't like (the Cardinals) were dropping and making great moves. We were just hitting right at them. That's part of what I take away from the match."
The Chippewas had 41 assists on the night, including a team-high 23 from freshman setter Kylie Copple.
"I wanted to get the team excited," Copple said. "There was a bit of an energy drop early in the match when we were down, so I felt like we needed a boost. I just tried to get my teammates to smile and play with more emotion."
Junior middle blocker Angelique White tallied nine kills on a .333 hitting percentage, while adding 4.5 blocks. Jordan Bueter and Kaitlyn McIntyre led the Chippewas with 10 kills apiece.
"Statistically, we did well in a lot of categories," White said. "Offensively, we weren't as sharp as we usually are. We know what we have to do. It just comes down to being consistent and executing throughout the entire match and not giving up six-point runs and having to come back."
The Chippewas will celebrate Senior Night prior to their matchup with Toledo (1-25, 0-13 MAC) Saturday at McGuirk Arena. Seniors Kaitlyn McIntyre, Danielle Thompson and Hallie Enderle will be honored prior to the match, which is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. and is the Chippewas' final home date of the season.
"I like our chances and that's what I'm focused on," Olson said. "Our eyes are on Toledo and we aim for being our very best."
