Central Michigan University
Charleston Southern
Chippewas Extend Volleyball Win Streak
9/19/2014 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Charleston Southern Box Score | Tennessee State Box Score
Jared Porter, CMUChippewas.com
CINCINNATI, Ohio - The Central Michigan volleyball team kept momentum in its favor Friday, winning both of its matches in the Cincinnati Invitational.
The Chippewas (4-7) extended their win streak to three and have won four of their last five.
CMU defeated Charleston Southern in their morning matchup with a dominant 3-0 decision. The Chippewas held the Buccaneers to under 20 points in the first two sets of the match, winning the sets 25-12 and 25-18. CMU closed out the match with a 25-23 victory in the third.
The Chippewas recorded 45 kills and limited themselves to just 18 errors, but head coach Erik Olson was most impressed with the contribution from his bench.
"We went really deep into our bench this morning and I think that is a testament to the type of team we have," Olson said. "It was the best team win we've had this season and it just goes to show that we have players that are ready to go at any moment."
Olson said he was pleased with his team's effort in limiting mistakes in the first two sets. CMU had just two errors in the first set and three in the second.
"This morning we carried over the execution we had from last weekend," he said. "We're doing a better job understanding good errors and bad errors. Our focus slipped a little bit in the third set when we had 13 errors, and that's something we'll continue to work on with a young team."
After dropping the first set, 25-21, in their afternoon match with Tennessee State, the Chippewas rallied from a 23-20 deficit to take the second, 25-23. Riding the momentum, the Chippewas closed out the match by taking the final two sets, 25-22 and 25-19.
Senior Kaitlyn McIntyre led the Chippewas with 16 kills, freshman Jordan Bueter had 15, and freshman Taylor Robertson added 12. McIntyre also had three aces. Against Charleston Southern, McIntyre posted 14 kills.
"McIntyre had a great day today," Olson said. "She was aggressive in both games and did really good things for us. I was also impressed with the way Bueter bounced back in the second match. She struggled a little against Charleston Southern, but she shook that performance off with a solid performance in the next match. That's something you don't usually see from a freshman."
CMU freshman setter Kylie Copple finished with a combined 76 assists, 43 of which came against Tennessee State. Kristen Reenders had 21 digs, Bueter had 12 and Robertson added 11 against Tennessee State. McIntyre led CMU with 12 digs against Charleston Southern, and Reenders had 10.
CMU will close the Cincinnati Invitational Saturday morning against the host Bearcats (7-3), who defeated Charleston Southern, 3-1, on Friday.
"I'd like to see us make our mark tomorrow," Olson said. "Like I've said before, morning matches are tough. But Cincinnati has to deal with the same challenges as we do, so there's no excuse. We have to come out and go at it rather than be complacent. That's something we'll continue to preach to a young team."
