Central Michigan University Athletics
Volleyball Kicks Off with Maroon & Gold Scrimmage
8/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - A bit of a reboot for the Central Michigan volleyball team.
The curtain goes up on the Chippewas' season at 3 p.m. Saturday with the Maroon & Gold Scrimmage of McGuirk Arena. The 2015 squad will take on a drastically different look from last season's team on several fronts, coach Erik Olson.
The biggest shoes to fill among the many who have departed are those of three-time All-Mid-American Conference First Team selection Kaitlyn McIntyre, one of the greatest players in program history.
The roster comprises just four upperclassmen, three of whom are seniors - Kalle Mulford, Angie White and Haley Barker. The fourth is Kathia Sanchez, a junior setter who transferred from junior-college power Iowa Western Community College, where she was a two-time All-American.
Sanchez along with freshmen Kelli Combs and Marissa Grant will vie for playing time at setter. The trio exemplifies the Chippewas in 2015: New faces, fresh start, a change in approach.
"The two freshmen are certainly in learning mode, but they're working as a unit and they're training really well," Olson said. "We've just got to get the two young ones to play more and think less and that's a hard thing to do for young players."
The across-the-board approach entails a shift in emphasis from technique and detail to game experience and competition, said Olson, who is entering his 12th season in charge of the Chippewa program.
"We've got to get these kids ready to play sooner and then fix as we go along," he said. "What we're seeing in training is a really trusting atmosphere. We're getting so much more out of training because of the atmosphere and culture on the team. That was our mission starting in January, to get the buy-in from the team: listen and do.
"They're doing a good job of saying what they think, or thinking out loud. It's one of the best atmospheres we've had on the team.
"We've got a lot of work ahead of us, but as young as we are, we feel like we're substantially better. We feel very optimistic about how we're playing the game, the firepower we have, and the decisions being made."
The Chippewas open the season at the Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne Invitational Aug. 28-29 during which they will play the host Mastodons, Eastern Illinois and Illinois Chicago.
CMU's home opener, the annual Chippewa Challenge, is Sept. 18-19 at McGuirk Arena. Evansville, San Jose State and Nebraska-Omaha are scheduled to partake in the event.
CMU, which finished 10-18, 5-11 in the Mid-American Conference last season, opens the league slate on Sept. 25-26 with a trip to Northern Illinois and then to Western Michigan.
