Central Michigan University Athletics
Volleyball Goes to NIU, Western to Open MAC
9/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Cullen Maksimowski, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — The significance changes but the preparation does not.
That is the approach the Central Michigan volleyball team is taking into its Mid-American Conference opener at Northern Illinois Friday at 8 p.m.
CMU (5-8) will take on a Huskies team (4-8) that has gotten off to a very similar start to the Chippewas. Apart from their records, CMU and NIU are tied for first in the MAC with a .227 hitting percentage.
"NIU is NIU, whether they're really good or little off it's always a great match," said CMU coach Erik Olson. "The environment that they have over there makes it extremely difficult to play in."
The Chippewas will travel to Kalamazoo on Saturday to take on the defending MAC champion, Western Michigan, at 7 p.m. The match will be played at Anderson Arena on the campus of Kalamazoo College because of construction at WMU's University Arena. The Broncos (4-11) will face Eastern Michigan on Friday.
"They're in a similar situation, they've played some tough teams but haven't done a lot of winning," said Olson. "Their middles are looking good, so we want to make sure we are ready for that."
As MAC play begins, a relatively young Chippewa team will lean on senior leadership to keep things in perspective.
"With senior leadership, I guess what's expected is that we are responsible for teaching the younger ones what this program is about and what our culture is about," senior defensive specialist Haley Barker said.
After a sluggish 3-7 start, the Chippewas caught fire last weekend, going 2-1 - both wins were 3-0 sweeps -- in winning the Chippewa Challenge.
"Personally I think this team is really good, I think we ended on a really high note last weekend and that's something we really needed," Barker said. "We ended on two great wins, that was really great to see and I feel really confident about this team going into MAC play."
Barker is one of three seniors on CMU's team. Kalle Mulford and Angie White are the others.
White was named the MAC West Player of the Week for her performance in last weekend's tournament.
The Chippewas have high aspirations as to what they can accomplish the remainder of the season and will look to Friday's MAC opener as a starting point.
"We're in our next season right now," Olson said. "We've learned, we've grown an awful lot, and we're excited to get out there."
