Central Michigan University
Ohio
Chippewas Win 5-Setter, But Miss Out on MAC Tournament
11/12/2016 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- No Mid-American Conference Tournament for the Central Michigan volleyball team.
But there was plenty to the good for the Chippewas, who rallied from two sets down on Saturday to beat Ohio in the season finale at McGuirk Arena.
The Chippewas topped the Bobcats, 19-17, in the fifth and deciding set to win their second straight five-setter and close with back-to-MAC wins.
"Any time you can win, and any time you can beat a program that you respect that's at times set the standard in the MAC and is an elite-level conference team, I think it gives you a lot of confidence moving forward," said Mike Gawlik, who led the Chippewas to an 11-17 overall, 5-11 MAC finish in his first year in charge of the program.
The Chippewas entered Saturday's match against the defending MAC Tournament-champion Bobcats needing a win, coupled with a Western Michigan loss at Toledo, to claim a spot in the league tournament.
The Broncos dashed those hopes with a victory in a match that ended just before the CMU-Ohio match got under way at 7 p.m.
Gawlik elected not to inform his players of the outcome of that match because, he said, it should not have played any role in their effort on the floor.
"We didn't talk about it with (the players)," he said. "I knew that they would probably have ways of figuring it out; I just didn't want to make it a focal point of anything that we were doing. Honestly I didn't feel like it made any difference to us from 7 o'clock to 9:30 tonight and we needed to control what we needed to control.
"Had they won or had they lost, obviously it matters, but it shouldn't affect the way we needed to play."
The Chippewas dropped the first two sets, 25-19, 25-23, then rebounded to take the third, 25-23, and the fourth, 25-21. CMU rallied from a 12-8 deficit in the fifth set, two nights after it came back from a 12-7 deficit in the fifth to win at Eastern Michigan.
"I don't want to say we were discouraged, but we were upset with the results of the first two set," CMU sophomore outside hitter Laura Willson said. "We talked in the locker room (between the second and third sets) and said, 'Let's go all out, we have nothing to lose. Just play our game.'
"It shows how we can play. When we play to our true potential and when we show our grit and grovel, we can do some damage to people."
Jordan Bueter led the Chippewas with 20 kills, while Willson had 15. and Paige Carey added 11. Bueter also had six of the Chippewas' 11 aces.
Kathia Sanchez, CMU's lone senior, led the Chippewas with 28 assists. Kelli Combs added 18. Megan Kern posted a team-best 28 digs.
Mallory Salis had 24 kills to lead Ohio (15-13, 11-5), which is the third seed in the eight-team MAC Tournament.
The Chippewas entered the final weekend needing two victories - and two Western losses - to make the tournament. With all but one player returning next season, delivering on two must-wins, both in five sets, bodes well, Gawlik said.
"It was a goal of ours to go 2-0 (on the weekend)," he said. "The way we play is more important sometimes than the results of how it turns out on paper. Obviously it's better to win.
"I think that shows the resolve of a group that binds together and says, 'This is what we're playing for and we can still win and we can still believe in something that seems out of reach to a lot of other people.'
"I think for us there's a lot to be learned from that. The goal for us in the offseason is to encapsulate that determination that we seem to find and muster up when we're down points and down sets and bring that out at 0-0 in set one and establish that kind of mentality for entire sets and entire matches.
"We're seeing that our good is very good and if we can play in that realm far more consistently I don't know that we'll be talking about whether or not we make the MAC Tournament, I think we'll be talking about what seed we are in the MAC Tournament."
