Central Michigan University Athletics
Central Michigan University
UCF
Volleyball Drops Tournament Finale In 5
9/17/2016 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Cullen Maksimowski, CMUChippewas.com
ORLANDO, Fla. — The Central Michigan volleyball closed the Holiday Inn Orlando East/UCF Challenge with a 3-2 loss Saturday to host Central Florida.
The Chippewas (6-6) finished 1-2 in the tournament. They fell, 3-0, to Central Arkansas and defeated UNC Asheville, 3-0, on Friday.
CMU dropped the opening set, 25-15, before evening the match in set two, 25-17. The Knights reclaimed the lead in set three, 25-12, before the Chippewas pushed the match to a decisive fifth set with a 25-19 win in set four. UCF took set five, 15-11, to claim the match.
"We were right there with them the whole match," CMU coach Mike Gawlik said. "I was real proud of the way we were able to claw our way back in the second and fourth sets. We just need to start working on being better in those clutch situations."
The Chippewas finished the match hitting at a .203 clip. The Knights finished at .209.
Junior outside hitter Taylor Robertson led the CMU attack with a team leading 13 kills. Paige Carey added 11.
Senior setter Kathia Sanchez led the team with 43 assists and 13 digs. Carey and freshman middle blocker Jayla Wesley each finished with four blocks.
Jale Hervey led the UCF offense with 22 kills. Taylor Gallart had 11.
CMU returns to action Sept. 23 as it opens Mid-American Conference play on the road against Ball State at 7 p.m.
"We've shown a lot of growth over these first few weeks," said Gawlik. "We've gone toe-to-toe with some really good competition and I feel pretty good about where we are at heading into our MAC schedule."
