Central Michigan University
Army
Chippewas Finish 3-0 In Season-Opening Army Invitational
8/26/2017 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Lindsay Gerber, CMUChippewas.com
WEST POINT, N.Y. - The Central Michigan volleyball team claimed a five-set victory over the host Black Knights on Saturday to close a perfect 3-0 weekend at the Army Invitational.
CMU's Paige Carey was named the tournament Most Valuable Player, while teammated Jordan Bueter and Grace Butler were named to the All-Tournament Team.
The Chippewas and look to keep the momentum going as they head to the state of Virginia next weekend for the George Mason Invitational. CMU will face Penn in its invitational opener on Friday (4:30p.m.). The Chippewas are also scheduled to face George Mason, Campbell and Houston in the event.
"As we move forward, we just have to keep our focus one match at a time," second-year CMU coach Mike Gawlik said. "We play on Friday against a team we don't know a lot about, so we'll take time this week preparing for that. Taking it one at a time is really what we did this weekend and it worked out pretty well for us."
CMU took the the first set against Army (1-1), 27-25, then dropped the second, 17-25. The Chippewas came back for the win 25-23, 14-25, 15-12.
"We knew that Army was really good and we had to come at them with a multi-dimensional attack to have success," Gawlik said. "I was pleased with how the team fought through the sets and rebounded from a disappointing fourth set to put ourselves in a position to take fifth. All in all, I was really happy with the way we went about our business."
Bueter ignited the Chippewas both offensively and defensively with 20 kills and 19 digs. Caey and Lyza Myers added 12 and 10 kills, respectively, while Megan Kern posted had a team-high 20 digs.
Butler, the Chippewas' setter, finished with 52 assists.
"We really had nine or 10 people contribute on a consistent basis," Gawlik said. "That's probably the biggest takeaway from starting 3-0. It takes a full team."
Carolyn Bockrath led the Black Knights with 17 kills and a .500 hitting percentage.
Bueter led CMU with 50 kills and 45 digs on the weekend, while Carey had 35 kills and 10 blocks, and Butler finished with 135 assists.
