Sept. 20, 2017 Central Michigan vs. Toledo
|  |  | | 8-4 | 5-7 |
| Thursday, Sept. 21 | 7 p.m. McGuirk Arena | Mount Pleasant, Mich. |
|
Connect with CMU Volleyball
| |
|
|
|
Central Michigan vs. Ball State
| |  | | 8-4 | 8-5 |
| Saturday, Sept. 23 | 8 p.m. McGuirk Arena | Mount Pleasant, Mich. |
Connect with CMU Volleyball
| |
|
|
|
SETTING THE SCENE
The Central Michigan volleyball team will open Mid-American Conference play with a pair of home matches, the first on Thursday (7 p.m.) against Toledo (5-7), and the second against Ball State (8-5) on Saturday (8 p.m.).
GOOD START
The Chippewas went 8-4 during nonconference play, posting winning records in three of the four invitationals in which they participated.
TOUGH COMPETITION
Two of CMU's losses came in the Shamrock Invitational last weekend. It fell to 23rd-ranked Michigan State and to host Notre Dame. The Spartans and Irish emerged from the weekend a combined 20-3. The Chippewas opened the event with a 3-0 win over Southern Illinois,
Coach Mike Gawlik: "We're growing as a team. Our pre-conference scheduled built every week, each weekend we tried to up the competition level and peaked last week at the Shamrock Invitational. I really thought we saw some growth in trying to prepare for Michigan State and Notre Dame; to play them on the same day is a tall task for anyone. I really felt like we did a lot of good things. Linking those good things together is what it takes to beat teams that are really good, really consistent in what they do."
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Senior Jordan Bueter leads the Chippewa and the MAC with 199 kills, while freshman setter Grace Butler is second in the MAC at 10.33 sets per kill.
Coach Mike Gawlik: "A freshman coming and having the setter role is a lot, it's a lot of decision making, it's a lot of required decision making even though it's not necessary a captain role, but it's a position that makes a lot of decisions for us. I like her calmness, I like her composure out there and I feel like with Grace we get the same thing every day, a very consistent player for us in her mood, in her demeanor, and in the way that she goes about her business."
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
• Toledo went 2-1 last weekend in its Blue/Gold invitational. The Rockets picked up wins over Tennessee Tech and New Mexico, and dropped their match to Youngstown State.
• Saige Thomas leads the Rockets with 136 kills.
• Ball State went 2-1 last weekend at the Ball State and Butler Tournament, notching wins against Evansville and Duquesne. Ball State fell to Butler in five sets.
• Brooklyn Goodsel leads the Cardinals with 120 kills. She has also tallied 106 digs.
NEXT
Central Michigan will hit the road for its first MAC traveling weekend on Friday, Sept. 29 (7 p.m.) at Western Michigan. They close the weekend at Northern Illinois on Saturday, Sept. 30 (8 p.m.).
FINAL THOUGHT
Gawlik: "I think we're a pretty resilient group. There have been some matches where maybe we haven't started as well as we wanted to but we were able to find our rhythm within the match. I think that's a sign of a mature team. You divide your season into three seasons: pre-conference, your conference, and your conference tournament. I thought that our first season went pretty well, but if it's the one thing we're hanging our hat on at the end of the year then we didn't grow enough."
