Chippewa Volleyball Splits Pair At Invitational

Andy Glezen, CMUChippewas.com

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The Central Michigan volleyball team split a pair of matches on Friday, the opening day of the Chippewa Invitational at McGuirk Arena.

The Chippewas defeated LaSalle 25-22, 19-25, 25-23, 25-16 before falling to DePaul 25-10, 25-22, 25-21.

Kalina Smith, Lyza Myers and Savannah Thomson each had 18 kills to lead CMU (2-3) on the day. Megan Kern led the Chippewas with 27 digs, while setters Marissa Grant and Kendall Braate combined for 74 assists in two matches.

HOW IT HAPPENED
CMU held off multiple rallies from LaSalle (1-4) in the third set to take a 2-1 advantage. The Chippewas then dominated the fourth set to capture their home opener. Smith the led all players with 14 kills and 16 digs.

It took two late rallies by DePaul to defeat CMU in its second match of the day. The Blue Demons (2-3) narrowly defeated Central in third set to win the match.

"We started off doing some really good things against LaSalle," CMU coach Mike Gawlik said. "We were able to share the load offensively and got a lot of people involved early. Against DePaul I feel like we didn't share the load a whole lot and I feel like there was a lot of elements of our game that we left on the table."

IMPRESSIVE DEBUT
Braate, a freshman, acquitted herself nicely in her in her first two matches as a Chippewa. The Byron Center native led CMU with 22 assists versus the Explorers and 19 against DePaul. Braate also contributed on the defensive end, finishing the two matches with a combinied 21 digs.

DYNAMIC DUO
Smith and Thompson have been leaders for the Chippewas both offensively and defensively. Smith leads CMU with 60 kills on the season while Thompson is second with 49. The duo has been equally impressive defensively as Thompson is second on the team in digs with 58 and Smith is third with 48.

"I enjoy offense but there's no better feeling than digging a ball and killing the hitter's confidence," Smith said. "I feel like all around they are both things you need to work on."

NEXT
Central Michigan will host Valparaiso on Saturday (3:30 p.m.) to conclude the tournament. La Salle (1-4) and DePaul (2-2) meet at 1 p.m.

"Valpo defends well, they ball control well, their first contact's really good and they are going to make you play high-level volleyball to beat them," Gawlik said. "They play so well together, and they defend the court as a group in a way that far exceeds their abilities individually."

Next Event

Team Stats

Kalina Smith

Savannah Thompson

Lyza Myers

Maddie Whitfield

Players Mentioned

Kendall Braate

Marissa Grant

Megan Kern

Lyza Myers

Kalina Smith

Players Mentioned

Kendall Braate

Marissa Grant

Megan Kern

Lyza Myers

Kalina Smith