Chippewas Battle, But Fall in 3 To Ohio

Andy Glezen, CMUChippewas.com

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Despite three tightly contested sets, the Central Michigan volleyball team fell to Ohio 26-24, 25-21, 25-22, on Saturday night in a Mid-American Conference game at McGuirk Arena.

The loss left CMU 3-11, 0-2 MAC. They opened league play on Thursday with a four-set home loss to Eastern Michigan. The Chippewas hit the road next weekend for matches at Toledo and at Ball State.

Lyza Myers and Kalina Smith led CMU with nine kills against the Bobcats (7-8, 2-0). Savannah Thompson posted eight kills while leading the Chippewas with 15 digs. Kendall Braate dished out 28 assists while Grace Butler added 11.

WHAT HAPPENED
The Chippewas scored five straight points to take an 18-17 lead in the first set but Ohio reclaimed momentum late to win the set.

CMU held a 15-11 lead in set two, but after a Bobcat timeout, Ohio went on a 6-0 run to claim the lead that it never surrendered.

The Chippewas and Ohio were tied nearly the entire third set, but Ohio once again prevailed late to win the set and match. The Bobcats were picked to win the MAC East, the overall MAC regular-season title, and the MAC Tournament in the preseason poll of league coaches.

"All in all, I was pretty pleased with the level of volleyball," CMU coach Mike Gawlik said. "It's not a major difference between us and the top of the league, but we just have to hone in on a couple plays here and there."

SMITH EFFICIENT
In addition to posting nine kills, Smith finished with an efficient .214 hitting percentage. The sophomore had just three attack errors on the night.

Smith, a sophomore, leads the Chippewas with 148 kills on the season and is fourth on the team with 75 digs. Last season, she posted 191 kills.

"Playing big-girl volleyball as Mike always says," Smith said. "I feel like once I got to the realization that I don't have to swing 100 percent on every single ball to get kills … (it) made us more successful."

IMPROVEMENTS
With a young roster, Gawlik said he is still confident that his team can make major improvement midseason.

"We are going to have to settle into a new lineup that we have and that takes time to gel," he said. "I thought it was the cleanest match we've played and counting matches that we've won not using wins and losses to define how we're playing."

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Team Stats

Kalina Smith

Maddie Whitfield

Lyza Myers

Savannah Thompson

Players Mentioned

Kendall Braate

Grace Butler

Lyza Myers

Kalina Smith

Savannah Thompson

Players Mentioned

Kendall Braate

Grace Butler

Lyza Myers

Kalina Smith

Savannah Thompson