First MAC Road Trip Awaits Volleyball

Mitch Vosburg, CMUChippewas.com

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The Central Michigan volleyball team will make its first Mid-American Conference weekend road trip of the season when it plays on Friday at Toledo and on Saturday at Ball State. Both games begin at 7 p.m.

The Chippewas opened MAC play at home last weekend, dropping matches to Eastern Michigan, 3-1, and Ohio, 3-0.

CMU, which has lost five consecutive matches, is 3-11, 0-2 MAC.

THE APPROACH
Despite the losing skid, coach Mike Gawlik said he is not yet ready to hit the panic button.

"Losing a few in a row sucks, nobody likes to lose, but we trust our preparation," Gawlik said. "We're going to stay the course with what we're doing. I think there's a little bit of urgency with our team as they watch video and they see how practice kind of impacts our ability to play on Fridays and Saturdays."

"I don't think we're going to hit the panic button and do a whole bunch of things differently, we just have to be a little bit better, one or two points better, to find a way to turn some losses into wins. There's no quick way to teach experience, so we're just going to stay the course and get a little bit more experienced each time we play."

BREAKING IT DOWN
Gawlik said he was pleased overall with his team's performance last weekend against MAC-favorite Ohio, which was picked to win the conference regular-season and tournament championships in the preseason coaches poll.

All three sets with the Bobcats were tight. The Chippewas roster features only four upperclassmen.

"Last weekend was a good start, but it was only a start," Gawlik said. "This is the first time to take matches on the road for the MAC with a young team, their first time in a couple of different venues. We'll embrace it and we're excited to get back out there."

CHIPPEWA LEADERS
Three Chippewas, sophomores Kalina Smith and Lyza Myers and freshman Savannah Thompson, have recorded more than 100 kills this season. Smith leads CMU with 148, Myers has posted 136, and Thompson has recorded 120. Marissa Grant and Kendall Braate average 5.86 and 5.74 assists per set, respectively. Thompson leads the Chippewas with 14 aces.

SCOUTING THE ROCKETS
Toldeo enters Friday's game with CMU 6-7 overall, 1-1 MAC, after a 3-2 victory over Western Michigan on Saturday in Kalamazoo. The Rockets dropped their MAC opener in straight sets at Northern Illinois.

Toledo, which is 2-1 at home, has won six of its last eight games after a 0-5 start. The Rockets are scheduled to play host to Eastern Michigan on Saturday.

Toledo's Chloee Kleespies and Zoe Birnbrich rank seventh and eighth, respectively, in kills in the MAC. Kleespies had recorded 173 kills on the season, while Birnbrich has posted 161.

Toledo is led by junior Zoe Birnbrich and sophomore Chloe Kleespies, who have 161 and 173 kills respectively.

The Chippewas knocked off Toledo in five sets at McGuirk Arena last season.

IN THE CARDINALS
CMU will venture 181 miles from Toledo, Ohio to Muncie, Ind. for a Saturday night clash with Ball State, 10-5, 1-1. Ball State, which entertains Eastern Michigan on Friday, opened league play last weekend with a win over Western Michigan and a loss to NIU.

The Cardinals are 2-2 this season on their home floor at Worthen Arena. Senior outside hitter Ellie Dunn is tied for third in the MAC with 198 kills. Junior Sydney Vanbeek and senior Meg Starling have 144 and 110 kills, respectively.

The Cardinals second in the MAC in both hitting percentage (.229) and blocks (2.33 per set).

"(Ball State) digs a lot of balls, their ball control is good from top to bottom, they're volleyball IQ is very high," Gawlik said, adding that Cardinal coach Kelli Miller "and her staff do a really great job of recruiting kids that understand the game. I feel like they really don't have a ton of weaknesses because they get a lot of well-rounded players so they're going to force you to play really quality volleyball to win."

Ball State defeated CMU 3-0 last season in McGuirk Arena.

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Players Mentioned

Kendall Braate

Marissa Grant

Lyza Myers

Kalina Smith

Savannah Thompson