Chippewas Fall In 3 At Ball State

Mitch Vosburg, CMUChippewas.com

MUNCIE, Ind. -- The Central Michigan volleyball team saw its losing streak grow to seven matches on Saturday with a 25-17, 27-25, 25-23 Mid-American Conference loss to Ball State at the Cardinals' Worthen Arena.

CMU is 3-13 overall, 0-4 MAC. Ball State is 7-7, 3-1.

MAKING STRIDES
Despite CMU's losing streak, coach Mike Gawlik said he believes the Chippewas are improving.

"I felt we were in a position to win set two and set three, and when you're in position you have to capitalize on that, it's something we have to be better at," he said. "I think that being in matches, being in sets, is a precursor to finishing.

"This group has grown a lot, and I don't think we need to be that much better to start turning sets in our favor."

HOW IT HAPPENED
Ball State took set one 25-17 after the Chippewas committed nine attack errors to the Cardinals' three.

Set two saw the Chippewas begin to fight back, leading by as many as five points multiple times. They posted a .250 hitting percentage and committed just five attack errors in the set. The Cardinals surged at the end, taking six of the set's final nine points.

Set three started as a back and forth matchup early until Ball State began to pull away with several multipoint leads. The Chippewas found success late in set three by scoring five of the set's final seven points, but proved to be too little, too late as Ball State completed the three-set sweep.

The Chippewas finished the match with a .179 hitting percentage with 21 attack errors. Ball State finished hitting .252 with 16 attack errors.

LEADERS
Freshman outside hitter Maddie Whitfield finished with a team-high 13 kills on a .478 hitting percentage to lead CMU.

"Maddie was a rock star for us tonight," Gawlik said. "I feel like she really showed what she's capable of doing. She's a young player, being a freshman, and at times when you watch her attack and the way she kind of took over tonight's match offensively I think you see there's a player that the rest of the MAC is going to have to deal with for a long time."

Junior libero Megan Kern finished with 20 digs for the Chippewas.

NEXT
CMU returns to McGuirk Arena next weekend for two home matches. The first against rival Western Michigan on Friday, Oct. 5, and the second against Northern Illinois on Saturday, Oct. Both matches begin at 7 p.m.

The Broncos are 11-7, 1-3 MAC, while the Huskies are 5-13, 3-0 and play at Miami (Ohio) on Sunday.

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Team Stats

Maddie Whitfield

Savannah Thompson

Megan Sivertsen

Ara Wilson

Players Mentioned

Megan Kern

Maddie Whitfield

Players Mentioned

Megan Kern

Maddie Whitfield