CMU Volleyball Faces Key MAC Match On Friday Night

Friday, October 11

Mount Pleasant, MI

6 p.m.

Central Michigan University

Ball State

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Photo by: Benjamin Suddendorf

10/10/2019 12:59:00 PM | Volleyball

Ball State, Toledo visit McGuirk Arena this weekend

By: Nick Vuylsteke, CMUChippewas.com

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- The Central Michigan volleyball team has won nine-consecutive games.

The most important? The next one.

The Chippewas will entertain two Mid-American Conference foes this weekend at McGuirk Arena, beginning with Ball State on Friday, Oct. 11 (6 p.m.), and ending with a game against Toledo on Saturday, Oct. 12 (8 p.m.).

The Chippewas are 14-2, 4-0 MAC and have not lost since Sept. 13, when they fell at DePaul.

"The more you talk about it with regards as a win streak, the more (pressure) you put on it," CMU coach Mike Gawlik said. "We're trying to go 1-0 on Friday night. You don't start a nine-game win streak with the mindset of 'Hey, let's win the first nine.'

"You think, 'let's win one of one,' and the next night you try to win one of one again. We try to keep it as simple as that. We're going to try to beat Ball State and regardless of how that goes, we're trying to beat Toledo on Saturday."

"The only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time."

Big Game
The Chippewas lead the MAC West by one game over Ball State, which is 9-7 overall, 3-1 league. The Cardinals defeated Western Michigan and Northern Illinois last weekend and has won four of its last five games.

A CMU win ups the Chippewa lead in the division to two games; a Ball State win creates a tie between the Chippewas and Cardinals atop the division. CMU and Ball State are scheduled to meet in the final regular-season match on Nov. 16 in Muncie, Ind.

"Ball State is a team that looks really different from a year ago," Gawlik said. "They have four freshman that are starting for them. They give a different look from what we've seen in years past. Trying to get a gauge as who they are as players is important for us as a staff, and as a team."

Ball State is a balanced team with three players, Allison Hamaker, Natalie Risi and Natalie Mitchem, having collected at least 150 kills apiece.

"They share the load offensively," Gawlik said. "They don't have any one player that carries them night in and night out. They win with balance."

Toledo is 7-9 (0-4) after losing to Western Michigan and Northern Illinois last weekend.

Leaders
The Chippewas lead the MAC in kills per set (13.48) and assists per set (12.76). Individually, CMU's Kalina Smith is third in the MAC in kills per set (3.57), Megan Kern is fourth in digs per set (5.19) and Kendall Braate is eighth in assists per set (7.55).

The Chippewas are also holding their opponents to a .151 hitting percentage, which is the best in the MAC.

Next
CMU returns to the road next weekend when it plays MAC games at Bowling Green on Friday, Oct. 18 (6 p.m.) and at Miami (Ohio) on Sunday, Oct. 20 (2:30 p.m.).