Chippewas Steam Past Western

Thursday, October 31

Mount Pleasant, MI

6 p.m.

Central Michigan University

19-4,9-2MAC

Western Michigan

12-11,3-8MAC

Western Mich.

Central Mich.

Photo by: Benjamin Suddendorf

10/31/2019 9:58:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

CMU post season-best attack percentage in strengthening grip on first place in MAC West

By: Nick Vuylsteke, CMUChippewas.com

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- The Central Michigan volleyball team rebounded after dropping the first set on Thursday to claim a four-set Mid-American Conference victory over rival Western Michigan at McGuirk Arena.

The Chippewas completed the season sweep of the Broncos with a 22-25, 25-14, 25-19, 25-22 victory, improving to 19-4, 9-2 MAC. Western is 12-11, 3-8.

The Chippewas hold a three-game lead in the MAC West over second-place Ball State with five matches to play.

"Anytime you can beat a rival, beat somebody on your side (of the Mid-American Conference standings) and somebody in the final six matches or the second half of MAC play, it's going to be a good win," CMU coach Mike Gawlik said.

How It Happened
Western Michigan posted a .500 attack percentage in the first set, but the Chippewa defense responded, holding the Broncos to a .125 percentage over the final three.

CMU hit at a season-high .351 on the night with just 14 attack errors, and finished with 60 kills. The 14 errors are a season low for CMU in a four-set match, and its 60 kills is its second-best total for a four-setter.

The Chippewas never trailed in the final three sets, and they finished with eight aces, matching their third highest total of the season.

"I was really pleased with our offensive effort from start to finish," Gawlik said. "Offensively, we're doing a lot of good things, limiting our errors and we're hitting at a high kill rate.

"But I really liked that we were able to lock down defensively, especially in sets two and three. I was pretty pleased with our athletes tonight."

Leaders
Kalina Smith led CMU with 19 kills on a season-best .351 attacking percentage, while freshman Anna Erickson hit at a team-best .500 and finished with 10 kills. Lisbeth Rosario-Martinez added nine kills on a .438. attacking percentage.

Erickson's attack percentage equaled her career high, and her 10 kills were one shy of her career best.

Grace Butler posted 26 assists for the Chippewas, while Megan Kern finished with 18 digs.

"It's not really hard to play well when you have a good team surrounding you," Smith said. "Volleyball isn't a one-person sport; you have to have all six girls on the court doing their job in order for the team to be successful.

"If you have one weak link, other teams will target that and pick you apart. Our service was really good tonight, and our setters put us in a position to where we could attack the ball."

Next
The Chippewas will entertain Northern Illinois on Saturday, Nov. 2 (5:30 p.m.). The Huskies (5-5 MAC) are scheduled to play at Eastern Michigan on Friday.

Fans presenting a ticket stub from Saturday's CMU-NIU football game will be admitted for free to the volleyball game. The Chippewa and Huskie football teams are set to kick off at noon.