Big, Big Weekend On Tap For Volleyball

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The Central Michigan volleyball team heads into the final weekend of the regular season with an awful lot on the line and only one guarantee, that it will be playing next week in the Mid-American Conference tournament.

The Chippewas are scheduled to play at Toledo on Friday, Nov. 15, and then at Ball State on Saturday, Nov. 16. Both matches begin at 7 p.m.

At Stake
The Chippewas are 20-6, 10-4 MAC and hold a one-game over Ball State (15-11, 9-5) in the West Division. The Chippewas can clinch a divisional title share with one win this weekend; it can win the title outright with two victories. Ball State plays host to Eastern Michigan on Friday.

CMU is one game behind East-leading Miami (Ohio) in the race for the overall MAC regular-season crown. The RedHawks are slated to play at Bowling Green on Thursday night and play host to Western Michigan in their regular-season finale on Saturday.

If the Chippewas and RedHawks finish with the same record in league play, Miami will be the No. 1 seed for the MAC Tournament because it holds the tiebreaker over CMU as a result of its five-set win over the Chippewas on Oct 20.

CMU has clinched a berth in the eight-team MAC Tournament, which will be played at Bowling Green beginning on Nov. 21. The Chippewas will be one of the top-five seed, regardless of how they fare this weekend.

Scouting
Toledo is 9-17, 2-12, and won its first two MAC games of the season last weekend, topping Western Michigan and then Northern Illinois. Ball State enters the weekend on a four-game win streak.

The Chippewas won the first meetings this season with both Toledo and Ball State at McGuirk Arena.

Leaders
As a team, CMU is first in the MAC in opponent hitting percentage (.158), first in opponent assists per set (11.05), first in opponent kills per set (11.85), and second in assists per set (12.57).

Individually, CMU junior middle blocker Lisbeth Rosario-Martinez is third in the MAC in hitting percentage (.365), junior outside hitter Kalina Smith is third in kills per set (3.45), and senior libero Megan Kern is fourth in digs per set (4.95).

Down the Line
The Chippewas lost two matches last weekend, falling to Eastern Michigan at home and then to Ohio on the road. Both losses came in straight sets, and it marked just the second time this season they have lost back-to-back games.

"I expect that we go in and execute our style of volleyball," CMU coach Mike Gawlik said. "It doesn't have to be much more complex than that. Whether if it's the game plan or the system we play in, we want to play at a high level. It's been a mantra for us that our good is pretty good and our better is better than our opponent's version of better. If we play very well, we can be in a position where we can find success.

"Last weekend, I didn't think we brought our best game to the forefront. Our plan is to get back to what we can control, and what we can do. The expectation of winning and losing will take care of themselves if we stay in our lane and play our style of volleyball that we've been playing all year."

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Players Mentioned

Megan Kern

Lisbeth Rosario-Martinez

Kalina Smith