Volleyball Falls At Ohio

ATHENS, Ohio -- The celebration will be put on hold, again.

The Central Michigan volleyball team lost its second consecutive straight-sets Mid-American Conference match on Saturday, falling to Ohio, 25-22, 25-21, 25-19.

A win would have clinched a share of the MAC West Division title for the Chippewas, their first since 2003.

CMU is 20-6, 10-4 MAC. They lead second-place Ball State by one game. The Cardinals improved to 9-5 in league play with a victory over Northern Illinois on Saturday.

Both CMU and Ball State have two conference games remaining. The Chippewas play at Toledo on Friday, Nov. 15, then play at Ball State on Saturday, Nov. 16.

How It Happened
The first two sets were close, but Ohio edged the Chippewas, and then went on to claim the third set.

"We (had a lot) of errors," CMU coach Mike Gawlik said. "We gave away far too many points.

"Offensively I thought we were a little tentative. Even when we were taking swings, we were holding back a little bit. That's something that we really need to address in practice this week, and talk about taking some chances and taking some risks knowing that we're putting it out on the line.

"Defensively, I thought we did some decent things. We weren't outstanding defensively, but we created some opportunities and we couldn't take advantage of them.

"My hat goes off to Ohio. They hit pretty well. We didn't block very well and they out blocked us quite a bit. That was a big difference there."

Team Stats
Ohio had a hitting percentage of .320 compared to CMU's .170. The .320 hitting percentage is the highest hitting percentage CMU has allowed this season and is the highest hitting percentage by a Chippewa opponent since Sept. 13, when finished at .264.

CMU also had 25 attacking errors to Ohio's seven.

Leaders
Leading CMU in kills was Savannah Thompson with 10. Chippewa setter Grace Butler finished with 37 assists, while Megan Kern led CMU in digs with 13.

Next Event

Team Stats

Savannah Thompson

Lisbeth Rosario-Martinez

Kalina Smith

Maddie Whitfield

Players Mentioned

Grace Butler

Megan Kern

Savannah Thompson