Friday, September 27
DeKalb, IL
7 p.m.
Central Michigan University
11-2
3
at
1
Northern Illinois
3-12
1
2
3
4
F
Central Mich.
25
23
25
25
3
Northern Ill.
23
25
21
16
1
Photo by: Allissa Rusco
Chippewas Take MAC Opener, Run Win Streak to 6
9/27/2019 10:32:00 PM | Volleyball
CMU takes on rival Western Michigan on Saturday
DEKALB, ILL – Kalina Smith had 16 kills on Friday as the Central Michigan volleyball team won its Mid-American Conference opener, taking down Northern Illinois in four sets to run its win streak to six games.
The Chippewas won the first set, 25-23, then dropped the second, 23-25. CMU rebounded to take the third, 25-21, and then closed it out with by taking the fourth, 25-16.
It was CMU's first win in DeKalb since 2010. The Chippewas are 11-2. NIU is 3-12.
"I thought we did some really nice things at times," CMU coach Mike Gawlik said. "We made some silly errors in set two, but all in all, outside of set two, we played a disciplined match, and had a lot of people contribute both defensively and offensively.
"I thought it was a really good program win to get out of the gates quickly, and win a match on the road."
How It Happened
After dropping the second set, the Chippewas rebounded and got hot late in the third, closing with an 11-4 run to take the set and go up 2-1 in the match. They finished the fourth set on a 7-2 run.
"I thought (set two) was a set where we outplayed NIU in a lot of ways," Gawlik said. "We just made some silly mental errors. We were getting the looks we wanted at times (but) we weren't able to capitalize on them enough.
"A mature team finds a way to rally from not playing their best. We actually made a push to steal the (second) set. I feel like if we've made our push three points earlier, we would have stolen the set. But I was proud of the way we rebounded in sets three and four in hostile territory."
Leaders
Sierra Gray added 11 kills for the Chippewas, while Lisbeth Rosario-Martinez, Anna Erickson, and Megan Sivertsen had eight kills apiece. Rosario-Martinez, who posted a team-high for blocks, finished with a .400 hitting percentage, Siversten with a .316.
Also for CMU, Kendall Braate and Grace Butler had 25 and 21 assists, respectively, and Megan Kern finished with 18 digs.
Numbers
CMU finished with a hitting percentage of .250, compared to NIU's .096. The Chippewas posted 54 kills, a season high for a four-set match.
Next
The Chippewas will head to Kalamazoo on Saturday to take on Western Michigan (5 p.m.) in a MAC game at the Broncos' University Arena.
WMU is 10-3 after topping Eastern Michigan in straight sets on Friday in its MAC opener.
The game will follow the CMU-WMU football game at Waldo Stadium. Any fan who has a ticket to the football game can use that ticket for admission to the volleyball game.
The Chippewas won the first set, 25-23, then dropped the second, 23-25. CMU rebounded to take the third, 25-21, and then closed it out with by taking the fourth, 25-16.
It was CMU's first win in DeKalb since 2010. The Chippewas are 11-2. NIU is 3-12.
"I thought we did some really nice things at times," CMU coach Mike Gawlik said. "We made some silly errors in set two, but all in all, outside of set two, we played a disciplined match, and had a lot of people contribute both defensively and offensively.
"I thought it was a really good program win to get out of the gates quickly, and win a match on the road."
How It Happened
After dropping the second set, the Chippewas rebounded and got hot late in the third, closing with an 11-4 run to take the set and go up 2-1 in the match. They finished the fourth set on a 7-2 run.
"I thought (set two) was a set where we outplayed NIU in a lot of ways," Gawlik said. "We just made some silly mental errors. We were getting the looks we wanted at times (but) we weren't able to capitalize on them enough.
"A mature team finds a way to rally from not playing their best. We actually made a push to steal the (second) set. I feel like if we've made our push three points earlier, we would have stolen the set. But I was proud of the way we rebounded in sets three and four in hostile territory."
Leaders
Sierra Gray added 11 kills for the Chippewas, while Lisbeth Rosario-Martinez, Anna Erickson, and Megan Sivertsen had eight kills apiece. Rosario-Martinez, who posted a team-high for blocks, finished with a .400 hitting percentage, Siversten with a .316.
Also for CMU, Kendall Braate and Grace Butler had 25 and 21 assists, respectively, and Megan Kern finished with 18 digs.
Numbers
CMU finished with a hitting percentage of .250, compared to NIU's .096. The Chippewas posted 54 kills, a season high for a four-set match.
Next
The Chippewas will head to Kalamazoo on Saturday to take on Western Michigan (5 p.m.) in a MAC game at the Broncos' University Arena.
WMU is 10-3 after topping Eastern Michigan in straight sets on Friday in its MAC opener.
The game will follow the CMU-WMU football game at Waldo Stadium. Any fan who has a ticket to the football game can use that ticket for admission to the volleyball game.
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Team Stats
CMU
NIU
Kills
54
51
Errors
21
36
Attempts
132
156
Hitting %
.250
.096
Points
66
61
Assists
51
44
Aces
2
2
Blocks
10
8
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
16
Aces
1
Blocks
0
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
Setter/Opposite
/ Volleyball
Setter
/ VolleyballOpposite/Outside Hitter
/ VolleyballOutside Hitter
/ Volleyball
Libero
/ Volleyball
Middle Blocker
/ VolleyballMiddle Blocker
/ VolleyballOutside Hitter
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