Central Michigan University Athletics
Saturday, January 23
Athens, OH
11 A.M.
Central Michigan University
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Ohio
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Central Mich.
25
22
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19
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Ohio
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Sophomore Anna Erickson posted a career-high 17 kills in CMU's season-opening victory over Ohio.
Photo by: Keara Chaperon '22
Long Time Coming
1/23/2021 1:35:00 PM | Volleyball
Chippewas' win, their first at Ohio since 1999, comes nearly 24 hours after they started
ATHENS, Ohio – Some 23 ½ hours later, Central Michigan had a win in its season opener.
And its first win at Ohio in more than two decades.
Anna Erickson had 17 kills and Savannah Thompson added 14 on Saturday as the Central Michigan volleyball team outlasted Mid-American Conference foe Ohio in five sets to win its season opener and claim a victory on the Bobcats' home floor for the first time since 1999.
The match started on Friday at 1 p.m. and was interrupted late in the second set by a power outage that affected the entire Athens region. Power was restored at 1 a.m. Saturday and the match resumed at 11 a.m. It culminated at 12:30 p.m. with a Savannah Thompson kill that gave the Chippewas a 15-13 victory in the fifth and final set.
The teams are scheduled to complete their two-game season-opening series at 5:30 p.m. today, Saturday. The game was originally scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. but was moved back to accommodate a basketball game that was supposed to have been played on Friday night. That game was postponed and rescheduled for Saturday due to the power outage.
"When you think about adversity you kind of think about it in one context, whether that's COVID or contact tracing or sickness or things like that," fifth-year CMU coach Mike Gawlik said. "You're thrown a little bit of a curveball. A really, really strange situation for everybody.
"I enjoyed the resiliency of our group. It was like, 'OK, what's the new plan?' And that plan was changed two or three times and yet our team was pretty cool, calm and collected to say, 'OK, whenever we're going to play again, we're going to be ready.'"
The Chippewas are the defending MAC West co-champions and were picked to win the division in the preseason coaches poll. Ohio, which is traditionally one of the league's top programs, was picked to finish third in the East. The Bobcats feature the reigning MAC Player of the Year in middle blocker Tia Jimerson and the reigning MAC Setter of the Year in Vera Giacomazzi.
The Chippewas won the first set, 25-20; and the third, 25-15. In the fifth, CMU broke a 9-9 tie on an Ohio attack error and then got a kill from Maddie Whitfield for an 11-9 lead. They led the rest of the way, though three times down the stretch the Bobcats drew within a point.
Ohio won set two, 25-22 – the Bobcats led, 24-22, when play was halted on Friday night – and took set four, 25-19.
"A little bit of patience, a little bit of poise," Gawlik said. "Those are the things that we try to preach in set five. We want to stay in the moment, but we also want to be aggressive and sometimes I think that can feel to an athlete like you're telling them two different things.
"I really liked the aggressiveness we were bringing to the table and trying to score points. That's what we need to do. I'd rather have that 10 times out of 10 times rather than being tentative, hoping the other team loses set five. I liked the way we played. I liked the kinds of swings we were choosing and the poise and patience we were showing in set five."
Freshman setter Kamryn Olson, playing her first collegiate match, led the Chippewas with 17 assists while Grace Butler added 16. Kendall Braate led CMU in digs with 21 and Thompson had 15. Whitfield finished with a team-high five blocks.
Jimerson led Ohio with 15 kills and Giacomazzi had 30 assists.
"For the first match in 13 months, 14 months or whatever it's been, I felt like it had a vibe eventually as we found our rhythm of being a little bit more like a mid-season match," Gawlik said. "There was some sloppy play on both sides at times; there were some nerves and there were people who are in some new roles, but I thought we stuck together as a full group, our thought our bench created some energy.
"It was a strange scenario and to come out on top without a doubt is pretty satisfying."
And its first win at Ohio in more than two decades.
Anna Erickson had 17 kills and Savannah Thompson added 14 on Saturday as the Central Michigan volleyball team outlasted Mid-American Conference foe Ohio in five sets to win its season opener and claim a victory on the Bobcats' home floor for the first time since 1999.
The match started on Friday at 1 p.m. and was interrupted late in the second set by a power outage that affected the entire Athens region. Power was restored at 1 a.m. Saturday and the match resumed at 11 a.m. It culminated at 12:30 p.m. with a Savannah Thompson kill that gave the Chippewas a 15-13 victory in the fifth and final set.
The teams are scheduled to complete their two-game season-opening series at 5:30 p.m. today, Saturday. The game was originally scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. but was moved back to accommodate a basketball game that was supposed to have been played on Friday night. That game was postponed and rescheduled for Saturday due to the power outage.
"When you think about adversity you kind of think about it in one context, whether that's COVID or contact tracing or sickness or things like that," fifth-year CMU coach Mike Gawlik said. "You're thrown a little bit of a curveball. A really, really strange situation for everybody.
"I enjoyed the resiliency of our group. It was like, 'OK, what's the new plan?' And that plan was changed two or three times and yet our team was pretty cool, calm and collected to say, 'OK, whenever we're going to play again, we're going to be ready.'"
The Chippewas are the defending MAC West co-champions and were picked to win the division in the preseason coaches poll. Ohio, which is traditionally one of the league's top programs, was picked to finish third in the East. The Bobcats feature the reigning MAC Player of the Year in middle blocker Tia Jimerson and the reigning MAC Setter of the Year in Vera Giacomazzi.
The Chippewas won the first set, 25-20; and the third, 25-15. In the fifth, CMU broke a 9-9 tie on an Ohio attack error and then got a kill from Maddie Whitfield for an 11-9 lead. They led the rest of the way, though three times down the stretch the Bobcats drew within a point.
Ohio won set two, 25-22 – the Bobcats led, 24-22, when play was halted on Friday night – and took set four, 25-19.
"A little bit of patience, a little bit of poise," Gawlik said. "Those are the things that we try to preach in set five. We want to stay in the moment, but we also want to be aggressive and sometimes I think that can feel to an athlete like you're telling them two different things.
"I really liked the aggressiveness we were bringing to the table and trying to score points. That's what we need to do. I'd rather have that 10 times out of 10 times rather than being tentative, hoping the other team loses set five. I liked the way we played. I liked the kinds of swings we were choosing and the poise and patience we were showing in set five."
Freshman setter Kamryn Olson, playing her first collegiate match, led the Chippewas with 17 assists while Grace Butler added 16. Kendall Braate led CMU in digs with 21 and Thompson had 15. Whitfield finished with a team-high five blocks.
Jimerson led Ohio with 15 kills and Giacomazzi had 30 assists.
"For the first match in 13 months, 14 months or whatever it's been, I felt like it had a vibe eventually as we found our rhythm of being a little bit more like a mid-season match," Gawlik said. "There was some sloppy play on both sides at times; there were some nerves and there were people who are in some new roles, but I thought we stuck together as a full group, our thought our bench created some energy.
"It was a strange scenario and to come out on top without a doubt is pretty satisfying."
Team Stats
CMU
Ohio
Kills
56
61
Errors
17
34
Attempts
159
170
Hitting %
.245
.159
Points
72
72
Assists
39
47
Aces
6
2
Blocks
10
9
Game Leaders
Kills
17
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
14
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
6
Aces
3
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
Libero/Setter
/ Volleyball
Setter
/ VolleyballOpposite/Outside Hitter
/ Volleyball
Setter/Opposite
/ VolleyballOutside Hitter
/ Volleyball
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