Friday, January 29
Mount Pleasant, MI
2 P.M.
Central Michigan University
1-3,1-3MAC
1
vs
3
Kent State
2-0,2-0MAC
1
2
3
4
F
Kent St.
24
25
25
25
3
Central Mich.
26
15
23
22
1
Photo by: Benjamin Suddendorf
Chippewas Drop Finale To Kent State
1/29/2021 5:51:00 PM | Volleyball
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Better, but not good enough to win, and still, plenty of room for improvement.
Kent State pulled out the final two tight sets on Friday in handing Central Michigan a four-set Mid-American Conference volleyball loss at McGuirk Arena. The 24-26, 25-15, 26-23, 25-22 win gave the Golden Flashes a sweep of their two-match series and left the Chippewas 1-3.
"It's not the result we wanted," said CMU coach Mike Gawlik, whose team lost in straight sets on Thursday to the Golden Flashes. "I felt like our fight (compared to) yesterday was a lot better. I felt like we were a lot more cohesive on the floor; we did some really good things as far as creating opportunities.
"We took our lumps this weekend; it's a long year and we've got to get back to the drawing board, iron out a few things within our offensive and defensive plans so we can be better for next weekend."
How It Happened
The Chippewas won the opening set, taking a 20-14 lead with a 6-1 run and then holding off the Golden Flashes as Kent State used a 6-0 spurt to edge within a point and eventually tie it at 24-24.
Kent State used a 6-1 surge to open a 14-9 lead in set two and the Chippewas never got closer than four points the rest of the way. Neither team could establish a foothold in the third and fourth sets, but the Golden Flashes managed to pull out both.
"You're in the 20s and trading points and there's a small difference between winning by two and losing by two," Gawlik said. "I felt like we just needed one more play at that moment. In sets that are decided by two points you've got to be able to flip one of those emotional points in your favor."
Leaders
Kalina Smith had 13 kills and Savannah Thompson added 12 for the Chippewas, who finished with a .188 hitting percentage, an improvement over the .148 they posted in Thursday's match.
Setters Kamryn Olson and Grace Butler finished with 22 and 18 assists, respectively, and libero Kendall Braate had 18 digs.
Key Numbers
The Chippewas showed marked improvement at the net, recording 2.5 blocks per set compared to the 0.75 per set they had in Thursday's match. Lisbeth Rosario-Martinez had seven of the Chippewas' 10 blocks.
CMU's passing was sharper and more consistent, Gawlik said, than it was one night earlier.
"We created some opportunities defensively I just think we need to be more aggressive as attackers to turn those into points on the scoreboard.," he said. "We didn't make many errors, but we have to find ways to score points.
"I felt like we answered the call of creating more defensive opportunities. We blocked better earlier in the match than we did late; that's definitely something we're going to have to work on."
Spreading It Around
The Golden Flashes has four players record double digits in kills and another had nine.
"It makes a team tough to defend and I think it's also a sign of a mature and experienced setter who puts (their hitters) in that position," Gawlik said. "When you share the load, nobody gets overwhelmed.
"We have to find that offensively. We can have multiple people contribute to our plan more regularly and I feel like right now we're leaning on one or two people to carry us throughout the match. When we get our offense a little bit more balanced in a similar way that Kent State was able to do, we'll be difficult to defend."
Looking Ahead
The Chippewas remain at home to entertain Northern Illinois on Thursday and Friday, Feb. 4-5. The Huskies are 1-2 and scheduled to play host to Toledo on Friday night.
"There's a lot of season left," said Gawlik, whose team won the MAC West last season and was picked to repeat in the preseason coaches poll. "I don't think we're quite where we wanted to be after four matches, but with 18 left to go, this is absolutely no time to hit the panic button.
"We've got to start picking up our urgency, sometimes earlier in matches, and sustain that urgency. I like the grit and the intensity that we play with when we play with a chip on our shoulder. I like how we get after we bind together in the center and play for each other and I think we kind of went in and out of that today. We did that better today than we did yesterday. More than anything we've got to stay the course; we're a really good team; we believe that. We need to do some things on the court to put more points on the board and prove that in wins and losses."
Kent State pulled out the final two tight sets on Friday in handing Central Michigan a four-set Mid-American Conference volleyball loss at McGuirk Arena. The 24-26, 25-15, 26-23, 25-22 win gave the Golden Flashes a sweep of their two-match series and left the Chippewas 1-3.
"It's not the result we wanted," said CMU coach Mike Gawlik, whose team lost in straight sets on Thursday to the Golden Flashes. "I felt like our fight (compared to) yesterday was a lot better. I felt like we were a lot more cohesive on the floor; we did some really good things as far as creating opportunities.
"We took our lumps this weekend; it's a long year and we've got to get back to the drawing board, iron out a few things within our offensive and defensive plans so we can be better for next weekend."
How It Happened
The Chippewas won the opening set, taking a 20-14 lead with a 6-1 run and then holding off the Golden Flashes as Kent State used a 6-0 spurt to edge within a point and eventually tie it at 24-24.
Kent State used a 6-1 surge to open a 14-9 lead in set two and the Chippewas never got closer than four points the rest of the way. Neither team could establish a foothold in the third and fourth sets, but the Golden Flashes managed to pull out both.
"You're in the 20s and trading points and there's a small difference between winning by two and losing by two," Gawlik said. "I felt like we just needed one more play at that moment. In sets that are decided by two points you've got to be able to flip one of those emotional points in your favor."
Leaders
Kalina Smith had 13 kills and Savannah Thompson added 12 for the Chippewas, who finished with a .188 hitting percentage, an improvement over the .148 they posted in Thursday's match.
Setters Kamryn Olson and Grace Butler finished with 22 and 18 assists, respectively, and libero Kendall Braate had 18 digs.
Key Numbers
The Chippewas showed marked improvement at the net, recording 2.5 blocks per set compared to the 0.75 per set they had in Thursday's match. Lisbeth Rosario-Martinez had seven of the Chippewas' 10 blocks.
CMU's passing was sharper and more consistent, Gawlik said, than it was one night earlier.
"We created some opportunities defensively I just think we need to be more aggressive as attackers to turn those into points on the scoreboard.," he said. "We didn't make many errors, but we have to find ways to score points.
"I felt like we answered the call of creating more defensive opportunities. We blocked better earlier in the match than we did late; that's definitely something we're going to have to work on."
Spreading It Around
The Golden Flashes has four players record double digits in kills and another had nine.
"It makes a team tough to defend and I think it's also a sign of a mature and experienced setter who puts (their hitters) in that position," Gawlik said. "When you share the load, nobody gets overwhelmed.
"We have to find that offensively. We can have multiple people contribute to our plan more regularly and I feel like right now we're leaning on one or two people to carry us throughout the match. When we get our offense a little bit more balanced in a similar way that Kent State was able to do, we'll be difficult to defend."
Looking Ahead
The Chippewas remain at home to entertain Northern Illinois on Thursday and Friday, Feb. 4-5. The Huskies are 1-2 and scheduled to play host to Toledo on Friday night.
"There's a lot of season left," said Gawlik, whose team won the MAC West last season and was picked to repeat in the preseason coaches poll. "I don't think we're quite where we wanted to be after four matches, but with 18 left to go, this is absolutely no time to hit the panic button.
"We've got to start picking up our urgency, sometimes earlier in matches, and sustain that urgency. I like the grit and the intensity that we play with when we play with a chip on our shoulder. I like how we get after we bind together in the center and play for each other and I think we kind of went in and out of that today. We did that better today than we did yesterday. More than anything we've got to stay the course; we're a really good team; we believe that. We need to do some things on the court to put more points on the board and prove that in wins and losses."
Team Stats
KentSt
CMU
Kills
66
54
Errors
21
22
Attempts
166
170
Hitting %
.271
.188
Points
76
66
Assists
63
50
Aces
6
2
Blocks
4
10
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
12
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
Libero/Setter
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Setter
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Setter/Opposite
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