Wednesday, November 17
Mount Pleasant, MI
6 P.M.
Central Michigan University
13-17,7-11MAC
3
vs
0
Eastern Michigan
9-20,4-14MAC
1
2
3
F
Eastern Mich.
18
22
20
0
Central Mich.
25
25
25
3
Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw
Volleyball Closes With A Sweep
11/17/2021 9:56:00 PM | Volleyball
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- In its season finale, the Central Michigan volleyball team closed things out with a bang, sweeping Eastern Michigan for an emotional sendoff to the Chippewas' nine graduating student-athletes.
The Chippewas finished 13-17, 7-11 in the Mid-American Conference. The Eagles closed 9-20, 4-14.
CMU took down the Eagles in three sets, 25-18, 25-22 and 25-20, the first time the Chippewas shut out an opponent since sweeping non-conference opponent IUPUI on Sept. 18.
"In a game that elicits this much emotion from your team … the gravity of finality, you know," CMU coach Mike Gawlik said. "Sometimes in sport, you don't know when it's your last match, when you factor in things like injury or factor in things like playing time or being subbed out, and other times there's really concrete finality to your season and in this case, a career."
Service pressure was a key element as the Chippewas matched their season high with nine aces, led by Sierra Gray, who had three.
"I think we're a tough team to beat when we have service pressure because our defense is really good," senior outside hitter Savannah Thompson said. "That was one of our goals going into tonight, that was one of our goals at the end of the season, and I thought that a lot of people stepped up in that area."
CMU's seniors took charge of the match. Thompson had a team-high 10 kills, while Gray had eight, and Lisbeth Rosario-Martinez finished with seven on 16 attempts for a .438 hitting percentage.
"I'm just thankful that I have teammates that gave it their all," said Butler, a senior. "Even though this game, on paper, didn't really mean anything, it meant a lot to all of us seniors and I thought everyone did a really awesome job just playing gritty and trying to get the win."
Butler and senior setter Kendall Braate had 16 and 15 assists, respectively. Freshman Aly Gurtiza finished with 15 digs.
"If we're going to put our name on something it's because we want to be proud of it," Gawlik said. "From that standpoint, I was really proud of the group, coming out and making that choice to fight, that choice to work hard, that choice to work together, and that choice to play with joy and play carefree.
"I'm proud of the way we did that, because both teams were kind of battling that – I'm not saying at all that Eastern didn't do some of those things or didn't care -- but I feel like it's a match that you've got to psyche yourself up to play.
"I told (my players) that true competitors care; whether we're playing in a gym with nobody there, whether we're playing in (the pandemic), I know they care and I thought it was good that they came out and showed how much that was true."
The Chippewas finished 13-17, 7-11 in the Mid-American Conference. The Eagles closed 9-20, 4-14.
CMU took down the Eagles in three sets, 25-18, 25-22 and 25-20, the first time the Chippewas shut out an opponent since sweeping non-conference opponent IUPUI on Sept. 18.
"In a game that elicits this much emotion from your team … the gravity of finality, you know," CMU coach Mike Gawlik said. "Sometimes in sport, you don't know when it's your last match, when you factor in things like injury or factor in things like playing time or being subbed out, and other times there's really concrete finality to your season and in this case, a career."
Service pressure was a key element as the Chippewas matched their season high with nine aces, led by Sierra Gray, who had three.
"I think we're a tough team to beat when we have service pressure because our defense is really good," senior outside hitter Savannah Thompson said. "That was one of our goals going into tonight, that was one of our goals at the end of the season, and I thought that a lot of people stepped up in that area."
CMU's seniors took charge of the match. Thompson had a team-high 10 kills, while Gray had eight, and Lisbeth Rosario-Martinez finished with seven on 16 attempts for a .438 hitting percentage.
"I'm just thankful that I have teammates that gave it their all," said Butler, a senior. "Even though this game, on paper, didn't really mean anything, it meant a lot to all of us seniors and I thought everyone did a really awesome job just playing gritty and trying to get the win."
Butler and senior setter Kendall Braate had 16 and 15 assists, respectively. Freshman Aly Gurtiza finished with 15 digs.
"If we're going to put our name on something it's because we want to be proud of it," Gawlik said. "From that standpoint, I was really proud of the group, coming out and making that choice to fight, that choice to work hard, that choice to work together, and that choice to play with joy and play carefree.
"I'm proud of the way we did that, because both teams were kind of battling that – I'm not saying at all that Eastern didn't do some of those things or didn't care -- but I feel like it's a match that you've got to psyche yourself up to play.
"I told (my players) that true competitors care; whether we're playing in a gym with nobody there, whether we're playing in (the pandemic), I know they care and I thought it was good that they came out and showed how much that was true."
Team Stats
EMU
CMU
Kills
42
38
Errors
22
14
Attempts
119
121
Hitting %
.168
.198
Points
51
51
Assists
38
37
Aces
1
9
Blocks
8
4
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
8
Aces
3
Blocks
1
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
Libero/Setter
/ VolleyballOutside Hitter
/ Volleyball
Libero/Defensive Specialist
/ VolleyballMiddle Blocker
/ VolleyballOutside Hitter
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