Friday, February 19
Buffalo, NY
2 P.M.
Central Michigan University
5-5,5-5MAC
3
at
0
Buffalo
0-10,0-10MAC
1
2
3
F
Central Mich.
25
25
25
3
Buffalo
22
23
14
0
Photo by: Keara Chaperon '22
Volleyball Completes Sweep At Buffalo
2/19/2021 5:13:00 PM | Volleyball
Chippewas improve to 5-5, return home next weekend
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Another good hitting day, another win.
The Central Michigan volleyball team hit at a season-best. 274 on Friday in taking a 25-22, 25-23, 25-14 Mid-American Conference victory from Buffalo at the Bulls' Alumni Arena.
The win lifted CMU to 5-5 overall and in the MAC. The Chippewas hit at .264, their previous season best, in defeating the Bulls in four sets on Thursday.
CMU is scheduled to entertain Akron next weekend for a two-match series. Buffalo is 0-10.
"Anytime you go on the road and win two matches in somebody else's building you've got to play pretty well, and we did that," CMU coach Mike Gawlik said. "When you play a team and you're able to focus on what can we do to play well, I think it's good. And when you're playing a team that hasn't won you want to make sure that you're not drifting into this arrogance that, 'Oh, we're going to win just because we show up.'
"We've got to play our game, we've got to play well, and if we do that, we're pretty confident that good things will happen.
"I think we're getting better as a volleyball team. We have to continue sharpening the things that make us strong, and in some areas where we have some vulnerabilities, we've got to get on the same page. We're almost to the halfway point and I think we're a better team today than we were the opening week."
How It Happened
The Chippewas got off to solid starts in all three sets and answered the call when they were pressed late in the first two.
The Chippewas led 21-20 in the first set, and then scored four of the final six points, getting kills from Sierra Gray, Lisbeth Rosario-Martinez and Grace Butler.
Rosario-Martinez capped a 4-0 Chippewa run to turn an 18-18 tie into a 22-18 CMU lead in the second set. A Savannah Thompson kill ended it, but only after the Bulls drew to 23-24.
The third set was not nearly as strenuous as CMU jumped to a 5-1 lead and was up 14-11 before turning on the jets with a 10-1 surge.
"We had some good finishing kicks in the first and second set," Gawlik said. "I really liked our poise and our composure to keep being aggressive and stay the course. Our first-ball contact gave us some options, especially late in big moments. We took some big swings. I liked how aggressive we were."
Leaders
Rosario-Martinez and Thompson finished with 10 kills apiece.
Rosario-Martinez, a 6-foot senior, hit at .796 and did not make an error in 13 swings. She also had a hand in seven blocks, served two aces, and finished with a match-high 16.5 points.
"Lisbeth was a rock star tonight," Gawlik said. "She carried a pretty heavy load for us offensively and defensively. You look to seniors to play big in moments that you need them to step up and I thought Lisbeth really did an excellent job of contributing in multiple phases of our game."
Thompson continued her solid and consistent season-long production, producing a 26-kill weekend while hitting .246.
"Savannah had a big weekend," Gawlik said. "She shouldered a big load. I really liked her service pressure and she really balances us out as a passer. I think sometimes with Savannah her impact is not necessarily noticed on the stat sheet. Her defensive presence and her first-ball contact and quality of contact gives us opportunities to get more people involved."
Setting the Table
Butler and Kamryn Olson, the Chippewa setters, finished with 18 and 14 assists, respectively. That CMU made just 12 attack errors on 106 swings is a good sign overall, and a sign that the setters were effective, Gawlik said.
"Anything in that 12-, 13-percent range, you're going to win a lot of games because you don't give away too many points," he said. "That means that you're getting pretty good balance from your setters and pretty good distribution. I thought it was a good team win for us."
The Central Michigan volleyball team hit at a season-best. 274 on Friday in taking a 25-22, 25-23, 25-14 Mid-American Conference victory from Buffalo at the Bulls' Alumni Arena.
The win lifted CMU to 5-5 overall and in the MAC. The Chippewas hit at .264, their previous season best, in defeating the Bulls in four sets on Thursday.
CMU is scheduled to entertain Akron next weekend for a two-match series. Buffalo is 0-10.
"Anytime you go on the road and win two matches in somebody else's building you've got to play pretty well, and we did that," CMU coach Mike Gawlik said. "When you play a team and you're able to focus on what can we do to play well, I think it's good. And when you're playing a team that hasn't won you want to make sure that you're not drifting into this arrogance that, 'Oh, we're going to win just because we show up.'
"We've got to play our game, we've got to play well, and if we do that, we're pretty confident that good things will happen.
"I think we're getting better as a volleyball team. We have to continue sharpening the things that make us strong, and in some areas where we have some vulnerabilities, we've got to get on the same page. We're almost to the halfway point and I think we're a better team today than we were the opening week."
How It Happened
The Chippewas got off to solid starts in all three sets and answered the call when they were pressed late in the first two.
The Chippewas led 21-20 in the first set, and then scored four of the final six points, getting kills from Sierra Gray, Lisbeth Rosario-Martinez and Grace Butler.
Rosario-Martinez capped a 4-0 Chippewa run to turn an 18-18 tie into a 22-18 CMU lead in the second set. A Savannah Thompson kill ended it, but only after the Bulls drew to 23-24.
The third set was not nearly as strenuous as CMU jumped to a 5-1 lead and was up 14-11 before turning on the jets with a 10-1 surge.
"We had some good finishing kicks in the first and second set," Gawlik said. "I really liked our poise and our composure to keep being aggressive and stay the course. Our first-ball contact gave us some options, especially late in big moments. We took some big swings. I liked how aggressive we were."
Leaders
Rosario-Martinez and Thompson finished with 10 kills apiece.
Rosario-Martinez, a 6-foot senior, hit at .796 and did not make an error in 13 swings. She also had a hand in seven blocks, served two aces, and finished with a match-high 16.5 points.
"Lisbeth was a rock star tonight," Gawlik said. "She carried a pretty heavy load for us offensively and defensively. You look to seniors to play big in moments that you need them to step up and I thought Lisbeth really did an excellent job of contributing in multiple phases of our game."
Thompson continued her solid and consistent season-long production, producing a 26-kill weekend while hitting .246.
"Savannah had a big weekend," Gawlik said. "She shouldered a big load. I really liked her service pressure and she really balances us out as a passer. I think sometimes with Savannah her impact is not necessarily noticed on the stat sheet. Her defensive presence and her first-ball contact and quality of contact gives us opportunities to get more people involved."
Setting the Table
Butler and Kamryn Olson, the Chippewa setters, finished with 18 and 14 assists, respectively. That CMU made just 12 attack errors on 106 swings is a good sign overall, and a sign that the setters were effective, Gawlik said.
"Anything in that 12-, 13-percent range, you're going to win a lot of games because you don't give away too many points," he said. "That means that you're getting pretty good balance from your setters and pretty good distribution. I thought it was a good team win for us."
Team Stats
CMU
UB
Kills
41
44
Errors
12
21
Attempts
106
112
Hitting %
.274
.205
Points
56
49
Assists
36
40
Aces
5
2
Blocks
10
3
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
10
Aces
2
Blocks
7
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
2
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