Thursday, March 4
Mount Pleasant, MI
4 P.M.
Central Michigan University
7-6,7-6MAC
0
vs
3
Bowling Green
12-0,12-0MAC
1
2
3
F
Bowling Green
25
25
25
3
Central Mich.
18
17
20
0
Photo by: Keara Chaperon '22
Volleyball Drops Opener To League Leaders
3/4/2021 7:04:00 PM | Volleyball
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The Central Michigan volleyball team could never find its rhythm on Thursday as it dropped a three-set Mid-American Conference match at McGuirk Arena to unbeaten Bowling Green.
The Falcons won 25-18, 25-17, 25-20, improving to 12-0. The Chippewas, 7-6, saw their win streak end at four matches. The teams are scheduled to conclude their two-match series on Friday (noon) at McGuirk.
"Bowling Green's a pretty balanced team, defensively they dug a lot of really good swings," CMU coach Mike Gawlik said. "I told the team that I didn't think we played poorly. Now we didn't play well enough, but I think that Bowling Green plays at a B-plus, A-minus level all the time. They force you to play A-level volleyball to gain on them.
"They never really dip their level of play and they try to force you to play average-level volleyball, C-level volleyball, and when you're playing average volleyball, they're gaining on you."
The Numbers
CMU had 23 hitting errors, matching their season high, and leading to a season-low .122 hitting percentage. The Chippewas also had just one block.
The Falcons had 11 errors, hit .227, and had nine blocks.
The Chippewas also had just two aces against three service errors.
"Our service pressure, we've got to amp it up, maybe at the expense of missing some serves," Gawlik said. "We need to bring a little more service pressure to keep their offense at bay a little bit more, and when we get our opportunities, we've got to flip those into points real fast."
Leaders
Savannah Thompson led CMU with 11 kills on a .129 hitting percentage; Maddie Whitfield (.313) had seven kills.
"I thought we were trying to be a little too cute early on," Gawlik said, "thought we were trying to trick them and giggle so to say with some off-speed balls that just went into the net, or into the antenna, or out of bounds.
"You need a little bit of that, you need to keep that defense having to defend 900 square feet. … We have to take some risks. We know that we have to risk it to get the biscuit against a good team."
Hannah Warners and Thompson led CMU with 12 and 10 digs, respectively. Setters Grace Butler and Kamryn Olson finished with a combined 28 assists with just one error.
"Defensively we were gritty today keeping balls off the floor," Gawlik said. "I think against a team like Bowling Green or another really good squad you've got to turn those into quality touches that aren't just up, but give the setters the ability to set attackers.
"When we had our full complement of attackers working for us we were able to do some good things. But we've got to be better."
The Falcons won 25-18, 25-17, 25-20, improving to 12-0. The Chippewas, 7-6, saw their win streak end at four matches. The teams are scheduled to conclude their two-match series on Friday (noon) at McGuirk.
"Bowling Green's a pretty balanced team, defensively they dug a lot of really good swings," CMU coach Mike Gawlik said. "I told the team that I didn't think we played poorly. Now we didn't play well enough, but I think that Bowling Green plays at a B-plus, A-minus level all the time. They force you to play A-level volleyball to gain on them.
"They never really dip their level of play and they try to force you to play average-level volleyball, C-level volleyball, and when you're playing average volleyball, they're gaining on you."
The Numbers
CMU had 23 hitting errors, matching their season high, and leading to a season-low .122 hitting percentage. The Chippewas also had just one block.
The Falcons had 11 errors, hit .227, and had nine blocks.
The Chippewas also had just two aces against three service errors.
"Our service pressure, we've got to amp it up, maybe at the expense of missing some serves," Gawlik said. "We need to bring a little more service pressure to keep their offense at bay a little bit more, and when we get our opportunities, we've got to flip those into points real fast."
Leaders
Savannah Thompson led CMU with 11 kills on a .129 hitting percentage; Maddie Whitfield (.313) had seven kills.
"I thought we were trying to be a little too cute early on," Gawlik said, "thought we were trying to trick them and giggle so to say with some off-speed balls that just went into the net, or into the antenna, or out of bounds.
"You need a little bit of that, you need to keep that defense having to defend 900 square feet. … We have to take some risks. We know that we have to risk it to get the biscuit against a good team."
Hannah Warners and Thompson led CMU with 12 and 10 digs, respectively. Setters Grace Butler and Kamryn Olson finished with a combined 28 assists with just one error.
"Defensively we were gritty today keeping balls off the floor," Gawlik said. "I think against a team like Bowling Green or another really good squad you've got to turn those into quality touches that aren't just up, but give the setters the ability to set attackers.
"When we had our full complement of attackers working for us we were able to do some good things. But we've got to be better."
Team Stats
BGSU
CMU
Kills
39
38
Errors
11
25
Attempts
113
123
Hitting %
.248
.106
Points
53
41
Assists
34
35
Aces
5
2
Blocks
9
1
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
4
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
Setter
/ Volleyball
Setter/Opposite
/ VolleyballOutside Hitter
/ Volleyball
Defensive Specialist
/ VolleyballMiddle Blocker
/ VolleyballInterview With Adam Jaksa and Arielle Wilson
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