Saturday, September 25
Mount Pleasant, MI
6 P.M.
Central Michigan University
7-7,1-1MAC
1
vs
3
Northern Illinois
7-5,1-1MAC
1
2
3
4
F
Northern Ill.
14
25
26
25
3
Central Mich.
25
23
24
22
1
Photo by: Keara Chaperon '22
Volleyball Drops Weekend Finale
9/25/2021 10:41:00 PM | Volleyball
CMU, 1-1 in MAC, goes to Western Michigan next weekend
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- Just 24 hours after the Central Michigan volleyball team claimed its first Mid-American Conference victory of the season, it was served its first defeat on Saturday night.
The Chippewas (7-7, 1-1 MAC) fell in four sets, 25-14, 23-25, 24-26, 22-25 to Northern Illinois (7-5, 1-1) in the finale of a two-match series at McGuirk Arena.
CMU is scheduled to travel to Read Fieldhouse for a two-match series with rival Western Michigan, starting at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 1.
"Obviously not the result we wanted," CMU coach Mike Gawlik said. "I thought we opened up and played a really great first set, we had contributions from a lot of people in that first set and opened up a pretty big lead."
The Chippewas found a lead early and ran with it in set one, attaining a .591 hitting percentage and holding the Huskies to just .069. Linnea Willer tacked on five of her 16 total kills in the set, while Anna Erickson added four kills and three solo blocks to propel CMU to the win.
While the next three sets did not end in favor of the Chippewas, the fight was strong and at times, lengthy. Long rallies led to a multitude of back-and-forth. Set two was tied 13 times; set three was tied 11 times.
CMU's defensive power improved drastically between Friday and Saturday's matches, a goal of Gawlik's to continue improving as the season progresses. With the help of Erickson's four total solo blocks and seven other Chippewas' blocking efforts, CMU out-blocked the Huskies, 10-5. Libero Aly Gurtiza finished with 24 digs, averaging six per set.
"Hopefully it's just a springboard to the rest of the year," Gawlik said. "I thought we got better at it from (Friday); we made improvements in that category; we had said (Friday) night that we had to be a little bit better at counter adjusting to the adjustments that Northern Illinois made.
"I'm really proud of some of our athletes for really stepping up into their first weekend of MAC play. It's a team game and we win or lose as a team. I'm proud of the effort that they were able to stand in there."
The Chippewas (7-7, 1-1 MAC) fell in four sets, 25-14, 23-25, 24-26, 22-25 to Northern Illinois (7-5, 1-1) in the finale of a two-match series at McGuirk Arena.
CMU is scheduled to travel to Read Fieldhouse for a two-match series with rival Western Michigan, starting at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 1.
"Obviously not the result we wanted," CMU coach Mike Gawlik said. "I thought we opened up and played a really great first set, we had contributions from a lot of people in that first set and opened up a pretty big lead."
The Chippewas found a lead early and ran with it in set one, attaining a .591 hitting percentage and holding the Huskies to just .069. Linnea Willer tacked on five of her 16 total kills in the set, while Anna Erickson added four kills and three solo blocks to propel CMU to the win.
While the next three sets did not end in favor of the Chippewas, the fight was strong and at times, lengthy. Long rallies led to a multitude of back-and-forth. Set two was tied 13 times; set three was tied 11 times.
CMU's defensive power improved drastically between Friday and Saturday's matches, a goal of Gawlik's to continue improving as the season progresses. With the help of Erickson's four total solo blocks and seven other Chippewas' blocking efforts, CMU out-blocked the Huskies, 10-5. Libero Aly Gurtiza finished with 24 digs, averaging six per set.
"Hopefully it's just a springboard to the rest of the year," Gawlik said. "I thought we got better at it from (Friday); we made improvements in that category; we had said (Friday) night that we had to be a little bit better at counter adjusting to the adjustments that Northern Illinois made.
"I'm really proud of some of our athletes for really stepping up into their first weekend of MAC play. It's a team game and we win or lose as a team. I'm proud of the effort that they were able to stand in there."
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Team Stats
NIU
CMU
Kills
59
55
Errors
24
15
Attempts
163
152
Hitting %
.215
.263
Points
69
70
Assists
54
52
Aces
5
5
Blocks
5
10
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
16
Aces
3
Blocks
2
Kills
12
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
Opposite/Outside Hitter
/ Volleyball
Libero/Defensive Specialist
/ VolleyballOutside Hitter
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