Volleyball's Win Streak Ends With Loss At Buffalo

Saturday, October 29

Buffalo, N.Y.

4 p.m.

Central Michigan University

15-9,8-5MAC

Buffalo

15-10,7-6MAC

Central Mich.

Buffalo

Senior Maddie Whitfield set a CMU five-set program record with 12 blocks on Saturday in the Chippewas' loss at Buffalo.

Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw

10/29/2022 9:23:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Katherine Schultz, CMUChippewas.com

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Central Michigan volleyball team fell just short in its bid for a five-game win streak on Saturday as it fell in five sets to Buffalo in a Mid-American Conference game at the Bulls' Alumni Arena.

CMU is 15-9, 8-5 MAC. Buffalo, which extended its win streak to four, is 15-10, 7-6.

After a 25-19 win in set one, the Chippewas fell in a 26-24 second set but moved ahead again in set three, 25-17. Buffalo tied the match in a 25-16 fourth and in a gritty, 17-15 fifth set, came away with the win.

The Chippewas finished with a .156 hitting percentage on the evening to the Bulls' .196. CMU posted eight aces and a season-high 21 blocks, spearheaded by Maddie Whitfield's record-breaking 12.

A five-point Bulls run disrupted the Chippewas' hot start in set one and though CMU led, 18-14, forced a timeout. Buffalo pulled within one, 20-19, as the Chippewas topped it off with a five-point surge of their own for the set.

Despite hitting .022 in the second set, Buffalo jumped out to a 13-8 lead before CMU took over on a five-point jump to tie the score. The teams went down to the wire and knotted the score eight more times, 24-24, prompting the Bulls' final points to tie the match.

The Chippewas jumped out to a 13-6 lead in set three and surged to lead by double digits, 20-10. Buffalo never got closer than five points the rest of the set.

CMU trailed by as many as four points through a majority of the fourth set. In a 16-15 Chippewas deficit, the Bulls prompted the tiebreaker on a 9-1 streak.

A rocky start in the finale put the Chippewas in dangerous waters at Buffalo match point, 14-8. Four blocks, a Natalia Rejment ace, and a pair of kills from Mallory Hernandez put CMU up, 15-14, but the Chippewas came up just short as the Bulls went ahead with the final three points for the win.

Whitfield, Rejment and Anna Erickson each tallied double-doubles for the Chippewas.

Erickson led with a team-high 15 kills, paired with 10 digs and six blocks. Rejment finished with three aces and 23 digs as she and Hernandez tallied 11 kills each.

Whitfield posted 10 kills and made a career-high 12 total blocks, which broke the CMU record for total blocks in a five-set.

Elly Medendorp finished with a team-high .300 hitting percentage as she finished with seven kills on 20 attempts and eight blocks.

Freshman setter Claire Ammeraal contributed a career-high 47 assists while Aly Gurtiza made a career-high 33 digs and led CMU with four aces.

The Chippewas are scheduled to play at Northern Illinois in a two-match MAC series beginning on Friday, Nov. 7 at the Huskies' Victor E. Court. NIU is 14-9, 7-6 MAC after falling to Ohio in straight sets on Saturday.