Volleyball Rallies Past Western Michigan

Friday, November 11

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

6 p.m.

Central Michigan University

17-10,10-6MAC

Western Michigan

16-12,8-8MAC

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Western Mich.	25	25	21	20	11	2
Central Mich.	16	21	25	25	15	3

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

11/11/2022 11:39:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Katherine Schutlz, CMUChippewas.com

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – In front of nearly 1,000 cheering fans donned in white, Central Michigan put on a show on Friday in taking down Western Michigan in an intense five-set Mid-American Conference volleyball battle at McGuirk Arena.

The Chippewas rallied from a two-set deficit – winning 16-25, 21-25, 25-21, 25-20, 15-11 – to improve to 17-10, 10-6. WMU is 16-12, 8-8.

The Chippewas are tied for fourth in the conference standings. The top six teams in the league earn a spot in the conference tournament.

"To be honest, we didn't play great in set one," CMU coach Mike Gawlik said. "We just had to separate that set. We played better in set two, but even being down 2-0, we've got to put ourselves in a position to win set three.

"Our message is the same. If we can find a way to win set three, then we'll worry about set four and set five, but let's try to go up (one set at a time) and put ourselves in a position to get little runs."

WMU's Maggie King delivered 11 kills in set one as the Broncos led 6-1 and then 17-10, prompting CMU timeouts at both junctures. The Chippewas never got closer than eight points the rest of the way.

Despite falling in set two, CMU hit at .361, its best of the night. Mallory Hernandez utilized nine kills and two blocks on the set as the Chippewas pulled within one, 22-21, but fell in the next three points.

Elly Medendorp stepped up to the task with three blocks as the Chippewas put together a fast start in set three, 9-4. Her fourth block of the set, a double block with Hernandez, forced Western's first timeout of the match with the Chippewas leading, 15-8. The Chippewas extended the advantage to 19-11 and then held off a charging Bronco team down the stretch.

A five-point run put the Chippewas on board early in the fourth set, 9-4. WMU pulled within one point, 14-13 but fell at the hands of another eight-point CMU run, 22-13. The Chippewas met set point, 24-14, but would not trigger the fifth set until six points later.

CMU built a 9-3 start in the finale, which prompted both Broncos timeouts. WMU utilized a seven-point stretch to knot the score at 10 before the Chippewas pulled to set point, 14-10, allowing Natalia Rejment to send down the match-winner, 15-11.

Hernandez finished the match with a team-high 25 kills for a .408 hitting percentage, paired with 13 digs and five blocks. Medendorp tallied a team-high seven blocks with nine kills and five digs.

Freshman setter Claire Ammeraal recorded her third triple-double of the season with 10 kills, 45 assists, 13 digs and a career-high five blocks. Sophomore libero Aly Gurtiza finished with 29 digs.