DeWeese has Career Night as Volleyball Grabs Second MAC Win

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- Determined not to leave the weekend empty handed, Central Michigan Volleyball (8-9, 2-3) took down Toledo (5-10, 3-1) via the sweep on Sunday, splitting their home series with the Rockets.

Each of the three sets were closely contested as the Chippewas took them 25-23, 28-26 and 27-25. Coach Mike Gawlik was understandably pleased with his team's bounce back effort after yesterday's loss.

"You always need that mental reset, especially when you're on the losing end," Gawlik said. "Win or lose, we try to be the same about 'hey, just reset. We're gonna try to go 1-0 today and not carry the ball and chain of yesterday.'"

CMU benefited from a handful of standout performances, but one in particular that stood out was the one of senior middle blocker Austyn DeWeese. Making her first career start, DeWeese registered six kills and five block assists - both of which are career highs.

DeWeese's career at CMU has seen its share of adversity, and Sunday's performance was a shining example of a player who has managed to overcome obstacles to make a meaningful impact on winning.

"Austyn is a great player who has unfortunately had limitations to what her career path might have looked like when I talked to her as a recruit," Gawlik said. "It's just so different than maybe she had mapped out, but I'm really proud of Austyn. You have this decision to make when you're hurt, especially going into your senior year. You have a decision to make whether you're going to be mentally engaged or not. Are you gonna kind of float away from the group and be like 'ahh this is just unlucky' or are you gonna stay involved in what we do. Even throughout her injury, Austyn has been a presence in our gym helping out some younger middle blockers around her at times."

"It feels really good," DeWeese said of her opportunity today. "It feels like all the work and recovery I put in from my injury, it just felt so good to finally have that pay off in the end. To get my time on the court. Coming in my freshman year I knew I wasn't going to play right away, so I just had to settle into the role I had and working hard at practice. I was definitely behind our other middles who played at a higher level than me. But just coming and accepting my role where I was, giving the support to my teammates, and when my number was called, just kicking butt."

Set one saw the Chippewas come out of the gate a bit slow, scoring just one of the set's first five points and trailing Toledo all the way up until they evened the score at 15. Once tied up, CMU outscored Toledo 13-10 to claim its first-set victory.

Senior middle blocker Elly Medendorp led the way for CMU with five of her team-leading 13 kills in the first set, matching her tally from yesterday and leaving the weekend with 26 kills. Medendorp left the afternoon hitting .706 on the day and was one kill away from a career high.

"We were pretty fired up," Medendorp said. "One of our goals was to come out strong and stay strong. I think we did a really good job of that today. Just staying consistent and getting refocused when emotions got the best of us."

The Chippewas maintained consistency through each set, cruising to a hitting percentage of .294 on the day, while registering just 11 errors to Toledo's 22. CMU also out-blocked the Rockets ten to four, five of which came in the final set.

Sophomore setter Claire Ammeraal chipped in her usual production in the form of 35 assists, seven digs and a trio of kills. Junior libero Aly Gurtiza finished with a team-high 11 digs of her own.

CMU will hit the road next as it travels to Buffalo to play the Bulls on Thursday, October 5th at 6:00 p.m. ET.

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Team Stats

Elly Medendorp

Abby Olin

Maddy Gebhardt

Austyn DeWeese

Players Mentioned

Claire Ammeraal

Austyn DeWeese

Aly Gurtiza

Elly Medendorp

Players Mentioned

Claire Ammeraal

Austyn DeWeese

Aly Gurtiza

Elly Medendorp