Big Win for Volleyball Over Bowling Green on Volleyween

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- Central Michigan Volleyball celebrated its 'Volleyween' night in style with a win on Friday over Bowling Green, cashing in its third straight victory.

The Falcons (12-12, 6-7) took the Chippewas (11-13, 5-7) to five sets, but CMU held strong and finished the job. It had set wins of 25-16 in the first set, 25-21 in the fourth set and capped off the fifth set with a 15-11 victory.

In fact, the match marked the first time CMU had won a set against BGSU in the schools' last five meetings. Additionally, before Friday's win the Falcons had won the last seven matches, as well as 10 of the last 11 meetings.

"It feels good," coach Mike Gawlik said of the win. "We talked about turning the page between the first half of conference play and the second half last week. We said with seven of nine at that time being at home, we know that we play well in McGuirk. We play well in front of our home fans. The schedule goes the way it does, playing on the road as much as we did the first half. So, to win two last weekend's then win today, really after getting waxed in set three. Our response to say 'hey, we're not going anywhere and we're not backing down' within matches, our season, and MAC play. We know that we always feel good going into a fifth set and I just loved how aggressive we were."

Junior outside hitter Lauren Schrock got the Chippewas going with a strong start to the match, logging six kills in set one while hitting .455. While initially quite close, CMU parlayed a 5-0 run into an 11-4 lead after the first 15 points of the set. It led by as much as 10, ultimately hitting .393 in the match opener.

"I feel like a big part of it is we didn't know any of those stats and I don't think it mattered who was across the net tonight," Schrock said, referring to the previously mentioned head-to-head stats between CMU and BGSU.

Schrock had 18 kills on the night, leading the Chippewas and falling one shy of her career high.

"I feel like it's really easy to do when I have teammates and a coaching staff like I do," Schrock said of her performance. "It feels very rewarding turning around and seeing a smile on people's faces and knowing that they support you 100 percent. That's what really drives me to be aggressive, knowing that everyone on the team has my back."

As Gawlik mentioned, CMU has great faith in itself when faced with a fifth set. Composure and reliance on each other rather than individual efforts provide the key to this confidence.

"Looking at our sets, obviously we had some low points," sophomore setter Claire Ammeraal said. "That's when I feel like it kind of becomes individual. So, when we're really playing as a team and we're able to look at each other and be like 'yes, you got this next one. I'm gonna help you get this next one. If you're gonna hit it, I'm gonna cover you. If you're gonna go up to block, I'm playing defense behind you.'"

Ammeraal was a key to the Chippewas' performance. She led the way with 39 assists, while logging five additional kills and three blocks. Junior opposite Krystina Kasson led CMU with four blocks, while junior libero Aly Gurtiza chipped in a team-high 17 digs.

Central Michigan only recorded four service errors on the five-set night, all four of them coming in the second set. "We missed for serves in that set." said Gawlik, "We want to be aggressive from the service line, that may have cost us a bit in that set, a highly contested set – but we were playing well and attacking well."

Bowling Green was led by sophomore outside hitter, Lauryn Hovey. Hovey charted 32 kills on the night – 3 shy of the program record for BGSU in five sets. On the topic, Gawlik said "Hovey is legit."

The Chippewas return to McGuirk on Saturday (Oct. 28) to face off against Miami (Ohio). The match is slated to start at 4 p.m. ET, and will be CMU's 'Dig Pink' themed game.

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Team Stats

Lauren Schrock

Krystina Kasson

Elly Medendorp

Claire Ammeraal

Players Mentioned

Claire Ammeraal

Aly Gurtiza

Krystina Kasson

Lauren Schrock

Players Mentioned

Claire Ammeraal

Aly Gurtiza

Krystina Kasson

Lauren Schrock