Volleyball Welcomes Four Transfers to Team in 2023 Season

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — Following a 2022 campaign highlighted with a return to the Mid-American Conference Tournament, Central Michigan University Volleyball enters the 2023 tour with four new Chippewas that will adorn the Maroon and Gold for the first time
Entering the 2023 season, the Chippewas will only have four new faces, all transfers:

Devon Bright, a 5'8" outside hitter graduate transfer from Milton, Ga. (Nicholls State)
Abby Olin, a 6'3" middle blocker/outside hitter redshirt-sophomore from Coopersville, Mich. (Michigan State)
Alina Anderson, 5'9" defensive specialist/libero a sophomore from Rockford, Mich. (Ferris State)
Brooklyn Conner, 6'3" middle blocker a sophomore from Ada, Mich. (Clemson)

Olin comes to CMU as a redshirt-sophomore, Anderson and Conner enter as Sophomores, but all three come to Mount Pleasant with three seasons of eligibility left.

The Chippewas return four of seven starters from the 2022 season: Natalia Rejment, Aly Gurtiza, Claire Ammeraal and Elly Medendorp.

The senior class consists of four players: Medendorp, Bright, Kayla Brandon and Austyn DeWeese.

Medendorp appeared in 117 sets in the 2022 season, finishing second on the team with 120 blocks. Hitting .268 to end the 2022 campaign, she enters as the lone senior who has consistently seen the lineup in the previous season.
Bright, the Nicholls State transfer joins Central Michigan after facing the Chippewas with the Colonels and recorded 15 kills with the she faced the Chippewas in August of 2022.
Brandon, who made an appearance in 70 sets in her first season as a Chippewa. The Parkland College transfer and 2021 NJCAA National Champion, recorded nine service aces in 2022 and 38 digs.
DeWeese rounds out the senior class and missed the 2022 season due to injury; the Kingsley, Mich.-native appeared in nine sets in the 2021 season and recorded 12 kills.

Central Michigan's junior class consists of four players, Gurtiza, Lauren Schrock, Krystina Kasson and Linnea Willer.

Gurtiza enters the 2023 season as the single season dig record holder with 637 in her sophomore year. Ranking seventh in career digs after only two seasons, Gurtiza is 924 digs away from breaking the all-time career digs record.
Schrock made an appearance in 4 sets in the 2022 season and 17 in her freshman campaign.
Kasson has played in 90 sets in her two seasons as a Chippewa, racking up 133 kills and 32 blocks.
Willer comes into the season having played in 183 sets over the past two seasons recording 276 kills and 40 blocks.
Gurtiza and Willer will serve as 2023 co-captains for the Chippewas.

Incoming as either sophomores or redshirt-sophomore for the Chippewas are Rejment, Ammeraal, Maddy Gebhardt, Allie Korba, Ella Peter, Emma Dukate, Anderson, Olin and Conner.

Coming back from Poland for her second year, Rejment spent the summer playing with the Polish U-21 National Team. Rejment was named to the All-Freshman Team in the MAC for the 2022 season.
Ammerall returns as the setter for the Chippewas after she recorded three triple-doubles in the 2022 season, earned First Team All-MAC and a spot on the All-Freshman Team.
After playing in 12 sets in the 2022 season, Gebhardt returns for her second season as a Chippewa.
Korba, who appeared in five sets in the 2022 season also returns as a setter for the Maroon and Gold.
In the 2022 season, Peter played in three sets as a middle blocker for the Chippewas and returns for her sophomore campaign.
Dukate did not see the floor in the 2022 season after three sets after battling injury for the remainder of the season. The setter from Sylvania, Ohio will report healthy for the 2023 season.
Coming into her first season as a Chippewa, Anderson comes to Mt. Pleasant after playing in 137 sets in her freshman season at Ferris State.
Leaving East Lansing after two seasons, Olin comes to Central Michigan with three years left to play. Olin appeared in 9 sets in 2022 and totaled 10 kills and 2 blocks.
Coming back home to Michigan, the Clemson transfer in Conner also retains three seasons of eligibility. After appearing in eight matches in her freshman season, Conner looks to make an impact as she reunites with an old teammate on her new squad.

Reunion Tour
Alina Anderson and Brooklyn Conner are reuniting as teammates for this season as Chippewas. The two West Michigan natives played for the Michigan Volleyball Academy together when they were 15 years old until 18 years old. Growing up about a half hour from each other, the common high school opponents in the OK Conference represent the west side of Michigan as Central Michigan Chippewas, along with fellow Grand Rapids area native, Abby Olin.

Olin, who went to Coopersville for her high school tenure also was a member of the OK Conference with the MHSAA.

Welcome Aboard…
For complete biographic information on each of the four newcomers, follow the links embedded within the listed names or visit the 2023 roster available at CMUChippewas.com.

All four incoming transfers listed below, alphabetically, with linked bios:

Alina Anderson (Rockford, Michigan/Rockford) from Ferris State University
Devon Bright (Milton, Georgia/Milton High School) from Nicholls State University
Brooklyn Conner (Ada, Michigan/Forest Hills Central High School) from Clemson
Abby Olin (Coopersville, Michigan/Coopersville High School) from Michigan State

The 2023 campaign begins with an exhibition matches against the Northern Michigan (Aug. 19) on Mackinac Island, with the regular season starting at the SEMO Invitational where the Chippewas will face Southern Illinois, Evansville, and host SEMO (Aug. 25-26) the full schedule can be found at CMUChippewas.com, or at the link at the top of this release.

Players Mentioned

Claire Ammeraal

Alina Anderson

Kayla Brandon

Devon Bright

Brooklyn Conner

Austyn DeWeese

Emma Dukate

Maddy Gebhardt

Aly Gurtiza

Krystina Kasson

Allie Korba

Elly Medendorp

Abby Olin

Ella Peter

Natalia Rejment

Lauren Schrock

Linnea Willer

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