Sunday, September 10
Iowa City, Iowa
12:00 PM
Central Michigan University
5-4,0-0MAC
3
vs
2
Missouri State
4-5,0-0MVC
1
2
3
4
5
F
Missouri St.
23
25
25
21
13
2
Central Mich.
25
22
18
25
15
3
Photo by: Sydney Kline '26 - @sydney.kline.photography
Successful Weekend Ends in Another Five-Set Victory for Volleyball
9/10/2023 4:46:00 PM | Volleyball
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Yet again, the Central Michigan volleyball team found themselves battling it out in five sets as they walked away from the Hawkeye Invitational with a 3-2 victory over Missouri State.
The Chippewas extend their 2023 record to 5-4 while the Bears fall to 4-5 on the young season. Central Michigan leaves Iowa with a 2-1 record after beating Grand Canyon on Saturday night (3-2) and falling to host, Iowa (1-3) on Friday in the tournament opener.
This is the second weekend in a row where the Chippewas have played two five-set games and the Maroon & Gold have been victorious in all four. Central Michigan played this last five-set game missing some players, and with a lot of grit.
In their opening weekend at SEMO, the Chippewas went 0-3, they then rebounded to go 3-0 in their home Chippewa Invitational a week later, then played some solid opponents in the Hawkeye Invitational this past weekend where they won two of their three games, while taking the loss to four sets. On the topic, Head Coach Mike Gawlik said "We struggled in weekend one (at SEMO), then rebounded and played really well in weekend two (Chippewa Invitational) and I think a question mark I had was how are we going to respond in weekend three. I think we did a pretty good job this week staying focused and getting prepared for a chance to play a Big Ten team (Iowa) and what we feel are two other mid-majors who are going to compete for and find a lot of success in their respective leagues."
For the Chippewas, this morning the coaching staff had to get creative for their lineup as they were playing without Natalia Rejment, who is just returning from her Polish National Team season, and Devon Bright and Maddy Gebhardt who were unavailable for this final game in Iowa. "We were tested a bit on our creativity on the drawing board, for our coaching staff. We had to utilize some people in positions where they don't get a lot of reps and with short notice…I really appreciated our athletes' openness to thinking outside of the box and and trusting us with some new ideas as we figured things out."
Stepping up and having a career day for the Chippewas was junior outside hitter, Lauren Schrock. Schrock surpassed a previous career high of 12 kills, with 18 (.275) in the match against the Bears and did it in front of her home crowd. A native of Mount Vernon, Iowa, 30 minutes north of the University of Iowa, Schrock had the opportunity to play in front of a large number of family members and close friends who do not get to see her play typically with the schedule the Chippewas play in, primarily in the northern mid-west.
"I think Lauren had a really great day." said Coach Gawlik, "she was playing in the role she was in today, previously, but I think she upped her productivity. She hit for a high percentage, killed 18 balls, one of which was the match point swing in this last game, when we needed a big swing out of her."
Krystina Kasson had another outstanding day for the Chippewas as she walked away from the Missouri State victory with 11 kills (.206), two digs and two blocks. "Kasson had a big weekend for us. She may have cooled off a bit today, but I think that is partly because teams were all over her – knowing how hot she was for us in the other two games this weekend. When people are dedicating blockers towards one player, that limits their productivity, but I think our middles stepped up and helped in that scenario today when Kass was just being targeted by Missouri States block."
Abby Olin was playing as a pin hitter today for the Chippewas, which is not new to Olin but is new to her role as a Chippewa. Olin, a transfer from Michigan State, was an outside hitter for the Spartans, but came to CMU to be a middle blocker. As the lineup shifted for the Chippewas, Olin stepped into the Missouri State game and did what her team needed her to do. "Abby came into the game, after never training on the left side, and killed nine balls in three sets – and hit .300 if you only look at her left side swings." Coach Gawlik highlighted, "…so for somebody, who has quite literally never hit a left side ball, outside of set three today, for our roster, I just think that was a big step-up moment."
Posting her fourth career triple-double, and first of the season, was sophomore setter, Claire Ammeraal. Ammeraal finished the win with 11 kills, 52 assists and 13 digs. "Claire is a younger player for us, but she is someone who handled all of the changes we were throwing at her with new people in new positions today, with a lot of composure and poise. We hit for such a great percentage last night against Grand Canyon but kept our head above water today with some adversity, that is such the norm for us with an elite player in her position, that we almost forget about the triple double because of the other great things she is doing in game for us. She just had a really great presence for us all weekend."
The nuggets, as the Chippewa Volleyball program calls them, of their defensive specialists, also stepped up and contributed in a large way when they were needed today. Aly Gurtiza, not new to the court, dug 22 balls, and tallied five assists. Outside of the Chippewas mainstay libero, Emma Dukate, Kayla Brandon and Alina Anderson stepped up and aided Central Michigan in a big way in the afternoon game. "We had all three defenders playing the entire match because we felt we needed a little bit of passing help. They just really stuck with it. All in all, it was a team win, but we couldn't have done it without our nuggets in that one."
Dukate dug a career high 13 balls in the match and recorded an ace, Brandon dug a CMU high 10 as well, and Anderson added two aces to the column today for the Chippewas.
Up Next:
The Chippewas will shift their focus to their final non-conference tournament as they head to Green Bay, Wisconsin for the Green Bay Invite hosted by the Phoenix. In Wisconsin, Central Michigan will face St. Thomas (MN), South Dakota, and host Green Bay. Illinois State will also be at the tournament but the RedBirds and Chippewas will not face off.
However, the main focus for the Mike Galwlik and his squad is health. "We haven't even given a second thought to Green Bay just yet, but we will do that from the standpoint of our coaching staff, there are a number of things to work on to get better, but first and foremost we have to fix our bodies and get healthy. We have to recover, get home, and also toggle the academic stress for our athletes."
Central Michigan will open the Green Bay Invite on Thursday, September 14th at 6 PM when they face Saint Thomas.
The Chippewas extend their 2023 record to 5-4 while the Bears fall to 4-5 on the young season. Central Michigan leaves Iowa with a 2-1 record after beating Grand Canyon on Saturday night (3-2) and falling to host, Iowa (1-3) on Friday in the tournament opener.
This is the second weekend in a row where the Chippewas have played two five-set games and the Maroon & Gold have been victorious in all four. Central Michigan played this last five-set game missing some players, and with a lot of grit.
In their opening weekend at SEMO, the Chippewas went 0-3, they then rebounded to go 3-0 in their home Chippewa Invitational a week later, then played some solid opponents in the Hawkeye Invitational this past weekend where they won two of their three games, while taking the loss to four sets. On the topic, Head Coach Mike Gawlik said "We struggled in weekend one (at SEMO), then rebounded and played really well in weekend two (Chippewa Invitational) and I think a question mark I had was how are we going to respond in weekend three. I think we did a pretty good job this week staying focused and getting prepared for a chance to play a Big Ten team (Iowa) and what we feel are two other mid-majors who are going to compete for and find a lot of success in their respective leagues."
For the Chippewas, this morning the coaching staff had to get creative for their lineup as they were playing without Natalia Rejment, who is just returning from her Polish National Team season, and Devon Bright and Maddy Gebhardt who were unavailable for this final game in Iowa. "We were tested a bit on our creativity on the drawing board, for our coaching staff. We had to utilize some people in positions where they don't get a lot of reps and with short notice…I really appreciated our athletes' openness to thinking outside of the box and and trusting us with some new ideas as we figured things out."
Stepping up and having a career day for the Chippewas was junior outside hitter, Lauren Schrock. Schrock surpassed a previous career high of 12 kills, with 18 (.275) in the match against the Bears and did it in front of her home crowd. A native of Mount Vernon, Iowa, 30 minutes north of the University of Iowa, Schrock had the opportunity to play in front of a large number of family members and close friends who do not get to see her play typically with the schedule the Chippewas play in, primarily in the northern mid-west.
"I think Lauren had a really great day." said Coach Gawlik, "she was playing in the role she was in today, previously, but I think she upped her productivity. She hit for a high percentage, killed 18 balls, one of which was the match point swing in this last game, when we needed a big swing out of her."
Krystina Kasson had another outstanding day for the Chippewas as she walked away from the Missouri State victory with 11 kills (.206), two digs and two blocks. "Kasson had a big weekend for us. She may have cooled off a bit today, but I think that is partly because teams were all over her – knowing how hot she was for us in the other two games this weekend. When people are dedicating blockers towards one player, that limits their productivity, but I think our middles stepped up and helped in that scenario today when Kass was just being targeted by Missouri States block."
Abby Olin was playing as a pin hitter today for the Chippewas, which is not new to Olin but is new to her role as a Chippewa. Olin, a transfer from Michigan State, was an outside hitter for the Spartans, but came to CMU to be a middle blocker. As the lineup shifted for the Chippewas, Olin stepped into the Missouri State game and did what her team needed her to do. "Abby came into the game, after never training on the left side, and killed nine balls in three sets – and hit .300 if you only look at her left side swings." Coach Gawlik highlighted, "…so for somebody, who has quite literally never hit a left side ball, outside of set three today, for our roster, I just think that was a big step-up moment."
Posting her fourth career triple-double, and first of the season, was sophomore setter, Claire Ammeraal. Ammeraal finished the win with 11 kills, 52 assists and 13 digs. "Claire is a younger player for us, but she is someone who handled all of the changes we were throwing at her with new people in new positions today, with a lot of composure and poise. We hit for such a great percentage last night against Grand Canyon but kept our head above water today with some adversity, that is such the norm for us with an elite player in her position, that we almost forget about the triple double because of the other great things she is doing in game for us. She just had a really great presence for us all weekend."
The nuggets, as the Chippewa Volleyball program calls them, of their defensive specialists, also stepped up and contributed in a large way when they were needed today. Aly Gurtiza, not new to the court, dug 22 balls, and tallied five assists. Outside of the Chippewas mainstay libero, Emma Dukate, Kayla Brandon and Alina Anderson stepped up and aided Central Michigan in a big way in the afternoon game. "We had all three defenders playing the entire match because we felt we needed a little bit of passing help. They just really stuck with it. All in all, it was a team win, but we couldn't have done it without our nuggets in that one."
Dukate dug a career high 13 balls in the match and recorded an ace, Brandon dug a CMU high 10 as well, and Anderson added two aces to the column today for the Chippewas.
Up Next:
The Chippewas will shift their focus to their final non-conference tournament as they head to Green Bay, Wisconsin for the Green Bay Invite hosted by the Phoenix. In Wisconsin, Central Michigan will face St. Thomas (MN), South Dakota, and host Green Bay. Illinois State will also be at the tournament but the RedBirds and Chippewas will not face off.
However, the main focus for the Mike Galwlik and his squad is health. "We haven't even given a second thought to Green Bay just yet, but we will do that from the standpoint of our coaching staff, there are a number of things to work on to get better, but first and foremost we have to fix our bodies and get healthy. We have to recover, get home, and also toggle the academic stress for our athletes."
Central Michigan will open the Green Bay Invite on Thursday, September 14th at 6 PM when they face Saint Thomas.
Team Stats
MOST
CMU
Kills
55
71
Errors
23
31
Attempts
172
182
Hitting %
.186
.220
Points
76.5
84.0
Assists
45
61
Aces
12
6
Blocks
9.5
7
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
18
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
11
Aces
1
Blocks
4
Players Mentioned
S
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