Saturday, September 2
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
3:00 PM
Central Michigan University
3-3,0-0MAC
3
vs
2
Bradley
4-2,0-0MVC
1
2
3
4
5
F
Bradley
25
29
25
21
9
2
Central Mich.
21
31
22
25
15
3
Photo by: Sydney Kline '26 - @sydney.kline.photography
A Weekend Worth Celebrating for Chippewa Volleyball
9/2/2023 7:40:00 PM | Volleyball
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – A weekend turnaround into territory that is not uncommon for Central Michigan Volleyball.
Central Michigan went 3-0 in the 2023 Chippewa Invitational hosted in McGuirk Arena this past weekend. The Chippewas defeated UAlbany and Saint Louis on day one, and finished the weekend with a second five-set thriller victory over Bradley.
The Chippewas move to 3-3 on the season as they prepare for the Hawkeye Invitational hosted by Iowa, September 8-10.
Breaking Down the Victory Over Bradley
If there is one thing CMU Volleyball knows how to do, it is keep you on the edge of your seat. That is exactly what the Chippewas did in their 3-2 victory over Bradley to close out the Chippewa Invitational.
In set one, the Chippewas and Braves battled it out, but the Chippewas were ultimately victorious 25-21 to open the afternoon with a breath of fresh air.
Said fresh air did not stay in their lungs long though.
The second set was a battle at set point for 16 different possessions, where CMU again, was victorious, 31-29. The 2-0 lead for the Chippewas had the arena ready for a sweep, but Bradley had other plans.
Sets three and four, were won by the Braves (22-25, 21-25) but that was not enough to count out Mike Gawlik and his Chippewa squad.
This was the second game in a row where the Chippewas led 2-0 and had to battle to win in five sets.
The fifth set, Central Michigan won 15-9 which ultimately left them undefeated on the weekend in McGuirk.
Saturday Stars
On the final day of the Chippewa Invitational, Central Michigan was led by transfer, Abby Olin. Olin finished the day with 13 kills (.357), blocked 12 balls and scored 20 points for the Chippewas. The Coopersville native is someone who has come to CMU and clicked with the program from day 1. "Since I came in this past January, the team has welcomed me, and they did it immediately. I have never felt like I was an outsider, there was never any issue with me being a transfer and not meshing with the girls, they brought me right in. That makes us so much better on the court as we can click and just be one unit."
Olin led all players on the day with 13 kills, and is also someone who is transitioning into a new position as a collegiate athlete at Central Michigan. She was training as a pin hitter at Michigan State before coming to CMU where she is a middle blocker. Olin said, "it always feels really good to go out and have a great game, but it is not just my swings that make the points. It is the great digs, the great sets and the hard work in transition that set those swings up."
Elly Medendorp made her senior year debut in McGuirk Arena this weekend, and she did not disappoint. Medendorp finished with 9 kills (.421) and 2 blocks in the victory over Bradley.
Stepping into her senior year, Medendorp has taken on a leadership role on the floor that she thinks is benefitting her game on many fronts. "I am really embracing the senior role this year, this being my opening weekend, it was a pretty big deal for me. I went out there and tried to show everyone that we are a good team and we have the confidence and pieces to make us a great team. I think we just really pulled it together this weekend and came out prepared."
Everyone Contributes
The Chippewas had their big hitter and blocker in Olin, but plenty of other players impacted the outcome of the Bradley win.
Devon Bright, a transfer from Nicholls State, tied the CMU program record for aces in a 5-set game with 7. On the weekend overall, Bright had 9 aces.
Aly Gurtiza racked up 23 digs as the junior libero continued to be a defensive force for the Chippewas, while also assisting on 6 balls to help her team offensively as well.
Claire Ammeraal notched her fourth double-double of the season with 36 assists and 20 digs. Ammeraal also had 3 blocks and 7 kills for CMU.
Maddy Gebhardt, a sophomore from Montrose, Mich. killed 11 balls for the Chippewas and had 8 digs.
Win 101, Blocking Improved and The New Challenge Lies Ahead
Eighth year head coach Mike Gawlik charted his 101st win in the victory over Bradley and also won with improvements from his team this weekend.
The Chippewas, who were 0-3 at the SEMO Invitational a week ago, spent the week of practice focused on blocking and growing in that area as a team. Central Michigan, a historically defensive and gritty team, charted 32 blocks over the 13 sets played, compared to the 22 in the weekend prior. Not just the blocked balls were important to grow on, but overall net presence.
On the topic, Coach Gawlik said "We come into this weekend 0-3, but I don't feel like there were a ton of areas we were deficient in or needed to fix, but one of those areas we did need to improve on was blocking. We focused on that all week at practice…we had a lot of athletes that were incredibly coachable and were open to being vulnerable to seeing video and working on some things that maybe they didn't like. We made some big changes this week, that comes down to our athletes work ethics…our blocking came up big in some big moments for us in both set 5's this weekend."
The thing that was emphasized in the benefit of blocking for the team was the impact the balls that are not completely blocked have on the defense. "It is not just the balls we shove down. It is such a momentum swing when we do get those big blocks, but it also disrupts future attacks by other players when they have been blocked." Said Coach Gawlik, "when you know that block is present, you change up your style to try and avoid it, and we (Central Michigan) can ultimately capitalize on that."
The Chippewas next head to Iowa to face three tough opponents in Missouri State, Grand Canyon, and the host, Iowa. "It feels good to win, always, but it more the growth of the team that I am proud of. This is coach speak, but winning and losing is only one metric to use to decide if we are growing. It is not the sole metric that we use…seeing improvement, being coachable and making changes are all a part of that growth in the team."
All-Tournament Team Honors for Central Michigan
The Chippewas named three players to the All-Tournament team for the 2023 Chippewa Invitational.
Those players were:
Central Michigan will face the Iowa Hawkeyes at 7 pm (ET) on Friday, September 8th in Iowa City, they will then play Grand Canyon at 4 pm( (ET) on the 9th and close out the trip with Missouri State on the 10th at 12 pm (ET)
Central Michigan went 3-0 in the 2023 Chippewa Invitational hosted in McGuirk Arena this past weekend. The Chippewas defeated UAlbany and Saint Louis on day one, and finished the weekend with a second five-set thriller victory over Bradley.
The Chippewas move to 3-3 on the season as they prepare for the Hawkeye Invitational hosted by Iowa, September 8-10.
Breaking Down the Victory Over Bradley
If there is one thing CMU Volleyball knows how to do, it is keep you on the edge of your seat. That is exactly what the Chippewas did in their 3-2 victory over Bradley to close out the Chippewa Invitational.
In set one, the Chippewas and Braves battled it out, but the Chippewas were ultimately victorious 25-21 to open the afternoon with a breath of fresh air.
Said fresh air did not stay in their lungs long though.
The second set was a battle at set point for 16 different possessions, where CMU again, was victorious, 31-29. The 2-0 lead for the Chippewas had the arena ready for a sweep, but Bradley had other plans.
Sets three and four, were won by the Braves (22-25, 21-25) but that was not enough to count out Mike Gawlik and his Chippewa squad.
This was the second game in a row where the Chippewas led 2-0 and had to battle to win in five sets.
The fifth set, Central Michigan won 15-9 which ultimately left them undefeated on the weekend in McGuirk.
Saturday Stars
On the final day of the Chippewa Invitational, Central Michigan was led by transfer, Abby Olin. Olin finished the day with 13 kills (.357), blocked 12 balls and scored 20 points for the Chippewas. The Coopersville native is someone who has come to CMU and clicked with the program from day 1. "Since I came in this past January, the team has welcomed me, and they did it immediately. I have never felt like I was an outsider, there was never any issue with me being a transfer and not meshing with the girls, they brought me right in. That makes us so much better on the court as we can click and just be one unit."
Olin led all players on the day with 13 kills, and is also someone who is transitioning into a new position as a collegiate athlete at Central Michigan. She was training as a pin hitter at Michigan State before coming to CMU where she is a middle blocker. Olin said, "it always feels really good to go out and have a great game, but it is not just my swings that make the points. It is the great digs, the great sets and the hard work in transition that set those swings up."
Elly Medendorp made her senior year debut in McGuirk Arena this weekend, and she did not disappoint. Medendorp finished with 9 kills (.421) and 2 blocks in the victory over Bradley.
Stepping into her senior year, Medendorp has taken on a leadership role on the floor that she thinks is benefitting her game on many fronts. "I am really embracing the senior role this year, this being my opening weekend, it was a pretty big deal for me. I went out there and tried to show everyone that we are a good team and we have the confidence and pieces to make us a great team. I think we just really pulled it together this weekend and came out prepared."
Everyone Contributes
The Chippewas had their big hitter and blocker in Olin, but plenty of other players impacted the outcome of the Bradley win.
Devon Bright, a transfer from Nicholls State, tied the CMU program record for aces in a 5-set game with 7. On the weekend overall, Bright had 9 aces.
Aly Gurtiza racked up 23 digs as the junior libero continued to be a defensive force for the Chippewas, while also assisting on 6 balls to help her team offensively as well.
Claire Ammeraal notched her fourth double-double of the season with 36 assists and 20 digs. Ammeraal also had 3 blocks and 7 kills for CMU.
Maddy Gebhardt, a sophomore from Montrose, Mich. killed 11 balls for the Chippewas and had 8 digs.
Win 101, Blocking Improved and The New Challenge Lies Ahead
Eighth year head coach Mike Gawlik charted his 101st win in the victory over Bradley and also won with improvements from his team this weekend.
The Chippewas, who were 0-3 at the SEMO Invitational a week ago, spent the week of practice focused on blocking and growing in that area as a team. Central Michigan, a historically defensive and gritty team, charted 32 blocks over the 13 sets played, compared to the 22 in the weekend prior. Not just the blocked balls were important to grow on, but overall net presence.
On the topic, Coach Gawlik said "We come into this weekend 0-3, but I don't feel like there were a ton of areas we were deficient in or needed to fix, but one of those areas we did need to improve on was blocking. We focused on that all week at practice…we had a lot of athletes that were incredibly coachable and were open to being vulnerable to seeing video and working on some things that maybe they didn't like. We made some big changes this week, that comes down to our athletes work ethics…our blocking came up big in some big moments for us in both set 5's this weekend."
The thing that was emphasized in the benefit of blocking for the team was the impact the balls that are not completely blocked have on the defense. "It is not just the balls we shove down. It is such a momentum swing when we do get those big blocks, but it also disrupts future attacks by other players when they have been blocked." Said Coach Gawlik, "when you know that block is present, you change up your style to try and avoid it, and we (Central Michigan) can ultimately capitalize on that."
The Chippewas next head to Iowa to face three tough opponents in Missouri State, Grand Canyon, and the host, Iowa. "It feels good to win, always, but it more the growth of the team that I am proud of. This is coach speak, but winning and losing is only one metric to use to decide if we are growing. It is not the sole metric that we use…seeing improvement, being coachable and making changes are all a part of that growth in the team."
All-Tournament Team Honors for Central Michigan
The Chippewas named three players to the All-Tournament team for the 2023 Chippewa Invitational.
Those players were:
- Claire Ammeraal – also named Tournament MVP
- Krystina Kasson
- Abby Olin
Central Michigan will face the Iowa Hawkeyes at 7 pm (ET) on Friday, September 8th in Iowa City, they will then play Grand Canyon at 4 pm( (ET) on the 9th and close out the trip with Missouri State on the 10th at 12 pm (ET)
Team Stats
BRAD
CMU
Kills
55
59
Errors
31
22
Attempts
168
173
Hitting %
.143
.214
Points
79.0
85.0
Assists
48
51
Aces
14
11
Blocks
10
15
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
11
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
7
Players Mentioned
S
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