Tuesday, September 26
Ypsilanti, Mich.
6:00 PM
Central Michigan University
7-8,1-2MAC
3
at
2
Eastern Michigan
2-13,0-3MAC
1
2
3
4
5
F
Central Mich.
25
24
22
25
18
3
Eastern Mich.
15
26
25
21
16
2
Photo by: Julia Bice '22,M'24 - @jb.jpg10
Volleyball Grabs First MAC Win of the Year in Thriller Over Eastern Michigan
9/26/2023 10:19:00 PM | Volleyball
YPSILANTI, Mich. – No better way to spend a Tuesday night than battling in a gym? None, if you ask the Central Michigan Volleyball team. The Chippewas defeated the Eastern Michigan Eagles in five sets to grab their first win of the 2023 Mid-American Conference Season.
Central Michigan advances to 7-8 overall and 1-2 in MAC play while Eastern Michigan falls to 2-13 overall and 0-3 in the MAC.
Head Coach Mike Gawlik believes that this was a gritty win for his team. "Winning on the road in any conference is challenging. Any win on the road is a good win. Bouncing back from Ball State, after being swept in both matches, showed us that we needed to play better in a lot of areas. I think we addressed those areas in practice on Sunday and Monday and really just got back to work. Even though tonight wasn't perfect, I think we did a good job on some of the things we wanted to be better at, and with that we put ourselves in a position to be in the match."
Next, the Chippewas will play at home for the first time in 9 games when they face MAC foe, Toledo, Saturday at 7 p.m. in McGuirk Arena.
Here is how the five-set game unfolded in Ypsilanti:
The Chippewas were victorious in set one, 25-15. The team killed 12 balls, hitting .229 in the opening set, and holding the Eagles to a -0.86 hitting percentage. A set that started back and forth, ultimately broke open in favor of the Maroon & Gold when the Chippewas went on a 7-1 run starting at 11-11. The Chippewas would close the first set with a 14-4 run to grab their first set win of the Mid-American Conference season.
Sets two and three went to the Eagles (24-26 and 22-25) although both were battles. In set two, Central Michigan hit .116 compared to Eastern Michigan's .279 – the Chippewas lowest hitting percentage set of the night.
"After we went down 2-1 after sets two and three, in two closely contested sets, I think we were in a position to win both of them, but our ability to bounce back is what we are choosing to focus on."
In the fourth set, Central Michigan made it apparent that they were not giving up. The Chippewas forced a fifth set with a 25-21 win. In that fourth set, the Central Michigan recorded 6 of their 13 aces on the night.
What more would you expect in a game like this than a fifth set that was as thrilling as they come? Central Michigan held a 7-4 lead, but Eastern Michigan would ultimately reach 8 first as the teams switched sides. Junior outside Lauren Schrock killed three balls in a row to bring the score to 17-16, Chippewas before an attack error by Eastern Michigan closed the match a 18-16 in favor of Central Michigan.
A Team Effort – Led by the Constants
As the tale has been this season for the Chippewas, Sophomore setter, Claire Ammeraal and Junior libero, Aly Gurtiza, remained mainstay contributors for the Chippewas in their mid-week victory.
Ammeraal posted her 5th career triple-double, second of the season, with 12 kills, 42 assists and 22 digs. Coach Gawlik believes that Ammeraal is someone who impacts the game as a whole on a level that is hard to match. "Claire can kill balls for us, she naturally sets us very well, she defends, she blocks, she serves – sometimes we have to remind her that she needs to stay in her lane and let the game develop in front of her." Ammeraal killed 12 balls on 33 attempts – a career high in the outing against Eastern Michigan. "33 attempts is second most on our team, and she sets a 5-1 for us, so that number is pretty high…33 may be more than we'd like her to take, but her ability to find success with that, hitting .300 on the night, allows for us to look at her like another attacker."
Gurtiza notched a career high five service aces and dug 22 balls. "We have really been trying to shift Aly's value from being one dimensional where she just digs balls for us. Aly passed really well tonight, Aly impacted the game from the service line…and so on. As she gets older as a player in this league, she isn't a secret anymore, teams are dictating some of her offense away from the left-back because Aly is an elite level defender…we have challenged Aly to have an impact in ways beyond her dig number and I think over the course of the past few weeks, she has really stepped up to that challenge and done a great job."
Stepping up to the challenge in the night game was Schrock who killed a career high 19 balls (.232). "The thing I love about Lauren is that she is all gas, no breaks, all of the time. She is going to take big swings. She isn't going to back down in big moments. That is why the ball finds her the amount of times it does on the court, because we know she is going to take a swing. This week we really worked with Lauren on her decision making, and she tipped a ball there at the end that fell for a match prolonging point, and that I think is a growth within itself for Lauren." said Gawlik.
Heading Home & Excited to be There
Central Michigan will face Toledo on Saturday and Sunday, September 30th and October 1st, in McGurik Arena. The two teams met in the 2022 Mid-American Conference Tournament last season, where the Chippewas defeated the Rockets 3-1 in the tournament quarter finals.
The theme for the weekend in Mount Pleasant is throwback. The game on Saturday is the "Block Party" where the Chippewas will "party like it's 1993". Admission to the game is free with a paid football ticket from the CMU v. EMU football game that afternoon.
Central Michigan Volleyball will also be celebrating their alumni all weekend as former players are invited back to see the current Chippewas in action and sign their name on the Action C in the newly renovated locker room in McGuirk Arena.
Central Michigan advances to 7-8 overall and 1-2 in MAC play while Eastern Michigan falls to 2-13 overall and 0-3 in the MAC.
Head Coach Mike Gawlik believes that this was a gritty win for his team. "Winning on the road in any conference is challenging. Any win on the road is a good win. Bouncing back from Ball State, after being swept in both matches, showed us that we needed to play better in a lot of areas. I think we addressed those areas in practice on Sunday and Monday and really just got back to work. Even though tonight wasn't perfect, I think we did a good job on some of the things we wanted to be better at, and with that we put ourselves in a position to be in the match."
Next, the Chippewas will play at home for the first time in 9 games when they face MAC foe, Toledo, Saturday at 7 p.m. in McGuirk Arena.
Here is how the five-set game unfolded in Ypsilanti:
The Chippewas were victorious in set one, 25-15. The team killed 12 balls, hitting .229 in the opening set, and holding the Eagles to a -0.86 hitting percentage. A set that started back and forth, ultimately broke open in favor of the Maroon & Gold when the Chippewas went on a 7-1 run starting at 11-11. The Chippewas would close the first set with a 14-4 run to grab their first set win of the Mid-American Conference season.
Sets two and three went to the Eagles (24-26 and 22-25) although both were battles. In set two, Central Michigan hit .116 compared to Eastern Michigan's .279 – the Chippewas lowest hitting percentage set of the night.
"After we went down 2-1 after sets two and three, in two closely contested sets, I think we were in a position to win both of them, but our ability to bounce back is what we are choosing to focus on."
In the fourth set, Central Michigan made it apparent that they were not giving up. The Chippewas forced a fifth set with a 25-21 win. In that fourth set, the Central Michigan recorded 6 of their 13 aces on the night.
What more would you expect in a game like this than a fifth set that was as thrilling as they come? Central Michigan held a 7-4 lead, but Eastern Michigan would ultimately reach 8 first as the teams switched sides. Junior outside Lauren Schrock killed three balls in a row to bring the score to 17-16, Chippewas before an attack error by Eastern Michigan closed the match a 18-16 in favor of Central Michigan.
A Team Effort – Led by the Constants
As the tale has been this season for the Chippewas, Sophomore setter, Claire Ammeraal and Junior libero, Aly Gurtiza, remained mainstay contributors for the Chippewas in their mid-week victory.
Ammeraal posted her 5th career triple-double, second of the season, with 12 kills, 42 assists and 22 digs. Coach Gawlik believes that Ammeraal is someone who impacts the game as a whole on a level that is hard to match. "Claire can kill balls for us, she naturally sets us very well, she defends, she blocks, she serves – sometimes we have to remind her that she needs to stay in her lane and let the game develop in front of her." Ammeraal killed 12 balls on 33 attempts – a career high in the outing against Eastern Michigan. "33 attempts is second most on our team, and she sets a 5-1 for us, so that number is pretty high…33 may be more than we'd like her to take, but her ability to find success with that, hitting .300 on the night, allows for us to look at her like another attacker."
Gurtiza notched a career high five service aces and dug 22 balls. "We have really been trying to shift Aly's value from being one dimensional where she just digs balls for us. Aly passed really well tonight, Aly impacted the game from the service line…and so on. As she gets older as a player in this league, she isn't a secret anymore, teams are dictating some of her offense away from the left-back because Aly is an elite level defender…we have challenged Aly to have an impact in ways beyond her dig number and I think over the course of the past few weeks, she has really stepped up to that challenge and done a great job."
Stepping up to the challenge in the night game was Schrock who killed a career high 19 balls (.232). "The thing I love about Lauren is that she is all gas, no breaks, all of the time. She is going to take big swings. She isn't going to back down in big moments. That is why the ball finds her the amount of times it does on the court, because we know she is going to take a swing. This week we really worked with Lauren on her decision making, and she tipped a ball there at the end that fell for a match prolonging point, and that I think is a growth within itself for Lauren." said Gawlik.
Heading Home & Excited to be There
Central Michigan will face Toledo on Saturday and Sunday, September 30th and October 1st, in McGurik Arena. The two teams met in the 2022 Mid-American Conference Tournament last season, where the Chippewas defeated the Rockets 3-1 in the tournament quarter finals.
The theme for the weekend in Mount Pleasant is throwback. The game on Saturday is the "Block Party" where the Chippewas will "party like it's 1993". Admission to the game is free with a paid football ticket from the CMU v. EMU football game that afternoon.
Central Michigan Volleyball will also be celebrating their alumni all weekend as former players are invited back to see the current Chippewas in action and sign their name on the Action C in the newly renovated locker room in McGuirk Arena.
Team Stats
CMU
EMU
Kills
65
64
Errors
23
28
Attempts
203
188
Hitting %
.207
.191
Points
86.0
76.0
Assists
60
60
Aces
13
5
Blocks
8
7
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
19
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
12
Aces
2
Blocks
3
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Players Mentioned
Interview With Adam Jaksa and Arielle Wilson
Tuesday, August 26
BTS Volleyball Media Day
Thursday, August 07
Volleyball Passing Out Donuts
Thursday, April 10
Volleyball Sign Question
Tuesday, February 11