Volleyball Drops Weekend Opener Against Toledo

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- In their first taste of MAC play at home this season, Central Michigan Volleyball fell to Toledo on Saturday in four sets.

The Chippewas (7-9, 1-3) opened the night strong in set one and closed out set four in gritty fashion despite ultimately falling. Sets two and three were where the Rockets (5-9, 3-0) were able to gain an edge.

Sprinting out to a fast start in set one, CMU conceded the first point of the match to Toledo before going on to score the next nine consecutive points. The Chippewas did not let up after the quick start, as they never trailed by more than five en route to a 25-16 set one result. Senior middle blocker Elly Medendorp led CMU in the first set in kills with impressive efficiency, cashing in on five of her attempts.

Medendorp, along with the rest of CMU, used the excitement from a return to McGuirk Arena to get out to the hot start.

"We hadn't played home in like three or four weeks, so we were all excited," she said. "I think also with the football game earlier, we were excited to have a big crowd here so I think that really helped give us the energy we needed on that first set."

The Chippewas struggled to recapture that momentum in sets two and three, however, scoring just 11 points in the second set. Set three saw the two teams battle in a tightly contested bout, as neither team led by more than three until Toledo went up 21-17.

Coach Mike Gawlik noted that the advantages can change rapidly in volleyball, and he saw some of that tonight against Toledo.

"Set one, we jumped out to a quick lead, we served aggressive and put them back on their heels," Gawlik said. "We really kind of did a nice job of taking control of the match. We went in the huddle after set one and said 'we need to prepare for them to play better'.

Volleyball is kind of an interesting game where if you win by nine points in set one, you don't open up the second game up nine points like you would if it were a second quarter. You have to reestablish that, and I think they really kind of pulled that 'UNO Reverse Card' on us and really did the exact same thing to us."

Set four played out as a true battle. The largest lead held in the set was four points, which Toledo held early on when the scoreboard read 9-5. After that point, neither team would hold any lead higher than three.

"In set three, I thought we did a really nice job of being in the middle," Gawlik said. "I feel like it was pretty tight between 16, 18 something like that and they pulled away. And really the same thing in set four. I just think we have to play better in some big moments. We had some people that we believe in what they're capable of doing when the lights and pressure are on. We're learning as a group that's relatively inexperienced on the floor. But my takeaway is that there were opportunities out there to take advantage of, and we just didn't take enough of them."

Medendorp once again led CMU in kills in the final set, turning in a total of 13 on the night. Three different Chippewas tallied double-digit digs in sophomore setter Claire Ammeraal, junior libero Aly Gurtiza and sophomore defensive specialist Alina Anderson. Ammeraal nearly registered a triple-double with 39 assists and seven kills in addition to her 11 digs. Gurtiza led CMU with a pair of service aces.

The Chippewas will be back in action against Toledo again tomorrow (Sunday, Oct. 1) to close out their first home conference series on the young season. The match is slated for a 2:00 p.m. ET start.

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Team Stats

Elly Medendorp

Abby Olin

Linnea Willer

Claire Ammeraal

Players Mentioned

Claire Ammeraal

Alina Anderson

Aly Gurtiza

Elly Medendorp

Players Mentioned

Claire Ammeraal

Alina Anderson

Aly Gurtiza

Elly Medendorp