Volleyball Rebounds With Five-Set Win Over Ball State

Saturday, October 5

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

4:00 PM

Central Michigan University

13-4,4-1MAC

Ball State

8-7,1-3MAC

Ball St.

Central Mich.

CMU's Lauren Schrock (3) sends the ball over the net on Saturday in the Chippewas' five-set victory over Ball State at McGuirk Arena.

Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw

10/5/2024 7:52:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

CMU faces key road trip to Toledo, Bowling Green next week

By: Andy Sneddon

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Lauren Schrock and Abby Olin finished with 18 kills apiece on Saturday as the Central Michigan volleyball bounced back with a five-set Mid-American Conference victory over Ball State at McGuirk Arena.

The Chippewas, who dropped a five-setter to the Cardinals on Friday, improved to 13-4, 5-1 MAC. CMU goes to Toledo on Thursday, Oct. 10 and to Bowling Green on Friday, Oct. 11.

The Rockets are 3-2 in MAC play while the Falcons (5-0) are in first place and are the last unbeaten team in the conference.

The Chippewas took the decisive fifth set on Saturday, 15-9, after taking sets two and three by 25-21 counts. Ball State won the opening set, 25-19, and the fourth, 25-23. Ball State is 8-7, 1-3.

"We said that today we wanted to be the more aggressive team and I appreciated that," CMU coach Mike Gawlik said. "I told the team, we got blocked 18 times today, that's an incredible amount of times to be blocked and Ball State's a really good and physical blocking team, but I appreciated that we continued being aggressive and that's what won us set five."

Schrock, who did not play in Friday's loss, posted five kills in the fifth set on Saturday. She had three consecutive as the Chippewas reeled off three straight points for an 8-4 lead. Her fifth kill of the set brought CMU to match point.

"Good, bad or whatever I'm going to be aggressive, and I feel like that's kind of what we needed tonight," said Schrock, who added that a pre-game conversation with Gawlik helped feed her confidence. "(Gawlik) was like, 'I have your back; feel free to swing away.'

"Just trusting that the team had my back and Mike had my back allowed me to be as aggressive as I wanted to be."

Olin's 18 kills marked a career high; she also shared the team lead with Grace Thomas with four blocks.

"I get a lot of confidence from my teammates," Olin said. "They're always lifting me up, even after an error they always believe in me and that helps me believe in myself.

"Between (Friday) night and tonight we changed a few things; we moved into a different defense to support our weaknesses. The coaches are doing a really good job of coaching us well and changing some things that need to be changed."

Setter Allie Korba posted 53 assists for CMU and Natalia Rejment and Hannah Langton had 17 digs apiece. Rejment also had 13 kills.

Ball State finished with a .222 attack percentage to the Chippewas' .197. But CMU, which snapped a four-match losing streak to the Cardinals, hit at .333 in the fifth set to the Cardinals' .100.

"I thought we had people stepping forward today saying, 'I'll do it, I'll take a big swing, I'll dig a big ball or step in on a tough serve,'" Gawlik said. "Today we kept saying that we belong in this elite group of MAC teams, and I think Ball State is a part of that group. That top three, four.

"We deserve to be there because we're good enough to be there and we just kept reminding ourselves of that I think that helps win those little moments of doubt."