Friday, November 1
Athens, Ohio
6:00 PM
Central Michigan University
19-5,10-2MAC
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10-13,6-6MAC
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Central Mich.
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Photo by: Sydney Kline '26 - @sydney.kline.photography
Chippewa Volleyball Roars Back for Five-Set Win at Ohio
11/1/2024 10:38:00 PM | Volleyball
CMU tied atop MAC
ATHENS, Ohio – Central Michigan hasn't won anything, yet.
Still, if the Chippewa volleyball team eventually claims the regular season Mid-American Conference title, it can point to matches like Friday's at Ohio as a major step along the way.
Down two sets, the Chippewas roared back to take a dramatic five-setter from the Bobcats, 20-25, 22-25, 25-17, 25-21, 15-13. It was the Chippewas' sixth consecutive win as they improved to 19-5, 10-2 MAC.
They share first place with Bowling Green, which won in four sets on Friday at Miami (Ohio).
The Chippewas and Bobcats play the finale of their two-match weekend set on Saturday (4 p.m.).
"There's not many better feelings in volleyball than that because usually when you reverse sweep, you're not playing great in the beginning," CMU coach Mike Gawlik said. "We haven't been down 0-2 very much this year and we said our backs are against the wall and we need to keep being aggressive even though we weren't executing and I thought we did that.
"We didn't want to be tentative, and we were able to turn it up and had a really good third set. We hit really well, we found some rhythm, and got after it from the service line and that kind of set the tone for the rest of the match. Just a really good all-around win for us,"
Abby Olin had 15 kills, Natalia Rejment finished with 14, and Lauren Schrock and Grace Thomas added 12 apiece to lead CMU, which finished with 9.5 blocks to Ohio's four.
"We didn't block many balls in the first two sets, maybe one through two sets," Gawlik said. "We started serving a little bit tougher which allowed our block to really go two-on-one and get those double blocks.
"That's where we get our energy, we thrive off of that. We had to start with our block and defense to get back into it because our offense was sputtering a little bit and (was) high error in those first two sets."
The Chippewas attacked at .542 in the third set to swing the momentum. They finished at .264 on the night to Ohio's .139.
CMU broke a 6-6 tie in the third set with four consecutive points and Ohio never got closer than three through the remainder of the set
The Chippewas got consecutive kills from Olin, Schrock and Thomas to turn a 15-16 deficit into an 18-16 lead in the fourth and never relinquished the lead. Rejment put the Chippewas on the doorstep with back-to-back kills to extend the lead to 24-21.
The tight fifth set featured 11 ties, the last at 12-12. Schrock posted back-to-back kills to put CMU in front, 14-12. The winning point came on an Ohio service error.
"We said, 'We've been in these moments, we've been successful in these moments, let's lean on that experience and we really made some gritty plays," Gawlik said. "One of our mantras is we want to be the most aggressive team in set five. We trust that we have what we need to be aggressive and still find success.
"We took some really good, calculated swings tonight in big moments and that's why we won. We won because we had the guts to go for it."
CMU setter Allie Korba finished with 51 assists; Hannah Langton led the Chippewas on the back line with 14 digs.
Still, if the Chippewa volleyball team eventually claims the regular season Mid-American Conference title, it can point to matches like Friday's at Ohio as a major step along the way.
Down two sets, the Chippewas roared back to take a dramatic five-setter from the Bobcats, 20-25, 22-25, 25-17, 25-21, 15-13. It was the Chippewas' sixth consecutive win as they improved to 19-5, 10-2 MAC.
They share first place with Bowling Green, which won in four sets on Friday at Miami (Ohio).
The Chippewas and Bobcats play the finale of their two-match weekend set on Saturday (4 p.m.).
"There's not many better feelings in volleyball than that because usually when you reverse sweep, you're not playing great in the beginning," CMU coach Mike Gawlik said. "We haven't been down 0-2 very much this year and we said our backs are against the wall and we need to keep being aggressive even though we weren't executing and I thought we did that.
"We didn't want to be tentative, and we were able to turn it up and had a really good third set. We hit really well, we found some rhythm, and got after it from the service line and that kind of set the tone for the rest of the match. Just a really good all-around win for us,"
Abby Olin had 15 kills, Natalia Rejment finished with 14, and Lauren Schrock and Grace Thomas added 12 apiece to lead CMU, which finished with 9.5 blocks to Ohio's four.
"We didn't block many balls in the first two sets, maybe one through two sets," Gawlik said. "We started serving a little bit tougher which allowed our block to really go two-on-one and get those double blocks.
"That's where we get our energy, we thrive off of that. We had to start with our block and defense to get back into it because our offense was sputtering a little bit and (was) high error in those first two sets."
The Chippewas attacked at .542 in the third set to swing the momentum. They finished at .264 on the night to Ohio's .139.
CMU broke a 6-6 tie in the third set with four consecutive points and Ohio never got closer than three through the remainder of the set
The Chippewas got consecutive kills from Olin, Schrock and Thomas to turn a 15-16 deficit into an 18-16 lead in the fourth and never relinquished the lead. Rejment put the Chippewas on the doorstep with back-to-back kills to extend the lead to 24-21.
The tight fifth set featured 11 ties, the last at 12-12. Schrock posted back-to-back kills to put CMU in front, 14-12. The winning point came on an Ohio service error.
"We said, 'We've been in these moments, we've been successful in these moments, let's lean on that experience and we really made some gritty plays," Gawlik said. "One of our mantras is we want to be the most aggressive team in set five. We trust that we have what we need to be aggressive and still find success.
"We took some really good, calculated swings tonight in big moments and that's why we won. We won because we had the guts to go for it."
CMU setter Allie Korba finished with 51 assists; Hannah Langton led the Chippewas on the back line with 14 digs.
Team Stats
CMU
Ohio
Kills
58
55
Errors
20
33
Attempts
144
158
Hitting %
.264
.139
Points
71.5
65.0
Assists
53
50
Aces
4
6
Blocks
9.5
4
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
14
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
12
Aces
1
Blocks
6
Players Mentioned
S
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