Saturday, November 2
Athens, Ohio
4:00 PM
Central Michigan University
19-6,10-3MAC
2
at
3
Ohio
11-13,7-6MAC
1
2
3
4
5
F
Central Mich.
21
20
25
26
13
2
Ohio
25
25
20
24
15
3
Photo by: Josie Ransley '25,M'27 - @josieransmedia
Volleyball Drops Road MAC Match to Ohio, 3-2
11/2/2024 8:07:00 PM | Volleyball
Central Michigan and Ohio went to five sets for the second straight night, as CMU fell 3-2 to the Bobcats; CMU (10-3 MAC) is now in second place in the MAC standings, one game behind Bowling Green (11-2).
ATHENS, Ohio — For the second straight match, Central Michigan took Ohio to five sets in a thrilling Saturday night game. This time, Ohio rallied in the fifth set to win 3-2. With the result, the Chippewas move to overall and 19-6 overall and 10-3 in MAC play, while Ohio moves to 11-13 overall and 7-6 in the conference.
With its 10-3 MAC record, Central Michigan is now in second place, 1.0 game behind first-place Bowling Green (11-2 MAC).
Central Michigan dropped the first set to the Bobcats 21-25. Lauren Schrock led the Chippewa offense on Saturday night killing 17 balls (.355) in the five sets. In the first set, Schrock killed four balls, hitting .600.
Set two, a back-and-forth battle, consisted of 2-3 point runs for both teams, capped off with Ohio grabbing the final two points to win 25-20 over the Chippewas.
"I think today was as equally challenging as it was for Ohio." said Central Michigan head coach Mike Gawlik, "They experienced the same thing we did, having to play five sets yesterday as well. We just didn't necessarily have the urgency we needed to have in the first two sets. That kind of backed ourselves into a corner, but we came back fighting; and I love that about us so much. We just simply do not give up in matches."
The Chippewas went five sets with the Bobcats on Friday night, where the Chippewas were victorious in reverse sweep fashion.
"Both emotionally and mentally, this was a long weekend. When you reverse sweep a team, and then fall two points short of doing it again, there is a lot of emotional capital that we are putting out there. We just need to take a deep breath and decompress."
Keelyn Muell made her comeback appearance for the Chippewas in the third set when her and Linnea Willer checked in. As soon as Muell entered, she made her impact from the service line. Muell and the Chippewas peeled off a 5-0 run, leading to both of Ohio's timeouts for the set between CMU 5-3 and 9-4 mark for the Central Michigan lead. The Chippewas would go on to win the third set, 25-20.
"We lacked a little bit of rhythm in the first two sets, there were some blocking matchups we thought we could benefit from, so we made the change there (in set three)."
The Chippewas lost Muell due to injury as MAC play started, and she has not seen the floor in conference competition until the Saturday match with the Bobcats.
The third set was an offensive clinic by the Chippewas, hitting .364 with 16 kills and just four attack errors.
Set four, another Chippewa victory as they took the 26-24 win, sending the game to the deciding fifth. Coach Gawlik said "You know, we trust everyone on our squad…maybe that change wasn't quite enough, but it did help push us to a fifth set." when talking on the change CMU made to their offense with Allie Korba and Keelyn Muell running a 6-2 offense again for Central Michigan.
"We played pretty dang well in set five." Gawlik said, "we took some gutsy swings…and I think a couple fortunate swings for Ohio put them in a situation where they were simply two points better."
The Chippewas dropped the fifth set, 13-15, and Gawlik is nothing but impressed by the grit and fight of his team.
"I just love the way we played and how we played. We have been saying that if we play hard, we can deal with whatever the result is…as much as the loss sucks, I feel that we played really hard tonight, and we competed really well. I am incredibly proud of that."
The reigning Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Week, Natalia Rejment, continued to be an anchor for the Chippewa defense. Rejment posted a career high five blocks in the match with three solo blocks and two assists. "Nat provides us with a lot of things for us outside of just her attacking percentage."
Rejment tallied 14 kills in the Friday night win for the Chippewas, compared to her nine in the Saturday match. However, on Saturday, Rejment found a defensive power as she dug a team leading 17 balls – her 16th match this season with double-digit digs.
"Natalia creates opportunities for us defensively, at the service line, and at the net. Even on nights where her attacking isn't the highlight of the stat sheet, she continues to carry a high workload for us, and she does it very well, she is a good player."
"At times, we are playing with four players that I think could be very good liberos on a lot of teams. Alina Anderson is a very talented defender, Aly Gurtiza, Natalia, and of course our libero, Hannah Langton – so we are playing with a bunch of really good defenders back there. I think that helps take some of the defensive pressure off of Natalia, being a six-rotation player, but also allows her to go in and be fully intertwined with the front and back row, in all of her rotations."
Abby Olin posted 16 kills for CMU along with three block assists. Grace Thomas killed 11 balls for CMU. Alina Anderson and Hannah Langton each posted two service aces for CMU, who totaled seven on the night.
Central Michigan will take on Eastern Michigan in the second matchup between the two schools on Tuesday, November 5. CMU was victorious over the Eagles in McGuirk Arena earlier in the season, winning 3-0. The match in Ypsilanti is set to start at 6 p.m.
With its 10-3 MAC record, Central Michigan is now in second place, 1.0 game behind first-place Bowling Green (11-2 MAC).
Central Michigan dropped the first set to the Bobcats 21-25. Lauren Schrock led the Chippewa offense on Saturday night killing 17 balls (.355) in the five sets. In the first set, Schrock killed four balls, hitting .600.
Set two, a back-and-forth battle, consisted of 2-3 point runs for both teams, capped off with Ohio grabbing the final two points to win 25-20 over the Chippewas.
"I think today was as equally challenging as it was for Ohio." said Central Michigan head coach Mike Gawlik, "They experienced the same thing we did, having to play five sets yesterday as well. We just didn't necessarily have the urgency we needed to have in the first two sets. That kind of backed ourselves into a corner, but we came back fighting; and I love that about us so much. We just simply do not give up in matches."
The Chippewas went five sets with the Bobcats on Friday night, where the Chippewas were victorious in reverse sweep fashion.
"Both emotionally and mentally, this was a long weekend. When you reverse sweep a team, and then fall two points short of doing it again, there is a lot of emotional capital that we are putting out there. We just need to take a deep breath and decompress."
Keelyn Muell made her comeback appearance for the Chippewas in the third set when her and Linnea Willer checked in. As soon as Muell entered, she made her impact from the service line. Muell and the Chippewas peeled off a 5-0 run, leading to both of Ohio's timeouts for the set between CMU 5-3 and 9-4 mark for the Central Michigan lead. The Chippewas would go on to win the third set, 25-20.
"We lacked a little bit of rhythm in the first two sets, there were some blocking matchups we thought we could benefit from, so we made the change there (in set three)."
The Chippewas lost Muell due to injury as MAC play started, and she has not seen the floor in conference competition until the Saturday match with the Bobcats.
The third set was an offensive clinic by the Chippewas, hitting .364 with 16 kills and just four attack errors.
Set four, another Chippewa victory as they took the 26-24 win, sending the game to the deciding fifth. Coach Gawlik said "You know, we trust everyone on our squad…maybe that change wasn't quite enough, but it did help push us to a fifth set." when talking on the change CMU made to their offense with Allie Korba and Keelyn Muell running a 6-2 offense again for Central Michigan.
"We played pretty dang well in set five." Gawlik said, "we took some gutsy swings…and I think a couple fortunate swings for Ohio put them in a situation where they were simply two points better."
The Chippewas dropped the fifth set, 13-15, and Gawlik is nothing but impressed by the grit and fight of his team.
"I just love the way we played and how we played. We have been saying that if we play hard, we can deal with whatever the result is…as much as the loss sucks, I feel that we played really hard tonight, and we competed really well. I am incredibly proud of that."
The reigning Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Week, Natalia Rejment, continued to be an anchor for the Chippewa defense. Rejment posted a career high five blocks in the match with three solo blocks and two assists. "Nat provides us with a lot of things for us outside of just her attacking percentage."
Rejment tallied 14 kills in the Friday night win for the Chippewas, compared to her nine in the Saturday match. However, on Saturday, Rejment found a defensive power as she dug a team leading 17 balls – her 16th match this season with double-digit digs.
"Natalia creates opportunities for us defensively, at the service line, and at the net. Even on nights where her attacking isn't the highlight of the stat sheet, she continues to carry a high workload for us, and she does it very well, she is a good player."
"At times, we are playing with four players that I think could be very good liberos on a lot of teams. Alina Anderson is a very talented defender, Aly Gurtiza, Natalia, and of course our libero, Hannah Langton – so we are playing with a bunch of really good defenders back there. I think that helps take some of the defensive pressure off of Natalia, being a six-rotation player, but also allows her to go in and be fully intertwined with the front and back row, in all of her rotations."
Abby Olin posted 16 kills for CMU along with three block assists. Grace Thomas killed 11 balls for CMU. Alina Anderson and Hannah Langton each posted two service aces for CMU, who totaled seven on the night.
Central Michigan will take on Eastern Michigan in the second matchup between the two schools on Tuesday, November 5. CMU was victorious over the Eagles in McGuirk Arena earlier in the season, winning 3-0. The match in Ypsilanti is set to start at 6 p.m.
Team Stats
CMU
Ohio
Kills
66
62
Errors
27
16
Attempts
162
158
Hitting %
.241
.291
Points
79.0
78.0
Assists
57
61
Aces
7
2
Blocks
6
14
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
17
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
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