Friday, August 30
Normal, Ill.
11:00 AM ET
Central Michigan University
1-0,0-0MAC
3
vs
2
Lindenwood
0-1,0-0OVC
1
2
3
4
5
F
Central Mich.
25
25
23
24
16
3
Lindenwood
22
21
25
26
14
2
Volleyball Opens 2024 Season with Two Wins at Linda Herman Classic
8/30/2024 11:53:00 PM | Volleyball
Central Michigan Volleyball defeated Lindenwood and Illinois State to open the 9th season under Mike Gawlik.
NORMAL, Ill. — Central Michigan Volleyball opened their 50th season in program history at the Linda Herman Classic hosted by Illinois State with two wins. CMU defeated Lindenwood in the first match, 3-2 in a five-set thriller. The nightcap against the RedBirds was a 3-1 decision, again in favor of the Chippewas.
"We all have to adjust. That's what our last few days of preparation have been about – we have to adjust so our teammates don't have to be perfect." has been the message from 9th year Head Coach Mike Gawlik to his team heading into the opening weekend of the season.
In the first set of the day, CMU charted a win closing with a 5-0 run. The set ended 25-22 in favor of the Maroon & Gold. Set two also went to the Chippewas (25-21) when senior opposite Krystina Kasson killed a ball for the final point, Kasson ended the match with 8 kills.
Sets three and four went to Lindenwood despite tough battles by the Chippewas (23-25 and 24-26). Set five ended 16-14 for the Chippewas to walk away with the win in their first game of the 2024 campaign.
Hannah Langton, a freshman, started at libero for the Chippewas and recorded 34 digs; the most in a single match by a Chippewa since 2022 when Aly Gurtiza had 33 at Buffalo on October 29th. Langton's 34 digs in the five-set match give her the second-place spot in single match digs which is 37, set by CMU great, Megan Kern, set in 2019 against Eastern Illinois.
Central Michigan recorded 16 blocks as a team – the most in a season opener in the Mike Gawlik era of CMU Volleyball. Grace Thomas, the freshman from Dublin, Ohio, recorded 10 blocks herself in the opening match. Her 10 blocks ties her for the most by a freshman since Megan Sivertsen had 10 at Akron on October 19th, 2018.
Natalia Rejment picked up right where she left off as an attacker after missing most of the 2023 season due to injury playing in just the final nine games. Rejment was terminal against the Lions when she killed a career high 20 balls, hitting .383. Maddy Gebhardt swung for 12 kills herself. Rejment and Gebhardt combined for 56% of the teams' kills in the match with Lindenwood.
Keelyn Muell made her debut as a Chippewa when her and Allie Korba combined for 39 assists, Langton charted seven assists in her debut as well.
The nightcap was just as thrilling of a game as Central Michigan walked away with a 3-1 decision over Illinois State (25-15, 25-20, 25-27, 25-20). In the second match of the day, senior right side, Linnea Willer turned it on as she led the team with 14 kills hitting .400. Willer was not unsupported however, in that match, a plethora of Chippewas added incredible value that led the team to a sweep on the day.
"We had four people with double digit kills, we had four people with double digit digs. That is just really good team volleyball."
Maddy Gebhardt killed 11 balls in the match against Illinois State and Abby Olin and Natalia Rejment added 10 a piece. The 10 kills for Rejment gave her double-digit kills in both outings Friday afternoon.
"We played four really great sets. We really challenged our right sides to get going in the second match today, we had great presence from them in the net and Linnea really bounced back in the match with Illinois State tonight."
Anderson dug 10 balls in the nightcap, and seven in the season opener against Lindenwood. "We passed the ball really well today, Gebhardt and Alina Anderson had some spectacular passing that was really stellar and allowed us to share the ball around." Central Michigan hit .281 in the match with the RedBirds, as Keelyn Muell and Allie Korba collectively recorded 42 assists.
Muell found success with scoring her own points as well in that second match as she recorded five kills. "Keelyn killed five balls today, on some really impressive, really high volleyball IQ plays that were just back breaking for Illinois States' momentum that helped us maintain our momentum in those moments."
Willer, who hit .036 in the match against Lindenwood, found a new gear as she hit .400 with 14 kills. "Linnea was just great. She is a senior, she's been around. Our right sides didn't really find their rhythm in the first match, but that is why we have teammates. We challenged them to reset for the second match today, and they really did."
Central Michigan will close out the Linda Herman Classic on Saturday when they face Bellarmine, for the first time in program history. First serve is slated for 3:30 pm (ET)
"We all have to adjust. That's what our last few days of preparation have been about – we have to adjust so our teammates don't have to be perfect." has been the message from 9th year Head Coach Mike Gawlik to his team heading into the opening weekend of the season.
In the first set of the day, CMU charted a win closing with a 5-0 run. The set ended 25-22 in favor of the Maroon & Gold. Set two also went to the Chippewas (25-21) when senior opposite Krystina Kasson killed a ball for the final point, Kasson ended the match with 8 kills.
Sets three and four went to Lindenwood despite tough battles by the Chippewas (23-25 and 24-26). Set five ended 16-14 for the Chippewas to walk away with the win in their first game of the 2024 campaign.
Hannah Langton, a freshman, started at libero for the Chippewas and recorded 34 digs; the most in a single match by a Chippewa since 2022 when Aly Gurtiza had 33 at Buffalo on October 29th. Langton's 34 digs in the five-set match give her the second-place spot in single match digs which is 37, set by CMU great, Megan Kern, set in 2019 against Eastern Illinois.
Central Michigan recorded 16 blocks as a team – the most in a season opener in the Mike Gawlik era of CMU Volleyball. Grace Thomas, the freshman from Dublin, Ohio, recorded 10 blocks herself in the opening match. Her 10 blocks ties her for the most by a freshman since Megan Sivertsen had 10 at Akron on October 19th, 2018.
Natalia Rejment picked up right where she left off as an attacker after missing most of the 2023 season due to injury playing in just the final nine games. Rejment was terminal against the Lions when she killed a career high 20 balls, hitting .383. Maddy Gebhardt swung for 12 kills herself. Rejment and Gebhardt combined for 56% of the teams' kills in the match with Lindenwood.
Keelyn Muell made her debut as a Chippewa when her and Allie Korba combined for 39 assists, Langton charted seven assists in her debut as well.
The nightcap was just as thrilling of a game as Central Michigan walked away with a 3-1 decision over Illinois State (25-15, 25-20, 25-27, 25-20). In the second match of the day, senior right side, Linnea Willer turned it on as she led the team with 14 kills hitting .400. Willer was not unsupported however, in that match, a plethora of Chippewas added incredible value that led the team to a sweep on the day.
"We had four people with double digit kills, we had four people with double digit digs. That is just really good team volleyball."
Maddy Gebhardt killed 11 balls in the match against Illinois State and Abby Olin and Natalia Rejment added 10 a piece. The 10 kills for Rejment gave her double-digit kills in both outings Friday afternoon.
"We played four really great sets. We really challenged our right sides to get going in the second match today, we had great presence from them in the net and Linnea really bounced back in the match with Illinois State tonight."
Anderson dug 10 balls in the nightcap, and seven in the season opener against Lindenwood. "We passed the ball really well today, Gebhardt and Alina Anderson had some spectacular passing that was really stellar and allowed us to share the ball around." Central Michigan hit .281 in the match with the RedBirds, as Keelyn Muell and Allie Korba collectively recorded 42 assists.
Muell found success with scoring her own points as well in that second match as she recorded five kills. "Keelyn killed five balls today, on some really impressive, really high volleyball IQ plays that were just back breaking for Illinois States' momentum that helped us maintain our momentum in those moments."
Willer, who hit .036 in the match against Lindenwood, found a new gear as she hit .400 with 14 kills. "Linnea was just great. She is a senior, she's been around. Our right sides didn't really find their rhythm in the first match, but that is why we have teammates. We challenged them to reset for the second match today, and they really did."
Central Michigan will close out the Linda Herman Classic on Saturday when they face Bellarmine, for the first time in program history. First serve is slated for 3:30 pm (ET)
Team Stats
CMU
Linden
Kills
57
64
Errors
25
39
Attempts
190
203
Hitting %
.168
.123
Points
75.0
75.0
Assists
51
58
Aces
2
4
Blocks
16
7
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
20
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
12
Aces
1
Blocks
3
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
6
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
DS/L
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
L/DS
/ Volleyball
OPP
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
DS/L
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
OPP/OH
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