Friday, September 20
Moon Township, Pa.
11:00 AM
Central Michigan University
8-2,0-0MAC
3
vs
0
Canisius
4-5,0-0MAAC
1
2
3
F
Central Mich.
25
25
25
3
Canisius
16
17
17
0
Photo by: Jasper Warner '25 - @jasperwarnermedia
Swiercz Finds Groove and Chippewa Volleyball Grabs Two More Wins
9/20/2024 8:45:00 PM | Volleyball
Central Michigan Volleyball moves to 9-2 after two wins at the Four Twelve Volleyball Invitational hosted by Robert Morris and Duquesne.
PITTSBURGH, Penn. — Central Michigan earned two wins on the opening day of the Four Twelve Project Volleyball Invitational hosted by Robert Morris and Duquesne. CMU defeated Canisius 3-0 in their first game of the day and took down Duquesne 3-1 in the night cap.
In the first game of the day, Central Michigan swept Canisius, 25-17, 25-16 and 25-16. The sweep was the second victory on the season that the Chippewas have earned in that fashion. The first was a 3-0 win over Bellarmine in the opening weekend of the season.
"We have had some really good matches by a lot of people on our team." Said 9th season Head Coach, Mike Gawlik. "We are growing. We have people having solid matches. We are starting to find more and more consistency every time we play. We are the sum of our parts. We are our best when we have lots of people contributing."
Izzy Swiercz found success in the match with the Golden Griffins, hitting. 286 killing nine balls. Natalia Rejment recorded 10 kills as well for the Chippewas (.348); her fifth double-double of the season. CMU hit .306 collectively, their second highest of the season, outside of their other sweep against Bellarmine.
Abby Olin added nine kills for the Chippewas and four block assists. Combined, Central Michigan charted 18 total block assists, marking their seventh game this season reaching double digits in that category. Krystina Kasson blocked five, killed 7 and hit .313 for the first game. Grace Thomas also added four blocks.
In the nightcap, Central Michigan faced Duquesne in a four-set battle, and walked away with the 3-1 win (22-25, 25-20, 25-23 and 25-2). In that second match of the day, CMU was led by their freshman outside hitter, Izzy Swiercz. Swiercz recorded 16 kills in the four-set match, hitting .387. Rejment recorded her fifth double-double of the season and her sixth double-digit kill game.
On the day, Izzy Swiercz recorded 25 kills, hitting .356 on the day. "Tonight was a great showing for Izzy. Two matches of experience isn't that valuable when you look at someone who has played 100, right?" said Gawlik, "…but for someone like our freshmen, who have played in only a few just because of where we are in the season, it is a big deal. I think every time we can get out there and gain some confidence, with some swings, good things are in store."
"Both of our setters played great. They played great defensively and they set a really good ball." Between the two games, CMU hit .222. "We were a bit high error in our first match, but we really dialed it in for the second match against Duquesne and I think a lot of that credit goes to our setters and them helping us make adjustments. I think our setters did a really good job of helping Izzy and putting her in positions to score. I think they chose mature and good moments to utilize her, and those are managed by Izzy in a way that they wouldn't have been two games ago. That just comes from everyone spending more time together and more time on the floor."
Central Michigan closes out the tournament on Saturday when they take on Robert Morris at noon. This is the final non-conference game before CMU opens MAC play at Miami (OH) on Thursday, Sept. 26.
In the first game of the day, Central Michigan swept Canisius, 25-17, 25-16 and 25-16. The sweep was the second victory on the season that the Chippewas have earned in that fashion. The first was a 3-0 win over Bellarmine in the opening weekend of the season.
"We have had some really good matches by a lot of people on our team." Said 9th season Head Coach, Mike Gawlik. "We are growing. We have people having solid matches. We are starting to find more and more consistency every time we play. We are the sum of our parts. We are our best when we have lots of people contributing."
Izzy Swiercz found success in the match with the Golden Griffins, hitting. 286 killing nine balls. Natalia Rejment recorded 10 kills as well for the Chippewas (.348); her fifth double-double of the season. CMU hit .306 collectively, their second highest of the season, outside of their other sweep against Bellarmine.
Abby Olin added nine kills for the Chippewas and four block assists. Combined, Central Michigan charted 18 total block assists, marking their seventh game this season reaching double digits in that category. Krystina Kasson blocked five, killed 7 and hit .313 for the first game. Grace Thomas also added four blocks.
In the nightcap, Central Michigan faced Duquesne in a four-set battle, and walked away with the 3-1 win (22-25, 25-20, 25-23 and 25-2). In that second match of the day, CMU was led by their freshman outside hitter, Izzy Swiercz. Swiercz recorded 16 kills in the four-set match, hitting .387. Rejment recorded her fifth double-double of the season and her sixth double-digit kill game.
On the day, Izzy Swiercz recorded 25 kills, hitting .356 on the day. "Tonight was a great showing for Izzy. Two matches of experience isn't that valuable when you look at someone who has played 100, right?" said Gawlik, "…but for someone like our freshmen, who have played in only a few just because of where we are in the season, it is a big deal. I think every time we can get out there and gain some confidence, with some swings, good things are in store."
"Both of our setters played great. They played great defensively and they set a really good ball." Between the two games, CMU hit .222. "We were a bit high error in our first match, but we really dialed it in for the second match against Duquesne and I think a lot of that credit goes to our setters and them helping us make adjustments. I think our setters did a really good job of helping Izzy and putting her in positions to score. I think they chose mature and good moments to utilize her, and those are managed by Izzy in a way that they wouldn't have been two games ago. That just comes from everyone spending more time together and more time on the floor."
Central Michigan closes out the tournament on Saturday when they take on Robert Morris at noon. This is the final non-conference game before CMU opens MAC play at Miami (OH) on Thursday, Sept. 26.
Team Stats
CMU
Canis
Kills
44
27
Errors
14
21
Attempts
98
99
Hitting %
.306
.061
Points
59.0
36.0
Assists
38
26
Aces
5
6
Blocks
10
3
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
10
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Players Mentioned
OPP
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