Volleyball has polar matches
The CMU volleyball team answered a Thursday sweep by Eastern Michigan with a sweep of Kent State on Saturday.
The split leaves the Chippewas with a 7-5 Mid-American Conference record, tied for second in the West division.
“Kent State was very different than Eastern Michigan,” said coach Erik Olson. “We just came out flat against Eastern, and their defense kept us down. We came out as a completely different team against Kent State and were in control almost the whole time.”
CMU had a slow start Saturday — the team had four consecutive ball handling errors, which gave the Golden Flashes a 7-4 lead in the first set.
Junior outside hitter Lauren Krupsky served five consecutive points to give the team a 9-7 lead it would not relinquish.
Freshman outside hitter Katie Schuette made a difference in the second game as she hit for 12 kills in her first career start.
“I thought I played really well,” Schuette said. “The people around me set me up to be successful. It was great to be able to play in front of the home crowd. They just get fired up every we get a good point and it fires us up.”
New Blood
Freshman outside hitter Val DeWeerd also saw extended playing time at the right side during the match against KSU. She hit for three kills off just eight swings and had three block assists.
“After the loss to Eastern Michigan, we just had to put insert some new blood into the lineup,” Olson said. “Our team always rallies around it.”
The team struggled to develop an offensive rhythm against the Eagles, as it hit for no serving aces for the first time all season. The loss was its first in three sets since Sept. 26 against Ohio. CMU competes next weekend at Toledo and Ball State.
