Olson says team needs to get better after losing all three games at Purdue Mortar Board Premiere
Central Michigan head women’s volleyball coach Erik Olson has a simple message for his team following a winless weekend at the Purdue Mortar Board Premiere: We need to get better.
The opening weekend of the season saw CMU lose in straight sets against No. 24 Northern Iowa on Friday.
Despite losing 25-21, 25-23 and 25-1, the Chippewas competed closely with the highly-ranked Panthers for most of the night.
After going down 4-0 early in the first game, the Chippewas came back to pull within one, 6-5, before UNI distanced itself to win the first set 25-21.
In the second set, several attack errors by the Panthers allowed CMU to take an early 5-1 lead. UNI made a run to tie the set at 11. From there, both teams went back and forth before UNI went on a 4-0 run to take a 23-19 lead and win the set 25-23.
After keeping it close early, CMU could not get any momentum in the third game and lost 25-14.
Sophomore Jocelyn Vervelde led CMU with 12 kills, four blocks and six points.
Olson said that the team struggled in the passing game throughout the match, and was eventually the cause of the team’s loss.
“We found out a lot about ourselves and what we need to work on.” Olson said.
Saturday
The second day of the tournament saw CMU fall to a talented Purdue team in three straight sets.
Purdue got off to a fast start and proved to be too much for CMU to handle as the Chippewas were swept, 25-16, 25-11 and 25-8, for the second consecutive game.
Freshman Jenna Coates led the team with seven digs in the match and junior Catherine Ludwig added 19 assists.
The final match of the tournament saw the Chippewas claim just one set against Western Kentucky, losing 3-1.
The Hilltoppers rattled off several quick points and claimed the first set by a score of 25-18. With three Western Kentucky players in double-figures kills for the match, the Chippewas would win only one set 25-18, 18-25, 25-9 and 25-16.
Senior Lauren Krupksy and sophomore Val Deweerd paced the team with 11 and 10 kills, respectively, to close out the weekend.
Olson said the lack of consistency from the team really hurt their performance.
“We just couldn’t get everyone playing well at the same time this weekend,” Olson said.
The defensive aspect of the game also lagged this weekend and Olson has yet to find a defensive specialist that has performed to the level of his expectations.
“We need to find a fulltime lebaro,” Olson said. “And we need were still sorting out some of our roles defensively.”
Krupsky provided the one bright spot on the weekend, contributing 29 kills, three blocks and two aces to the score sheet. For her efforts, Krupsky was awarded all-tournament honors behind her 2.9 kill per set average.
Moving forward from the weekend, Olson said it will be important not to focus too heavily on the negatives from the matches.
“I know what areas we need to work on,” Olson said. “We just need to get everyone on the same page.”
CMU will go back on the road next weekend when it travels to Youngstown, Ohio, to compete in the Youngstown State Invitational.
