Volleyball goes 2-1 at College of Charleston Invitational
The Central Michigan women’s volleyball team went 2-1 over the weekend at the Holiday Inn Charleston Riverview Invitational in South Carolina.
On Saturday, the Chippewas went 1-1, defeating the University of North Florida 3-1 before losing to the College of Charleston, 3-2.
In the finale against the College of Charleston, CMU was one win away from a perfect tournament. Up two sets to none, it appeared a 3-0 weekend was imminent.
But the College of Charleston rallied to take the final three sets and take the match 3-2 by scores of 25-19, 25-23, 24-26, 17-25 and 12-15.
The match was a back and forth match that came down to the wire. After taking the first two sets, the Cougars seemingly picked up their game after winning the crucial third set 26-24.
After the game, CMU head coach Erik Olson noted in the change in momentum.
“We played a good team tonight but they were able to rest their players,” Olson said. “We couldn’t do that. Perhaps fatigue was a factor.”
Senior Lauren Krupsky paced the Chippewas with 17 kills. Sophomore Val DeWeerd had 14, while junior Kaitlyn Schultz added 11 of her own.
Setter Catherine Ludwig finished with 47 assists. Lisa Johnson led the Chippewas with 17 digs.
Earlier in the day, CMU defeated the Ospreys of North Florida, 3-1. While they dropped the first set, the team buckled up and won three consecutive to take the match.
Olson credited the defensive effort as a key to turning the match around, specifically Lisa Johnson who finished with 18 digs.
“We played some pretty good teams — certainly they were dangerous enough to beat us,” Olson said. “We went 2-1 this weekend and had a good shot at going 3-0. I’m pretty pleased.”
Krupsky again led the Chips with 12 kills however she was not alone. DeWeerd and sophomore Lindsay Delude each had 11, while Katie Schuette chipped in with six.
The Chippewas opened the tournament Friday afternoon with a 3-0 sweep of Radford, highlighted by outside hitter Lauren Krupsky. The senior became just the 13th player in CMU history to reach the 1,000 kill mark.
Krupsky, who was 10 kills away going into Friday’s match, got just enough to reach the mark propelling the Chippewas to a 3-0 sweep of the Highlanders.
The Chippewas dominated the match, hitting at a .410 clip.
Val DeWeerd and Kaitlyn Schultz each had 12 kills as well, while sophomore Lindsey Dulude and freshman Jenna Coates had 11 and nine digs, respectively.
Krupsky and DeWeerd earned all-tournament honors. Krupsky had 39 kills on the weekend and DeWeerd had 37.
CMU (7-6) starts conference play at 7 p.m. Thursday when they travel to Ypsilanti to play Eastern Michigan before returning home to host Ohio University on Sept. 25th.
