Volleyball splits California roadtrip
Sometimes all a team needs is a little momentum.
The fourth set between the Central Michigan volleyball team and the University of California-Irvine was one for the ages.
CMU stormed back and won a thrilling 37-35 set victory and used that momentum to outlast the Anteaters in five sets Saturday in Irvine, Calif.
After dropping the opener to UCI 25-16, CMU was able to get going into the break with a split after it ran away with game two, 25-11 with a hitting percentage of .484.
The Anteaters took game three 25-16, holding the Chippewas to a hitting percentage of just .069 percent.
In the final set, CMU won the match 15-10.
In the win against UCI, the only roster change head coach Erik Olson made was in game two, when he took out junior outside hitter Lindsey Dulude and put in fellow junior outside hitter and middle-blocker Katie Schuette.
CMU put up some big numbers in the high-scoring win.
Senior middle-blocker Kaitlyn Schultz recorded 28 kills with a .533 hitting average and seven blocks.
Sophomore setter Kelly Maxwell passed out 61 assists and recorded eight digs.
Freshman outside hitter recorded 12 kills and 19 digs, while sophomore libero Jenna Coates had 17 digs of her own.
Junior right side hitter Val DeWeerd also had 12 kills and Schuette added eight kills.
Junior defensive specialist Samantha Brawley was tough with her serves recording four aces and had seven digs.
The momentum from Saturday was a day late, however, because the Chippewas weren’t as fortunate when they played the No. 23 Long Beach State.
CMU won the first game 25-19, but the rest of the way it was all 49ers as they took games two, three, and four in demanding fashion (25-14, 25-15 and 25-19).
The entire active roster played in the loss to LBSU.
