YEAR IN REVIEW #17: Three sports win MAC titles
Central Michigan athletics claimed three Mid-American Conference titles this past season, and a regular season MAC-West crown in baseball.
Wrestling, volleyball and gymnastic also won MAC championships.
For wrestling it was the squad's 10th straight conference title.
“For us to win the championship we needed every single point of every single match ...,” said head coach Tom Borrelli. “It was a total team victory.”
Later that same month CMU gymnastics won its second consecutive MAC title in McGuirk Arena on March 20.
Posting a season-high 195.600, the Chippewas made their mark on this season’s MAC tournament title. It was their 12th conference title, and claimed individual winners in the balance beam, floor exercise, uneven bars and the all-around categories.
Volleyball won the program's first ever MAC championship on Nov. 20.
“This is ours, it is what the team kept saying going into every timeout and every break,” said eight-year head coach Erik Olson. “This win puts CMU on the volleyball map with our first championship in history.”
The Chippewas had to beat No. 16 Northern Illinois in the MAC Championship game. It took a fifth and deciding set, but CMU upset the top-seeded Huskies.
“Our whole team was on fire tonight,” Kelly Maxwell said. “We always talk about how we have to put everything together and this was the time to do it and we did.”
The baseball team couldn't take the MAC tournament title, but during the regular season they won their division. Much of that was thanks to pitcher Jake Sabol, who was since drafted by the Detroit Tigers.
In the MAC-West clinching game Sabol threw a complete game only allowing two runs in a 5-2 victory for CMU.
“For it to come to down to the final game of the season and for him to be the guy and go out there and throw like that, it makes you feel so good for him and all the time and effort he put in to get to this level," head coach Steve Jaksa said. "It’s a great accomplishment for him.”
