Volleyball wins sixth straight, tops Miami 3-1
The women’s volleyball team followed its 3–1 defeat of Miami (Ohio) by celebrating with the Central Michigan fans and performing the “Wobble” dance Thursday at McGuirk Arena.
CMU extended its win streak to six games, improving its record to 11–6 this season and dropping the RedHawks to 5–14.
The Chippewas came out slow in its sixth Mid-American Conference match.
CMU’s defensive effort was shaky during the first match, but the Chippewas prevailed, beating the RedHawks 25–22. The set was won on a tip from freshman middle hitter, Angie White.
Game two seemed to mirror the first game. CMU came out playing timid, but this time resulting in a Miami 25–16 win.
After the two-game break, CMU came out looking more like the team that showed up the past five games, playing with more enthusiasm and aggression.
“We just said 'Hey, this is what they're doing, and we need to do a better job of picking those tips up,'” head coach Erik Olson said.
CMU outplayed their opponent in game three, holding Miami to only 13 points, putting the Chippewas up 2-1.
The Chippewas held their own in the final set, ending the match with a 25-22 victory.
“I think our outsides did a really good job of bailing us out of a lot of issues,” Olson said.
The Chippewas were lead by a team effort on the outside by senior Lindsey Dulude and sophomore Kaitlyn McIntyre. Together, they totaled 33 of the 58 kills.
“I had a good offensive night, and that is just hats off to Kelly (Maxwell) and the rest of the offense,” Dulude said.
Junior defensive specialist Jenna Coates recorded a team–high 17 digs.
McIntyre tallied nine, and Maxwell, Samantha Brawley and Dulude each added six digs of their own.
Saturday, the Chippewas will take on Bowling Green State with an 11–7 record, undefeated in the MAC (6–0).
The Falcons played Eastern Michigan Thursday night, riding a seven–game win–streak into Ypsilanti, Mich.
“They hit hard, and they are pretty patterned in what they do,” Olson said. “They have pretty good ball control, a good lefty on the right side and a tank of an outside on the left side,” Olson said.
Bowling Green’s main scorers are junior outside hitter Paige Penrod and junior right side hitter Danielle Tonyan. Together, they make up 496 kills this season.
Both the Chippewas and Falcons are ranked atop their given division, CMU in the West and BGSU in the East.
“We're expecting a good battle for sure," Olson said. "They’re a talented team; they’re a good team, and we're excited to play them."
The game is set to start at 7 p.m. on Saturday at McGuirk Arena.
