Volleyball heats up at Georgia Southern Invitational
Volleyball beat Jackson State (1-14) and Charleston Southern (5-9) and lost to host Georgia Southern (12-2) in the Georgia Southern Invitational to finish the non-conference schedule 6-6.
Jackson State hadn’t won a set since Sept. 7 and CMU helped continue the streak Friday night, winning 25-13, 25-15, 25-15 with freshman outside hitter Melissa Fuchs led the team with 13 kills.
The Chippewas set the tone early, recording 16 kills and only two errors in the first set compared to Jackson State’s eight kills and five errors.
Senior setter Kelly Maxwell and junior outside hitter Kaitlyn McIntyre both played only two of the three sets in the match while still having strong numbers. McIntyre had 11 kills and 12 digs, second best on the team in both categories while Maxwell recorded 23 assists, more than the entire Jackson State team.
Georgia Southern was a much bigger challenge, as head coach Erik Olson predicted going into the tournament.
The Eagles beat the Chippewas in straight sets, 25-21, 25-19, 26-24 in front of 427 spectators. The second set served to be disastrous for CMU, as it tallied more errors (14) than kills (12) during the set.
CMU was able to keep it close in the first and third sets, though, coming as close as 22-21 in the first set and tying the game at 24 in the third set before ultimately losing both.
Out of the 18 sets CMU has lost this year, the losing margin has been five points or fewer in 12 of those sets.
McIntyre and Fuchs fueled the team to victory in its final game of the tournament against Charleston Southern with 14 and 13 kills respectively.
After narrowly winning the first two sets 25-20, the Chippewas gathered 18 kills and zero errors to finish off the Buccaneers.
The Mid-American Conference schedule will begin this weekend for CMU at 7 p.m. when it hosts Toledo Friday and Ball State Saturday in McGuirk Arena.
