Volleyball one win away from MAC Tournament berth, might be without setter Maxwell
With two matches to play, volleyball only needs one victory to secure the eighth and final seed in the Mid-American Conference tournament.
Central Michigan's final home game of the season is at 7 p.m. Thursday against Eastern Michigan, who is one game behind the Chippewas in the standings.
“Obviously it’s an important match. We have to treat it like a playoff match," said head coach Erik Olson. "Even though it’s not the playoffs, that’s kind of what it is."
The team might be without senior setter Kelly Maxwell Thursday as well, as she took a nasty fall against Northern Illinois Friday and gutted through the Western Michigan match on Saturday night.
Maxwell has been playing through injuries for much of the season and has still performed well, with 49 assists in five sets on Saturday.
“I would say that Maxwell’s injury is one of the most unfortunate injuries I’ve ever had to occur to a player," Olson said. "In my opinion, she’s one of the best setters in the country. She’s the best setter in this conference. She went from running a really well-oiled machine offensively in the national rankings to, I think we’re 10th within the conference in hitting efficiency."
While CMU has lost its past four matches, the other two teams fighting for the final playoff spot have been marred in losing streaks of their own.
EMU has lost its past four matches, while Buffalo has lost its last seven.
The Chippewas hold the tiebreaker over the Bulls after beating them 3-0 at McGuirk Arena on Oct. 25.
CMU also holds the tiebreaker over EMU with its 3-0 win Oct. 10, but a loss Thursday would force the next tiebreaker, which is win percentage against each team in the MAC, starting with the top seed.
If the Chippewas lose Thursday, they still control their own destiny because they face the top seeded Ohio Saturday night — which EMU lost to earlier in the season — but they would have to win that match to make the tournament.
"I don’t know that we will even have the luxury to put our best foot forward Saturday night after Thursday," Olson said. "We’re not travelling Kelly (Maxwell) to Ohio. That was decided a week ago."
