Volleyball overcomes adversity with pride in win over Ball State
Junior setter Kathia Sanchez sets the ball during the match against Ball State on Oct. 9, 2015. The Chippewas beat the Cardinals 1-3.
The Central Michigan head volleyball coach was missing from McGuirk Arena Friday night, but the team's passion and energy was present.
The Chippewas used a combined 46 kills from five players to down Ball State, 3-1, in a battle of Mid-American Conference West Division opponents. The Chippewas improved to 7-11 (2-3 MAC) and grabbed their first win under their temporary coaching staff.
Head Coach Erik Olson was placed on a paid leave of absence Tuesday due to undisclosed reasons. Associate Head Coach Theresa Beeckman and assistants Adam Rollman and Kelly Maxwell coached the team collectively.
After Friday's match, Beeckman could not have been prouder.
“That was fun," Beeckman said "As I like to say all the time, ‘Winning is so much better than not winning.’ I thought the team was pretty dang good at what they were doing. As far as their execution goes, as far as their energy goes, I just couldn’t be more proud to be a part of this team.”
CMU controlled from the start with a punishing 25-13 victory in set one. The teams were tied at 16 in the second set, when the Chippewas went on a 5-1 run to pull away from the Cardinals (9-10, 3-2 MAC) and take the second set win.
The Chippewas' hopes for a sweep were stopped in set three. Ball State and CMU were tied at 20, 21 and 22 before the Cardinals won their only set of the night, 25-23.
The Chippewas battled back with vengence in set four. Senior middle blocker Kalle Mulford and sophomore outside hitter Jordan Bueter recorded four kills each to help CMU to a 25-11 set win and to snap a two-match losing streak.
The win helped ease the tension of a difficult week for the program. Beeckman said the team had a "phenomenal" week of practice.
“When we are on the volleyball court, it’s about the volleyball court," Beeckman said. "I thought we took a couple of minutes to gather ourselves and once we took the volleyball court it was all about getting stuff done. We got it done, we got it done (well) and then we got out of there."
Bueter led the team with 16 kills and was aided by sophomore outside hitter Taylor Robertson, who notched 10. Senior middle blocker Angie White added eight kills and Mulford and sophomore outside hitter Jessica Meichtry totaled six kills each.
White said the team loved the opportunity to go back on the court.
“Our team is very adaptable," White said. "We love adversity. We grab it, we run with it and it just empowers us to keep going. It doesn't hold us back, it fires us up.”
Bueter said the team had fun on the court Friday, which helped the team to victory.
“The entire atmosphere was just really fun," Bueter said. "There wasn’t any specific reason for it. We just all embraced each other and said let’s have fun tonight.”
Freshman libero Jamison Wolffis tallied 20 digs and junior setter Kathia Sanchez recorded 36 assists.
Kelly Hopkins had 10 kills to lead the Cardinals. Ball State entered the match second in the division.
The Chippewas seemed more proficient in terms of blocking as they totaled nine as a team. White had two solo blocks and three assists.
“It’s a team effort," White said. "We just penetrated and executed.”
Beeckman said Friday's game was about the team, not job titles.
“I’ve been around the game for 21 years so I don’t try to approach it different one way or another," she said. "We’re a team. Titles mean very little to us. We operate like a team. We stepped up. We’re professionals. We had a job to do and we did it.”
The Chippewas host the Toledo Rockets at 7 p.m. Saturday.
