Volleyball begins final regular season stretch against Toledo, Ball State
With six games left in the regular season, the Central Michigan volleyball team will begin its final home stretch this weekend with matches against Toledo and Ball State.
The Chippewas (9-13 overall) sit in a three-way tie with Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan for eighth place in the Mid-American Conference. All three teams are 3-7 in conference play. The top eight teams automatically play in the MAC Tournament.
The three Michigan teams are ranked behind BSU, Kent State and Toledo. They are all 5-5 in the conference.
CMU fell to the Cardinals, 3-2, on Sept. 23 in Muncie and was swept by the Rockets on Sept. 24 in Toledo.
The team hosts Toledo on Thursday and BSU on Saturday. Both matches begin at 7 p.m. at McGuirk Arena.
Scouting Toledo
The Rockets went 0-2 last weekend with a 3-0 loss to Miami, 16-25, 18-25, 17-25, and a 3-1 defeat to Bowling Green, 9-25, 25-22, 13-25, 15-25.
Junior middle blocker Rachel Vidourek led the team with nine blocks and a .316 hitting percentage against Miami and five blocks against BGSU. Junior outside hitter Saige Thomas tallied 12 kills and two blocks against the Falcons.
Sophomore libero Maurissa Leonard led the Rockets defensively last weekend, recording 15 digs against the RedHawks and 18 against the Falcons.
Scouting Ball State
The Cardinals split last weekend, falling 3-0 to MAC-leading Miami, 25-17, 25-16, 26-24, after sweeping BGSU 26-24, 25-16, 25-15.
Junior setter McCallen Kennedy led BSU to its second-best attack effort of the season at a .282 team percentage against the Falcons. She recorded a career-high 35 assists and tied her career-high with two service aces.
Sophomore outside hitter Brooklyn Goodsel led offensively against BGSU with 21 kills and a .378 hitting percentage. She scored double-digit kills in both matches last weekend to bring her season total to a team-high 17 matches with 10 or more kills.
