Power outage hits Ohio mid-match, postpones CMU volleyball season opener
Central Michigan head coach Mike Gawlik speaks with his team during a timeout against Eastern Michigan Nov. 7 at McGuirk Arena.
An unexpected power outage throughout East Ohio disrupted CMU's volleyball season opener against Ohio in Athens at a very crucial point.
After pulling a strong lead and winning the first set of the match, the Chippewas kept the Bobcats on their toes, remaining neck-and-neck all throughout the second set Friday in the Ohio Convocation Center.
When Ohio served set point at 24-22 in the second set, the lights in the arena shut off -- similar to the Chippewa football season opener at Kelly/Shorts Stadium on Nov. 4, also against Ohio.
As the ball went into play, the teams battled through a strong rally; suddenly, the lights went out in the arena and the ESPN3 broadcast was shut down.
Power had not returned to the Convocation Center and the remainder of the match was postponed to 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
"I've had the power go out twice in my career, once when I was a player and once when I was a coach at Michigan State but never for this kind of duration," said head coach Mike Gawlik. "It's usually 15 minutes of just sitting around and dancing to some music while the lights warm back up, so this is uncharted territory for me, but it's a memory and it's something that our athletes will remember."
Gawlik confirmed that CMU managed to secure the point before the lights shut off. The teams will resume the match, with Ohio leading 24-23 in the second set, and compete in the second scheduled match at 2 p.m. Saturday.
