“We talked in our video session today about being better blockers,” Gawlik said. “...We challenged our blockers to make some adjustments and we blocked 15 balls in three sets. And that is a lot of balls… and that is kudos, I think in particular to our middle blocking with Maddie (Whitfield) and Elly (Medendorp), but also our pin blockers people like Mallory (Hernandez), people like Claire (Ammeraal) stepping up and making big plays.”

Senior middle blocker Maddie Whitfield led the team in blocks with a season-high eight blocks along with nine kills while hitting a .500.

“Maddie Whitfield was a grown woman tonight for us,” Gawlik said. “And when you're trying to bounce back from a loss you know, you want to lean on your seniors and your experience.”

In addition to success on the court, Gawlik believes Whitfield has become a leader for this team.

“Keeping a positive attitude all the time and just showing up every game with I guess my ‘swag,’ Whitfield said. “And just trying to be contagious with my energy on the court. I guess other people follow because they look up to me because I am the grandma on the team so (I) just try to be a good leader.”

Senior outside hitter Mallory Hernandez continued her consistent performance with nine kills and a season-high six blocks.

Although the seniors stood out, it was an all-around effort for the Chippewas with six players having four or more kills and at least one block.

“I think that's how we're built to win,” Gawlik said. “...We're not really built to have somebody kill 25 balls and win that way, some teams are, and that's fine. But I think when we're playing our best, we share the load.”

Freshman outside hitter Natalia Rejment got the Chippewas going in the first set with three-straight aces, sparking a seven-point run to take a 17-9 lead. It was all CMU from there as it took set one, 25-15, on a block from Rejment and junior middle blocker Elly Medendorp.

“Right out of the gate, (Rejment) was aggressive with it and was able to locate it,” Gawlik said. "(She) really put them back on their heels and she went back for a couple of service runs. You know she's gonna make some errors with her serve, we know that we're okay with that… Her pressure on the service line kind of set the tone, she was our first server of the match.”

The Chippewas picked up right where they left off in the second set. A six-point run aided by two blocks from Whitfield and back-to-back kills from freshman setter Claire Ammeraal gave them a 9-2 advantage. Whitfield and Hernandez came alive with back-to-back blocks to increase the lead to 11. Rejment sealed set two, 25-13, as CMU pulled ahead 2-0.

Kent State took its first lead of the match, 4-1, to start the third set. However, three kills from Hernandez in a four-point stretch got the Chippewas going to tie it at six. Kent State took the 20-18 lead, but Ammeraal swung things in CMU's favor with back-to-back aces. Ultimately, the Chippewas completed the sweep, 25-23, with a kill from Rejment.

Rejment ended with seven kills, four aces and 12 digs while Ammeraal put up 29 assists, four kills, and three aces.

Medendorp finished with seven kills and six blocks.

The Chippewas travel to Bowling Green, Ohio for the first of two-games against Bowling Green on Friday at 6 p.m.