CMU volleyball rebounds on night two versus Toledo
The CMU volleyball team celebrates after an ace during their 3-2 win against Ball State Saturday, Sept. 24 in McGuirk Arena.
After suffering its first Mid-American Conference loss, Central Michigan volleyball (10-5, 3-1) came into night two against Toledo (10-5, 3-1) looking for revenge.
Ultimately, the Chippewas rounded out the two-game stand against the Rockets with a 3-1 victory (25-21, 25-22, 22-25, 25-16) on Friday.
“I think one of the things we said in the locker room was that good teams have to bounce back from a little bit of disappointment,” said head coach Mike Gawlik. “We felt like last night, we didn't play our best ball. And so I think that was a little bit of the challenge that we wanted to come out and set the tone early in the match… I thought we really did a nice job of executing some of the small things that maybe we didn't do last night, and showing some growth and some maturity.”
In the first match against Toledo, CMU had trouble getting the offensive attack going with 32 errors and a season-low hitting percentage of .107. But on night two it was able to cut the errors down to 14 and hit .274.
“I think that good teams find a way to make those changes,” Gawlik said. “And losing doesn't make us bad. I think that not learning from losing would make us a little stubborn there. And so I thought we did some really nice things."
Senior outside hitter Anna Erickson led the team on both ends with 12 kills, 10 digs and five blocks, while coming alive in the final two sets to help the Chippewas seal the match.
“(Erickson) had a really good weekend for us,” Gawlik said. “All weekend she and I have been talking about the phrase “risk it to get the biscuit.”... We got to take some chances. And I thought that's outside of her comfort zone a little bit. But I thought she did a really nice job this weekend of making some of those changes even though sometimes she can play a little safe.”
In addition to Erickson's veteran leadership, senior outside hitter Mallory Hernandez secured 11 kills and one block, while senior middle blocker Maddie Whitfield had eight kills and four blocks.
Coming off of a rough start to the series, freshman Natalia Rejment bounced back with 11 kills, 12 digs, and two aces as freshman Claire Ammeraal recorded 43 assists, 13 digs and five kills.
“I was really proud of their ability to bounce back,” Gawlik said. “And instead of kind of carrying that with them today, just kind of staying in the fight saying, ‘today's a new day, and we're going to try to win the first set 1-0, and then the match 1-0.’”
Tied at 16 in the first set, the Chippewas went on a five-point run to pull ahead 21-16. The Rockets tried to rally, but CMU finished off the set, 25-21 on a kill from Rejment.
The Chippewas came out firing in the second, as three-straight points from Rejment extended the lead 9-4. CMU continued its momentum, taking its largest lead in the set, 19-13 off of a kill from junior middle blocker Elly Medendorp. However, the Rockets cut the Chippewa lead to three. The comeback fell short as CMU took set two, 25-22.
Medendorp ended the day with seven kills and seven blocks.
Down 13-6 in set three, Whitfield ignited a five-point CMU run. The teams traded points down the stretch, but the Rockets captured the momentum and took the set 25-22.
Led by Erickson, the Chippewas took an 8-6 lead in set four. CMU continued their good start with a 5-1 run to extend the lead to five, 16-11. The Chippewas went on a five-point run aided by kills from Hernandez and Erickson to pull ahead 22-13. Erickson came alive in the fourth set with five kills and led the team to a 25-16 win to complete the 3-1 match win.
CMU will look to add to its win total when they face Ohio on Thursday at 6 p.m. in McGuirk Arena.
