CMU volleyball drops second straight to Akron
Central Michigan University girl's volleyball team huddles together before the game starts against The University of Toledo, on Saturday, Sept. 30, in McGuirk Arena. (CM-Life | Jenna Spanola)
Central Michigan volleyball found itself in a familiar situation as it was faced with another set five match Friday night against Akron.
With the Chippewas backs against the wall in the fifth set, graduate student Devon Bright secured an ace to bring CMU within three, 12-9. However, the Chippewas were not able to continue the scoring effort as the Zips were able to pull away with the victory, 3-2.
The Chippewas move to 2-5 in Mid-American Conference play and 8-11 overall.
“I think everybody’s kind of frustrated because we played really great in set one and I think we played really great in set three and the other sets we did not,” head coach Mike Gawlik said. “It’s kind of back to the drawing board.”
CMU took the first and third sets, but Akron was able to secure the second, fourth and fifth.
“I think on our side of the ball we’ve got to take care of what we can control,” Gawlik said.
Redshirt sophomore Abby Olin led in kills for the Chippewas with 10, while junior Linnea Willer was not far behind with nine and Bright recorded eight.
The Chippewas struggled with attack errors against the Zips with 23.
CMU lost in five sets to Buffalo Thursday night. Both Buffalo and Akron are tied for first in the MAC east with a record of 5-1.
The Chippewas will face another test on Thursday, traveling to play against rival Western Michigan who is undefeated in the MAC.
“We have to get better this week at practice,” Gawlik said. “I think there’s a lot of really great moments in our match that we can utilize and look at and say, ‘hey we were really successful in that moment, here’s why.’”
