CMU volleyball clinches spot in MAC tournament, sweeps Kent State
In possibly her last match at McGuirk Arena, senior outside hitter Lauren Schrock jumped up and fired the ball down the middle to give Central Michigan volleyball its second straight sweep over the Kent State Golden Flashes on Saturday evening.
The two wins put the Chippewas at 22-6 on the season with a 13-3 Mid-American Conference record. The series sweep over the Golden Flashes also clinches a spot in the MAC tournament for CMU.
“We’ve worked really hard to put ourselves in a good spot,” head coach Mike Gawlik said. “Now we have to hold our composure and recognize that this is what we’ve been working really hard for, and it's worth going for. It's about climbing to the top of the mountain in the regular season so you can have a fistfight at the top during the MAC tournament.”
Match 1
Central Michigan came out firing in set one, opening up a 3-0 lead, a lead that it would keep until the end. Dominant from start to finish, and leading by as many as 14, the Chippewas took set one 25-11.
Redshirt junior middle blocker/outside hitter Abby Olin was a perfect seven for seven in set one which was a big contribution to CMU’s .481 hitting percentage while also holding the Golden Flashes to a .000 hitting percentage.
Similar to set one, CMU opened up the second set with a 3-0 lead and ran with it. Once again leading from start to finish, Central Michigan won 25-18.
Kent State showed some fight in set three and got something it hadn’t had yet, a lead. Down 11-8, Gawlik called to timeout to regroup.
The Chippewas came out of the timeout and responded immediately, going on a 5-1 run to take the lead. But KSU would not go quietly, CMU went up, but Kent State continued to fight back down the stretch.
In the end, Central Michigan had a little more juice in the tank as it edged out the Golden Flashes 25-20.
Junior outside hitter Natalia Rejment chalked up another double-double with a team-leading 13 kills and 11 digs. Olin finished the night with 12 kills while senior opposite Krystina Kasson also notched 12 kills on the night.
There were 28 Central Michigan volleyball alums in attendance that were honored during the game for the program’s alumni night.
“I love seeing people that have played for us because we have such close personal relationships with them,” Gawlik said. “I think it's so neat to see people coming back from various generations, people that played in the 70s, and the 80s, and the 90s that are still watching CMU volleyball and following us whether it's coming to games or watching us online.
“To see the women come back that are grown and with kids and are reliving their glory days by telling stories and sharing their experiences with alums that maybe they’ve never met is just a really neat thing. I hope they continue to come back because I hope they know that this is home for them and will always be home for them.”
Match 2
Similar to the first match, the Chippewas came out swinging in set one, opening up a 5-0 lead. The offense was once again red hot, putting up a .486 hitting percentage to take set one 25-18.
The Chippewas found themselves down for the second time of the weekend in set two. Down 8-4, CMU went on a 6-0 run to take a 10-8 lead. Central Michigan was able to keep KSU at arm's length the rest of the way as it came out of set two victorious by a score of 25-19.
For the fourth time of the weekend, the Chippewas opened up a 3-0 lead in set three. They extended that lead to 15-5 midway through the set, and coasted the rest of the way to a 25-17 set three victory.
Freshman middle blocker Grace Thomas had a stellar performance with 13 kills on a .722 hitting percentage.
Four of the five seniors contributed on the night as Emma Dukate has been sidelined with a season-ending leg injury since October.
Schrock had 11 kills, hitting at .318 on the night. Kasson had five kills to go with three blocks. Aly Gurtiza contributed two service aces along with eight digs. The crowd erupted when Linnea Willer entered the game, and she did not disappoint with three kills.
“Senior night’s always a good night because you’re celebrating people that have put their heart and soul into a program,” Gawlik said. “We have five really wonderful seniors, they’ve given us a lot.
“These are seniors that went through COVID as juniors and seniors in high school, and the recruiting process looked different for them, it wasn’t really in person because we couldn’t do that, it's on video. There's a leap of faith that takes place when you’re recruiting under those circumstances on both sides. We took a leap of faith on these five players, and they took a leap of faith on us.”
Central Michigan closes out the regular season against the Akron Zips in Akron, Ohio next weekend before getting ready for the MAC tournament. The first match starts at 6 p.m. on Friday.
