CMU volleyball caps off historic season with two wins against Akron
Central Michigan volleyball entered the fifth set of its final regular season match against the Akron Zips on Saturday evening, needing someone to step up big to get the win.
Junior outside hitter Natalia Rejment was that someone. Totaling five kills in the fifth set, Rejment was a big help in the 15-10 set win that gave CMU its 24th win of the season.
The Chippewas closed out the 2024 regular season with two wins on the road in Akron, Ohio, this past weekend. Finishing at 24-6 with a 15-3 Mid-American Conference record, marking the winningest season in program history.
“That's exciting,” head coach Mike Gawlik said. “I think in time we’ll be able to look back at the full season and really reflect on how awesome it is.”
Match 1
CMU was able to defeat Akron in four sets on Friday evening with close victories in set one (25-23) and three (25-20), with a dominant 25-9 win in set four. The Zips won set two, their lone victory of the night in a 25-21 come-from-behind win.
Senior outside hitter Lauren Schrock led the team in kills with 17. Senior opposite Krystina Kasson stuffed the stat sheet with nine kills, eight blocks, four digs, and two assists. Redshirt junior middle blocker/outside hitter Abby Olin logged 12 kills on a team-best .379 hitting percentage.
Rejment had yet another double-double with 11 kills and 14 digs. Junior middle blocker Brooklyn Conner made the most of her playing time with six kills and seven blocks.
Match 2
The second match went to five sets, with CMU winning close in sets one (26-24) and three (31-29) and Akron taking sets two (25-19) and four (25-18).
“I thought we played a really great match yesterday,” Gawlik said. “I thought today we were on our back heels a little bit trying to play with some expectations, but I thought we really came up clutch in some big moments, particularly in set five.
In set five, the Zips got out to an early lead, but Central Michigan hung around to take a 9-8 lead heading into the final stretch. Using a 6-2 run, CMU was able to close it out 15-10.
“We won a couple of close sets there that put us in position to win the match,” Gawlik said. “And we were able to capitalize on it with a gritty set five performance by multiple people within our team.”
Five players had double-digit kills for Central Michigan. Schrock had 16. Rejment recorded her 12th double-double of the season with 16 kills and 12 digs. Kasson and freshman middle blocker Grace Thomas each had 13 kills, while Olin had 12.
Freshman libero Hannah Langton recorded 21 digs, and junior setter Allie Korba surpassed 1,000 assists on the season after her impressive weekend tallying 105 assists.
“I think anytime you’re going on the road late in the season, especially when you’re playing for something, you’ve gotta be playing pretty well,” Gawlik said. “To win on the road in any league is tough, and then when you combine the fact that it's November and your body is banged up a little bit, and you’re trying to keep pace with other good teams in the league for seeding purposes, you’ve gotta play pretty complete volleyball."
Looking ahead to next week, the Chippewas travel to Bowling Green, Ohio to compete in the MAC tournament.
After falling just one game short of the regular season title and the No. 1 seed, Central Michigan will have the No. 2. With the first round bye, CMU will face the winner of Ball State and Toledo on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
“These are the matches that we worked hard to be in,” Gawlik said. “One of the things we said tonight is that we’re in the moment. This is the moment we’ve been thinking about for a long time, these clutch moments that we worked hard for, and we’re in that moment right now, so let's take advantage of that moment.”
