Central volleyball athletes past and present embraced in the middle of the court following the unofficial begin to the season last Friday.

The Chippewas scrimmaged against program alumni to kick off the 2008 season.

“It was an opportunity to see what we can do as a team against someone other than ourselves,” coach Erik Olson

Many athletes used this opportunity to work in a game time situation for the first time in a long offseason.

“We struggled in the first game,” Olson said. “Our passers started struggling right away. Our communication from back row to front row dropped off, but we settled down and started to get it back together in the second game”

Returning for the Alumnae team was Robin Kozuch from the 1996-98 seasons. Kozuck was a 1998 academic All-Mid American Conference choice.

Ali McCrite, who played from 2002-05, holds the CMU record for most digs in a season and in a career. She worked with alumnae team to give the current Chippewa team a challenge.

Courtney Kersten has competed for the Chippewas for the last four season, but found herself on the other side of the net as she played with the alumnae team for the first time.

“Four of the seven on the alumni side were players I coached that were a part of the No. 1 serving team in the MAC,” Olson said. “They are a bunch of talented servers.”

CMU travels to Richmond, Va., Friday to compete in the Virginia Commonwealth Tournament beginning at 2 p.m. against Maryland University.

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