The CMU volleyball team gets a rematch of its final regular-season match today in the quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament.

The Chippewas play Northern Illinois at 11 a.m. in the Seagate Center in Toledo.
The Chippewas swept NIU in their last meeting Nov. 14. The winner of today’s match advances to the semifinal match.

“On any given day, any MAC team can win,” said senior middle blocker Kaitlyn Hurt. “We have confidence knowing that we beat them the last time we played, but they beat us before and we are going to have to bring our A-game.”

Sophomore outside hitter Lauren Krupsky led the Chippewas against NIU in their last meeting with 17 kills. However, sophomore middle blocker Kaitlyn Schultz was the more reliable hand, hitting for nine kills with a .471 attack percentage.

Prior meeting

Northern Illinois won in the first meeting Oct. 9. The match was the first five-set loss for CMU.

NIU senior Meagan Schoenrock had 27 kills in that match. However, her team has struggled in the last part of the season as they have lost four of the last five matches.

NIU, awarded a first-round bye as the fourth seed, has not competed since the loss at Rose Arena.

Central advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating Eastern Michigan in five sets Tuesday. The winner between Central, the fifth seed, and NIU will play the winner of the match between No. 8 Ball State and defending champion and top seed Ohio.

“We are so excited to get that first win behind us and head down to Toledo,” Schultz said. “We have some things to work on, but we know we can compete and we just have to prove it to everyone else.”

E-mail the author: D.J. Palomares