Kelly Maxwell leads volleyball sweep against Toledo
It wasn’t an impressive win Friday night in McGuirk Arena for the volleyball team as it swept Toledo in straight sets.
But, it was a win nonetheless as Central Michigan kept its momentum going from the win over Ohio last week to mark a two match winning streak after dropping the previous six.
“We can do better than what we did, so that’s good news because we won three sets,” head coach Erik Olson said. “There was a time for a while there (when Central Michigan Life) was talking about (us) not winning sets for a long time.”
Offensively, the Chippewas were on their game with a .298 hitting percentage.
In the first set, they hit a .442 hitting percentage and sophomore outside hitter Kaitlyn McIntyre had nine kills.
“Starting off in the first set really helped carryover to all three sets,” junior setter Kelly Maxwell said. “Our passing and serve receive really helped our offense, and our middles were up and driving hard, which continued to make our offense really effective.”
McIntyre finished the night with a team-leading 17 kills, but after her nine-kill set one, she only recorded one kill in the second.
“Our serve receive was great and (we) were putting up good balls in serve receive and in transition,” McIntyre said. “Even non-setters (were putting up good balls) and that made it a lot easier to open it up.”
Maxwell’s 46-assist performance (15.33 average) came after her season-high 63 assists against Ohio Saturday.
Olson said it’s Maxwell’s leadership that helped CMU’s losing streak end and the team turn the season around before the Mid-American Conference tournament.
“If I were to give an MVP, it would probably be to Maxwell,” Olson said. “She kept us going really well, making great decisions and getting things established.”
The Rockets had a late lead in the third set and it was Maxwell’s decision-making that helped keep the Chippewas composed and earn the sweep.
“She’s got a real good face on her right now, and I think that’s really important,” Olson said. “We could’ve freaked out a little bit in that third set, and I think that’s an indicator that our setter is doing a good job running the show.”
CMU will finish the MAC regular-season at 7 p.m. Saturday against Ball State on senior night.
The Chippewas beat the Cardinals in five-sets in Muncie, Ind. and with a win, they will finish above .500 in the MAC for the first time since 2008.
They will also be battling for positioning in the MAC Tournament, sitting as the No. 6 seed, while BSU holds the No. 8 seed.
