CMU volleyball sweeps Eastern Michigan
With Central Michigan volleyball down 24-22 against Eastern Michigan in the third set and looking to complete the sweep, someone needed to step up and make a play.
It was senior outside hitter Mallory Hernandez that pulled through with three-straight kills to help secure the match win.
“At one point, Mike (Gawlik) brought us all together, and was like, ‘someone needs to be aggressive.’” Hernandez said. “And I think I just decided I'm going to be aggressive and if the sets not there, just manage it and look for kills other than just swings.”
The Chippewas completed the 3-0 sweep (25-18, 25-22, 26-24) against the Eagles on Wednesday.
CMU is now 12-8 on the season and 5-4 in Mid-American Conference play.
Hernandez came up with some timely kills to help propel the Chippewas to the victory as she ended the night with 12 kills and three blocks.
“I think we were having fun with it,” Hernandez said. “And it felt really good because I've been working with connecting with Claire (Ammeraal) a lot. And I think that really showed in this game, she was setting me great.”
Freshman outside hitter Natalia Rejment led the offensive attack with 11 kills on a .346 hitting percentage while recording 11 digs. Rejment came alive in the third set with seven kills to help seal the sweep.
“I think it was really important to be aggressive,” Rejment said. “I was proud of (myself), and Mal (Hernandez) and Anna (Erickson). We were aggressive, and I think that's why we won.”
The Chippewas jumped out to the early lead in the first set with back-to-back points from freshman setter Claire Ammeraal helped put them ahead 9-2. However, following an Eastern Michigan timeout, the Eagles outscored CMU 10-2 to give them a 12-11 lead. After trading small runs, the Chippewas took the first set, 25-18, on a four-point run aided by kills from Hernandez and Rejment.
Back-to-back blocks from the Chippewas put them ahead 6-4 to start the second set. It was a tight battle throughout with no team grabbing a commanding lead. However, with the set tied at 22, the Chippewas secured three-straight points and took the third set off of a kill from Hernandez.
Looking to avoid the sweep, the Eagles came out swinging to take the early 6-3 lead in the third set. Hernandez delivered with back-to-back kills to cut down the EMU's lead to 15-12. The Eagles extended their lead back to six, leading to a CMU timeout. Following the timeout, Rejment put the team on her back and delivered three-straight kills to cut the score 20-18. Hernandez delivered three-straight kills of her own to get the late 25-24 lead. A block from senior middle blocker Maddie Whitfield sealed the sweep for the Chippewas as they took the third set, 26-24.
“We fell behind in sets two and three with a little bit of passive volleyball,” said head coach Mike Gawlik. “I just thought we had to turn it up and be a lot more aggressive on the service line, from our attacking, (and) with some of our decision making… I think the messaging becomes just trying to make sure our focus is we're going to push to win this set, not ‘let's just win set four’ or ‘let's hope we win in five.’ And let's just fight for that next point.”
Whitfield put up five kills and five blocks while junior middle blocker Elly Medendorp ended the night with four kills and three blocks.
Ammeraal finished with 29 assists, 12 digs and five kills in the win.
The Chippewas welcome Miami (Ohio) to McGuirk Arena on Saturday at 6 p.m.
