CMU volleyball falls to Western in five sets
After a back and forth match in Kalamazoo, Central Michigan volleyball loses a close five-setter to the Western Michigan Broncos on Friday night. This is the second straight loss for the Chippewas, losing 3-2, after beginning Mid-American Conference play this week.
A neck and neck first set saw ten ties and six lead changes between the teams. Down 24-20, CMU fought off three WMU set points. Chippewas senior middle blocker Abby Olin began the short rally with a kill, followed with an ace by Keelyn Muell, a freshman setter, on the next point. A solo block by Olin made it 24-23, but the Broncos closed out the set on a kill.
CMU fought back in the second set, which was once again close to the end. With the score at 11-10, WMU went on a three-point scoring run to make it 14-10, forcing head coach Arielle Wilson to call a timeout. The Chippewas struck back, scoring on the next four points to tie the set again at 14-14.
After 11 ties and four lead changes, CMU took the second set 25-23 on a kill from Natalia Rejment, a senior outside hitter.
Service and attack errors by CMU kept them from pulling away in the third set. WMU had four service aces to CMU’s zero. At 20-16 WMU, the Chippewas took a timeout, and eventually evened the set back to 23-23. Despite the CMU upswing, the Broncos secured the third set 25-23.
The fourth set was much like the previous three, head to head throughout. CMU had two set points held off by WMU, forcing a 24-24 tie. A double block by sophomore middle blocker Grace Thomas and Rejment, followed up with an ace by sophomore outside hitter Izzy Swiercz sealed the set win for the Chippewas, 26-24.
After forcing the fifth set, CMU finally began to run out of gas to finish out the match. At 8-6 WMU, the Chippewas gave up two straight aces, and from there, the Broncos took control. Scoring five of the last six points, WMU took the match victory 15-8 in the final set.
A tough rivalry loss did not stop some Chippewa players from having outstanding performances. Olin led the team with 17 kills, followed closely by Swiercz and Rejment at 16 each. Olin also had 6.0 blocks, the most by a player on either team in the match. Defensively, Alina Anderson, senior libero/defensive specialist, had 21 digs, while Rejment had 19.
CMU volleyball is back-in-action at home against the Toledo Rockets Oct. 6 as the Chippewas look to get their first home and conference wins.
