CMU volleyball sweeps Eastern, snaps losing streak
The Central Michigan University volleyball team plays a game while waiting for the refs to review a play at McGuirk Arena, on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025. The volleyball team sits at 4-13 overall and 1-4 in conference play. (CM Life | Jasmine Brookins)
It was a “breath of fresh air,” as CMU volleyball head coach Arielle Wilson put it last night at McGuirk Arena.
This Tuesday, the Central Michigan Volleyball team picked up its first Mid-American Conference win of the season against Eastern Michigan. This win also happened to be its first since Sep. 12. Needless to say, the Chippewas were due for a big game.
Central Michigan started the night hot with a 25-21 win in the first set. An early 6-2 lead for the Eagles was no threat to CMU, who ended up tying the game at 9 with a powerful Izzy Swiercz kill. A seven–point run and back-to-back kills by Brooklyn Conner, Abby Olin and Conner again extended the Central Michigan lead to 13-9.
Although the Eagles fought back to tie it at 16, they never took the lead again. Natalia Rejment’s hot hand, as well as strong blocking from Conner and Olin, allowed CMU to control the rest of the set.
Set two had CMU running on all cylinders with a dominant 25-16 win over the Eagles. It was a group effort, with Keelyn Muell, Conner, Olin, Grace Thomas, Swiercz and Rejment all putting up kills. Thomas had four kills in this set as well as a block, and Olin was able to pick up two kills, two blocks and two aces.
Although the Eagles closed the gap to three points in the middle of the set, CMU never looked back from there. After taking a timeout at 15-12 CMU, the Chippewas only allowed their opponents four more points.
An early 6-0 lead in the third set had CMU hungry for a sweep, and Eastern Michigan gave them just that. Back-to-back kills by Rejment and Conner gave CMU an 8-3 lead, then a Thomas kill and block brought them to 14-5. Swiercz delivered a powerful hit towards the end of the set to make it match point, and a service error by the Eagles secured the win for CMU. This also marked the 10th win in a row that the Chippewas have over Eastern Michigan.
“They deserve (it)," Wilson said. "I signed up for this for a reason, I believe in them, and I think they did really well.”
Rejment led the team in kills with nine and added two blocks as well. She also led in digs with 15. Olin was close behind with eight kills, five block assists and three aces. Thomas had seven kills and Conner had six, along with four block assists. Muell set well tonight and had 31 assists. Hannah Langton was able to contribute 14 digs tonight for the Chips.
"Let’s take our past and what we’ve gone through as lessons,” Thomas said. “Eastern's a good team and they consistently bring good energy, so it was about beating their energy.”
CMU volleyball hits the road this weekend, taking on Buffalo Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 4 p.m.
