SAINT LOUIS, Mo. – Take it from CMU volleyball coach Mike Gawlik: every match, win or lose, is a learning opportunity.
Gawlik's Chippewas sailed past Saint Louis on Saturday in straight sets, 3-0, in the finale of the Billiken Invitational at SLU's Chaifetz Pavilion.
The Chippewas (5-1) went undefeated in the tournament. They swept Youngstown State and downed St. Thomas in four sets on Friday before defeating the host Billikens.
CMU won seven of the eight sets it played on the weekend. Last weekend, the Chippewas went 2-1 in a season-opening tournament at Memphis. They dropped their finale in that event in five sets to Nicholls.
"When you build on a schedule you want to make sure you can grow every weekend," Gawlik said. "I thought we did some really nice things last weekend, and coming out of that weekend 2-1 after losing in five (to Nicholls) we thought that we were in a position that we needed to learn from the loss and identify where we need to be better.
"To come out and get two wins (on Friday), which is kind of in line with what we did last weekend, and come out in the third match and play a complete match from start to finish, I think shows that we learned something last week."
Three aces from Linnea Willer boosted the Chippewas to the lead in their 25-16 first set against the Billikens. After struggling early in the second set, CMU rallied midway through and utilized five blocks from Elly Medendorp to take the lead for good in taking the set, 25-18.
Thanks in part to four aces, the Billikens took an 11-9 lead in the third set. The teams were tied four times before CMU ran with the lead for the 25-19 sweep.
Mallory Hernandez led CMU with a match-high 14 kills and five block assists. CMU's Natalia Rejment, who earned the tournament Most Valuable Player Award, followed with eight kills and finished the tournament with 27. The freshman outside hitter had three aces against the Billikens and totaled eight on the weekend.
Setters Kamryn Olson and Claire Ammeraal finished with 15 and 12 assists, respectively.
Elly Medendorp, a junior middle blocker, had 10 of CMU's 14 total blocks on the day.
Sophomore libero Aly Gurtiza was named to the all-tournament team, posting 15 digs and five assists against the Billikens. She finished the weekend with 52 digs and 21 assists.
"We were evaluating Saint Louis throughout the weekend and they're really good," Gawlik said. "Their service pressure that they bring to the table really stresses a team and I thought our three primary passers, Natalia Rejment, Anna Erickson and Aly Gurtiza did a phenomenal job … and I think that was a big reason that we were able to really be in control of the match from start to finish.
"I think our match against Saint Louis was as complete of a match that we've played so far."
The Chippewas are scheduled to open the North Dakota State Tournament on Friday, Sept. 9 with matches with Northern Arizona (1-4) (1:30 p.m.) and the host Bison (4-2) (8 p.m.). CMU is scheduled to conclude on Saturday (1:30 p.m.) with Chicago State (2-4) at NDSU's Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse.
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September 04, 2022 at 09:39AM
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Chippewas Complete Unbeaten Run Through Billiken Invitational - Central Michigan University Chippewas
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