PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Cleveland State volleyball team extended its win streak to three matches Friday evening, defeating Georgetown, 3-0 in the Vikings' first match of the Crowne Plaza Philadelphia West Invitational. CSU will look for its first tournament title of the season tomorrow, as the Vikings are set to face Penn (1:00 p.m.) and Colgate (5:00 p.m.) on the second day of the tournament.
Set scores against Georgetown were 25-22, 25-20, 25-22.
During the opening set the Vikings were able to gain a lead early on, and were able to stay in control for the rest of the frame. CSU held a 6-point lead, the largest lead of the frame, at the 12-6 mark but slowly let Georgetown back into the frame. After trading points in the middle of the set, the Vikings were able to distance themselves with kills from Alexis Middlebrooks and Grace Kauth and a pair of Hoya errors. With a 22-19 lead, CSU was able to close out the frame with a pair of kills from Christina Toth to take the set, 25-22.
The Vikings carried their momentum into the second set, as they got off to a quick 3-0 start including a pair of service aces from Nikki Holmes. Three straight kills from Kauth and Maggie Hannon extended CSU's lead to 6-2, and the Vikings were able to hold a multi-point lead until the 14-14 mark when Georgetown evened the frame. The two teams traded points over the next few plays, until Cleveland State was once again able to distance itself and gain a four-point lead the 23-19 mark after back-to-back kills from Toth and Middlebrooks. The Vikings then closed out the frame, and took a 2-0 lead, with another Toth kill – her sixth of the match.
The third frame was much of the same, as the Vikings were able to gain a sizable lead early on and held it throughout the majority of the set. After Georgetown evened the set at 18-18, the Vikings posted a 5-1 run that once again ended with back-to-back kills from Toth and Middlebrooks, regaining a four-point lead. CSU then cruised to the 25-22 third set victory, claiming their third straight win and improving their overall record to 3-2.
Hannon led the Viking offense with 10 kills, while Ally Beck added nine and Kauth and Toth each posted eight. Dayna Roberts had a team-high 21 assists, with Gina Kilner adding 16 helpers.
As a team, Cleveland State tallied 47 kills on the match, and posted a .303 hitting percentage.
Holmes tallied 23 digs against Georgetown – her second 20-dig match of the season – while Kauth added 12 digs.
