MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Behind a pair of 20-kill matches from Alexis Middlebrooks and Grace Kauth, the Cleveland State volleyball team notched its 20^th win of the season, earning a 3-2 victory at Milwaukee Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Vikings are now 20-4 overall this season and remain atop the Horizon League standings with a 9-1 record in league play.

Box Score | PDF Box Score

The Scores
22-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-27, 15-12

Match Stats
· Grace Kauth and Alexis Middlebrooks led the Viking offense with a pair of 20-kill matches – Kauth with a team-best 21 kills and Middlebrooks with a career-high 20 kills on a .457 hitting percentage (20-4-35).
· Christina Toth added 18 kills for the Vikings – her 14^th 15+ kill match of the season.
· Gina Kilner recorded a career-high 65 assists – the first 60-assist match of her career.
· Grace Kauth also tallied a team-best 19 digs – her 13^th double-double of the season.
· Dayna Roberts and Nikki Holmes helped anchor the Viking defense, each posting 17 digs on the match.
· Alexis Middlebrooks and Christina Toth both posted five blocks against Milwaukee, while Aaliyah Slappy and Gina Kilner each tallied four.
· As a team, CSU posted season-highs with 74 kills and 71 assists.
· The Vikings combined for 11.0 team blocks, their 10^th double-digit block match of the season.

Match Notes
· Saturday's victory at Milwaukee gave CSU 20 wins for the season – its sixth 20-win season under head coach Chuck Voss and the 15^th 20-win season in program history.
· This was the ninth five-set match of the season for the Vikings, with CSU owning a 7-2 record in five-set matches.
· Saturday marked the first time this season that two Vikings posted 20 kills in the same match, as Middlebrooks and Kauth combined for 41 of Cleveland State's 74 kills.
· With her 65 assists, Gina Kilner moved into eighth place on the career assists list in the CSU record book, ending the contest with 1,571 helpers.

The Match
The Vikings had to battle for their five-set victory at Milwaukee Saturday afternoon, as all five sets were pushed to the max before CSU was able to put the match away with a strong fifth set performance.

After dropping the opening set for the second straight match, Cleveland State quickly rebounded and evened the match at 1-1 with a 25-22 second set victory. The Vikings fell behind early in the second frame, but rallied with four straight points to gain an 11-10 lead on a Grace Kauth kill, earning an advantage that they would hold for the rest of the frame. CSU was able to extend its lead to five points multiple times throughout the second half of the set, and finally put the frame away with a pair of Christina Toth kills.

The Vikings were able to gain a 2-1 set advantage after the third frame then, with the third set playing out much the same as the second. CSU got behind early in the set, and had to rally from behind to take control of the frame. Although the Vikings weren't able to gain a sizeable advantage during the set, they were still able to come away victorious following another Toth kill after Milwaukee was able to fend off a pair of set points.

The Panthers then evened the match at 2-2 with a victory during the fourth frame, forcing a fifth and deciding set. During the final frame, the Vikings were able to play with a lead throughout the majority of the frame, including a three-point advantage at 13-10 after an Alexis Middlebrooks kill and a Panther error. The Vikings then closed out the set and the match on a Toth kill, marking their second victory over the Panthers this season.

Up Next
· Cleveland State @ Youngstown State – Friday, October 30 – 7:00 p.m. – Youngstown, Ohio