CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland State volleyball team opened Horizon League play Friday evening, dropping a hard-fought five-set match against Oakland. The Vikings now stand at 9-4 on the season and 0-1 in league play.

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Match Stats
· Four Vikings finished the match with double-digit kills, led by Alexis Middlebrooks who recorded 13.
· Grace Kauth and Sara Skeens both finished the match with 12 kills, while Aaliyah Slappy posted 10.
· Gina Kilner recorded 45 assists on the match along with 10 digs, six kills and five blocks.
· Shannon Grega led the Viking defense, finishing with 24 digs, while Jordan Verbiak added 11.
· Alexis Middlebrooks tallied a team-high seven blocks, while Grace Kauth added three and Aaliyah Slappy posted one.
· Rachael Dohar notched a team-best two service aces against Oakland.

Match Notes
· Shannon Grega recorded a career-high with her 24-dig performance.
· Gina Kilner notched her fifth double-double on the year with her 45 assists and 10 digs.
· With her seven block assists on the match, Alexis Middlebrooks is now just 10-block assists shy of cracking the top-10 in the CSU Career Record book.
· Cleveland State is now 8-9 in Horizon League openers, and 6-2 over the last eight years.

The Match
After dropping a tough first set, the Vikings stormed back to take a 25-15 victory during the second frame. Cleveland State was able to record four straight points to start the set, and then jumped out to a 7-2 lead following a pair of Sydney Mast kills and an Oakland error. The Vikings went on to hold a sizeable advantage for the remainder of the frame then, and clinched the set on another Oakland error.

The Vikings were able to get out to a quick start during the third set, but Oakland quickly regained control of the frame, gaining an 11-7 advantage. Cleveland State responded with a 10-1 run though, as the Vikings regained momentum and a 17-12 lead on an Alexis Middlebrooks kill. Cleveland State was able to hold the lead for the rest of the set then, and put the frame away with a Grace Kauth kill.

Oakland bounced back to pick up a fourth-set victory then, forcing a fifth and deciding set, marking the third time this season that the Vikings have played a five-set match. Although Cleveland State was able to pick up the first point of the set on another Kauth kill, Oakland answered with the next two points to gain a lead that they would go on to hold for the rest of the set. The Vikings were able to close the gap to 6-5 following an Oakland error, but the Golden Grizzlies went on to post four straight points after that to gain a 10-5 lead and then continued on for the 15-9 fifth-set victory.

Next Up
· Cleveland State @ Youngstown State – Sunday, September 25 – 4:00 p.m. – Youngstown, Ohio