YPSILANTI, Mich. – The Cleveland State volleyball team wrapped up action at the Michigan Invitational Saturday, splitting the final day with a 3-2 victory over Harvard and a 3-1 loss at Eastern Michigan. After two weeks of play, the Vikings stand at 4-2 on the season.
Cleveland State 3, Harvard 2 | PDF Box Score
Cleveland State was able to get back in the win column Saturday afternoon, picking up its first five-set victory of the year in the first-ever meeting against Harvard as part of the Michigan Invitational.
Four Vikings finished the match with double-digit kills, led by Trinniti Hall who tallied 18 kills. Sara Skeens and Emily DeGeorge both recorded 12 kills, while Rachel Stover added 11 and freshman Christina Grecol tallied a career-high 53 assists.
As a team, Cleveland State recorded 16.0 total blocks, including a career-high nine from Stover and eight from Hannah Greene – her third eight+ block match of the season.
Rachael Dohar led the Viking defense with a then career-high 21 digs, while Jordan Verbiak posted 18 digs and Emily DeGeorge finished with 16. With her 16 digs and 12 kills, DeGeorge posted her first double-double of the season and the sixth of her career.
After dropping the first two sets, Cleveland State responded with convincing wins in the third and fourth frames to even the contest at two sets each.
During the third set the Vikings were able to get out to a 9-4 advantage following a 5-0 run, and then went on to hold a sizeable lead for the rest of the frame. After holding a 19-13 lead, Cleveland State posted the final six points of the frame to earn the 25-13 victory. During this final run, the Vikings got points from Skeens and Grecol kills and a DeGeorge and Hall block.
The fourth set was much of the same, as Cleveland State posted the first three points of the frame - including a DeGeorge kill and Greene and Stover block – and then went on to gain a 13-1 advantage. The Vikings were easily able to hold this lead for the rest of the frame, and closed out the 25-12 set victory on a Stover solo block.
After the Vikings were able to force a fifth and deciding set, they were able to continue their momentum through the first part of the frame, getting out to 7-3 lead before Harvard worked its way back into the match to put the score at 7-6 Cleveland State. The Vikings were able to put a stop to the Harvard run with a Hannah Greene kill, and then posted two of the next three points to extend their lead to 10-7. Cleveland State was then able to hold the slight advantage for the rest of the frame, earning the 15-11 victory on back-to-back kills from Skeens and Hall.
Eastern Michigan 3, Cleveland State 1 | PDF Box Score
Cleveland State's final match of the Michigan Invitational came as a 3-1 loss to Eastern Michigan in just the seventh meeting in program history.
Rachel Stover tallied a team-best 11 kills on the match, while Trinniti Hall added 10 kills and Hannah Green and Emily DeGeorge both tallied nine.
Defensively, Rachael Dohar bettered her career-best that she set earlier in the day, finishing with 29 digs, while DeGeorge added 16. Jordan Verbiak tallied 11 digs and MacKenzie Conner added 10, the second double-digit dig match of her freshman campaign.
At the net, Greene recorded four blocks, while Stover and Hall both tallied three.
Halle Schoen saw action in the front row for the first time of her collegiate career, recording one kill on three attempts.
Up Next
Cleveland State will return home to host their second preseason tournament of the year (Friday, September 7 – Saturday, September 8), welcoming No. 11 Illinois, UC Irvine and Bowling Green.