Oct. 10, 2009
Contact: Greg Murphy
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cleveland State picked up its sixth consecutive sweep with a 3-0 victory over Milwaukee on Saturday night in Horizon League action in Woodling Gym.
Match scores were 25-14, 25-20, 25-23.
The win improves CSU to 17-5 overall and remained in a first place tie in the Horizon League with Valparaiso at 6-1. Milwaukee slipped to 5-13 overall and 2-5 in league play.
"I told the team going in that we had to stay focused because Milwaukee is a much better team than their record indicates," head coach Chuck Voss said. "I thought we came out with a lot of fire and passion to start the match and that is always good to see. Defensively, we are playing some of the best volleyball I have seen and that continues to put us in good offensive positions to make plays."
The Vikings started out hot in the first set, hitting .379 (13-2-29) as a team in cruising to the win. Holding a slim one point lead (12-11), CSU went on a 6-0 run, including two kills from Kara Koch, to assume control of the set.
CSU held the Panthers to a negative attack percentage (-029; 8-9-34) in the first set.
After falling behind 2-0 in the second set, the Vikings came back with an 11-3 run to take an 11-5 lead on a Meghan Mental service ace. UWM would not threaten from there.
The third set proved to be the most exciting, featuring seven ties and three lead changes.
CSU jumped out to a 12-8 lead on a UWM attack error, but a 7-3 Panther run knotted the set at 15-15.
The Panthers continued to push, using a 4-1 run to take a 19-16 lead on a Maddie Sueppel kill.
However, the Vikings would battle back to even the set at 20-20 on a Jordan Goad kill. The teams continued to trade points and with the set even at 23-23, a UWM attack error and a Beth Gruelich kill sealed the match for the Vikings.
Liz Fazio paced the Vikings with 13 kills and 12 digs, her 10th double-double of the season. Greulich added 11 kills, while Koch finished with eight.
Maggie Bonomini recorded a match-best 14 digs, allowing her to move into 10th place on the all-time digs list at CSU. Goad finished with 30 assists, seven digs and three kills.
The Vikings hit .234, while holding UWM to a .083 attack percentage. CSU also had seven aces to Milwaukee's one.
CSU is back in action on Sunday, Oct. 11, when the Vikings host Green Bay at 4:00 p.m. in Woodling Gym.
