Oct. 25, 2003
CLEVELAND - The Cleveland State volleyball team nearly ended its 18-match losing streak to UW-Milwaukee, but came up just short as the Panthers fought off a late rally in the fifth game to pull out a 31-29, 30-13, 20-30, 24-30, 16-14 victory Saturday afternoon in Woodling Gymnasium. The loss drops the Vikings to 15-12 overall and 2-7 in the Horizon League, while UWM extended its winning streak to 10 matches en route to improving to 20-3, 9-0.
In a precursor of things to come, CSU erased a four-point deficit to knot the score at 29-29 in the first game. However, a Karen Fruit kill and a Viking attack error allowed the Panthers to claim the opening frame. After showing little emotion in losing the second game, CSU rallied to tie the match and force a decisive fifth game.
The teams battled back and forth early on before the Panthers ran off four straight points to go up 9-5. The teams traded points until UWM found itself with match point at 14-11. Sophomore outside hitter Jenna Maddocks (Norwalk, Ohio/Norwalk) refused to let the Vikings lose though, with three consecutive kills to tie the game at 14-14. Following a Panther time-out, UWM's Rachel Keubbing pounded down two kills in a row to close out the match.
"I challenged them after the second game and we had some players respond and step up," CSU head coach Chuck Voss said. "There were a couple of little plays down the stretch that made the difference. I thought we played really well this weekend against the best two teams in the conference."
Junior outside hitter Jamie Bouyer (Bedford Heights, Ohio/Chanel) led all players with 18 kills and 10 blocks for her fifth double-double of the season. Maddocks finished with 13 kills and 13 digs, while sophomore outside hitter Emily Clark (Bolivar, Ohio/Tuscarawas Valley) tallied 15 kills and 18 digs.
Fruit paced the Panthers with 17 kills and 16 digs, while Kuebbing ended up with 16 kills.
Cleveland State is in action again on Friday, Oct. 31 when the Vikings travel to Illinois-Chicago for a 7:00 p.m. CST match.
