Nov. 12, 2010
Contact: Greg Murphy
FAIRBORN, Ohio - Amy Benz, Kara Koch and Jackie Dabbelt had 12 kills apiece and Cleveland State rallied to win the final three sets after losing the first to defeat Wright State, 3-1, on Friday night in McLin Gymnasium.
The win improves the Vikings to 21-5 overall and keeps CSU in third place in the Horizon League at 11-4. WSU slipped to 8-20 overall and 3-12 in the league.
Match scores were 15-25, 25-17, 25-18, 25-13.
The victory also sets up a showdown at Butler on Saturday in the regular season finale for CSU. The Bulldogs defeated Youngstown State today to improve to 12-3 in the league, meaning the winner of tomorrow's CSU-Butler match will receive the No. 2 seed in next week's league tournament in Milwaukee and automatic bid to the semifinals.
The loser will be the No. 3 seed and open play with a first round match on Friday against the sixth seed.
"I don't think we came out with a lot of intensity and that led to us losing the first set, but I was happy with the way we came back the next three," head coach Chuck Voss said. "We knew coming in that this was going to be a tough match because this is always a difficult place to play, but after that first set, the girls really got focused, played within our system and won the next three."
Amy Grabiec made a match-best 23 digs, while Brittany Holland made 11 for the Vikings. Jordan Goad finished with 39 assists, seven digs and five kills.
WSU raced out to a 14-4 lead in the first set in taking a quick 1-0 lead. The Raiders hit .321 (11-2-28), easily their best of the night.
A Benz kill in the second set gave the Vikings a 9-5 lead, but WSU pulled to within 13-12 on a Brittany Terrell kill. However, a 10-3 CSU run pushed the Viking lead to 23-15, allowing CSU to even the match at one set apiece.
Leading 8-7 in the third set, CSU used a 10-4 run to claim an 18-11 lead on a Megan Barhorst kill before a Koch service ace clinched the set.
CSU took a quick 9-3 lead in the fourth set and would lead by no less than four points the rest of the way to claim their 21st win of the season.
The Vikings regular season finale at Butler is slated to begin at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
