Oct. 5, 2010
Contact: Greg Murphy
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Matches 14-17
Butler (9-6, 4-0 HL) at Cleveland State (12-1, 3-1 HL)
Date: Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010
Time: 5:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Woodling Gym (3,000) - Cleveland, Ohio
Series: BU leads, 22-11
Last Mtg.: @CSU 3, BU 0 (10/24/09)
Wright State (6-10, 1-3 HL) at Cleveland State
Date: Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010
Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Woodling Gym (3,000) - Cleveland, Ohio
Series: WSU leads, 32-23
Last Mtg.: CSU 3, @WSU 0 (10/16/09)
Cleveland State at Valparaiso (14-3, 3-2 HL)
Date: Saturday, Oct. 9, 2010
Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Athletics Rec Center (5,000) - Valparaiso, Ind.
Series: Valpo leads, 14-8
Last Mtg.: @CSU 3, Valpo 1 (10/23/09)
Cleveland State at Loyola (7-9, 0-5 HL)
Date: Sunday, Oct. 10, 2010
Time: 4:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Alumni Gym (4,000) - Chicago, Ill.
Series: LU leads, 26-10
Last Mtg.: CSU 3, LU 0 (10/30/09)
QUICK SETS: Cleveland State has its busiest week on tap, playing four league matches to conclude the first round of league action. The week begins with the Vikings hosting Butler at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday (Oct. 5) and Wright State on Wednesday (Oct. 6) at 7:00 p.m. to conclude a five-match homestand. The Vikings then hit the road for matches at Valparaiso on Saturday (Oct. 9) at 7:00 p.m. and at Loyola on Sunday (Oct. 10) at 4:00 p.m. CSU is 12-1 overall and is in third place in the Horizon League at 3-1 behind Milwaukee (5-0) and Butler (4-0).
REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Vikings won their lone match of the week. Following is a recap of the contest.
Match 13: CSU 3, Youngstown State 0 (Oct. 1, Cleveland, Ohio)
Kara Koch had 12 kills and Jackie Dabbelt added 11 to help the Vikings to a 3-0 sweep over Youngstown State. Annie Djukic handed out 31 assists with nine digs, while Amy Grabiec (21) and Amanda Medvetz (11) notched double-digit digs.
PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: Now in his 11th season at the helm of the Cleveland State volleyball program, head coach Chuck Voss has re-tooled the squad and has them off to the best start in school history. Headlining the list of returnees is junior setter Jordan Goad (10.84 aps, 1.89 dps), who was a first team All-Horizon League and honorable mention All-America pick last year after finishing 36th in the country in assists. Freshman Annie Djukic (4.93 aps) is Goad's backup after redshirting last season. Senior Amy Benz (.324, 2.50 kps, 0.75 bps) headlines a deep and talented group of middles that also includes junior Megan Barhorst (0.83 kps, 0.94 bps), sophomore Marie Frease (.286, 1.78 kps) and freshman Erin Turner. Sophomore Kara Koch (3.83 kps, 2.06 dps) and junior Lindsey Griffith (2.13 kps) are the most experienced outside hitters on the roster, while sophomore Kourtney Volkmer (0.25 kps) and freshman Kerry Winchester (1.00 kps) will also get opportunities. Freshman Jackie Dabbelt (.302, 2.88 kps), is the starter on the right side. The Vikings will once again be strong in the backrow with junior Amy Grabiec (5.31 dps) taking over the libero role. Senior Meghan Mental (1.75 dps), junior Whitney Dalessandro and sophomores Amanda Medvetz (2.48 dps) and Brittany Holland (2.16), a transfer from Youngstown State, all receive time as defensive specialists in the backrow.
RECORD START: The Vikings won their first 10 matches of the season as part of the best start to a season in school history. The streak was snapped on Sept. 24) with a 3-2 setback to Milwaukee. The 1977 team held the old mark of seven consecutive wins to open a season.
10 IN A ROW: The 10 wins to open the year not only represented the best start to a season in school history, but was also tied for the fourth longest winning streak in program history. The 1976 team holds the school record with 16 consecutive wins, while the 1974 team won 12 straight and the 1982 team won 11 in a row. The 2002 team also has a 10 match win streak.
CSU IN THE NCAA STATS: The Vikings are well represented in the latest NCAA statistics that were released on Monday (Oct. 1) afternoon. As a team, CSU is eighth in the nation in winning percentage (.923), 40th in assists (12.85), 40th in assists (12.85), 44th in kills (13.77), 51st in digs (16.31) and 57th in hitting percentage (.243). Individually, Amy Grabiec is 25th in digs (5.31), while Jordan Goad is 30th in assists (10.84) and Kara Koch 57th in kills (3.83) and 80th in points (4.22).
ACCURATE HITTERS: The Vikings have been on the mark offensively this year, leading the Horizon League and ranking 57th in the nation in attack percentage (.243). CSU has hit better than .290 in five contests this year, including a season-best .429 against Hofstra (Sept. 4), and has two players ranked among the top-10 in attack percentage in the latest Horizon League statistics.
... AND JUST AS GOOD ON DEFENSE: For as good as the Vikings have been on offense this year, they have been equally as impressive on defense, leading the league in opponent hitting percentage at .128. Last year, CSU became the first team in Horizon League history to lead the league in attack percentage (.247) and opponent attack percentage (.160).
BENZ CLIMBS UP THE CHARTS: Amy Benz has her name plastered throughout the CSU career record book, ranking third all-time in hitting percentage (.317), total blocks (460) and block assists (400); and seventh in solo blocks (63).
... AND CLOSING IN ON 1,000: Amy Benz in closing in on becoming the 14th player in school history to reach 1,000 career kills. She enters the week with 996, needing four more to accomplish the feat.
FREEZING OUT THE PENGUINS: CSU has enjoyed a tremendous amount of success on the volleyball court against Youngstown State and that continued with Friday's (Oct. 1) win over the Penguins in Woodling Gym. The 3-0 sweep was CSU's 20th straight win over YSU and improved the Vikings to 47-13 all-time against the Penguins. The 47 wins are the most by CSU over any opponent in program history.
ON THE OUTSIDE: Kara Koch has been nothing short of dominant this season, ranking second in the league and 57th in the country in kills (3.83), adding 2.06 digs per set. Koch leads the team with three double-doubles this year, including a 24 kill, career-high 15 dig effort against Milwaukee on Sept. 24. The CSU Female Athlete of the Month for August/September, Koch earned MVP honors at the East Carolina Classic and Marshall Invitational to start the season.
SHE CAN DIG IT: Junior Amy Grabiec is continuing the strong tradition of the libero position at CSU, averaging 5.31 digs per set to rank second in the league and 25th nationally. Grabiec, who has reached double-digit digs in 21 of the last 22 matches dating to last season, made a career-high 31 digs in the win over Marshall (Sept. 4).
AIR JORDAN: Jordan Goad, an honorable mention All-American last year, has picked up right where she left off a season ago, ranking second in the Horizon League and 30th in the nation in assists (10.84), helping the Vikings top the league in attack percentage (.243). Goad is already ranked fifth on the all-time assist chart at CSU with 2,919.
DJUKIC SHINES: Backup setter Annie Djukic has gotten the call to start three times this year, giving Jordan Goad a day off to rest her back. In her three starts, Djukic is averaging 10.78 assists and has guided the Vikings to a .297 attack percentage. She also notched her first career double-double with 26 assists and 12 digs after entering the match in the second set against Green Bay (Sept. 25).
ON THE ATTACK: When it comes to accurate hitters in the league, it doesn't get much better than CSU as a Viking has led the league in attack percentage in each of the last seven seasons. It began with Jamie Bouyer leading the league in 2003 (.361) and 2004 (.368) and continued with Nickole Kennedy in 2005 (.318), Beth Greulich in 2006 (.364), Amy Benz in 2007 (.334) and 2008 (.303) and Greulich (.328) last season.
WHAT ABOUT THIS YEAR???: The Vikings have two players ranked in the top-10 of the Horizon League stats in hitting percentage led by senior Amy Benz who is ranked second at .324, while Jackie Dabbelt is fifth (.302).
UP NEXT: CSU plays just one match next week, hosting UIC on Friday (Oct. 15) at 7:00 p.m.
