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Vikings Return Home for Three Matches This Week

Vikings Return Home for Three Matches This Week
Posted: Oct 06, 2008

Oct. 6, 2008

Contact: Greg Murphy

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QUICK SETS: After opening the season by playing 12 of its first 14 matches on the road, Cleveland State returns home for just the second weekend this season when CSU hosts three matches this week beginning with a Tuesday (Oct. 7) contest against Youngstown State at 7:00 p.m. The Vikings will also host Green Bay on Saturday (Oct. 11) at 4:00 p.m. and Milwaukee on Sunday (Oct. 12) at 2:00 p.m.

REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Vikings travelled to Indiana for a pair of matches last weekend. Following are brief recaps of each contest.

Match 13: Valparaiso 3, CSU 2 (Oct. 3, Valparaiso, Ind.) - 25-27, 25-22, 27-25, 26-24, 15-11
Angie Porche tallied 23 kills and hit .360 to lead Valparaiso to a five-set win over Cleveland State. After CSU won the fourth set, Valpo scored the first five points of the fifth set in racing out to a 9-2 lead en route to the win. Beth Greulich had 17 kills, while Kayla Lefeld recorded a double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs.

Match 14: Butler 3, CSU 0 (Oct. 4, Indianapolis, Ind.) - 25-23, 25-22, 25-23
Butler won a tight first set and rallied to win the final two sets to earn a 3-0 victory over Cleveland State. The Vikings had a 21-15 lead in set two and another seven-point lead (19-12) in the final set, but the Bulldogs closed each set on big runs to earn the sweep. Kayla Lefeld had eight kills.

PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: Although Cleveland State has struggled to win matches during the first half of the season, expectations are still high as the Vikings wrap up the first round of Horizon League play. Freshman Jordan Goad (8.81 ast/s, 1.34 dps) has taken the reigns as the starting setter and has continued to develop a good rapport with each of CSU's hitters. Junior opposite Beth Greulich, a two-time first team all-league selection, leads the team with 130 kills and ranks second in hitting percentage (.263). Senior middle hitter Jenni Ramminger (2.18 k/s, 0.78 blk/s) and sophomore middle blocker Amy Benz (2.00 k/s, .274, 1.11 blk/s) are CSU's top players in the middle of the court. A talented group of experienced outside hitters is led by three-year starter Alexis Korovich, who ranks fourth on the team with 85 kills and third with 105 digs. Juniors Kayla Lefeld (1.78 k/s) and Liz Fazio (1.82 k/s) give CSU depth on the outside. This year's squad may be the best defensive squad in Voss' tenure, led by libero Jordan Bateman (3.91 d/s) who ranks second on the CSU career dig list. She is joined in the backrow by junior Maggie Bonomini (2.13 d/s), sophomore Meghan Mental (0.93 d/s) and freshman Amy Grabiec (1.39 d/s).

THE HEAD COACH: In his ninth year at the helm of the Viking volleyball program, head coach Chuck Voss has methodically built the program from the ground up. He inherited a team that had not enjoyed a winning season in 17 years and turned things around in his third season (2002) when he led CSU to an 18-16 mark. CSU has now recorded six straight winning seasons (2002-07), the most since the program opened with seven straight (1972-78). Voss has a 133-118 (.530) mark at CSU, ranking second on the all-time wins list. Voss, who has a 166-154 (.519) overall record in 10 seasons, has mentored the only two All-Americans in school history, the 2005 Horizon League Player of the Year, 13 first team all-league picks, eight all-newcomer team members and four league Newcomer of the Year picks.

FOLLOW THE VIKINGS: Fans of CSU volleyball will have another avenue to catch the Vikings this season as all nine home matches will be video streamed online via the Horizon League Network. To access the video, visit www.CSUVikings.com and click on the "Watch Live" link on the front page or the volleyball schedule page. In addtion, CSU's matches at Valparaiso, Butler, Loyola, Green Bay and Youngstown State will also be video streamed online.

SWEEPING SUCCESS: CSU has won just two matches this season, but they have both been convincing 3-0 sweeps over Chicago State and UIC. In the two wins, CSU outscored the opposition, 111-57, while holding the duo to a combined .006 hitting percentage.

CSU SUCCESSFUL VS. IN-STATE RIVAL: The Vikings series with Youngstown State has been extremely lopsided during Chuck Voss' tenure at CSU. The ninth year head coach claims a career record of 16-1 against the Penguins, including 15 straight wins. The last time CSU lost to its in-state rival was Sept. 29, 2001, when YSU handed the Vikings a 3-1 setback in Youngstown.

SHE CAN DIG IT: Senior libero Jordan Bateman is once again leading the Viking backrow as she is first on the team with 211 digs which has allowed her to move into second place on the career digs list at CSU (1,280). Bateman, who is 126 digs shy of breaking Emily Clark's school record, has tallied at least 20 digs in four of CSU's last five matches and is averaging 5.38 digs per set over that time.

STREAK IN JEOPARDY: Cleveland State's attempt at posting a school-record tying seventh straight winning season is in serious jeopardy. With a minimum of 13 matches remaining this season, CSU will have to go 12-1 the rest of the season in order to secure another winning season. The Vikings had seven straight winning campaigns from 1972-78.

FIFTH SET JINX: One area that CSU has struggled in is five-set matches, going 0-5 in matches that go the distance this season. CSU, which has lost three league contests in five sets, is just 13-31 in five set matches over the last six seasons.

JENNI FROM THE BLOCK: Senior Jenni Ramminger continues to move her way up the career blocks chart at CSU, ranking fifth all-time in total blocks (376), third in block assists (335) and 10th in solo blocks (41). She is just 10 blocks shy of taking over fourth place from Cass Dolhancyk who had 386 total blocks from 1993-96.

LEFELD LIKES VALPO: Junior Kayla Lefeld apparently enjoys playing at Valparaiso. Last season, she came off the bench and tallied 11 kills, including seven in the deciding fourth game, in a CSU win. In Friday's five-set loss at Valparaiso, Lefeld had her second career double-double, finishing with 11 kills and 10 digs.

BENZ LIKES PLAYING WITH BLOCKS: Amy Benz has continued her rapid ascent up the CSU career blocks list, ranking eighth in CSU history with 245 career blocks. She is also 10th on the all-time block assist list with 210, just 10 shy of ninth place. Benz, who ranks second in the Horizon League in blocks (1.11), tallied 184 blocks as a freshman and has 61 this season.

IT'S ALL GOAD: Freshman setter Jordan Goad has continued to develop good chemistry with CSU's hitters since taking over as the starting setter in the third match of the season. Goad ranks fourth in the league in assists (8.81 ast/s) and had her best all-around effort on Sept. 29 at Wright State, finishing with 44 assists and career-highs in digs (13) and kills (7). She ranks second on the team with 13 aces and fourth with 71 digs.

BIG DIFFERENCE: One of the largest discrepencies when comparing last year's CSU squad to this seasons is opponent hitting percentage. Last season, opponents hit just .172 against CSU, third worst in the conference. This year, CSU's opposition is hitting a league-best .221 against the Vikings.

SMART TEAM: CSU has been honored for its exceptional performance in the classroom as a recipient of the Game Time/American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the fourth straight year. The Vikings, one of just 70 Division I schools to earn the award, carried a team grade point average of 3.58 during the 2007-08 school year.

UP NEXT: CSU begins the second round of Horizon League action, traveling to Chicago for a pair of matches next weekend. The Vikings will play at UIC on Friday (Oct. 17) and at Loyola on Saturday (Oct. 18).