Oct. 13, 2008
Contact: Greg Murphy
Complete Release in PDF Format 
QUICK SETS: Cleveland State returns to the road to begin the second round of Horizon League play when the Vikings travel to Chicago, Ill., for a pair of matches this weekend. The Vikings will play at UIC on Friday, Oct. 17, before heading to Loyola on Saturday (Oct. 18). The Vikings begin the week in seventh place in the Horizon League at 3-5, but just one match out of fourth place and two matches out of second place.
REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Vikings played three league matches at home last week. Following are brief recaps of each contest.
Match 15: CSU 3, Youngstown State 0 (Oct. 7, Cleveland, Ohio) - 25-19, 25-21, 25-20
Kayla Lefeld and Jordan Goad each had double-doubles and the Vikings earned their 16th straight win over Youngstown State with a 3-0 win. Beth Greulich finished with a match-best 16 kills and Jordan Bateman had a match-high 15 digs. CSU hit .230 for the match, while holding the Penguins to a .149 attack percentage.
Match 16: CSU 3, Green Bay 1 (Oct. 11, Cleveland, Ohio) - 25-22, 16-22, 25-21, 25-13
CSU had four players reach double-digit kills and totaled 14 blocks in a 3-1 win over Green Bay. Kayla Lefeld had 12 kills and 13 digs, while Beth Greulich and Amy Benz tallied 11 kills each and Jenni Ramminger 10. Jordan Bateman notched a match-high 26 digs.
Match 17: Milwaukee 3, CSU 1 (Oct. 12, Cleveland, Ohio) - 25-22, 25-23, 20-25, 25-21
Kayla Lefeld recorded her third straight double-double with 16 kills and 12 digs, but the Vikings had their two-match win streak snapped with a 3-1 loss to Milwaukee. Beth Greulich added 15 kills, while Jordan Goad finished with a double-double of 45 assists and 10 digs.
PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: Cleveland State still has high expectations for the 2008 season as the Vikings head into the second half of their Horizon League schedule just two matches out of second place in the league. Freshman Jordan Goad (9.42 ast/s, 1.56 dps) has taken the reigns as the starting setter and continues 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 172 kills and a .283 hitting percentage. Senior middle hitter Jenni Ramminger (2.23 k/s, 0.85 blk/s) and sophomore middle blocker Amy Benz (2.06 k/s, .261, 1.05 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 fifth on the team with 85 kills and third with 105 digs. Juniors Kayla Lefeld (2.14 k/s, 1.57 d/s) and Liz Fazio (1.77 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 (4.17 d/s) who ranks second on the CSU career dig list. She is joined in the backrow by junior Maggie Bonomini (2.47 d/s), sophomore Meghan Mental (0.93 d/s) and freshman Amy Grabiec (1.63 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 135-120 (.529) mark at CSU, ranking second on the all-time wins list. Voss, who has a 168-155 (.520) 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.
SHE CAN DIG IT: Senior libero Jordan Bateman is once again leading the Viking backrow as she is first on the team with 271 digs which has allowed her to move into second place on the career digs list at CSU (1,340). Bateman, who is 66 digs shy of breaking Emily Clark's school record, has tallied at least 20 digs in six of CSU's last seven matches and is averaging 5.43 digs per set over that time.
LEFELD DOUBLES UP: Junior Kayla Lefeld has picked up her game since being inserted into the starting lineup five matches ago. During that stretch, Lefeld has recorded four double-doubles and is averaging 12.2 kills and 11.0 digs per match, while also contributing eight aces, seven blocks and hitting .181. She tied her career-high with 14 digs versus Youngstown State on Tuesday (Oct. 7).
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 (385), third in block assists (343) and 10th in solo blocks (42). She is just two blocks shy of taking over fourth place from Cass Dolhancyk who had 386 total blocks from 1993-96.
AWAY FROM HOME: The Vikings enter the week with a 1-11 mark away from home, including an 0-7 mark in true road matches and 1-4 in neutral contests. The last time CSU went winless on the road for a longer stretch to open the season came in 2001 when CSU won just one road game. That came on Nov. 4 in a five-set triumph at Green Bay.
GREULICH'S GOOD WEEK: Junior Beth Greulich put together her best week of the season last week, averaging 3.82 kills per set, while hitting .382 (42-10-91) in three matches. She continues to lead the team in kills (172) and hitting percntage (.283), while ranking third with 46 blocks.
ACE, ACE, BABY: The Vikings have dominated the serving statistic this season, holding a 90-69 advantage in service aces this season. Jordan Bateman leads the way with 20 with Kayla Lefeld (15), Jordan Goad (13), Maggie Bonomini (12) and Amy Grabiec (10) also having double-digit service aces.
BENZ LIKES PLAYING WITH BLOCKS: Amy Benz has continued her rapid ascent up the CSU career blocks list, ranking eighth in CSU history with 253 career blocks. She is also 10th on the all-time block assist list with 217, just three shy of ninth place. Benz ranks third in the league in blocks (1.05).
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 (9.42 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 third on the team with 13 aces and fourth with 100 digs.
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 17-1 against the Penguins, including 16 straight wins following Tuesday's (Oct. 7) sweep.
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 10 matches remaining this season, CSU will have to go undefeated (10-0) 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.
UP NEXT: CSU returns home for a pair of matches as the Vikings will conclude the nonconference portion of their schedule by hosting Bowling Green on Tuesday, Oct. 21. CSU will then entertain Wright State on Saturday (Oct. 25).
