Oct. 20, 2003
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This Week: Oct. 21 vs. Toledo (8-13), 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 24 vs. UW-Green Bay (16-5, 6-1 HL), 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 25 vs. UW-Milwaukee (18-3, 7-0 HL), 2:00 p.m.
Quick Sets: Cleveland State closes out its five-match homestand with matches this week against Toledo, UW-Green Bay and UW-Milwaukee. The Vikings are attempting to build on their modest four-match winning streak in Woodling Gymnasium in addition to improving on their stellar 12-5 record against non-conference opponents. The match on Tuesday against Toledo will be the Vikings' final non-league match of the season, while the Panthers (7-0) and Phoenix (6-1) head into Cleveland ranked one-two in the Horizon League standings.
Series Notes: The Rockets hold a 19-10 series lead, including a four-game victory when the teams last met in 1991. CSU leads the series with UWGB by a 15-12 margin, although the Phoenix won in three games on Sept. 27. The Panthers extended their lead in the series to 22-4 with a four-game victory Sept. 26 in Milwaukee. UWM has won 18 in a row over the Vikings dating back to the 1995 season.
Head Coach Chuck Voss: In his fourth year at the helm of the Vikings, head coach Chuck Voss has a 51-59 (.464) mark at Cleveland State and an 84-95 (.469) overall record in six seasons. Last year, he guided the Vikings to their first winning season since 1983. In addition, the 18 victories the 2002 squad posted were the most since the 1988 team won 20 contests.
Clark Energizes Lineup: Sophomore outside hitter Emily Clark has played superbly at outside hitter since stepping in nine matches ago after Alisa Hatcher went down with a back injury. In that span, the Bolivar, Ohio native leads the team with 107 digs and is third with 79 kills, hitting a solid .234. In a pair of CSU victories last week, she hit .415 (19-2-41) and threw in a career-high seven blocks versus Bowling Green. Since cracking the starting line-up, she has also posted career-bests in kills (14 vs. Butler, 10/10) and digs (20 vs. Loyola, 10/3).
Bouyer's Milestone Kill Part Of Impressive Campaign: Junior middle hitter Jamie Bouyer ended CSU's sweep of Robert Morris on Oct. 7 by becoming the eighth player in school history to record 1,000 career kills. She currently leads the Horizon League in hitting percentage (.391) and blocks per game (1.54) and is second in points per game (5.15). In NCAA rankings as of Oct. 12, she stood 19th in hitting percentage and 13th in blocks per game. In addition, she is on pace this year for 500 kills - a feat accomplished only two other times in school history: Chris Pozega in 1983 (661) and 1984 (570).
Game Five Spells Trouble For Vikings, But Three Is Nice: In head coach Chuck Voss' first three seasons, Cleveland State posted an impressive 7-3 record in five game matches. However, that stat has done an about-face in 2003. Since defeating Indiana State in five on Sept. 6, the Vikings have dropped four consecutive matches that have gone the distance, including league contests against Loyola and Butler. CSU has swept its way to 10 victories this season while only being blanked twice. Last year, the Vikings recorded just eight sweeps while being whitewashed seven times.
A Little On Last Week: CSU continued its solid play at home with a pair of victories last week. Tuesday against Bowling Green, sophomore outside hitter Emily Clark tallied 11 kills, a .417 hitting percentage, 13 digs and a career-high seven blocks to lead the Vikings past the Falcons in four games. Junior middle hitter Jamie Bouyer added 13 kills and nine blocks, while junior setter Kelly Crain finished with six kills, 55 assists and 17 digs. CSU ran its home winning streak to four matches with a sweep of Youngstown State on Friday. Sophomore opposite Nickole Kennedy recorded 12 kills and a .611 hitting percentage against her former team, while Bouyer posted 14 kills, a .458 hitting percentage and four blocks. The Vikings hit .333 for the match while limiting the Penguins to a .155 hitting pct., including a -.098 mark in game three.
Great Wall Of Cleveland: It's no wonder that Viking opponents are hitting just .189 this year - they're having trouble getting the ball across the net. At 2.86 blocks per game, CSU currently leads the league, well ahead of second-place Youngstown State (2.71). Individually, Jamie Bouyer (1.54) and Danielle Siefker (1.22) rank first and fourth among the league's blocking leaders. This season, the Vikings have been out-blocked only five times and ranked 28th in the nation in the Oct. 12 NCAA statistics.
Triple Your Pleasure: Setter Kelly Crain had a career night on Oct. 3 against Loyola. She posted 10 kills, 63 assists and 13 digs for her first collegiate triple-double. Jamie Bouyer, who had a match-high 23 kills, almost matched Crain's feat, finishing two digs and a block short of what would have been her first career triple-double. Crain enters play this week with 985 assists - a pace that would shatter the season record of 1,287 set by Stacie Cunningham in 1996.
Bouyer, Crain Climb Career Charts: Juniors Jamie Bouyer and Kelly Crain are already leaving their mark on the Cleveland State career lists. Bouyer ranks first in block assists (310), tied for fifth in solo blocks (59) and third in total blocks (369). Crain is currently third on the assist rankings with 3,076 and has a good shot of passing Stacie Cunningham (3,320) for second place by the end of the year.
Loose Ends: It's safe to say that Catholic Youth Organization Night was a success - 763 fans turned out to watch the Vikings sweep Youngstown State Friday night, making it the biggest crowd for a CSU match since head coach Chuck Voss arrived on campus four years ago...sophomore outside hitter Jenna Maddocks entered the Loyola match on Oct. 3 with career-highs of seven kills and 21 attempts, a little over two hours those numbers were upgraded to 16 kills and 48 attempts...with victories over Boston College, Syracuse and Virginia Tech, the Vikings finished 3-0 against the Big East this year...in losses to Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois, CSU was on the losing end of back-to-back five game matches for the first time since 1989.
Up Next: The Vikings will hit the road this week for the first time since Oct. 11. CSU will travel to Illinois-Chicago on Oct. 31 followed by a match the next day at Loyola Chicago.
