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Cleveland State Makes One Last Road Trip

Cleveland State Makes One Last Road Trip
Posted: Oct 23, 2006

Oct. 23, 2006

Contact: Alan Ashby

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Upcoming Matches:
Match #22
Oct. 27 at UIC, 7:00 p.m. CDT
Flames Athletic Center -- Chicago, Ill.

Match #23
Oct. 28 at Loyola, 4:00 p.m. CDT
Alumni Gym -- Chicago, Ill.

Quick Sets: Alone in fourth place in the Horizon League with three weeks remaining in the regular season, the Vikings (15-6, 5-4 HL) will make their final road trip of the season this weekend. CSU will square off against UIC on Friday (Oct. 27) at 7:00 p.m. CDT, followed by a 4:00 p.m. CDT contest the following afternoon at Loyola. The Vikings, who have alternated wins and losses since the league schedule began, split with the Ramblers and Flames the first time around, sweeping Loyola before falling in four games against UIC.

Repeat Performance: At 15-6, the Vikings have matched last year's 21-match start -- not a bad feat considering CSU graduated six seniors off of that team. In addition, the Vikings' nine-match winning streak earlier in the year was the longest since the 2002 team won 10 in a row.

This Week's Opponents: Cleveland State is just 12-37 versus UIC and 7-24 all-time against Loyola, although both of those numbers are a bit misleading. CSU won a pair from the Flames for the first time last year and has claimed six of the last 10 overall against UIC. Meanwhile, the Vikings have won three straight matches with the Ramblers, sweeping the season series for the first time in 2005.

Recapping Last Week: Cleveland State split a pair of Horizon League matches last week at home. Here's a brief recap of the contests:
Match #20: UWM def. CSU, 28-30, 30-22, 30-27, 30-27 (Oct. 20, Cleveland, Ohio)
CSU battled league-leading UW-Milwaukee before falling in four games in front of a season-high 678 fans. The Vikings held the Panthers to a .140 hitting percentage, but hit just .124 themselves. Kayla Lefeld recorded career-highs of 14 kills and 12 digs for her first double-double, while Jordan Bateman notched a match-high 28 digs.
Match #21: CSU def. UW-Green Bay, 30-23, 30-20, 31-29 (Oct. 21, Cleveland, Ohio)
CSU jumped out to huge leads in the first two games (21-9 and 20-11) and then rallied from a 20-12 deficit in game three to earn the sweep as the Phoenix hit just .093. Jenni Ramminger had a solid all-around performance, notching nine kills, three aces and season-highs of seven digs and six blocks. Danielle Siefker added nine kills and three blocks.

Vikings' Run Of Success Continues: Cleveland State's impressive 15-6 record means the Vikings have assured themselves of completing their fifth consecutive winning season, the second-longest run in school history. The skein trails only the seven straight winning campaigns from 1972-78.

Check The Alternator: CSU has managed to pull off an odd feat since starting Horizon League play nine matches ago. The Vikings have alternated wins and losses and currently stand at 5-4 in sole possession of fourth place.

Get Out The Brooms: Cleveland State's whitewashing of UW-Green Bay on Saturday (Oct. 21) marked the 13th sweep for the Vikings this season. CSU, which recorded 12 sweeps in 2005, did not lose a game from Sept. 9-22, blanking five straight opponents to tie the 1982 squad's school record for consecutive three-game sweeps.

Block Party: Middle hitter Danielle Siefker enters this week with 511 career total blocks -- 48 shy of becoming the school's all-time leader. A first team All-Horizon League selection in 2005, she has averaged 142 blocks in each of her first three seasons and trails only All-American Jamie Bouyer (558) in Cleveland State annals and is the seventh player in league history to top the 500-block plateau.

Surprise Double: Heading into Friday's match with league-leading UW-Milwaukee freshman outside hitter Kayla Lefeld had just five kills and 16 digs on the season. The St. Henry, Ohio native proceeded to come off the bench and record her first double-double with career-highs of 14 kills, 12 digs and four blocks.

Can You Dig Her?: Sophomore libero Jordan Bateman has spearheaded the Vikings' back row efforts this season, leading the team and ranking third in the Horizon League with a 4.60 digs per game average -- upping that mark to 5.21 in league play. She has recorded double-digit digs in all but three matches this year, including five with 20 or more, en route to earning the league's defensive player of the week honor twice (Sept. 18 & Oct. 2).

Stop Her If You Can: As the season heads down the home stretch, freshman opposite Beth Greulich continues to struggle to adjust to the college game (wink, wink). All the Troy, Ohio native has done is rank 13th in the nation (as of Oct. 15) while leading the Horizon League with a .381 hitting percentage. Greulich had one of her best weeks of the season, hitting .477 (26-5-44) against Loyola and UIC on Sept. 29-30. She was particularly outstanding against the Ramblers, ripping a then career-high 12 kills on .647 hitting. Greulich then went out the next afternoon and established a new career-best with 14 kills versus the Flames.

QB At It Again: Junior setter Mel Snyder has picked up from where she left off last season. Heading into this week, she leads the Horizon League in assists (12.22) and is third in aces (0.38), while ranking fourth on the school's career list with 2,260 helpers. The Amherst, Ohio native handed out 1,302 assists last year in her first full season directing CSU's offense -- the second-best total in CSU annals -- in addition to leading the Vikings to a school-record .239 hitting percentage.

Keep Setting Them: Cleveland State ranks second in the Horizon League in hitting percentage at .224, thanks largely in part to the performance of three players who are ranked among the league's best hitters. The aforementioned Greulich is joined by sophomore middle Jenni Ramminger (.309) and senior middle hitter Danielle Siefker (.277), who rank third and ninth in hitting percentage, respectively. Ramminger has also made it difficult for the opposition to get into their offense, as she leads the league in aces (0.42).

Fab Freshmen: A trio of freshmen have acquitted themselves very nicely over their first two months of collegiate action. After 21 matches, Liz Fazio is second in the league in kills (3.67) and is third on the squad in digs (2.31), Beth Greulich leads the league in hitting percentage (.381) and is third on the team in blocks (0.85) and Alexis Korovich is seventh in the league in kills (3.13) and second on the squad in digs (2.76).

Double Trouble: With eight double-doubles on the season, freshman outside hitter Alexis Korovich has nearly half of the team's 18 total double-doubles. The Geneva, Ohio native posted three consecutive double-doubles at the Oakland Courtyard by Marriott Invitational (Sept. 8-9) -- including a career-high 24 kill, 17 dig effort against Bowling Green -- en route to earning MVP honors.

Head Coach Chuck Voss: In his seventh year at the helm of the Vikings, head coach Chuck Voss has a 104-94 (.525) mark and a 137-130 (.513) overall record in nine seasons. He picked up his 100th win at CSU on Sept. 22 at UW-Green Bay and has mentored the only two All-Americans in school history, the 2005 Horizon League Player of the Year, eight first team all-league picks, five all-newcomer team members and the 2002 and 2005 Co-Newcomers of the Year. In 2002, Voss guided the Vikings to their first winning season since 1983 and the 19 victories in 2005 are the most since the 1988 team won 20 contests. In addition, the 11 league wins last year were a school record.

Reunited: The Vikings will welcome back former players for Alumni Weekend on Nov. 3-4. Cleveland State is slated to play 2006 Horizon League Championship runner-up Wright State on Friday and Butler the next afternoon. A dinner for the alumni will be held following the match with the Bulldogs.

Road Warriors: While the Sept. 16 win over Robert Morris was a welcome break from a season-opening 11-match road swing, Cleveland State's recently-completed three-match league road trip meant the Vikings took to the Woodling Gymnasium court just three times in their first 19 matches. The travel schedule makes CSU's 15-6 start that much more impressive.

If They Were A Country, They'd Be Switzerland: CSU's perfect 6-0 mark on neutral courts this season is indicative of how the Vikings have fared outside of the league in recent years. CSU is a solid 50-19 (.725) in non-conference play over the past five seasons, including a 19-6 (.760) mark in Woodling Gymnasium.

Weekend Warriors: In a bit of a scheduling oddity, Cleveland State's match on Tuesday, Aug. 29 at Bowling Green was the only time this year that the Vikings will not play on a Friday or Saturday. So far this year, CSU is 8-1 on Fridays, losing for the first time last week.

CSU Successful In Classroom As Well: CSU was one of 54 Division I schools to garner the Game Plan/AVCA Team Academic Award, which was released on Aug. 2. The Vikings put together a 3.42 GPA for the 2005-06 academic year in addition to finishing second in the Horizon League with a school-record 11 league victories. The award honors teams that displayed excellence in the classroom by maintaining at least a cumulative 3.30 GPA during the school year. At the Division I level, 311 schools sponsor women's volleyball.

Up Next: Cleveland State returns home to close out the regular season with three straight matches in Woodling Gymnasium. The Vikings will host Wright State (Nov. 3) and Butler (Nov. 4) next weekend, followed by a Senior Day affair with Youngstown State on Nov. 10.