Oct. 27, 2003
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This Week: Oct. 31 vs. Illinois-Chicago (8-17, 0-9 HL), 8:00 p.m.
Nov. 1 vs. Loyola Chicago (11-13, 6-3 HL), 3:00 p.m.
Quick Sets: Cleveland State will try to snap a dubious loosing streak this weekend when the Vikings travel to Illinois-Chicago and Loyola. On the road for the first time in three weeks, CSU is winless all-time in the Windy City, as it is 0-15 all-time at UIC and has never won in nine tries at Loyola. The Vikings are hoping to bounce back from back-to-back five-game losses last weekend against league leaders UW-Milwaukee and UW-Green Bay.
Series Notes: The Flames enjoy a 34-8 advantage in the series, although the Vikings earned a three-game sweep on Oct. 4 in Cleveland. The Ramblers own a 20-4 margin, but had to earn the last victory - a five-game decision on Oct. 3 in Woodling Gymnasium.
Head Coach Chuck Voss: In his fourth year at the helm of the Vikings, head coach Chuck Voss has a 52-61 (.460) mark at Cleveland State and an 85-97 (.467) overall record in six seasons. Last year, he guided the Vikings to their first winning season since 1983. In addition, the 18 victories were the most since the 1988 team won 20 contests.
Bouyer And Crain Have Opponents Seeing Double: Junior middle hitter Jamie Bouyer and junior setter Kelly Crain both had quite the week, each turning in a trio of double-doubles. Here's a quick recap of their performances:
Opponent / Bouyer / Crain
Toledo / 16 kills, 10 blocks / 39 assists, 11 digs
UW-Green Bay / 16 kills, 10 digs / 60 assists, 11 digs
UW-Milwaukee / 18 kills, 10 blocks / 58 assists, 13 digs
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 (.379) and blocks per game (1.62) and is second in points per game (5.16). In NCAA rankings as of Oct. 19, she stood 20th in hitting percentage and ninth 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, CSU 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 six consecutive matches that have gone the distance, including league contests against Butler, Loyola, UW-Green Bay & UW-Milwaukee. On the other hand, CSU has swept its way to 11 victories this season while only being blanked twice. Last year, the Vikings recorded just eight sweeps while being whitewashed seven times.
Vikings Rule Non-Conference...Again: With their sweep of Toledo last Tuesday, the Vikings finished the non-conference portion of their schedule with a solid 13-5 mark. That comes on the heels of a 13-4 performance in 2002.
A Little On Last Week: The Vikings came within a couple points of having one of their best weeks in recent memory. Behind 16 kills and 10 blocks from junior middle hitter Jamie Bouyer, CSU swept Toledo on Tuesday in its final non-conference match of the season. Over the weekend, the Vikings came within a few points - they lost three games by identical 31-29 scores - of knocking off the top two teams in the league, but eventually fell in five games to both UW-Green Bay and UW-Milwaukee. Friday's loss to UWGB could have been the toughest, as CSU held leads in all five games, including a 9-5 advantage in the fifth frame. Sophomore outside hitter Jenna Maddocks posted a career-high 18 kills against the Phoenix, while Bouyer paced the CSU with 18 kills and 10 blocks versus the Panthers.
Great Wall Of Cleveland: It's no wonder that Viking opponents are hitting just .184 this year - they're having trouble getting the ball across the net. At 2.89 blocks per game, CSU currently leads the league, well ahead of second-place Youngstown State (2.60). Individually, Jamie Bouyer (1.62) and Danielle Siefker (1.19) rank first and fourth among the league's blocking leaders. This season, the Vikings have been out-blocked only six times and ranked 27th in the nation in the Oct. 19 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 1,142 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 seventh in kills (1,104) first in block assists (332), fifth in solo blocks (65) and second in total blocks (397). Crain is currently third on the assist rankings with 3,233 and has a good shot of passing Stacie Cunningham (3,320) for second place before the end of the year.
Loose Ends:Chuck Voss arrived on campus four years ago...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...unfortunately it took just a little over the month to do it again, this time against UW-Green Bay and UW-Milwaukee last weekend.
Up Next: The Vikings return home next week to host Wright State (Nov. 7) and Butler (Nov. 8). Prior to Saturday's match with the Bulldogs, seniors Megan Burgdorf and Anne Yost will be recognized for their contributions to the program.
