Oct. 27, 2009
Contact: Greg Murphy
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Matches 28-29
Cleveland State (22-5, 10-1 HL) at Loyola (10-14, 3-8 HL)
Date: Friday, Oct. 30, 2009
Time: 8:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Alumni Gym (2,000) - Chicago, Ill.
Series: Loyola leads, 26-9
Last Mtg.: @CSU 3, LU 0 (10/3/09)
Cleveland State at UIC (12-13, 6-5 HL)
Date: Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009
Time: 5:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Flames Athletic Center (500) - Chicago, Ill.
Series: UIC leads, 40-15
Last Mtg.: @CSU 3, UIC 0 (10/2/09)
QUICK SETS: Cleveland State begins its most difficult stretch in Horizon League play with four straight road matches, beginning with two contests in Chicago this weekend. The trek begins with an 8:00 p.m. EST match at Loyola on Friday (Oct. 30) before CSU heads to UIC to face the Flames on Saturday (Oct. 31) at 5:00 p.m. EST. The Vikings begin the week at 22-5 overall and in first place in the league standings at 10-1, one game ahead of second place Valparaiso (9-2). CSU has won 11 straight matches, tied for the third longest streak in school history.
REVIEWING LAST WEEK: Cleveland State ran its win streak to 11 with two wins at home last week. Following are brief recaps of both matches.
Match 26: CSU 3, Valparaiso 1 (Oct. 23, Cleveland, Ohio)
Beth Greulich had 22 kills and Liz Fazio added 19 kills and 13 digs as Cleveland State took over sole possession of first place in the Horizon League with a 3-1 win over Valparaiso.
Match 27: CSU 3, Butler 0 (Oct. 24, Cleveland, Ohio)
The Vikings extended their win streak to 11 straight with a 3-0 win over Butler. Beth Greulich recorded 13 kills, while Jordan Goad handed out 39 assists and Amy Grabiec made a match-best 13 digs.
PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: Head coach Chuck Voss has the Vikings playing some of their best volleyball in recent history, claiming the program's eighth 20-win season. Leading the way are junior middle hitter Amy Benz (2.61 kpg, 0.97 bpg, .333) and senior right side Beth Greulich (3.27, 0.79, .347) who are both two-time first team All-Horizon League selections. Sophomore Megan Barhorst (0.99, 1.04, .194) joins Benz in the middle, while sophomore setter Jordan Goad (10.83 apg, 2.07 dpg, 1.05 kpg) is in her second season directing the Viking offense and continues to develop a good rapport with her hitters. Senior Liz Fazio (3.59 kpg, 2.73 dpg, .236) is the most experienced outside hitter on the team, while freshman Kara Koch (2.39, 0.96, .208) and sophomore Lindsey Griffith (1.47, 0.49, .050) are also in the mix, making up for the loss of senior Kayla Lefeld who is out of the season with a knee injury. Senior libero Maggie Bonomini (4.05 dpg) leads the backrow, while sophomore Amy Grabiec (2.38) and junior Meghan Mental (1.82) are defensive specialists who continue to lead the backrow.
QUITE A STREAK: The Vikings extended their win streak to 11 in a row with two more wins last week, tying CSU for the third longest win streak in school history. It trails a 12-match win streak by the 1974 squad and the school record 16 consecutive wins by the 1976 team.
20:20: The win over Wright State on Oct. 16 allowed the Vikings to clinch the eighth 20-win season in school history and the second in the last three years (the 2007 team won 23 matches).
AND GET NO. 22 VS. BUTLER: The 3-0 win over Butler on Saturday gave gave the Vikings their 22nd victory of the season, the eighth-most wins in a season in school history. The school record is 38 wins set in 1982.
RPI WATCH: The NCAA released its third edition of the volleyball RPI earlier this week and the Vikings moved up six spots from last week's rankings to No. 93. It is the highest ranking among the nine Horizon League schools with Butler (No. 142) the next highest.
LEAGUE MARK WITHIN REACH: CSU begins the week at 10-1 in the Horizon League with the 10 league wins ranking as the third most all-time. The 2007 squad holds the program record with 13 league wins, while the 2005 team won 11 conference matches.
GREULICH HONORED... AGAIN: Senior Beth Greulich was honored as the Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week, the third time in the last four weeks that she has earned the award and the seventh time in her career overall. Greulich led CSU to wins over Valparaiso and Butler last weekend by averaging 5.00 kills and 1.43 blocks per set, hitting .420 (35-6-69) at the net. She had 22 kills versus Valpo and 13 against Butler.
MORE ON GREULICH: Horizon League Player of the Year candidate and two-time first team all-league pick Beth Greulich is having perhaps her finest season to date during her final season in a Viking uniform. Here are some highlights.
• Ranks first in the league and 67th in the nation in hitting pecentage (.347), sixth in kills (3.27) and seventh in points (3.73).
• Has double-digit kills in 15 matches, including season-high of 22 against Valparaiso.
• Has led CSU to a 10-1 league mark by averaging 4.11 kills and 0.94 blocks, hitting .385 in league matches.
• Tallied double-digit kills in eight of her last nine matches, totaling 129 kills and hitting .429 (129-21-252) over that span.
• Hit better than .400 in 13 matches, better than .500 four times and a season-best .650 (13-0-20) at Western Carolina.
• Is fourth in CSU history in hitting pecentage (.320) and kills (1,251) sixth in block assists (331) and eighth in total blocks (356).
• Three-time Horizon League Player of the Week. (Oct. 5, 12, 26).
• Is one of two players in school history with at least 1,250 kills and 350 blocks for a career (Jamie Bouyer; 1,626 kills, 558 blocks).
LEAPING LIZARD: Liz Fazio has always been a successful attacker and that has never been more evident than this season as she ranks third in the league with 3.59 kills per set. However, it has been her defense that has been even more impressive as Fazio is ranked second on the team with 246 digs after totaling just 134 over the last two seasons. Fazio had a career-high 20-dig effort against Wright State (Set. 15) and leads the team with 11 double-doubles this year.
ON THE ATTACK: The Vikings are ranked first in the Horizon League and 30th in Division I with a .256 attack percentage, putting CSU on pace to shatter the school record for hitting percentage in a season. That record is currently held by the 2005 squad which hit .239.
DEFENSE... DEFENSE... DEFENSE: CSU has been equally impressive on the defensive side of the net, leading the Horizon League in opponent hitting percentage (.151). The Vikings are attempting to become the first team since Milwaukee in 2003 to lead the league in both attack percentage and opponent attack percentage.
BENZ MOVING UP THE CHARTS: Amy Benz continues to quickly make her way up the career charts at CSU, ranking third all-time in attack percentage (.322), fourth in block assists (349), fifth in total blocks (400) and 10th in solo blocks (51). Her block assist total is eighth in Horizon League history.
BONOMINI KEEPS DIGGING: Senior Maggie Bonomini is ranked seventh in the Horizon League with 4.05 digs per set, including double-digit digs in 22 matches. The Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week in each of the first two weeks, Bonomini is ranked seventh on the all-time digs list in school history with 1,080. She made a career-high 29 digs at Butler on Sept. 25.
GOAD SETTING IT UP: Sophomore setter Jordan Goad continues to lead the CSU offense, ranking second in the Horizon League and 37th in the country in assists (10.83), while guiding CSU to a league-best .256 attack percentage. Goad, who was named to three all-tournament teams earlier this season and was the MVP of the LaSalle Invitational, is ranked fifth on the all-time assist list in CSU history with 2,194.
GHOSTS AND GOBLINS: Saturday's match at UIC will mark the 17th time that a CSU volleyball team will play on Halloween. The Vikings, who claim an all-time record of 7-10 on Oct. 31, swept Butler at home last season on Halloween night.
WINNING WITH SWEEPS: The Vikings have won 17 of their 22 matches with 3-0 sweeps, which is currently the highest percentage of wins via sweeps in school history (.773). In addition, the 17 sweeps are the most since the 1983 squad swept 18 matches. CSU is 17-1 in three set matches this season, compared to 5-4 in matches that go more than three sets.
UP NEXT: The Vikings will play at Green Bay next Friday (Nov. 6) and at Milwaukee on Saturday (Nov. 7).
