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Volleyball Returns Home To Host A Pair Of Matches

Volleyball Returns Home To Host A Pair Of Matches
Posted: Oct 31, 2006

Oct. 31, 2006

Contact: Alan Ashby

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Upcoming Matches:
Match #24
Nov. 3 vs. Wright State, 7:00 p.m. EST
Woodling Gymnasium -- Cleveland, Ohio

Match #25
Nov. 4 vs. Butler, 4:00 p.m. EST
Woodling Gymnasium -- Cleveland, Ohio

Quick Sets: Tied with Loyola for fourth place in the Horizon League, the volleyball team (16-7, 6-5 HL) returns home for a pair of matches on the next-to-last weekend of the regular season. CSU trails third-place Wright State by a game-and-a-half and will face WSU on Friday (Nov. 3) at 7:00 p.m. followed by a 4:00 p.m. Alumni Day affair with Butler the next afternoon. In addition, former All-American Nickole Kennedy will be honored prior to the match with the Bulldogs.

All-American Welcome: As part of the Alumni Day festivities on Saturday, the Vikings will honor former All-American Nickole Kennedy prior to the match with Butler. An AVCA Honorable Mention All-America pick in 2005, Kennedy joins joins Jamie Bouyer (2004) as the only two players in the program's history to be so honored. Last year, the Sunbury, Ohio native was named the Horizon League Player of the Year after hitting a league-best .318 with 3.83 kills and 1.06 blocks. Despite playing just three seasons at CSU, she became the ninth player in school history to top the 1,000-kill plateau, finishing with 1,025.

Repeat Performance: At 16-7, the Vikings have matched last year's 23-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: The Vikings have won five of the last seven meetings and are 17-28 all-time against the Raiders. However, Wright State upset the second-seeded Vikings in last year's Horizon League semifinals and swept the earlier meeting this season. Meanwhile, Cleveland State improved to 6-20 all-time versus Butler courtesy of its first win over the Bulldogs in Indianapolis back on Oct. 6.

Recapping Last Week: Once again, Cleveland State split a pair of Horizon League matches last week on the road. Here's a brief recap of the contests: Match #20: CSU def. UIC, 26-30, 30-26, 31-29, 30-27 (Oct. 27, Chicago, Ill.)
CSU recovered after dropping the first game to upend the Flames for the third straight time in Chicago. The Vikings held UIC to a .177 hitting percentage over the final three frames. Liz Fazio paced CSU with a match-high 17 kills, while Mel Snyder matched her career-high with eight kills and added 48 assists and nine digs.
Match #21: Loyola def. CSU, 30-21, 23-30, 30-23, 29-31, 15-13 (Oct. 28, Chicago, Ill.)
The Vikings recovered from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits in games and led 12-10 in the fifth frame, but couldn't hold on for the win as Loyola's advantages in hitting percentage (.238 to .120) and blocks (16 to 6) were too much to overcome. Liz Fazio ripped a match-high 23 kills, while Danielle Siefker and Beth Greulich added 13 and 12 kills, respectively.

Vikings' Run Of Success Continues: Cleveland State's impressive 16-7 record means the Vikings are assured 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.

Splitsville: CSU has managed to pull off an odd feat since starting Horizon League play 11 matches ago. The Vikings have split all five league weekends featuring a pair of matches to currently stand tied for fourth in the standings at 6-5.

Get Out The Brooms: Cleveland State's whitewashing of UW-Green Bay on 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 514 career total blocks -- 45 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 the Oct. 20 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 4.49 digs per game average -- upping that mark to 4.84 in league play. She has recorded double-digit digs in all but three matches this year, including six 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 lead the Horizon League with a .361 hitting percentage, while ranking among the national leaders the first two months of the season. 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 put together her second consecutive standout season. Heading into this week, she leads the Horizon League in assists (12.14) and is fourth in aces (0.38), while ranking fourth on the school's career list with 2,363 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.

Fab Freshmen: A trio of freshmen have acquitted themselves very nicely over their first two months of collegiate action. After 21 matches, Liz Fazio leads the league in kills (3.75) and is third on the squad in digs (2.21), Beth Greulich leads the league in hitting percentage (.361) and is third on the team in blocks (0.80) and Alexis Korovich is seventh in the league in kills (3.04) and second on the squad in digs (2.66).

Double Trouble: With eight double-doubles on the season, freshman outside hitter Alexis Korovich has nearly half of the team's 19 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 105-95 (.525) mark and a 138-131 (.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 has gotten used to life on the road this year. Even with a season-ending three-match homestand, the Vikings will have played 18 of their 26 regular season contests away from home. The travel schedule makes CSU's 16-7 record 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 9-1 on Fridays, with the only loss coming at the hands of UW-Milwaukee on Oct. 20.

CSU Successful In The 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 closes out the regular season with a Friday night tilt against Youngstown State on Nov. 10 at 7:00 p.m. Defensive specialist Margot Frederick and middle hitter Danielle Siefker will be recognized in a pre-match Senior Night ceremony.