Nov. 2, 2009
Contact: Greg Murphy
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Matches 30-31
Cleveland State (23-6, 11-2 HL) at Green Bay (9-16, 4-8 HL)
Date: Friday, Nov. 6, 2009
Time: 8:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Kress Events Center (4,000) - Green Bay, Wis.
Series: CSU leads, 25-15
Last Mtg.: @CSU 3, UWGB 0 (10/11/09)
Cleveland State at Milwaukee (9-14, 6-6 HL)
Date: Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009
Time: 5:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Klotsche Center (2,500) - Milwaukee, Wis.
Series: UWM leads, 30-8
Last Mtg.: @CSU 3, UWM 0 (10/10/09)
QUICK SETS: Cleveland State concludes its regular season road schedule when the Vikings head to Wisconsin for a pair of matches this weekend, beginning with an 8:00 p.m. EST contest at Green Bay on Friday, Nov. 6. The Vikings then head to Milwaukee on Saturday (Nov. 7) for a 5:00 p.m. EST match. CSU begins the week at 23-6 overall and in first place in the Horizon League with an 11-2 mark, two-and-a-half games ahead of second place Valparaiso (9-3) with two weeks left in the regular season. The regular season champion will host the 2009 Horizon League Championship from Nov. 20-22.
REVIEWING LAST WEEK: Cleveland State split a pair of matches in Chicago over the weekend. Following are brief recaps of both matches.
Match 28: CSU 3, Loyola 1 (Oct. 30, Chicago, Ill.)
Liz Fazio had 23 kills and Maggie Bonomini set a career-high with 30 digs as Cleveland State extended its win streak to 12 straight with a 3-1 win at Loyola.
Match 29: UIC 3, CSU 2 (Oct. 31, Chicago, Ill.)
The Vikings had their 12 match win streak snapped, losing for the first time in more than a month, with a 3-2 setback at UIC. Beth Greulich led CSU with 20 kills, while Liz Fazio added 16.
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 (2.54 kpg, 0.98 bpg, .319) and senior right side Beth Greulich (3.33, 0.76, .343) who are both two-time first team All-Horizon League selections. Sophomore Megan Barhorst (0.97, 1.00, .195) joins Benz in the middle, while sophomore setter Jordan Goad (10.80 apg, 2.10 dpg, 1.09 kpg) is in her second season directing the Viking offense and continues to develop a good rapport with her hitters. Senior Liz Fazio (3.66 kpg, 2.68 dpg, .234) is the most experienced outside hitter on the team, while freshman Kara Koch (2.33, 0.96, .205) 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 (4.16 dpg) leads the backrow, while sophomore Amy Grabiec (2.49) and junior Meghan Mental (1.78) are defensive specialists who continue to lead the backrow.
STREAK BUSTED: CSU's 12-match win streak, tied for the second longest in school history, was broken on Saturday when the Vikings fell at UIC in five sets. The school record for most consecutive wins is 16 set 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. 23 AT LOYOLA: The 3-1 win at Loyola on Friday gave the Vikings their 23rd victory of the season, tied for the seventh most wins in a season in school history. One more victory would give CSU its most wins (24) since the 1983 team won 29 times. The 1982 teams holds the school record with 38 wins.
QUITE A TURNAROUND: After winning just 11 matches last season, the Vikings have more than doubled that total this season, winning 23 times with at least four more matches left. The 12 game turnaround is tied for the third best in school history with the 1979 and 1980 teams. The school record for wins in one season to the next is 18 when the 1981 team won 20 times and the 1981 squad followed that up by winning a school record 38 contests.
RPI WATCH: The NCAA released its fourth edition of the volleyball RPI on Monday and the Vikings moved down five spots from last week's rankings to No. 98. It is the highest ranking among the nine league schools with Valparaiso (No. 106) the next highest.
LEAGUE MARK WITHIN REACH: CSU begins the week at 11-2 in the Horizon League with the 11 league wins tying for the second most all-time in program history. The 2007 squad holds the program record with 13 league wins, while the 2005 team also won 11 conference matches.
ON THE ATTACK: The Vikings are ranked first in the Horizon League and 29th in Division I with a .255 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 (.239).
DEFENSE... DEFENSE... DEFENSE: CSU has been equally impressive on the defensive side of the net, leading the Horizon League in opponent hitting percentage (.156). 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.
ALL ABOUT 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 percentage (.343), sixth in kills (3.33) and seventh in points (3.76).
• Has double-digit kills in 17 matches, including season-high of 22 vs. Valparaiso.
• Has led CSU to an 11-2 league mark by averaging 4.07 kills and 0.91 blocks, hitting .369 in league matches.
• Tallied double-digit kills in 10 of her last 11 matches, totaling 164 kills and hitting .401 (164-33-327) 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 tied for third in CSU history in hitting pecentage (.319) third in kills (1,286) and points (1,531), fifth in block assists (335) and seventh in total blocks (360).
• Three-time Horizon League Player of the Week. (Oct. 5, 12, 26) this year and seven times in her career.
• 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 and 90th in the nation with 3.66 kills per set. However, it has been her defense that has been even more impressive as Fazio is ranked second on the team with 265 digs after totaling just 134 over the last two seasons. Fazio had a career-high 20-dig effort against Wright State (Sept. 15) and leads the team with 12 double-doubles this year.
BENZ MOVING UP THE CHARTS: Amy Benz continues to quickly make her way up the career charts at CSU as she is tied for third all-time in attack percentage (.319), while ranking fourth in block assists (356), fifth in total blocks (410) and ninth in solo blocks (54). Her block assist total is eighth in Horizon League history.
BONOMINI KEEPS DIGGING: Senior Maggie Bonomini is ranked sixth in the Horizon League with 4.16 digs per set, including double-digit digs in 24 matches. The Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week in each of the first two weeks, Bonomini is ranked fourth on the all-time digs list at CSU with 1,127, needing 12 digs to take over third place. She made a career-high 30 digs in Friday's (Oct. 30) win at Loyola.
GOAD SETTING IT UP: Sophomore setter Jordan Goad continues to lead the CSU offense, leading the Horizon League and ranking 42nd in the country in assists (10.80), 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 2,288.
WINNING WITH SWEEPS: The Vikings have won 17 of their 23 matches with 3-0 sweeps, while 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 6-5 in matches that go more than three sets.
UP NEXT: CSU concludes the regular season with a 6:00 p.m. match at home vs. Youngstown State on Friday (Nov. 13).
