Nov. 3, 2003
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This Week: Nov. 7 vs. Wright State (14-11, 5-5 HL), 7:00 p.m.
Nov. 8 vs. Butler (16-10, 6-4 HL), 2:00 p.m. - Senior Day
Quick Sets: Cleveland State returns home this weekend for contests against Wright State and Butler in hopes of snapping its four-match losing streak. After taking the conference leaders to five games two weeks ago, the Vikings struggled over the weekend in Chicago. In addition to Senior Day activities prior to Saturday's match, all of the volleyball alumni have been invited back for the weekend. The festivities will include a banner-raising ceremony to recognize the program's postseason appearances.
Series Notes: Wright State owns a 27-12 advantage in the series, and has won nine in a row over CSU, including a four-game win on Oct. 11 in Fairborn. Butler earned a five-game victory on Oct. 10 in Indianapolis to stretch its lead in the series to 16-4. However, the Vikings defeated the Bulldogs in four games last year in Woodling Gymnasium.
Head Coach Chuck Voss: In his fourth year at the helm of the Vikings, head coach Chuck Voss has a 52-63 (.452) mark at Cleveland State and an 85-99 (.462) 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.
Seniors To Be Recognized: Seniors Megan Burgdorf and Anne Yost will be recognized in a ceremony prior to Saturday's match. Burgdorf has played in 30 matches for the Vikings since transferring from Wooster two years ago. Yost has seen action in 105 of CSU's 110 contests since arriving on campus as a freshman in 2000.
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 (.375) and blocks per game (1.60) and is second in points per game (5.15). In NCAA rankings as of Oct. 26, she stood fifth in blocks per game and 26th in hitting percentage. In addition, she is on pace this year for 500 kills - a feat accomplished by only one other player 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 three times. Last year, the Vikings recorded just eight sweeps while being whitewashed seven times.
Vikings Rule Non-Conference...Again: With their sweep of Toledo on Oct. 21, 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: Cleveland State's struggles in Chicago continued over the weekend, losing in four games at Illinois-Chicago on Friday and in three at Loyola on Saturday. The Vikings are now 0-26 all-time against the Flames and Ramblers in the Windy City. CSU won the first game at UIC, but failed to maintain any momentum en route to dropping the next three frames. After losing the first two games at Loyola, the Vikings nearly won the third frame, but lost 33-31 after eight lead changes and 17 ties. Junior middle hitter Jamie Bouyer once again led the way, posting a match-high 18 kills and four blocks un Friday at UIC, followed by nine kills and five blocks the next day at Loyola.
Great Wall Of Cleveland: It's no wonder that Viking opponents are hitting just .190 this year - they're having trouble getting the ball across the net. At 2.85 blocks per game, CSU currently leads the league, well ahead of second-place Youngstown State (2.60). Individually, Jamie Bouyer (1.60) and Danielle Siefker (1.17) rank first and fourth among the league's blocking leaders. This season, the Vikings have been out-blocked only seven times and ranked 26th in the nation in the Oct. 26 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 1,196 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 (1,131), first in block assists (337), fifth in solo blocks (69) and second in total blocks (406). Crain is currently third on the assist rankings with 3,287 and has a good shot of passing Stacie Cunningham (3,320) for second place before the end of the year.
Loose Ends: It's safe to say that Catholic Youth Organization Night was a success - 763 fans turned out to watch the Vikings sweep Youngstown State on Oct. 17, making it the biggest crowd for a CSU match since head coach 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 (Oct. 24-25).
Up Next: The Vikings close out the regular season with a single match on Friday, Nov. 14 at Youngstown State. CSU swept the Penguins 30-27, 30-26, 30-11 on Oct. 17 in Cleveland.
