Nov. 4, 2010
Contact: Greg Murphy
Matches 24-25
Loyola (9-16, 2-11 HL) at Cleveland State (19-4, 9-3 HL)
Date: Friday, Nov. 5, 2010
Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Woodling Gym (3,000) - Cleveland, Ohio
Series: LU leads, 27-10
Last Mtg.: @LU 3, CSU 1 (10/10/10)
Valparaiso (21-6, 8-5 HL) at Cleveland State
Date: Saturday, Nov. 6, 2010
Time: 4:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Woodling Gym (3,000) - Cleveland, Ohio
Series: Valpo leads, 14-9
Last Mtg.: CSU 3, @Valpo 0 (10/9/10)
Complete Release in PDF Format 
QUICK SETS: Cleveland State concludes its regular season home slate when the Vikings host a pair of matches this week, beginning with a 7:00 p.m. match against Loyola on Friday (Nov. 5). CSU will then host Valparaiso on Saturday (Nov. 6) at 4:00 p.m. in a Senior Day contest in which Amy Benz, Lindsey Griffith and Meghan Mental will be honored in a pre-match ceremony prior to the trio playing in their final regular season match in Woodling Gym. The Vikings begin the week with a 19-4 record and in third place in the Horizon League at 9-3, putting CSU behind first place Milwaukee (12-1) and second place Butler (11-1). The Vikings are one-and-a-half matches ahead of fourth place Valpo, which is 8-5 in league play and 21-6 overall. Loyola is 9-16 overall and 2-11 in the Horizon League.
REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Vikings won both of their matches last week. Following are brief recaps of each contest.
Match 22: CSU 3, Robert Morris 1 (Oct. 26, Cleveland, Ohio)
Kara Koch had 23 kills and 14 digs to lead the Vikings to a 3-1 win over Robert Morris in the final nonconference match of the season. Amy Benz added 13 kills, while Amy Grabiec made a match-high 19 digs.
Match 23: CSU 3, Youngstown State 0 (Oct. 29, Youngstown, Ohio)
The Vikings picked up their 19th win of the season with a sweep at Youngstown State. Kara Koch had 17 kills, while Amy Benz added 13 and Jackie Dabbelt eight. Jordan Goad led the Vikings to a .320 (48-16-100) attack percentage with 34 assists and Amy Grabiec finished with 12 digs.
PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: Now in his 11th season at the helm of the Cleveland State volleyball program, head coach Chuck Voss has re-tooled the squad and has the Vikings right back in the thick of the Horizon League race. Headlining the list of returnees from last year's regular season champions is junior setter Jordan Goad (10.68 aps, 1.81 dps), who was a first team All-Horizon League and honorable mention All-America pick last year after finishing 36th in the country in assists. Freshman Annie Djukic (4.43 aps) is Goad's backup after redshirting last season and has made five starts this season to spare Goad at times. Senior Amy Benz (.313, 2.58 kps, 1.00 bps) headlines a deep and talented group of middles that also includes junior Megan Barhorst (1.10 kps, 0.90 bps), sophomore Marie Frease (.280, 1.45 kps) and freshman Erin Turner. Sophomore Kara Koch (3.95 kps, 2.60 dps) and junior Lindsey Griffith (2.05 kps) are the most experienced outside hitters on the roster, while sophomore Kourtney Volkmer (0.08 kps) and freshman Kerry Winchester (0.71 kps) have also received opportunities. Freshman Jackie Dabbelt (.259, 2.52 kps) has held down the right side. The Vikings are once again be strong in the backrow with junior Amy Grabiec (5.09 dps) continuing CSU's strong tradition of liberos. Senior Meghan Mental (1.70 dps), junior Whitney Dalessandro and sophomores Amanda Medvetz (2.25 dps) and Brittany Holland (2.22) all receive time as defensive specialists in the backrow.
SENIOR DAY SET FOR SATURDAY: Saturday afternoon's match against Valparaiso will be a special night with the trio of seniors Amy Benz, Lindsey Griffith and Meghan Mental being honored prior to playing their final regular season match in Woodling Gym. Together, the group has led the Vikings to 79 wins over the last four years, including three 20-win seasons and the 2007 Horizon League Championship and NCAA bid.
VIKINGS NEAR 20th WIN: With 19 wins this season, the Vikings enter the weekend within reach of recording the 12th, 20-win season in program history. It would be the third 20-win season over the last four years. The Vikings won at least 20 matches nine times from 1974-1988.
... AND 10th IN THE LEAGUE: At 9-3 in the Horizon League, CSU needs one more win to reach 10 league wins for the fourth time in school history. The record for league wins in a season is 13, set in 2007 and 2009, while the 2005 squad is second with 11 victories.
CSU IN THE NCAA STATS: The Vikings are well represented in the latest NCAA statistics that were released on Monday (Nov. 1) afternoon. As a team, CSU is 19st in the nation in winning percentage (.826), 41st in assists (12.88), 42nd in kills (13.78) and 57th in digs (16.32). Individually, Amy Grabiec is 35th in digs (5.09), while Jordan Goad is 45th in assists (10.68) and Kara Koch is 48th in kills (3.95) and 52nd in points (4.44).
GOAD & BENZ HONORED: Jordan Goad and Amy Benz were both selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-District teams that were released on Thursday (Nov. 4) afternoon. Goad, who carries a 3.89 GPA as a pre-med major, was a second team selection, while Benz was named to the third team after sporting a 3.63 grade point average as an accounting major.
RPI WATCH: The NCAA released its fifth edition of the volleyball RPI on Monday (Oct. 25) with the Vikings moving down five spots from last week to No. 103. CSU is the second highest rated team in the Horizon League with Milwaukee checking in at No. 64.
GOAD TRIPLES UP: Junior Jordan Goad notched the first triple-double of her career in the Oct. 22 win at Green Bay, finishing with 43 assists, 13 digs and 10 kills. Her 10th and final kill gave the Vikings an 11-8 lead in the fifth set, helping CSU eventually win the final set, 15-10.
... AND CONTINUES TO DISH IT OUT: Jordan Goad continues to lead the Horizon League while also ranking 45th in the nation in assists per set (10.68). In addition, she has helped direct the Vikings to the best attack percentage in the league (.227). Goad is fifth on the all-time assist chart at CSU with 3,244 assists, needing 77 more to take over fourth place.
SHE CAN DIG IT: Junior Amy Grabiec is continuing the strong tradition of the libero position at CSU, averaging 5.09 digs per set to rank second in the league and 35th nationally. Grabiec, who has reached double-digit digs in 31 of the last 32 matches dating to last season, has 433 digs this season, the sixth highest total in a single season in school history. She needs to make 44 more digs to move all the way up to second place.
KOCH DOUBLES UP: Sophomore Kara Koch has notched 10 of the team's 13 double-doubles this season, including in seven of the last 10 matches. Over that span, Koch is averaging 3.81 kills and 3.46 digs per set, tying her career-high with 15 digs in three of the matches. She ranks second in the Horizon League in kills (3.95) and points (4.26).
BENZ ON THE CHARTS: Senior Amy Benz has her name plastered throughout the CSU record book, ranking third in blocks (511), and block assists (444), fourth in attack percentage (.315), seventh in solo blocks (67) and 10th in kills (1,095). She is one of three players in program history to record 1,000 kills and 500 blocks in a career, joining Jamie Bouyer and Danielle Siefker.
ON THE ATTACK: When it comes to accurate hitters in the league, it doesn't get much better than CSU as a Viking has led the league in attack percentage in each of the last seven seasons. It began with Jamie Bouyer in 2003 (.361) and 2004 (.368) and continued with Nickole Kennedy in 2005 (.318), Beth Greulich in 2006 (.364), Amy Benz in 2007 (.334) and 2008 (.303) and Greulich (.328) last season. Benz leads the league this year, hitting at a .313 clip, just ahead of Butler's Maureen Bamiro (.309) and UIC's Janise Dismuke (.308).
UP NEXT: CSU concludes the regular season with a pair of road matches next week, playing at Wright State on Friday (Nov. 12) at 7:00 p.m. before a 5:00 p.m. contest at Butler on Saturday (Nov. 13).
