Nov. 10, 2009
Contact: Greg Murphy
Complete Release in PDF Format 
MATCH #32
Youngstown State (7-19, 5-9) at Cleveland State (24-7, 12-3)
Date: Friday, Nov. 13, 2009
Time: 6:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Woodling Gym (3,000) - Cleveland, Ohio
Series: CSU leads, 45-13
Last Mtg.: CSU 3, @YSU 0 (10/7/09)
QUICK SETS: Cleveland State concludes its regular season when the Vikings host Youngstown State at 6:00 p.m. in a Senior Day tilt on Friday (Nov. 13). A win would clinch the first regular season Horizon League title in program history and allow the Vikings to earn the No. 1 seed in the Horizon League Championship, making CSU the host for the league tournament next weekend. The Vikings enter the week with a 24-7 overall mark, the most wins by a CSU team since 1983, and 12-3 in the league, one-half match ahead of second place Valparaiso (11-3).
REVIEWING LAST WEEK: Cleveland State split a pair of matches in Wisconsin over the weekend. Following are brief recaps of both matches.
Match 30: CSU 3, Green Bay 1 (Nov. 6, Green Bay, Wis.)
Beth Greulich and Liz Fazio had 18 kills each to lead the Vikings to a 3-1 win over Green Bay. Jordan Goad finished with a double-double of 52 assists and 15 digs, while Maggie Bonomini contributed 25 digs.
Match 31: Milwaukee 3, CSU 1 (Nov. 7, Milwaukee, Wis.)
Beth Greulich had 14 kills and Amy Benz added 11, but Cleveland State hit just .106 for the match in a 3-1 setback at Milwaukee.
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.
GOODBYE, SENIORS: Friday's match against Youngstown State will serve as Senior Day with Maggie Bonomini, Liz Fazio, Beth Greulich and Kayla Lefeld being honored prior to playing their final regular season home match. Together, the group has led the Vikings to 77 wins, the 2007 league title and NCAA berth and two appearances in the Horizon League Championship match thusfar.
WHERE WE STAND: Heading into the final weekend of the season, things are pretty simple for the Vikings. A CSU win against Youngstown State or a Valparaiso loss at either Green Bay or Milwaukee this weekend would clinch the regular season title for the Vikings and the No. 1 seed in the Horizon League Championship. If CSU falls to the Penguins and Valpo sweeps its two matches in Wisconsin, the Crusaders would win the league title and earn the right to host the league tournament as the No. 1 seed.
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. 24 AT GREEN BAY: The 3-1 win at Green Bay on Friday (Nov. 6) gave CSU its 24th victory of the season, the seventh most wins in a season in school history. A win over Youngstown State on Friday would tie the 1974 team for the sixth most wins in school history (25). The school record is 38 wins set in 1982.
RPI WATCH: The NCAA released its fifth edition of the volleyball RPI on Monday and the Vikings moved down 14 spots from last week's rankings to No. 112. It is the second highest ranking among the nine league schools with Valparaiso (No. 98) the highest.
LEAGUE MARK WITHIN REACH: CSU begins the week at 12-3 in the Horizon League with the 12 league wins ranking as the second most all-time in program history. The 2007 squad holds the school record with 13 league wins, meaning the Vikings can tie the mark with a win over Youngstown State on Friday night.
CSU TO PLAY 32nd MATCH: When the Vikings take the court on Friday night against Youngstown State, it will be CSU's 32nd match of the year, the most in program history since the 2003 squad played 34. The Vikings would be able to tie that mark if they advance to the Horizon League Championship match.
ON THE ATTACK: CSU is ranked first in the Horizon League and 31st in Division I with a .249 attack percentage, putting CSU on pace to shatter the school record for hitting percentage in a season, currently held by the 2005 squad (.239).
DEFENSE... DEFENSE... DEFENSE: The Vikings have been equally impressive on the defensive side of the net, leading the Horizon League in opponent hitting percentage (.161). 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.
VOSS ONE WIN SHY OF 200: Head coach Chuck Voss is within reach of a milestone, needing one more victory to reach 200 for his career. In 12 years as a head coach, including the last 10 at CSU, Voss claims a 199-168 overall mark.
GREULICH KEEPS SHINING: Beth Greulich has been nothing short of brilliant this season, playing her way into conversation for Horizon League Player of the Year honors. The senior ranks first in the league in hitting percentage (.337), fifth in kills (3.38) and sixth in points (3.80). She has been even better in the 15 league matches, hitting .353 with 4.06 kills and 4.48 points per set. Greulich has been named the Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week three times this year.
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 95th in the nation with 3.64 kills per set. However, it has been her defense that has been even more impressive as Fazio is ranked second on the team with 288 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 13 double-doubles.
BONOMINI KEEPS DIGGING: Senior Maggie Bonomini is ranked sixth in the Horizon League with 4.24 digs per set, including double-digit digs in 26 matches. The Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week in each of the first two weeks, Bonomini is ranked third on the all-time digs list at CSU with 1,169. She made a career-high 30 digs in the 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 40th in the country in assists (10.87), while guiding CSU to a league-best .249 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 2,383.
ONE SMART PLAYER: Senior Liz Fazio was recently selected to the CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District Volleyball Second Team. Fazio, who sports a 3.87 grade point average as a biology major, is the first CSU volleyball player to earn a spot on the team since Jenna Maddocks was a first team all-district and third team Academic All-America selection.
QUITE A STREAK: Cleveland State had its 12 match win streak snapped with its loss at UIC on Oct. 31. The streak was tied for the second longest in school history with the 1974 squad and trails just the 1976 team that won a school record 16 consecutive matches.
UP NEXT: The Vikings will compete in the Horizon League Championship from Nov. 20-22 at a location and time to be determined.
