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Vikings Open Play Against UIC at Horizon League Championship

Vikings Open Play Against UIC at Horizon League Championship
Posted: Nov 17, 2010

Nov. 17, 2010

Contact: Greg Murphy

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QUICK SETS: Third-seeded Cleveland State begins play in the 2010 Horizon League Championship with a first round match at 4:30 p.m. CST on Friday (Nov. 19) against sixth-seeded UIC in Milwaukee's Klotsche Center with the top-seeded Panthers hosting the entire tournament. If CSU defeats UIC, the Vikings would advance to face second-seeded Butler in a semifinal contest on Saturday (Nov. 20) at 3:30 p.m. CST with the championship match slated for 1:00 p.m. CST on Sunday (Nov. 21). The Vikings enter the tournament with a 21-6 record and finished third in the Horizon League at 11-5 UIC is 13-17 overall and finished sixth in the league at 7-9. CSU won both meetings with the Flames this season.

REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Vikings split a pair of road matches to conclude the regular season. Following are brief recaps of each match.

Match 26: CSU 3, Wright State 1 (Nov. 12, Fairborn, Ohio)
CSU won the first two sets en route to a 3-1 win over Wright State. Amy Benz, Kara Koch and Jackie Dabbelt had 12 kills each to lead a balanced offensive attack, while Amy Grabiec made 23 digs. Jordan Goad finished with 39 assists.

Match 27: Butler 3, CSU 1 (Nov. 13, Indianapolis, Ind.)
Kara Koch had 14 kills and Amy Grabiec made 24 digs, but the Vikings dropped their regular season finale at Butler, 3-1. Lindsey Griffith added 11 kills and Jordan Goad handed out 30 assists.

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 (10.46 aps, 1.77 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 (4.11 aps) is Goad's backup after redshirting last season and has made five starts this season to spare Goad at times. Senior Amy Benz (.318, 2.52 kps, 1.00 bps) headlines a deep and talented group of middles that also includes junior Megan Barhorst (1.22 kps, 0.94 bps) and sophomore Marie Frease (.277, 1.35 kps). Sophomore Kara Koch (3.87 kps, 2.49 dps) and junior Lindsey Griffith (2.07 kps) are the most experienced outside hitters on the roster, while sophomore Kourtney Volkmer (0.08 kps) and freshman Kerry Winchester (0.55 kps) have also received opportunities. Freshman Jackie Dabbelt (.274, 2.52 kps) has held down the right side. The Vikings are once again be strong in the backrow with junior Amy Grabiec (5.13 dps) continuing CSU's strong tradition of liberos. Senior Meghan Mental (1.64 dps), junior Whitney Dalessandro and sophomores Amanda Medvetz (2.31 dps) and Brittany Holland (2.30) all receive time as defensive specialists in the backrow.

THREE NAMED ALL-LEAGUE: The Vikings had three players named to the All-Horizon League first team that was announced on Wednesday (Nov. 17). Senior Amy Benz was selected to the squad for the third time in her four years, while Jordan Goad earned a spot on the team for the second consecuitve season. Sophomore Kara Koch was voted to the team for the first time in her career.

... AND DABBELT NAMED TO ALL-NEWCOMER TEAM: Freshman Jackie Dabbelt was one of seven players named to the Horizon League All-Newcomer team. Dabbelt, who sat out last season as a redshirt, is the 12th player in school history to earn a spot on the team and extends CSU's streak of having a player named to the team to six straight years (2005-10).

GOING TO MILWAUKEE: After hosting the Horizon League Championship the last two seasons, the Vikings may be looking forward to heading to Milwaukee for this year's tournament. After all, the last time CSU didn't host the league tournament was in 2007 when the second-seeded Vikings defeated Youngstown State, Wright State and Valparaiso to win the league title. CSU has been the tournament runner-up in each of the last two seasons while hosting in Woodling Gym.

GOAD & BENZ HONORED: Jordan Goad and Amy Benz were both selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-District teams that were recently released. 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.

CSU IN THE NCAA STATS: The Vikings are well represented in the latest NCAA statistics that were released on Monday (Nov. 15) afternoon. As a team, CSU is 45th in assists (12.82), 49th in kills (13.72) and 62nd in digs (16.35). Individually, Amy Grabiec is 34th in digs (5.13), while Jordan Goad is 64th in assists (10.46) and Kara Koch is 56th in kills (3.87) and 57th in points (4.36).

RPI WATCH: The NCAA released its seventh edition of the volleyball RPI on Monday (Nov. 15) with the Vikings moving down two spots from last week to No. 103. CSU is the second highest rated team in the Horizon League with Milwaukee checking in at No. 62.

VIKINGS REACH 20 WINS: A 3-0 win over Loyola on Nov. 5 allowed the Vikings to notch their 20th win of the season, marking the 12th time in school history that CSU has won 20 matches. It is the third 20-win season in the last four years for the Vikings, who won at least 20 matches nine times from 1974-88.

... AND 10th IN THE LEAGUE: The win over Loyola was also CSU's 10th in the Horizon League, marking the fourth time in school history the Vikings have accomplished the feat. The record for league wins in a season is 13, set in 2007 and 2009, while the this year's squad and the 2005 team both won 11 league matches.

GRABIEC MOVES UP LIST: Junior Amy Grabiec is continuing the strong tradition of the libero position at CSU, averaging 5.13 digs per set to rank second in the league and 34th in Division I. Grabiec, who has reached double-digit digs in 35 of the last 36 matches dating to last year, has 508 digs this season, becoming just the second player in school history with at least 500 digs in a season. Jordan Bateman holds the school record with 599 digs in 2007.

GOAD DISHES IT OUT: Jordan Goad continues to lead the Horizon League while also ranking 64th in the nation in assists per set (10.46). In addition, she has helped direct the Vikings to the best attack percentage in the league (.223). Goad is fourth on the all-time assist chart at CSU with 3,376 assists.

KOCH DOUBLES UP: Sophomore Kara Koch has recorded 10 of the team's 13 double doubles this season, ranking second in the league in kills at 3.87 per set, which is also the eighth highest total in a single season at CSU. In addition, Koch's 4.36 points per set are the eighth most in a season at CSU. In addition, she is just 19 kills shy of notching the most kills by a sophomore in CSU history (Jamie Bouyer; 401 in 2002).

BENZ ON THE CHARTS: Senior Amy Benz has her name plastered throughout the CSU record book, ranking third in blocks (525), and block assists (456), fourth in attack percentage (.315), seventh in solo blocks (69) and 10th in kills (1,125). 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 ranks second in the league this year, hitting at a .318 clip. UIC's Janise Dismuke tops the league at .321.

UP NEXT: The winner of the Horizon League Championship will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. The selection show will be televised live on ESPNNEWS at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday (Nov. 28).