Nov. 19, 2010
Greetings from Milwaukee. We are courtside for the Horizon League Volleyball Championship at the Klotsche Center where the third-seeded Vikings will face sixth-seeded UIC in a first round match. The winner will advance to the semifinals on Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. CST match with second-seeded Butler.
I will have updated live action throughout the match so stay tuned...
5:29 p.m. - Warm ups are over. Teams preparing for National Anthem followed by starting lineups.
5:32 p.m. - All-Horizon League performers to be honored. CSU's Kara Koch, Amy Benz and Jordan Goad recognized for first team selection. Jackie Dabbelt honored for all-newcomer team selection.
5:34 p.m. - UIC starters... Safranek, Dalke, Szatkowski, Dismuke, Allgood, Eldred and Davis. CSU going with Grabiec (LIB), Benz (MH), Holland (DS), Medvetz (DS), Goad (SET), Koch (OH), Barhorst (MB).
5:37 p.m. - Vikings in home white. UIC in road blues.
5:38 p.m. - Holland to serve first for the Vikings... and its an ace!!
5:39 p.m. - Koch follows a UIC kill with one of her own. Barhorst to serve.
5:40 p.m. - Middle of the court wide open on that play and UIC evens the set at 2-2 before taking its first lead on a Koch attack error. Benz follows with a tip to even it all at 3-3.
5:41 p.m. - Benz and Dabbelt team for a block at the net and the Vikings lead 4-3. Both teams playing with a high level of intensity right now. Great atmosphere in the gym for this match as both teams traveled well. Also have the other four schools in the gym watching.
5:43 p.m. - Another Koch kill makes it 5-5 and Lindsey Griffith checks in for the first time before Dabbelt and Benz team up for another block.
5:44 p.m. - A Griffith kill gives CSU an 8-5 lead and forces UIC to call timeout. CSU's backrow playing very well, picking up a lot. A good start and the staff has to be happy with it so far.
5:46 p.m. - Koch with a service ace out of the timeout. UIC players thought it was going out. It didn't... but her next serve did. 9-6 CSU leads.
5:47 p.m. - Griffith with another kill and she hit that one hard. She had a nice warm up before the game and its good to see her swing hard and terminate points early on.
5:48 p.m. - Barhorst with a kill to make it 13-8. Jordan Goad doing a nice job of spreading the ball around to her hitters. There's a reason she is a two-time first team all-league pick.
5:49 p.m. - UIC had to work for that point to cut the deficit to 14-9. Holland and Grabiec both picked up digs before Safranek finally got one down for a Flame point.
5:50 p.m. - Amy Benz likes the league tournament. She just made her third block of the set to give CSU a 16-9 lead. Benz, the MVP of the tournament as a freshman, has been named to the all-tournament team all three years. Barhorst followed with another ace to make it 17-9. And another UIC timeout.
5:51 p.m. - A little miscommunication by CSU leads to a Flame point. Holland and Barhorst both were going for the dig, but both backed off at the last minute and Barhorst hit it right into Holland. Chuck Voss was on the sideline saying communicate.
5:52 p.m. - Koch stops a 4-1 UIC run with a kill. Vikings lead 19-13. One more point and I think Chuck was ready to call a TO.
5:53 p.m. - Jordan Goad has great court awareness and vision. After UIC blocked a ball back, she spotted an opening on the other side of the net and perfectly placed a shot in the back corner for a point. 20-15 CSU leads.
5:54 p.m. - Goad and Barhorst combine on another CSU block. Vikings dominating at the net... and Medvetz follows with an ace, CSU's fourth of the set. Vikings lead 23-15.
5:56 p.m. - On set point, Griffith ends it with a kill. Vikings win 25-15 and lead 1-0. A GREAT start for the Vikings. Need to keep this focus and intensity for the rest of the match.
5:59 p.m. - First set stats... Vikings hit .370 (13-3-27). Four kills for Koch and 3 for Griffith. Vikings have five blocks to 0 for UIC. UIC hit .074 (9-7-27).
6:00 p.m. - Teams trade points to open the second set, but a Barhorst serve goes long giving UIC a 2-1 lead.
6:01 p.m. - Eldred with her fourth kill of the match gives UIC a 4-2 lead. Benz and Dabbelt were there, just couldn't get the block. And Benz hits one wide to extend the Flame lead to 5-2.
6:02 p.m. - But Benz isn't one of the most accurate hitters in school history for nothing!! She comes back with a kill to make it 5-3. And Grabiec with a superb dig to keep the play alive, but UIC gets a kill on the over-pass.
6:04 p.m. - Teams keep trading points and Vikings can't get deficit under two points... now three (9-6) point UIC lead after a Safranek kill.
6:07 p.m. - Two straight points got the Vikings within one at 9-8, but another UIC kills gives them a two point advantage at 10-8. Barhorst follows with a kill to pull the Vikings back within one.
6:08 p.m. - And two straight UIC errors tie it at 11. Voss a little intense on the sideline. I think he knows this is a HUGE set. Big difference between a 2-0 lead and a 1-1 tie, especially with the winner of this match having to win three matches in three days to win the title.
6:09 p.m. - Grabiec with a beautiful one handed dig that went back over the net. She almmost had another one on a Rocket by one of the UIC outsides, but couldn't quite pick it up. We're tied at 14.
6:11 p.m. - Three straight points by UIC makes it 17-14 Flames and forces Chuck to burn his first timeout.
6:13 p.m. - Safranek answers a Griffith kill with one of her own to keep the UIC lead at three (18-15)... but Koch hammers a backrow attack to bring CSU back within two at 18-16.
6:14 p.m. CSU pulls within one at 19-18 as Koch throws down an easy kill at the net after an overpass. Timeout UIC. Huge points coming up to end the second set.
6:16 p.m. - Dismuke, the league's leading hitter, hits one wide and we are tied at 19-19... Sniegowski with a kill gives UIC a 20-19 lead.
6:18 p.m. - We're trading points... someone is bound to stop the streak and take control.
6:19 p.m. - And its the Vikings with another block and Koch follows with an ace!! 23-21 CSU and UIC burns its second and final timeout. Those were two of the biggest points of the season for the Vikings.
6:21 p.m. - UIC answers with a kill, but a Griffith kill sets up set point.
6:22 p.m. UIC survives the first of two set points... Eldred serving for UIC and Griffith ends the set... 25-23 CSU wins and leads 2-0.
6:24 p.m. - Some stats through two sets... CSU hitting a ridiculous .343 (31-8-67), while UIC is hitting .162 (24-13-68). Koch with nine kills and six digs. Griffith eight kills and no errors in just 16 attempts (.500). CSU with six blocks to two for UIC.
6:25 p.m.- AND they played Party in the USA as the team's headed to their lockers rooms between sets two and three. My day just got much, much better...
6:34 p.m. - Tied at 2-2 early in the third. Longest rally of the day on the fourth point goes to CSU with a Benz tip at the net.
6:37 p.m. - UIC jumps out to 7-4 lead in third set.
6:39 p.m. - Quick 4-1 CSU run evens the set at 8 apiece and forces UIC to call timeout.
6:44 p.m. - Things are still tight in the third... UIC leads 15-13. It's now or never for the Flames if they want to extend their season. And a Flame service ace makes it 15-14.
6:45 p.m. - Benz and Dabbelt combine on yet another block to even things at 15-15. And Grabiec makes another spectacular dig diving to her right to set up a Koch kill. CSU leads 16-15.
6:48 p.m. - A UIC net violation and Koch ace give the Vikings an 18-16 lead.
6:48 p.m. - Benz and Griffith combine for another block and UIC hits it long. 20-16 CSU and Flames use their final timeout. Viking bench feeling it now.
6:50 p.m. - Guess what... another CSU block. As the tennis team would say back in Woodling Gym.... B-LOCK... B-LOCK... You got blocked!! And Koch with another ace. 22-16 Vikings.
6:51 p.m. - Koch is feeling it... another ace. And yet another!! Match point.
6:52 p.m. - And Benz ends it will a kill. CSU to play No. 2 Butler on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. EST (3:30 p.m. in Milwaukee) Be sure to catch the women's basketball game on the HLN at 7:00 p.m. against Niagara. Thanks for following...
