BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Cleveland State volleyball team concluded the first weekend of the 2013 season Saturday, earning a pair of wins over Eastern Michigan and Canisius. With the wins, the Vikings finish the Golden Griffin Invitational with a 3-1 record, behind tournament champion NC State who finished at 4-0.
"Overall I thought we had a great tournament, especially for this being the first weekend of the season," head coach Chuck Voss said. "Ending the weekend with a 3-1 record is great when you look at the level of competition we played. We were able to pick up three wins against quality teams and our only loss on the weekend was against an NC State team that finished in the top-50 last year. All-in-all we saw some great things out of our players and I am really hopeful for the coming weeks."
Junior Maggie Hannon earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team, following her outstanding offense performance over the four matches. For the weekend, Hannon had 40 kills on a .416 hitting percentage (40-8-77), while also adding 13 blocks and three service aces.
"I think we had a very balanced attack throughout the weekend, led by Maggie and Grace. Maggie started off the year right where she ended last season and I think she will continue to grow throughout the year. Grace stepped up and played like an experienced player, not like a freshman in her first collegiate tournament. As always, we found some things that we will need to work on next week in practice, but overall I was very pleased with our performance this weekend," Voss said.
Set scores against Eastern Michigan were; 27-25, 23-25, 25-19, 32-30.
Set scores against Canisius were; 25-12, 25-19, 25-20.
In the first match of the day, Cleveland State battled for a 3-1 victory over Eastern Michigan, as all but one set was decided by just two points. The Vikings had a balanced offensive attack against the Eagles, with four players recording double-digit kills. Hannon led the group with a career-high 20 kills and a .486 hitting percentage, while Christina Toth added a career-best 11 and Grace Kauth and Kerry Winchester each notched 10.
Dayna Roberts and Annie Djukic split setting duties throughout the match, with Roberts posting 28 assists and Djukic notching 25. The Vikings also had a balanced effort on the defensive end, with Nikki Holmes posting a career-high 30 digs, Ally Beck adding 18, Dayna Roberts posting 10 and Kauth adding 11. With the 11 digs, Kauth posted her first double-double of the season, while Roberts notched her second with her 10 digs.
Kelly Kiger (8) and Toth (7) combined for 15 blocks against EMU, both notching career-highs in the category.
The Vikings were then able to earn a convincing three-set victory against the host Golden Griffins in the final match of the tournament, ending the weekend with a 3-1 record. The trio of Ally Beck, Hannon and Kauth each notched nine kills for the Vikings, while Winchester added six. Roberts (17 assists) and Djukic (15 assists) once against split setting duties, while Holmes led the Viking defense with 16 digs.
Cleveland State will play at home for the first time during the 2013 season next weekend, hosting the CSU Invitational on Friday, Sept. 6 and Saturday, Sept. 7. UC Irvine, IPFW and High Point will make up the tournament field, with Cleveland State's first match at 7:00 p.m. on Friday against High Point.
