MATCH #1
@ Green Bay | Monday, January 25 | Green Bay, Wis. | 4:00 p.m. EST
Live Stats | Video
MATCH #2
@ Green Bay | Tuesday, January 26 | Green Bay, Wis. | 2:00 p.m. EST
Live Stats | Video
QUICK SETS
The Cleveland State volleyball team will finally return to action this week, as the Vikings are set to open the long awaited 2021 season with a pair of matches at Green Bay. Cleveland State will open up the season with a 4:00 p.m. EST match on Monday, January 25, before closing out the two-match series in a 2:00 p.m. EST contest on Tuesday, January 26.
ENTERING THE WEEK…
The Vikings will be kicking off their 49th season of volleyball, and 21st under head coach Chuck Voss…Cleveland State will be trying to win its fifth #HLVB opener over the last seven seasons…The Vikings own an 11-3 record against the Phoenix over the last six seasons.
SCOUTING THE PHOENIX
Green Bay enters the 2021 season following a pair of 20-win campaigns during the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Last week, the Phoenix were selected to finish fourth in the #HLVB Preseason Poll, picking up two first place votes. Ashley Sledge and Shannon Coughlin return as Green Bay's top offensive players, while Anna Eaton and Annelise Sparks return to lead the Phoenix defense.
2021 #HLVB PLAY
This year's Horizon League schedule will have a different look to it, as the Vikings will face the same opponent in back-to-back matches each week. Cleveland State is scheduled to host four #HLVB series against Milwaukee, Oakland, Robert Morris, and Youngstown State, while the Vikings will travel to Green Bay, Northern Kentucky, Purdue Fort Wayne, and Wright State throughout the season.
VIKINGS SET FOR THEIR RETURN TO THE COURT
Monday's match at Green Bay will mark the first contest for the Vikings in 436 days, as they were last in action against IUPUI on November 16, 2019 in the 2019 regular season finale. This will mark the first time in program history that the Vikings are playing regular season matches during the months of January, February and March.
POSTSEASON HONOREE GREENE RETURNS
Senior Hannah Greene returns following an excellent junior season in which she was named to the All-Horizon League First Team after ranking in the top-10 among #HLVB players in hitting percentage, kills and blocks. During the 2019 season, Greene averaged 2.88 kills per set on a .284 hitting percentage, while she also notched a team-high 117 total blocks.
…GREENE ON CAREER BLOCK ASSISTS LIST
Entering the 2021 season, Hannah Greene is tied for 10th on the CSU Career Block Assists List with 275. Greene is the first Viking to earn a spot on the top-10 list since Alexis Middlebrooks and Aaliyah Slappy during the 2016 campaign. As a sophomore during the 2018 season, Greene recorded 157 block assists on the year, a mark that ranks third in the CSU Single-Season Record Book.
DeGEORGE ON CAREER DIGS LIST
In addition to Hannah Greene, classmate Emily DeGeorge also enters the 2021 campaign ranked in the CSU Career Record Book, as she currently sits 10th with 1,121 career digs. DeGeorge, who became the 20th Viking to reach the 1,000-dig plateau last season, is the first Viking to earn a spot on the top-10 list since Shannon Grega during the 2017 campaign. DeGeorge has posted 325+ digs in each of her first three seasons at Cleveland State, and finished the 2019 campaign ranked 10th among #HLVB players averaging 3.32 digs per set.
SCHOEN NAMED CLEVELAND STATE SAAC PRESIDENT
Prior to the 2020-21 academic school year, Cleveland State senior Halle Schoen was named the Cleveland State SAAC President, and will serve in the role for the remainder of the year. This will be Schoen's third year as an active member of CSU SAAC, as she was the Community Service Co-Chair as a junior and an active Board Member as a sophomore.
VIKINGS POST STRONG SEMESTER IN THE CLASSROOM
With the 2020 Fall Semester in the books, the Vikings posted one of their best semesters in program history, finishing with a 3.86 Team GPA for the term - the highest GPA among all 18 Cleveland State teams last semester. In addition, six Vikings were named to the Cleveland State President's List3.90+ (Halle Schoen, Audrey McConihe, Lydia Latimer, Keanna Avery, Sarah Green, Abby Miller), while nine Vikings earned a spot on the Cleveland State Dean's List3.25+ (Hannah Greene, Emily DeGeorge, Lindsey Tout, Chelsea Penfield, Peyton Bloomer, Caroline Kucia, Madalynn Butler, Ainslie McLaughlin, Sam Snow).
HEAD COACH CHUCK VOSS
Chuck Voss is in his 21st season at the helm of the Vikings, and owns a 362-234 (.607) overall record at Cleveland State. Under Voss the Vikings have recorded 16 winning seasons, including a streak of 10 straight from 2009 to 2018. Cleveland State has eclipsed the 20-win mark eight times since Voss took over the program, and has captured Horizon League Tournament titles five times (2007, 2012, 2015, 2016 & 2017) under his guidance. During the 2016 season Voss became the all-time winningest coach in program history, and then later became the only active Horizon League coach to reach the 350-win mark at their current school.
UP NEXT
The Vikings are scheduled to open up their eight-match home slate next week, as they welcome in the Milwaukee Panthers for a pair of matches on Monday, February 1 and Tuesday, February 2.
