BETHLEHEM, PA – The Cleveland State volleyball team opened play at the Lehigh Invitational Friday, picking up a five-set victory over the host Mountain Hawks, before falling in four sets to Rider.

CLEVELAND STATE 3, LEHIGH 2 | BOX SCORE  
Laken Voss led the Viking offense with 15 kills on the match, while Peyton Bloomer added nine and Karly Klaer chipped in eight.  

Defensively, Audrey McConihe tallied a team-best 20 digs, while Klaer added 14 and Madison Quirino posted 10 digs.  

Klaer notched 25 assists in her collegiate debut, notching a double-double along with her 14 digs.  

As a team, Cleveland State recorded seven service aces on the match, including two from Emma Walker and Voss.  

After dropping the first two sets, the Vikings rebounded during the third frame, picking up a 25-20 victory. The Vikings were able to earn a quick 5-2 advantage following a Madalynn Butler service and Lehigh error, before extending the lead to 8-5 on another Lehigh error.  

The Vikings were then able to hold the lead over the next few plays, earning a 19-15 advantage following a Madison Quirino kill and a Lehigh error.  

Cleveland State controlled play throughout the rest of the frame, closing out the second set victory on a pair of Laken Voss kills.  

The Vikings were able to carry the momentum into the fourth set then, gaining a 12-9 lead midway through the frame following a mini 3-0 run, which included a Peyton Bloomer kill and a Bloomer and Ainslie McLaughlin block.  

After trading points over the next few plays, Cleveland State was able to extend its lead once again at 17-14, following a Voss kill and service ace, forcing a Lehigh timeout. The Vikings were able to capitalize out of the timeout then, as they posted back-to-back points on another Voss kill and a Lehigh error to extend the lead to 19-14. 

Cleveland State then held the momentum throughout the rest of the frame, earning set-point on a Liberty Torres kill, before closing out the frame after forcing a Lehigh error.  

Playing in their third five-set match over the first four matches of the season, the Vikings were able to jump out to a 4-1 lead following two straight points on a Bloomer kill and an Audrey McConihe service ace, before extending this lead to 10-3 on a Voss service ace.  

Although Lehigh was able to snap a 4-0 scoring run by the Vikings, Cleveland State responded with a Quirino kill to put the score at 11-4, before a pair of Karly Klaer kills gave the Vikings a 13-5 advantage late in the set.  

Cleveland State then notched the final two points of the frame on a Bloomer kill and a Lehigh error, capturing the five set victory for the first win of the season.  

RIDER 3, CLEVELAND STATE 1 | BOX SCORE
Madison Olinger and Laken Voss led the Vikings with eight kills each, while Liberty Torres added six kills.

Karly Klaer recorded 25 assists on the match, along with 12 digs for her second straight double-double.

The CSU defense was led by Audrey McConihe with 23 digs, while Voss added 10 and Emma Walker tallied eight digs.

As a team, the Vikings posted 10.0 total blocks, with Olinger notching six and Klaer finishing with five.

After dropping the first two sets, the Vikings rebounded during the third frame, picking up a 25-20 victory.

The Vikings were able to jump out to a quick 7-1 lead, and held that advantage until midway through the frame when Rider was able to gain a slight 14-13 lead. Cleveland State answered with two straight points to regain the advantage, before both teams would trade points over the next few plays.

Late in the frame, the Vikings were able to notch three straight points on kills from Voss and Torres, to go up 23-19, before earning set-point on another Torres kill. Cleveland State then followed that up with a Halayna Kesling service ace, picking up the 25-20 victory.

The two teams then played a back-and-forth start to the fourth set, trading leads until midway through the frame when the Vikings tallied three straight points to gain a 16-15 lead.

Although Rider was able to stop the scoring run and regain an 18-16 advantage, the Vikings responded with back-to-back points to once again tie the frame at 18-18 following a McLaughlin and Butler block.

That would be as close as the Vikings would get though, as Rider rallied for the final seven points of the set, capturing the 25-18 set victory for the 3-1 match win.

UP NEXT 
Cleveland State will close out action at the Lehigh Invite tomorrow (Saturday, September 3), facing Buffalo at 12:00 p.m.