FAIRBORN, Ohio – The Cleveland State volleyball team earned its 15th trip to the Horizon League Semifinals following a 3-0 sweep over Milwaukee in Friday's first round matchup. Cleveland State, who is playing as the No. 4 seed, will now face top-seeded Wright State at 3:00 p.m.
With the 3-0 victory over the Panthers, the Vikings are now 21-14 in #HLVB Tournament play, and have won five straight matches.
After notching a team-best 16 kills against Milwaukee, Laken Voss set the CSU Freshman Class Record, finishing the match with 375 kills on the year. Voss takes over a record that was last set in 2006.
Along with Voss, the Viking offense was aided by Lydia Latimer with six kills, and Madison Olinger and Karly Klaer with five kills each. Klaer finished the match with 30 assists, helping the Vikings to a .255 hitting percentage against the Panthers.
Defensively, Emma Walker led the Vikings with 16 digs, while Audrey McConihe tallied 12 and Klaer notched 10.
As a team, the Vikings combined for 18.0 total blocks on the match, including nine from Olinger, seven from Latimer and six from Klaer.
During the opening set, the Vikings were able to distance themselves midway through, as a 7-0 scoring run gave Cleveland State a 21-15 advantage on an Olinger and Klaer block. The Vikings then controlled play for the rest of the frame, closing out the 25-18 first set victory with a Liberty Torres kill.
The second set was much of the same, as the Vikings were once again able to gain a sizeable lead midway through the set, gaining a double-digit advantage at 18-8 on a Laken Voss kill. Cleveland State then rattled off three more points, extending its lead to 21-8 on another Voss kill.
Cleveland State was then able to earn set point on yet another Voss kill, before a Torres kill put the second set away at 25-16.
The Vikings carried their momentum into the third set then, as a mini 3-0 scoring run midway through the frame put Cleveland State up 17-14 following a pair of kills from Torres and Voss. The Vikings then held off a late Panther run, posting the final two points of the set to clinch the 25-20 third set victory on a Latimer and Klaer kill.
