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Volleyball Plays Final Home Match On Friday

Volleyball Plays Final Home Match On Friday
Posted: Nov 02, 2004
Contact: Alan Ashby

Nov. 2, 2004

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Upcoming Matches:
Nov. 2 at Robert Morris (17-8) -- Sewall Center 7:00 p.m.
Nov. 5 vs. Youngstown St. (9-16, 1-10 HL) -- Woodling Gymnasium 7:00 p.m.

Quick Sets: Cleveland State, which currently sits in a tie for fourth, continues its quest to finish in the top half of the Horizon League (and garner the accompanying first-round bye) when the Vikings host Youngstown State on Friday. Prior to the contest with the Penguins, seniors Jamie Bouyer and Kelly Crain will be honored for their outstanding accomplishments. Earlier in the week, the Vikings will close out their non-conference schedule at Robert Morris on Tuesday (Nov. 2).

Noting The Colonials: Robert Morris (17-8) heads into Tuesday's match in the midst of a seven-match winning streak and sits atop the Northeast Conference standings at 5-0. The Colonials have rattled off 12 victories in their 15 matches since being swept by CSU in the Medical Mutual Invitational on Sept. 17. Rachel Leitch is hitting .426 with 3.94 kills, while Megan Bell is averaging 4.13 kills and 3.21 digs. The Vikings have won all 24 previous meetings with the Colonials.

Noting The Penguins: Youngstown State (9-16, 1-10 HL) has dropped 12 of its 14 contests since getting off to a 7-2 start. Jessica Fraley (3.11 kills, 2.32 digs) and Melanie Pounders (3.00 kills, 2.40 digs) lead the Penguins, while Katie Shea is ranked third in the league with 1.13 blocks. CSU leads the all-time series by a 33-13 margin. The Vikings have won each of the last six meetings, including a three-game sweep on Oct. 8 in Youngstown. Jamie Bouyer led CSU in that match with 20 kills, a .500 hitting percentage and five blocks.

Head Coach Chuck Voss: In his fifth year at the helm of the Vikings, head coach Chuck Voss has a 67-74 (.475) mark and a 100-110 (.476) overall record in seven seasons. In 2002, he guided the Vikings to their first winning season since 1983. In addition, the 18 victories each of the past two years are the most since the 1988 team won 20 contests.

Voss On This Week: "These next two weeks are important, not only for seeding, but in trying to build some momentum heading into the championship. Friday will be an emotional night for Jamie and Kelly. They have taken our program to a new level and we will definitely miss them."

Home Fans To Say Goodbye To Dynamic Duo: Cleveland State's fans will get one final chance to see seniors Jamie Bouyer and Kelly Crain play in Woodling Gymnasium. The pair will be honored in a pre-match ceremony before Friday's (Nov. 5) contest with Youngstown State. Bouyer is the school's all-time leader in kills, hitting percentage and blocks, while Crain is first in assists. Amazingly enough, the pair have played in all 112 of CSU's matches during their four-year tenure.

Kennedy Steps Up: Junior opposite Nickole Kennedy stepped up her level of play in the last five matches, hitting .302 (72-27-149) with 4.00 kills. On Oct. 22 against UIC, she ripped a season-high 19 kills with a .412 hitting percentage -- recording 14 kills before making her first error. She then matched that output with 19 kills in a win at Wright State on Oct. 29. She ranks second on the team with 3.14 kills and a .265 hitting percentage and third with 1.05 blocks.

Vikings Find Success In Non-Conference Play: Heading into its final non-league match at Robert Morris on Tuesday, Cleveland State stands at 33-12 (.733) over the past three seasons in play outside of the Horizon League. The Vikings followed up a 13-4 non-conference mark in 2002 by going 13-5 last season. CSU is 15-2 during that span in Woodling Gymnasium, including a perfect 5-0 record in 2002 and a spotless 4-0 mark in 2004.

Road Warriors: Cleveland State's four-game victory at Wright State on Oct. 29 enabled the Vikings to eclipse the school record for Horizon League road wins in a season. In 10 previous years in the conference, the Vikings had topped out with a pair of road victories in both 1996 and 1998. The first victory away from home this year came at Illinois-Chicago on Sept. 25 and snapped an 0-16 mark on the Flames' home court.

Maddocks Doubles Her Pleasure: Junior outside hitter Jenna Maddocks' 10 kills and 14 digs against UIC (Oct. 22) gave her a team-high six double-doubles this season. She accomplished the feat in all three victories in the CSU Medical Mutual Invitational and in the season-opening win over Kent State (Sept. 1). Included in her performance Sept. 17-18 were a career-high 20 kills against IUPUI and a career-best 20 digs versus Eastern Michigan.

Vikings Quick Out Of The Gates: Cleveland State has won the first game in 16 of its 21 matches this season, posting an 11-5 record after doing so. Seven times the Vikings have held their opponents under 20 points in the opening frame. The quick starts have led to CSU posting seven sweeps on the year.

Bouyer Breaks Record In Style: Senior middle hitter Jamie Bouyer broke Tenille Whiteside's career kill record (1,416) in style against UW-Green Bay on Oct. 16. The Bedford Heights native hit .636 for the match (15-1-22), pounding down 10 kills to help the Vikings close out the third game. With 1,493 kills and 553 blocks (both school records), she is just the fifth player in Horizon League history to record 1,000 kills and 500 blocks, joining Wright State's Carrie Monnes (1,385/554), Xavier's Kathy Kalb (1,421/521) and Amy Pickett (1,801/536) and Beth Christiansen (1,185/519) from Butler.

Vikings Throw Block Party: Cleveland State's Jamie Bouyer (1.56 bpg), Danielle Siefker (1.13 bpg) and Nickole Kennedy (1.05 bpg) rank 1-4-6 in the latest Horizon League blocking statistics. Siefker and Kennedy have been fairly consistent all season, while Bouyer has recorded 112 blocks in the last 18 matches (1.70 pg) after posting just 10 in the first three (0.83 pg). The trio have combined for 163 of CSU's 218.5 total blocks (74.6 percent) and are a big reason why the Vikings lead the league in blocking (2.80 pg) and opponent hitting percentage (.178). CSU was out-blocked in each of its first three matches, leading to a 1-2 start. However, in the 18 matches since, the Vikings have dominated their opponents at the net (193.5-107).

A Little On Last Week: The Vikings dropped two of their three matches last week, sandwiching losses at Toledo and Butler around a four-game victory at Wright State. Bouyer and junior opposite Nickole Kennedy both notched 19 kills in the win over the Raiders as head coach Chuck Voss collected his 100th career victory. The win at WSU was CSU's third league road win of the season -- the most in the Vikings' 11 years in the league. Bouyer and Kennedy also carried CSU against Butler, posting 15 kills apiece, but it was not enough to topple the first-place Bulldogs.

Crain Flies Past Mark: Senior setter Kelly Crain became CSU's all-time assist leader on Oct. 1 against Butler, eclipsing Erinn Kingman's (1997-00) previous mark of 4,077. She has now successfully set up her CSU teammates 4,490 times. She also stands fifth in aces (123), sixth in block assists (201) and eighth in total blocks (212).

Can You Dig It?: Junior Emily Clark nearly etched her name into the record books on Sept. 18, recording a career-high 33 digs in CSU's five-game victory over Eastern Michigan. The total was just four shy of the school record set by Elisa Caraulia in 1987 and was 10 better than her previous high. She leads the Vikings with 255 digs -- including 25 more at Illinois-Chicago on Sept. 25 -- and ranks sixth in the league with 3.49 per game.

Bouyer Eying Repeat Performance: The league leader in hitting percentage (.361) and blocks per game (1.55) in 2003, senior middle hitter Jamie Bouyer is well on her way to accomplishing the feat again this year. Bouyer's .375 hitting percentage is 70 points clear of the next closest challenger, while her 1.56 blocks per game is well ahead of second place.

...Numbers Put Bouyer In Elite Company: Jamie Bouyer's league-leading hitting percentage and block totals also put her among the nation's elite. She ranks 19th in blocks per game (1.60) and just two points out of the top 30 in hitting percentage in NCAA stats as of Oct. 31.

Quartet Aces The Competition: Junior defensive specialist Katie Calhoon ripped a career-high eight aces to help the Vikings defeat Eastern Michigan on Sept. 18. The total tied her for sixth in Horizon League history. She ranks fourth in the league with 0.38 aces per game, while classmates Emily Clark (3rd - 0.44), Julie Stover (6th - 0.37) and Mel Snyder (8th - 0.36) are also among the league leaders. The group is a big reason why CSU is second in the league in aces (2.05).

Newcomers Up Contributions: Freshmen Mel Snyder (20 matches) and Seanna Steinle (18 contests) have both seen action in nearly all of Cleveland State's 21 matches this season. Snyder who early on was mostly as a defensive specialist (84 digs, 21 aces), has split time as of late with senior setter Kelly Crain (72 assists). She had a career-high 15 digs against Butler (Oct. 1). Steinle, who has four starts under her belt, has recorded 44 kills and 75 digs at outside hitter. She made her first career start on Oct. 12 at Oakland, posting a pair of kills and seven digs.

Pass The Pepto: The only thing separating Cleveland State from the upper echelon of the Horizon League is the fifth game. Dating back to last season, the Vikings have dropped their past seven league matches that have gone the distance. This year, both Butler and Loyola have escaped with five-game victories.

Bouyer Earns League Honor: Two days after earning MVP honors at the CSU Medical Mutual Invitational, Jamie Bouyer was named the Horizon League Player of the Week for Sept. 13-19. This marks the third time in her career that the league has recognized the senior middle hitter as she also earned the honor on Sept. 20, 2003 and Nov. 4, 2002. She was nearly unstoppable on her way to earning all-tournament honors for the second time this season. She hit .483 (50-8-87) while registering 23 blocks (1.92 bpg) to lead the Vikings to three straight victories. She registered 15 kills, a .538 hitting percentage and six blocks against Robert Morris last Friday and then followed it up with 14 kills, a .600 hitting percentage and nine blocks the next day versus IUPUI. In the title clincher against Eastern Michigan on Saturday night, she had a season-high 21 kills and eight blocks, while hitting .390. With the Vikings trailing two games to one, she hit .625 (11-1-16) with seven blocks in the final two frames to help CSU rally for the five-game victory.

Up Next: Cleveland State closes out its regular season schedule with a swing through Wisconsin. The Vikings will head to UW-Green Bay on Friday, Nov. 12 followed by a match at UW-Milwaukee the next afternoon. The first time around, the Vikings knocked off the Phoenix and fell to the Panthers in four games.