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Sept. 4, 2007 Contact: Brian McCann
Complete Release in PDF Format
Vikings Take To The Road. . . The athletic schedule is heating up for the Viking fall athletic programs with six of the eight teams seeing action this week with all of the contests coming on the road and all but one being held outside of the State of Ohio. The volleyball team (5-3), which claimed a second place finish at the Kentucky Invitational last weekend, will play in its third straight tournament of the year when the Vikings face host Southern Illinois (Sept. 7), Murray State (Sept. 8) and UM-Kansas City (Sept. 8) at the Southern Illinois University Invitational in Carbondale, Ill. The women's soccer team will play three matches in three different states. The Vikings play a mid-week contest at IPFW on Tuesday (Sept. 4) before playing at Temple on Friday (Sept. 7) and at Delaware State on Sunday (Sept. 9). The men's soccer team will also play in multiple events, starting the week with a Wednesday (Sept. 5) meeting at Western Michigan followed by a Sunday (Sept. 9) match at Kentucky. The women's tennis team will open its fall slate by competing in the Bradley Invitational. The three-day tourney begins on Friday (Sept. 7) and runs through Sunday (Sept. 9). The women's golf team will stay close to home to open its fall schedule, playing in the 36-hole Youngstown State Invitational. Tournament play begins on Sunday (Sept. 9) and concludes on Monday (Sept. 10). The cross country team will travel to Horizon League newcomer Valparaiso on Friday (Sept. 7) to run in the Crusader Open. The 5,000 meter event begins at 5:00 p.m. The men's tennis and men's golf teams are not in action this week. Volleyball Competes At SIU Invitational. . . After claiming runner-up honors at the Kentucky Invitational, the Vikings will travel to Carbondale, Ill., for three matches at the Southern Illinois Invitational on Sept. 7-8. CSU will square off with the host Salukis on Friday (Sept. 7) evening before playing Murray State and UMKC on Saturday (Sept. 8). The Vikings have played Southern Illinois and Murray State one time in program history, while the match with UMKC will be the first between the two schools. "We have been playing consistent volleyball during the first two weeks of the season," head coach Chuck Voss said. "The goal this weekend is to go out and put together three solid matches to prepare ourselves for the conference season." Cleveland State opened the week with a 3-2 loss to Kent State on Tuesday (Aug. 28) despite a career-high 19 kills from junior Jenni Ramminger. In addition, sophomore Maggie Bonomini tallied a career-best 27 digs, while junior Jordan Bateman's 30 digs were one shy of equaling her career-high. The Vikings rebounded nicely by going 2-1 at the Kentucky Invitational (Aug. 31-Sept. 1) to claim runner-up honors. CSU opened the tournament with a sweeps of Austin Peay and Georgetown before falling to the host Wildcats, 3-0, in the championship match on Saturday night. Sophomore Liz Fazio tallied 27 kills, nine digs and four aces in the two CSU wins to earn a spot on the all-tournament team. It is the fourth time she has garnered a spot on an all-tournament team during her CSU career. CSU had three players hit better than .420 against Austin Peay as Mel Snyder handed out 35 assists. Against Georgetown, the Vikings trailed just four times all match as they earned their fifth sweep of the season behind double-doubles from Snyder and Alexis Korovich. Men's Soccer Plays At Western Michigan & Kentucky. . . The Vikings men's soccer team will continue its current five-match road trip when it plays matches at Western Michigan and Kentucky this week. CSU will travel to Kalamazoo, Mich. on Wednesday (Sept. 5) for a 4:00 p.m. meeting with the Broncos and then play the lone event of the weekend at Kentucky on Sunday (Sept. 9) at 2:30 p.m. Cleveland State opened the 2007 season by splitting a pair of matches last week, dropping a 3-1 decision to St. Bonaventure on Friday (Aug. 31) before winning at Niagara, 2-0, on Sunday (Sept. 2). "I am happy with our first week," head coach Ali Kazemaini said. "We had a couple of bad breaks against St. Bonaventure that didn't reflect how close the match was, but we came back and played good, solid defense at Niagara. If we continue to play hard and improve, then we will have a nice season." Freshman goalkeeper Nick Harpel has played well, holding CSU opponents scoreless in 135 minutes of action. He came off the bench to post a scoreless second half vs. St. Bonaventure and then made six saves in recoring a shutout of Niagara on Sunday. Harpel is the only goalie in the Horizon League to not be scored upon this year, leading the league in both goals against average (0.00) and save percentage (1.000). Women's Soccer Plays Three On The Road. . . The women's soccer team will go on an abbreviated tour of the country this week, playing three matches in three different states. The Vikings will play a mid-week contest at IPFW on Tuesday (Sept. 4) before playing at Temple on Friday (Sept. 7) at 3:00 p.m. and at Delaware State on Sunday (Sept. 9) at 11:00 a.m. Cleveland State opened the 2007 season last weekend by dropping a pair of matches in the inaugural CSU Fall Classic. The Vikings fell to St. Bonaventure, 2-0, on Friday (Aug. 31) before suffering a 2-1 setback against DePaul on Sunday (Sept. 2). CSU juniors Abbie Kakias, Natalie Wilson and Jennifer Wieand were named to the all-tournament team. "Although I wasn't pleased with our effort in the opener, I thought we came back and played pretty well against a good team (DePaul) on Sunday," head coach Derrek Falor said. "We were totally out of sync offensively on Friday but our forwards did a nice job of creating opportunities on Sunday. If we can continue to work well together offensively, then we should increase our scoring and stand a good chance of winning a lot of matches." Cross Country Travels To Crusader Open. . . The Vikings travel to Valparaiso, Ind., for the Crusader Invitational on Friday, Sept. 7. The meet, which will be the second of the season for CSU, is scheduled to begin at 6:00 pm. CSU is coming off a 10th place finish out of 14 teams at the Bill Sudeck Invitational on Saturday morning in Cleveland Heights. Freshman Allison Craine started her collegiate career on a high note as she was the Vikings top finisher (16th place) with a personal best time of 20:16. Sophomore Colleen Conway placed 41st, clocking in at 21:00 flat, just one second from tying her personal best. Sophomore Julie Piotrowski, who missed all but one race last year due to injury, was CSU's third finisher in 21:43 (65th place). "It's always good to get the first race under our belts and see where we stand against our competition," head coach Joe Jaketic said. "I was really impressed with the way Allison ran, but the team is not satisfied. We know there is room for improvement and will continue to train hard." Women's Tennis Opens Season At Bradley Invitational. . . Intent on improving last year's third place finish at the Horizon League Championships, the women's tennis team will open up its fall schedule this week when the Viking travel to Peoria, Ill. to compete in the Bradley Invitational. The three-day tourney begins on Friday (Sept. 7) and runs through Sunday (Sept. 9). The Vikings return four starters and six letterwinners off last year's team that posted a 15-12 record, the second highest dual match victory total in school history. Unfortunately, the biggest loss comes at the top of the lineup where four-time All-Horizon League honoree Sarah Galon has departed, leaving head coach Brian Etzkin with a big decision to make in his starting lineup. Fortunately, freshman Melissa Holzinger and Jackie Tabb have stood out since practice began two weeks ago and should start the season playing in the top two singles positions. The good news for the Vikings is that the quartet of Charlotta Gibbons (20-13 at No. 2-3 singles), Jenn Myers (18-8 at No. 4-5 singles), Denisa Muntean (15-18 at No. 2-3 singles) and Lindsay Sellers (9-14 at No. 5) each return and, along with freshman Sanda Bjelan will give CSU its deepest and most skilled starting unit since Etzkin took over six years ago. Holzinger and Tabb will represent the Vikings in the "A" flight this week with the rest of the squad competing in either the "B" or "C" flights. "This tournament will be great for the team because we are very excited to play someone besides each other ," Etzkin said. "This tournament will also be a good gauge of which way we go with the doubles lineups. We haven't had much time to work on doubles so we will begin our work with this tournament and will learn as we go. Our only expecation in this tournament is to give 100% on every point in both singles and doubles." Women's Golf Starts Fall Slate At YSU Invitational. . . The women's golf team, under the direction of first-year head coach Steve Weir, opens the 2007-08 season with a short trip east to compete in the Youngstown State Invitational on Sunday and Monday (Sept. 9-10). The Vikings will play 36 holes on the par 72, Salem Hills Golf Course in Salem, Ohio. Cleveland State finished fourth at the event last season, which was won by Bowling Green. In addition, Mallory Wyderka tied for second overall with a two round total of 154 (78-76). Wyderka is the top returnee for the Vikings after she averaged 85.0 strokes per round last season. In addition, sophomore Katie Broere (85.8), senior Amanda Glatfelter (86.6), junior Ashley Davidson (87.5) and sophomore Laren Beese (89.6) all return after averaging under 90 stokes per round last year. Junior Kim Dulski and sophomore Julie Trace round out the seven player roster. Viking High Fives Liz Fazio: The sophomore was named to the Kentucky Invitational all-tournament team after producing 27 kills, nine digs and four aces in sweeps of Austin Peay and Georgetown. Nick Harpel: No goals in 135 minutes in net for the men's soccer freshman, including a shutout of Niagara on Sunday. Allison Craine: The freshman recorded a personal best time of 20:16 to finish 16th overall at the Bill Sudeck Invitational on Saturday in her first collegiate race. Kelly Zinkiewich: The women's soccer freshman played well in her CSU debut, making 19 saves in the two matches last week to lead the Horizon League in saves per game (9.5). The Schedule Ahead For The Vikings Sept. 4 (Tuesday) Sept. 5 (Wednesday) Sept. 7 (Friday Cross Country at Crusader Open Volleyball vs. Southern Illinois Women's Tennis at Bradley Invite Sept. 8 (Saturday) Volleyball vs. UM-Kansas City Women's Tennis at Bradley Invite Sept. 9 (Sunday) Men's Soccer at Kentucky Women's Tennis at Bradley Invite Women's Golf at YSU Invitational
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