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Nov. 5, 2007 Contact: Brian McCann
Complete Release in PDF Format
Fall Season Changes To Winter As Basketball Begins. . . Just like the end of daylight savings time is a signal of the approaching winter, the start of the men's and women's basketball seasons this week is a good sign that the fall athletic schedule is almost complete. Just two CSU fall sports remain in action. The men's soccer team will travel to Green Bay on Friday (Nov. 9) to open play in the Horizon League Championship. A victory would advance the Vikings to a Sunday (Nov. 11) match at either Butler or Detroit. The volleyball team, which is guaranteed to finish no lower than second in the Horizon League standings this season, will conclude its regular season on Saturday, Nov. 10 with a 2:00 p.m. match against Youngstown State. Both basketball teams will be in action at home during the week. The men's basketball team plays its only exhibition of the year against Lake Erie College on Tuesday (Nov. 6) beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the Wolstein Center. CSU then travels to Tampa, Fla. for its regular season opener against South Florida on Friday, Nov. 9 beginning at 7:00 p.m. The women's basketball team will also play at home on Tuesday (Nov. 6), hosting Ashland College in CSU's lone exhibition tilt beginning at 5:00 p.m. The Vikings then remain at home to open the regular season against Wisconsin on Friday (Nov. 9) at 7:00 p.m. Wrestling continues its early season schedule when the Vikings compete in the annual Michigan State Open on Sunday, Nov. 11 in East Lansing, Mich. Off to a 3-0 start, the men's swimming team will face its toughest test of the season when the Vikings swim in a dual meet at Miami (OH) on Saturday, Nov. 10. Men's Basketball Open Season At South Florida. . . With 10 new faces on the 15-player roster, the men's basketball team will open the 2007-08 season with a pair of games this week. The Vikings open the slate on Tuesday, Nov. 6 with a 7:30 p.m. exhibition game against Lake Erie College in the Wolstein Center. The regular season opener quickly follows when the Vikings head to Tampa, Fla. to face South Florida on Friday, Nov. 9 at 7:00 p.m. It starts a stretch that will see CSU open the year with five road games in 10 days. "We're ready to go," head coach Gary Waters said. "We've been practicing for over three weeks now and even though we are a young team, we have shown some siginificant progress. By playing so many games so quickly on the road, it will speed up the process of our kids learning to play together so that we can play our best basketball. "We may have a lot of new faces, but I believe that we have significantly improved ourself at just about every position on the floor. I am really looking forward to this season to see how far we've come," Waters added. The Vikings return just five players and two starters off last year's team that went 10-21. Three of the CSU newcomers -- guard Cedric Jackson, forward George Tandy and center Chris Moore -- were with the Vikings last year after transferring from Division I schools and will have a big impact in the lineup this year. Leading the list of returners is junior forward J'Nathan Bullock, who became just the third player in school history to lead the team in scoring as both a freshman and sophomore. He averaged 13.5 points and a team-best 6.5 rebounds a game. Women's Basketball Hosts Wisconsin To Open Season. . . The women's basketball team kicks off its 35th year of play with two home contests this week. The Vikings will host Ashland on Tuesday (Nov. 6) for its lone exhibition game before taking on Wisconsin in the regular season opener on Friday, Nov. 9 at 7:00 pm in the Wolstein Center. Wisconsin, last season's WNIT runner-up, enters the season ranked 27th in the AP poll and 30th in the USA Today/Coaches Poll. "We've been working really hard in practice and coming together as a team," fifth-year head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "We still have one of the youngest teams in the league, but we are going to build upon our experiences from last season." The Vikings return four starters and 10 letterwinners from last year's squad that went 8-22, but lost 10 games by 10 points or less, including six by five or less. Leading the way is sophomore Kailey Klein, last year's Horizon League Newcomer of the Year, who finished 14th in the conference in scoring (11.0 ppg). Junior Dominique Butler is also back after earning her second straight selection to the Horizon League All-Defensive Team last year as she led the league in steals. Volleyball Hosts YSU To Close Regular Season. . . Cleveland State (19-7, 12-3 HL) will host Youngstown State on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. in Woodling Gymnasium for the regular season finale. The match will serve as Senior Day for Viking seniors Mel Snyder and Seanna Steinle, who will be playing the final home match of their careers. "Mel and Seanna have contributed so much to the program during their four years here and it will be nice to honor them on Saturday," head coach Chuck Voss said. Snyder currently ranks third in all-time assists at CSU with 3,836 and eighth in service aces with 122, while Steinle has appeared in 70 career matches. "We are going to work hard at getting back to basics this week as we prepare for our finale against Youngstown State and the league tournament," Voss said. "We want to get back into a nice rhythm offensively and continue to play solid defense." The Vikings split a pair of matches at home over the weekend as they knocked off Valparaiso, 3-1, on Saturday (Nov. 3) before falling to 17th-ranked Dayton, 3-0, on Sunday, Nov. 4. The victory over Valparaiso was CSU's school-record 12th league win, bettering the old record of 11 set in 2005. In addition, the victory assured that the Vikings will finish no worse than second place in the regular season. CSU trails first place Milwaukee (13-1) heading into the final weekend of the season. Beth Greulich, the reigning two-time Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week, tallied 27 kills and seven blocks in the two matches last weekend, while Snyder dished out 75 total assists. Amy Benz added 16 total blocks, including a career-high 14 against Valparaiso. Men's Soccer To Face Green Bay In Horizon League Tourney. . . The CSU men's soccer team will represent the ninth seed as the Horizon League Soccer tournament gets underway on Friday (Nov 9) as it will play at fourth-seeded Green Bay beginning at 8:00 p.m. The Vikings lost to the Phoenix 1-0 in the regular season. The Vikings (3-12-2, 0-7-1) closed out their regular season with a 1-0 loss at Valparaiso on Friday (Nov. 9) in a defensive battle. CSU could only muster two first half shots on goal for the match. Valparaiso's lone goal came seven minutes into the second half as Adrian Ortiz made a nice cross to Oscar Lomeli who headed the ball into the net to make the score 1-0. CSU was outshot, 15-7, in the match. "We are excited that the tournament is here," head coach Ali Kazemaini said. "All records are even at 0-0 and we have as good of a chance as anyone." Women's Soccer Ends Record-Setting Season. . . The women's soccer team split a pair of matches last week in the Horizon League Championship to finish its fourth season of competition with a 5-14-1 record. The Vikings opened the week by claiming a 2-1 overtime win over Youngstown State on Tuesday night (Oct. 30) at Krenzler Field in the opening round of the league tourney and then fell at top-seeded Milwaukee, 1-0, on Saturday (Nov. 3). The win over YSU was a dramatic one as CSU fell behind, 1-0, with just 3:00 left and needed a goal by Abbie Kakias with 49 seconds left to force overtime. In the OT, senior Heather Clapacs scored her second goal of the season 7:56 into the period to give the Vikings the win. "I am very proud of the way we played in the last week," head coach Derrek Falor said. "We needed a late charge to beat Youngstown State and then came as close as any team in the Horizon League has to beating Milwaukee. The program has grown so much and we are very close to making a big jump in the league. "The only downside right now is that we are going to move forward without our three seniors (Shayna Back, Clapacs and Amber Rasmussen) who have meant so much to this program over the years. They were here when we started the program in 2004 and they are now our first true senior class." Junior Jennifer Wieand finished the season setting school records for goals (8) and points (19) in a season while Back finished her career with the career records for goals (12) and points (29). Freshman Kelly Zinkiewich was strong in goal, ranking third in school history with 111 saves and finishing with a school-record 2.33 goals against average and 1,697 minutes played in goal. Wrestling Continues Season At Michigan State Open. . . CSU's wrestlers will continue their early season when they travel to East Lansing, Michigan for the Michigan State Open on Sunday (Nov 11) at 10 a.m. Ryan Riggs had a fourth place finish at 125 pounds, Antonio Nicholson finished the day at 5-1 in the 141-pound weight class, while Rob Michaels had a 5-2 record at 157 as the Vikings opened their season at the Eastern Michigan Open on Saturday, (Nov. 3). "I'm pleased with our performances," head coach Jack Effner said. "We wrestled in 71 matches and won 34 of them." Thirteen of the possible 30 wrestlers represented Cleveland State University. "I'm very pleased with where we are at this point in the season," Effner continued. "Next week at the Michigan State Open will be a huge challenge for us." Men's Swimming Puts Undefeated Mark On The Line At Miami (OH). . . The CSU men's swimming team continues its pre-holiday schedule this week when the Vikings travel to Oxford, Ohio to take on the Miami Redhawks on Saturday, Nov. 10 at 2:00 p.m. The Vikings continued to swim well as CSU ran its dual meet record to 3-0 on Friday (Nov 2), winning all 13 events in a 160-82 win over St. Bonaventure. "I'm really proud of the way we swam," head coach Wally Morton said. "St. Bonaventure is a great program and to win every event says something about our team." Diver Dan Baiko remained undefeated as he qualified for the NCAA Dive Zone en route to winning the 1-meter (296.35) and 3-meter boards (321.30) boards. Dave Duecker, Todd Winchell, Stephen Grove, Stef Potgieter, Jakub Dobies, Nedim Nisc, and Zvonimir Androic each won events for Cleveland State. "We are looking forward to taking on Miami," Morton said. "The MAC has great programs and it will be a good challenge for the men." Viking High Fives Shayna Back: The women's soccer senior concluded her career last week, finishing as CSU's career leader with 12 goals and 30 points. Dan Baiko: The men's diver qualified for the NCAA Zone Championships on the one-meter board in the win over St. Bonaventure. The senior is undefeated off both boards this season. Wally Morton: It is only fitting to honor the CSU Director of Competitive Aquatics on the week he takes the unbeaten men's team to swim at his alma mater. The Schedule Ahead For The Vikings Nov. 6 (Tuesday) Men's Basketball hosts Lake Erie Nov. 9 (Friday) Women's Basketball hosts Wisconsin Men's Soccer at Green Bay (Horizon League Champ.) Nov. 10 (Saturday) Men's Swimming at Miami (OH) Nov. 11 (Sunday) Men's Soccer at Detroit/Butler winner (HLC)
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