Aug. 26, 2008

Contact: Greg Murphy

Complete Release in PDF Format

QUICK SETS: Cleveland State, the defending Horizon League champions, begins its 37th season of intercollegiate play when the Vikings travel to DeKalb, Ill., for three matches at the Northern Illinois Invitational on Friday and Saturday (Aug. 29-30). CSU opens the season on Friday against Connecticut at 6:00 p.m. and rounds out the weekend with matches against Northern Illinois and Chicago State on Saturday.

PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: Ninth-year head coach Chuck Voss has high hopes for the 2008 season as five starters and the libero return from last seasons NCAA Championship team that went 23-9. Add to that mix six newcomers and Voss has one of the deepest and most experienced teams during his tenure as head coach. Junior opposite Beth Greulich, a two-time first team All-Horizon League selection, returns after leading the team in kills (382) and finishing second in hitting percentage (.302) and blocks (109). Sophomore middle hitter Amy Benz was named the Horizon League Newcomer of the Year and was one of 15 freshman named to the Collegiate Volleyball Update Rising Stars team after leading the league in hitting percentage (.334) and ranking second in blocks (1.50). Junior outside hitters Alexis Korovich, Liz Fazio and Kayla Lefeld combined to produce 844 kills last season, while senior middle hitter Jenni Ramminger (.286, 301 K, 107 BL) gives the Vikings stability in the middle of the court. Defensively, the Vikings may have their best squad under Voss, led by senior libero Jordan Bateman who set a school-record with 599 digs last season. Junior Maggie Bonomini (331 digs) and sophomore Meghan Mental (140) are defensive specialists who can get the Vikings into their offense with good ball control and passing skills. Junior Natalie Bauer and freshman Jordan Goad will battle to take over the setter role vacated by two-time first team All-Horizon League pick Mel Snyder.

THE HEAD COACH: In his ninth year at the helm of the Viking volleyball program, head coach Chuck Voss has methodically built the Viking program from the ground up. He inherited a team that had not enjoyed a winning season in 17 years and turned things around in his third season (2002) when he led the Vikings to an 18-16 mark. Since then, CSU has recorded six straight winning seasons (2002-07), the most since the program opened with seven straight (1972-78). Voss has a 131-106 (.553) mark at CSU, ranking second on the all-time wins list. Voss, who has a 164-142 (.536) overall record in 10 seasons, has mentored the only two All-Americans in school history, the 2005 Horizon League Player of the Year, 13 first team all-league picks, eight all-newcomer team members and four league Newcomer of the Year picks.

LUCKY SEVEN: Cleveland State enters 2008 having put together six consecutive winning seasons, the second-longest streak in school history. It trails only the seven straight winning campaigns from 1972-78.

VIKINGS TABBED AS LEAGUE FAVORITE: Cleveland State was picked as the preseason favorite in the Horizon League this season in voting conducted by the league's nine head coaches. The Vikings garnered all eight first place votes (coaches could not vote for their own team) and 64 points. Valparaiso, who CSU defeated for the Horizon League Championship last season, received the final first place vote and 56 points to claim the runner-up spot. Milwaukee (50 points), which has won the last five regular season titles, was third and was followed by UIC (38), Butler (31), Youngstown State (27), Wright State (24), Loyola (20) and Green Bay (14).

ROAD WARRIORS: Just like last season, the Vikings will not get to enjoy the friendly confines of Woodling Gymnasium early in the season as they will play their first nine matches on the road. With three of their first five league games on the road this year, the Vikings will be at home just two times in their first 14 contests.

SHE CAN DIG IT: Senior libero Jordan Bateman begins the 2008 campaign within distance of breaking the school-record for career digs. Bateman, who set the single season record with 599 digs last season, is currently sixth on the all-time list with 1,069 digs and needs 338 digs to break Emily Clark's school-record (1,406).

ACCURATE AND PRECISE: Junior opposite Beth Greulich has been named to the first team All-Horizon League in each of her first two seasons at CSU. She starts her junior season as the second most accurate hitter in school history with a .327 hitting percentage.

A LUXURIOUS MERCEDES: Sophomore middle hitter Amy Benz will attempt to build upon a freshman campaign in which she earned first team All-Horizon League honors and became the third straight Viking to earn league Newcomer of the Year honors. Benz, who was also one of 15 freshmen in the nation named to the Collegiate Volleyball Update Rising Star team, led the league in hitting percentage (.334) and ranked second in blocks (1.50).

AND A NICE LEXUS: Junior outside hitter Alexis Korovich returns as one of the top all-around players in the Horizon League and was one of just four players in the league to average at least 3.0 kills and 3.0 digs per set last season. She ranked second on the team in both categories and led the squad with 21 double-double efforts. 20-20 VISION: Last season marked the first time since 1988 that the Vikings reached the 20-win mark, finishing 23-9 overall. Should the Vikings once again reach the 20-win plateau, it would mark the first time since 1982-83 that CSU posted consecutive 20 win seasons.

JENNI FROM THE BLOCK: Senior Jenni Ramminger begins her final season as one of the top blockers in school history. The Cincinnati, Ohio native ranks fourth in school history in block assists (299) and eighth in all-time blocks (333). In addition, she has been extremely productive on the offensive end, ranking fifth in school history in hitting percentage (.272).

SHARE THE WEALTH: Most volleyball teams have one or two players that dominate the kill statistic. However, that was far from the case with the Vikings last season as CSU was the only squad in the league that had six players with at least 270 kills. Beth Greulich led the way with 382 and was followed by Alexis Korovich (374), Jenni Ramminger (301), Amy Benz (289), and Liz Fazio (271). Kayla Lefeld almost made it seven players with at least 200 kills, finishing with 199.

ACE, ACE, BABY: One area that the Vikings excelled in last season was serving as CSU finished with 85 more aces than their opponents (236-151). Three CSU players ranked in the top-10 of the Horizon Leauge, including Jenni Ramminger who was fourth with 0.34 aces per game. Jordan Bateman finished sixth (0.33), while Kayla Lefeld was 10th (0.30).

ALL-OHIO: One interesting note about CSU's roster is that all 16 players call the State of Ohio home. In fact, Chuck Voss has never had a player from outside the state on his roster. The last player from another state to play for the Vikings was Muncie, Ind., native Kristi Conlon who was on the 1998 team.

ONE SMART TEAM: The volleyball team has been honored for its exceptional performance in the classroom as a recipient of the Game Time/American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the fourth straight year. The Vikings, who were one of just 70 Division I schools to earn the award, carried a team grade point average of 3.58 during the 2007-08 school year.

NEXT UP: The Vikings travel to southern Ohio for three matches at the Dayton Invitational from Sept. 5-6. CSU will play Towson on Friday and Northwestern and Dayton on Saturday.