Sept. 14, 2009

Contact: Greg Murphy

MATCHES 12-15

Cleveland State (9-2, 0-0) vs. Wright State (7-2)
Date: Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2009
Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Woodling Gym (3,000) - Cleveland, Ohio
Series: WSU leads, 32-21
Last Mtg.: CSU 3, WSU 0 (11/21/08)

Cleveland State vs. Xavier (5-5)
Date: Friday, Sept. 18, 2009
Time: 11:30 a.m. EDT
Site: St. John Arena (13,276) - Columbus, Ohio
Series: Xavier leads, 2-0
Last Mtg.: XU 3, CSU 2 (8/25/07)

Cleveland State vs. Bowling Green (7-3)
Date: Friday, Sept. 18, 2009
Time: 3:30 p.m. EDT
Site: St. John Arena (13,276) - Columbus, Ohio
Series: CSU leads, 17-15
Last Mtg.: BGSU 3, CSU 2 (10/21/08)

Cleveland State at Ohio State (9-1)
Date: Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009
Time: 11:30 a.m. EDT
Site: St. John Arena (13,276) - Columbus, Ohio
Series: OSU leads, 15-10
Last Mtg.: OSU 3, CSU 2 (9/6/05)

Complete Release in PDF Format

QUICK SETS: Cleveland State opens Horizon League play when the Vikings host Wright State on Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 7:00 p.m. in Woodling Gym. The Vikings will then conclude their early season tournament slate with three matches at the Ohio State Sports Imports Classic on Friday and Saturday (Sept. 19-20). CSU will play Xavier and Bowling Green on Friday before a match against the host Buckeyes on Saturday.

REVIEWING LAST WEEK: Cleveland State won the VB Rags Western Carolina Invitational over the weekend with a perfect 3-0 mark. Following are brief recaps of the three matches.

Match 9: CSU 3, Howard 0 (Sept. 11, Cullowhee, N.C.) • 25-15, 25-20, 25-17
Liz Fazio recorded 13 kills and 10 digs as the Vikings defeated Howard in their first match of the Western Carolina Invitational. Jordan Goad added 37 assists, six digs and four kills as CSU was in control of all three sets.

Match 10: CSU 3, W. Carolina 0 (Sept. 11, Cullowhee, N.C.) • 25-9, 25-17, 25-13
Beth Greulich and Amy Benz combined for 24 kills and Cleveland State hit .403 as the Vikings cruised to a win over Western Carolina. Greulich hit .650 (13-0-20) and Benz hit .643 (11-2-14).

Match 11: CSU 3, Gardner-Webb 0 (Sept. 12, Cullowhee, N.C.) • 25-22, 25-15, 25-16
Cleveland State won the Western Carolina Invitational with its third straight sweep, defeating Gardner-Webb, 3-0. Jordan Goad finished with 31 assists, nine digs and six kills, while Amy Benz added 11 kills and Liz Fazio nine.

PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: With one of the deepest and most talented rosters he has had during his tenure at Cleveland State, head coach Chuck Voss has the Vikings off to a 9-2 start. Leading the way is junior middle hitter Amy Benz (2.94 kpg, 0.94 bpg, .410) and senior right side Beth Greulich (2.39, 0.78, .289) who are both two-time first team All-Horizon League selections. Sophomore Megan Barhorst (1.31, 1.11, .266) joins Benz in the middle, while sophomore setter Jordan Goad (10.11 apg, 2.03 dpg, 1.39 kpg) is in her second season directing the Viking offense and continues to develop a good rapport with her hitters. Senior Liz Fazio (2.97 kpg, 2.34 dpg, .153) is the most experienced outside hitter on the team, while freshman Kara Koch (2.89, 1.11, .344) and sophomore Lindsey Griffith (1.87, 0.83, .077) are also in the mix, making up for the loss of senior Kayla Lefeld who is out of the season with a knee injury. Senior libero Maggie Bonomini (4.31 dpg, 0.25 sapg) leads the backrow, while sophomore Amy Grabiec (2.28) and junior Meghan Mental (1.83) are defensive specialists who can get the Vikings into their offense with good ball control and passing skills.

THE HEAD COACH: In his 10th year at the helm of the CSU volleyball program, head coach Chuck Voss has methodically built the Vikings from the ground up and made them a perennial contender for the league title. The Vikings have advanced to the Horizon League semifinals five times under Voss, including three appearances in the league title match (2004, 2007, 2008). Voss has a 151-127 (.543) mark at CSU, ranking second on the all-time wins list and is 184-163 (.530) in 11 overall seasons. He has mentored the only two All-Americans in school history, the 2005 Horizon League Player of the Year, 14 first team all-league picks, nine all-newcomer team members and four league Newcomer of the Year picks.

VOSS WINS 150TH AT CSU: Head coach Chuck Voss picked up his 150th career win at CSU when he led the Vikings to a 3-0 sweep at Western Carolina on Friday (Sept. 12). He is second on the all-time wins list in school history, trailing only Mary Motley, who won 293 matches from 1978-92.

HITTING PERCENTAGE: It may only be 11 matches into the 2009 season, but the Vikings are on pace to shatter the school record for hitting percentage in a season as CSU has hit at a .255 clip this season. The 2005 squad holds the record at .239.

IT'S ALL GOAD: Sophomore setter Jordan Goad has the CSU offense rolling, leading the Vikings to a Horizon League leading .255 attack percentage this season. In addition, Goad is third in the league in assists (10.11 aps), while also averaging 1.39 kills, 2.03 digs and 0.56 blocks per set. Goad has been selected to a pair of all-tournament teams this season (La Salle and Western Carolina) and was the MVP of the La Salle Invitational.

BIG WEEKEND FOR BENZ: Junior Amy Benz had a near perfect weekend at Western Carolina, hitting .560 in three matches en route to earning Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week honors. Benz, who was selected to the all-tournament team, finished with 31 kills and just three errors in 50 attempts, averaging 3.44 kills per set.

... AND SHE'S ON THE CHARTS: Amy Benz is quickly making her way up the career charts at CSU, ranking second all-time in attack percentage (.331), fifth in block assists (300), ninth in total blocks (343) and 11th in solo blocks (43).

SMOOTH TRANSITION: Senior Maggie Bonomini has made a smooth transition in taking over as CSU's libero this season. The most experienced backrow player on the roster, Bonomini ranks fifth in the league in digs (4.31) and was the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week in each of the first two weeks of the season. She has recorded double-digit digs in nine of 11 matches this season, including 26 versus Syracuse which was one shy of equaling her career-high.

GREULICH GETS A GRAND: With her 17-kill effort against Syracuse on Sept. 5, senior Beth Greulich became just the 12th player in school history to reach 1,000 career kills. With 1,039 career kills, she now ranks eighth all-time in school history, 29 shy of moving into seventh place. In addition, Greulich ranks fourth on the CSU career list in hitting percentage (.309), sixth in block assists (292) and 10th in total blocks (312). She is one of just six players in program history to record 1,000 career kills and 300 career blocks.

FAZIO CLOSING IN ON 1,000 KILLS: Senior Liz Fazio has battled through various injuries and ailments during her career, particularly to her knees, but that has not slowed her production at all. Fazio has amassed 944 kills during her career, needing just 56 more to reach 1,000. Fazio, who is ninth in the league in kills (2.97), ranks sixth all-time at CSU in kills per set (2.90).

BARHORST LIKES BLOCKS: After battling through an injury during the preseason, sophomore Megan Barhorst has provided the Vikings with a boost in the middle of the floor, ranking third in the league with 1.11 blocks per set. She has recorded at least one block in each match, including eight matches with double-digit blocks.

BREAK OUT THE BROOMS: The Vikings won their first 16 sets of the 2009 season, easily breaking the school record for most consecutive sets won to start a season. The old mark was nine set in 1977. CSU has won eight of its nine matches with sweeps and has given up more than 20 points in a set just four times in those victories.

FRESHMAN PHENOM: Freshman Kara Koch has missed the last five matches after rolling her ankle in pre-match warm ups prior to the match against Syracuse. However, before the injury, Koch was showcasing the skills that will make her a prescence in the CSU lineup for the next four years, averaging 2.89 kills, 1.11 digs and 0.42 blocks per set, while hitting .344 (55-12-125).

ALL-OHIO: One interesting note about CSU's roster is that all 17 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.

UP NEXT: Cleveland State continues Horizon League play with road matches at Butler (Sept. 25) and Valparaiso (Sept. 26) next weekend.