Oct. 3, 2005

Contact: Alan Ashby

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Quick Sets: The second-place Vikings (9-5, 2-1 HL) hit the road for a pair of Horizon League matches in Wisconsin over the weekend. Cleveland State will take on defending Horizon regular season champion UW-Milwaukee on Friday, Oct. 7 at 7:00 p.m. CDT followed by a 4:00 p.m. CDT contest at UW-Green Bay on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 8). CSU has won just once in 13 tries in Milwaukee -- that coming in 1992 -- and have dropped three in a row in Green Bay.

Head Coach Chuck Voss: In his sixth year at the helm of the Vikings, head coach Chuck Voss has a 79-83 (.488) mark and a 112-119 (.485) overall record in eight seasons. He picked up his 100th career win on Oct. 29, 2004 at Wright State and has mentored the first All-American in school history (Jamie Bouyer was an AVCA honorable mention selection in 2004), five first team all-league picks, four all-newcomer team members and the 2002 Co-Newcomer of the year (Alisa Hatcher). In 2002, Voss guided the Vikings to their first winning season since 1983 and the 18 victories in 2002 & `03 are the most since the 1988 team won 20 contests.

Voss On This Week: "In order for us to legitimately establish ourselves as one of the better programs in the conference, it is important for us to go to Wisconsin this weekend and play well. When we block and play good defense, our team feeds off of it. We'll need to be efficient offensively if we hope to be successful against two good teams."

Recapping Last Week: Cleveland State played just one match last week, dominating Youngstown State in its league home-opener on Friday (Sept. 30). The Vikings out-hit the Penguins .325 to .045 while holding a 10.5 to 1.0 advantage in blocks. Nickole Kennedy was unstoppable offensively, tallying 20 kills with no errors on 30 attempts for a .667 hitting percentage. Danielle Siefker and Emily Clark added 10 and nine kills for the Vikings, respectively, while Alisa Hatcher tallied a match-high 19 digs.

Wall Goes Back Up: Cleveland State has made life miserable for opposing hitters recently, recording 58 blocks in the last four matches. Leading the way are freshman Jenni Ramminger and senior Nickole Kennedy with 30 and 29 blocks, respectively. The Vikings are averaging 3.62 blocks per game during the stretch, a far cry from the 2.30 bpg the first 10 contests of the season. CSU, which now leads the league with 2.72 bpg, has been out-blocked just four times this year and recorded a season-high 16.5 blocks in a four game win at Wright State on Sept. 24.

Efficiency Is In: The Vikings have out-hit their opponents by 64 points this season, posting a league-leading .238 hitting percentage. CSU foes have recorded a higher hitting percentage just three times -- in losses to Toledo and Michigan and in the win at Wright State. Individually, Danielle Siefker (.328) and Nickole Kennedy (.327) rank first and second, respectively, in the league. Last year's team set the school record with a .239 hitting percentage.

She Spells Consistency With A "K": Senior opposite Nickole Kennedy is making her presence felt this year after garnering All-Horizon League honors last season. She has three 20-kill efforts in the last four matches and is averaging 4.94 kpg and 1.81 bpg during that span. The Sunbury, Ohio native is second in the league in hitting percentage (.327) and third in kills (3.94) and blocks (1.18). Kennedy tallied a team-season high 21 kills at Wright State on Sept. 23 and led the Vikings with 18 kills in their five-game loss to No. 12 Ohio State on Sept. 6. Her consistently high level of play earned Kennedy all-tournament team honors in each of CSU's three early-season tournaments.

Ramminger Settles Into Starting Role: Freshman Jenni Ramminger has settled in as the starting middle hitter the last 14 matches after coming off the bench in the season opener. She currently ranks fourth in the league in aces per game (0.35) and sixth in blocks per game (1.12).The Cincinnati native has been outstanding in CSU's three league matches, ranking first in hitting percentage (.458) and second in blocks (1.67). She earned Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week honors on Sept. 19 for her efforts in the Medical Mutual CSU Invitational as she tallied 21 blocks and six aces in three matches.

Now Starting At Setter...: For the first time since 2000, the Vikings have someone other than Kelly Crain running the offense on a regular basis. On Aug. 26 against Toledo, sophomore Mel Snyder officially took over the reins from Crain, who finished her career as CSU's all-time assist leader with 4,804. Through 14 matches, she has directed the Vikings to a league-best .238 hitting percentage while ranking third in the league in assists (11.67) and ninth in aces (0.31). Snyder had the best match of her brief career on Sept. 24 at Wright State, setting career-highs for assists (60), hitting percentage (.294), digs (15) and blocks (4) while registering six kills.

Life After Shin Splints: Junior middle hitter Danielle Siefker had surgery following the 2004 season to correct her chronic shin splints. Judging from the first month of the season, it's safe to say the procedure was a success. Siefker leads the league with a .328 hitting percentage and is second in blocks (1.22). The Kalida, Ohio native has hit above .500 five times and notched a career-high 16 kills and a season-high 11 blocks in the win at Wright State on Sept. 24. She garnered Horizon League Player of the Week honors on Sept. 5 after earning tournament MVP honors at the Duquesne Invitational. Siefker hit .542 (making just six errors on 48 attempts) with 13 blocks in leading the Vikings to a trio of sweeps on Sept. 2-3.

Can You Dig It?: In Cleveland State's Sept. 17 win over Niagara, senior outside hitter Emily Clark broke the school record for digs and heads into action this week with 1,206 digs. Megan Wandersleben, who recorded 1,138 digs from 1989-92, previously held the record. Clark's 399 digs in 2003 stands as the fourth-highest total in school history. The Bolivar, Ohio native, who ranks eighth in the league in digs (3.76 pg), tallied a career-high 34 digs at Butler on Sept. 23 -- just three shy of the school record. She hit .321 with 35 digs in three matches to earn a spot on the Duquesne Invitational all-tournament squad the opening week of the season.

She's The Quiet One: While other players on the team may draw more attention with their stats, senior Jenna Maddocks has been a rock-solid presence for the Vikings at outside hitter. The Norwalk, Ohio native stands third on the team in kills (2.78) and digs (2.67) and fourth in hitting percentage (.212). She leads the team with six double-doubles on the year and had a season-high 16 kills on Sept. 17 against San Diego State and 15 kills against No. 12 Ohio State on Sept. 16.

Hatcher Makes Triumphant Return: When senior Alisa Hatcher started at libero for the Vikings on Aug. 26 against Toledo, it was a special day in her career. The Bellefontaine, Ohio native hadn't played since suffering a pulmonary embolism at the end of the 2003 season. She sat out all of last year while on blood thinners. She shook of the rust against the Rockets to record 17 digs and then matched her career-high with 23 digs against No. 12 Ohio State on Sept. 6. Overall, Hatcher is seventh in the league with 4.06 digs per game and second in league matches only at 5.08 dpg.

Reunited: The Vikings will welcome back former players for Alumni Weekend on October 14-15. Cleveland State is slated to play defending Horizon League tournament champion Loyola on Friday and UIC the next afternoon. Saturday will feature a special ceremony honoring Jamie Bouyer, who last year became the first All-American in school history, and a dinner for the alumni following the match with the Flames.

Vikings' Run Of Success Continues: Cleveland State is looking to build on its run of three consecutive winning seasons, the second-longest streak in school history. It trails only the seven straight winning campaigns from 1972-78.

CSU Successful In Classroom As Well: The Cleveland State volleyball team was one of 45 Division I schools to garner the Game Plan/AVCA Team Academic Award, which was released on Aug. 8. The Vikings put together a 3.30 GPA for the 2004-05 academic year in addition to advancing to their first Horizon League Championship match. The award, initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors college and high school teams that displayed excellence in the classroom by maintaining at least a cumulative 3.30 GPA during the school year. At the Division I level, 311 schools sponsor women's volleyball.

Up Next: After playing four of its first five Horizon League matches on the road, Cleveland State returns to Woodling Gymnasium for three matches next week. The Vikings will host Oakland on Tuesday (Oct. 11), followed by league tilts over the weekend against Loyola (Oct. 14) and UIC (Oct. 15).