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Volleyball Begins Second Half of League Schedule at Home
Oct. 8, 2007
Contact: Greg Murphy
Complete Release in PDF Format
Match 20 - vs. Butler
Match 21 - vs. Wright State Quick Sets: Cleveland State continues league play with a pair of home matches this weekend as the Vikings host Butler on Friday (Oct. 12) at 7:00 pm and Wright State on Saturday (Oct. 13) at 4:00 pm. Both matches will take place in Woodling Gym. Last Time Out: The Vikings were in action three times last week. Following are quick recaps of those matches. Match #17 - CSU 3, Valparaiso 1 (Valparaiso, Ind. • Oct. 2) Match #18 - CSU 3, UIC 2 (Cleveland, Ohio • Oct. 5)
Match #19 - CSU 3, Loyola 0 (Cleveland, Ohio • Oct. 6) Alexis Korovich tallied her team-leading 11th double-double of the season and Beth Greulich added 10 kills to help the Vikings to a 3-0 sweep of Loyola. Mel Snyder handed out 40 assists, while Jordan Bateman finished with 20 digs. Series History: CSU is 8-20 all-time against Butler, but has won four straight against the Bulldogs, including a 3-1 win at Butler on Sept. 15. The Vikings are 17-31 versus Wright State with the Raiders winning the last four meetings, including a 3-2 win in Fairborn on Sept. 14. Head Coach Chuck Voss: In his eighth year at the helm of the Vikings, 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 five straight winning seasons, the most since the program opened with seven straight (1972-78). Voss has a 122-102 (.545) mark at CSU and moved into second place on the all-time wins list at CSU in a Sept. 21 win at Youngstown State. Voss, who has a 155-138 (.529) overall record in nine seasons, has mentored the only two All-Americans in school history, the 2005 Horizon League Player of the Year, 10 first team all-league picks, seven all-newcomer team members and three league Co-Newcomer of the Year picks. Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot: For the second straight season, the Vikings have posted a 14-5 record after 19 matches. In addition, CSU's current seven match win streak is four shy of tying the school-record of 11 consecutive wins set in 1983. The Vikings also won 10 straight during the 2002 campaign and nine straight last season. Halfway There: At the halfway point of the Horizon League schedule, the Vikings are 7-1 and tied for first place with Milwaukee. However, CSU handed the Panthers their lone setback in league play on Sept. 29. The 7-1 league start is the best in program history, beating the 6-2 start in 2005. Home Sweet Home: After opening the season by playing 13 of its first 14 matches on the road, the Vikings have enjoyed the friendly confines of Woodling Gym over the last two weeks by posting a spotless 4-0 record on its home court. Efficiency Breeds Success: CSU has outhit its opponents by 61 points (.220-.159) this season and has posted a better hitting percentage than their opponent all but four times in 2007. CSU is 0-4 in those matches. Easy as 1,2,3: Of Cleveland State's 14 wins this season, eight have come via 3-0 sweeps. Dating back to the 2003 season, the Vikings have won 65 percent (55-of-85) of their matches with sweeps. Five Alive: After dropping four of the first five matches that went five games this season, it appears that the Vikings have straightened out their five game woes as they have won two consecutive five set matches, including a 3-2 win over Milwaukee on Sept. 29 that snapped the Panthers 14-match win streak. The Vikings also defeated UIC in five games on Oct. 5 as CSU rallied from a 2-0 deficit to claim the last three games. Break Out the Brooms: A week after defeating Green Bay and Milwaukee (Sept. 28-29), the Vikings put together their second consecutive league weekend sweep with triumphs over UIC and Loyola (Oct. 5-6). It marked the first time since Oct 14-15 and Oct. 21-22, 2005 that CSU swept a pair of league matches on consecutive weekends. Six Pack: With one more win, Cleveland State will clinch a sixth consecutive winning season, marking the second longest streak in school-history (2002-07). It would trail only the seven straight winning campaigns from 1972-78. Great Wall of Cleveland: The Viking defense have been making it difficult for opposing hitters this season as they lead the league in blocks (2.70 bpg) and rank second in opponent hitting percentage (.159). CSU is averaging 3.1 blocks per game during its seven-match win streak and holding opponents to a combined .143 hitting percentage during the stretch. Horizon Success: At 7-1 in conference play, the Vikings have already established the third most league wins for a single season with eight more league matches to play. The seven wins trail the record 11 set in 2005 and the eight victories last season. Set it Off: Mel Snyder has picked up right where she left off a season ago as she has directed the Vikings to the best hitting percentage in the league this season (.220) and tops the conference in assists (11.64 apg). With 153 assists in three matches last week, Snyder moved into third place on the all-time assist list at CSU with 3,767. She is 311 shy of taking over second place. She Can Dig It: Jordan Bateman, who set a school-record with 457 digs last season, is on pace to shatter that record as she has tallied 391 through 19 matches this season, including double digits in 18-of-19 matches. Bateman recorded a career-best 36 digs against Milwaukee on Sept. 29, which was just one shy of tying Elisa Caraulia's school record of 37 digs against Kent State in 1987. Ranking second in the conference in digs (5.28 dpg), Bateman has posted at least 20 digs 12 times this season, including four straight matches. Ramminger Slows Self: Jenni Ramminger was finally slowed down over the weekend, but it had nothing to do with the opposition. Ramminger, who is the reigning CSU Female Athlete of the Month, sprained her ankle in the closing seconds of warm-up prior to the match against Loyola on Saturday (Oct. 6) and was unable to play. Her teammates regrouped and went on to sweep Loyola, 3-0. Despite missing the match against Loyola, Ramminger still leads the team in kills (220) and is second in hitting percentage (.300), blocks (73) and aces (23). No "Sophomore Jinx" for Greulich: Beth Greulich has not fallen victim to the dreaded "sophomore jinx" after earning Horizon League Co-Newcomer of the Year honors last year as she ranks second on the team in kills (205) and third in hitting percentage (.299) and blocks (65). Over the last nine matches, Greulich has recorded double-digit kills eight times, including a career-high 20 kills in Friday's win over UIC. Over the last nine matches, Greulich is averaging 12.2 kills per game and hitting a combined .314. Double Up: Alexis Korovich has been on a recent tear as she has tallied seven double-doubles in the last eight matches. During that stretch, Korovich is averaging 12.3 kills and 15.1 digs per match. She has recorded 11 of CSU's 20 double-doubles this season with the Vikings posting a 9-2 record in those 11 matches. Like a Mercedes: Freshman Amy Benz is the lone player in the conference to lead the league in two different statistical categories as she is tops in blocks (1.51) and hitting percentage (.355). Benz, who has recorded two double-doubles this season, has 97 block assists this season, the 10th most in CSU history, and is eight shy of taking over 10th place on the single season total blocks list (120). Lefeld's Big Week: Kayla Lefeld enjoyed the best week of her career as she hit a remarkable .381 (42-10-84) to help CSU to wins over Valparaiso, UIC and Loyola last week. In a 3-1 win at Valparaiso on Oct. 2, Lefeld came off the bench to produce 11 kills, including seven in the deciding fourth game. She followed that up with a career-high 22 kills against UIC (Oct. 5) before ending the week with nine kills versus Loyola (Oct. 6). Lefeld added eight digs and six blocks for the week. Share the Wealth: Setter Mel Snyder is doing a phenomenal job of running a balanced offensive attack as CSU is the only team in the Horizon League that has six players with at least 135 kills this season. Jenni Ramminger leads the way with 220 and is followed by Beth Greulich (205), Alexis Korovich (195), Lis Fazio (175), Amy Benz (150) and Kayla Lefeld (135). This Team is Smart: The Vikings have been honored for their exceptional performance in the classroom as a recipient of the Game Time/American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the third straight year. CSU, which is just one of just 55 Division I schools to earn the award, carried a team grade point average of 3.646 during the 2006-07 school year. The award, which began during the 1992-93 academic year, honors college and high school teams that display excellence in the classroom by maintaining a cumulative 3.30 GPA or better during the school year. Up Next: CSU returns to action two times next week as it makes a swing through Wisconsin. The Vikings will travel to Milwaukee for an 8:00 pm match on Friday (Oct. 19) and Green Bay at 5:00 pm Saturday (Oct. 20).
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