Vikings Host Valparaiso and Butler With First Place in Horizon League on the Line Friday Night
    CSU and Valpo Tied for First Place in League at 8-1
    Amy Benz

    Amy Benz

    Oct. 22, 2009

    Contact: Greg Murphy

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    Matches 26-27
    Cleveland State (20-5, 8-1 HL) vs. Valparaiso (16-6, 8-1 HL)
    Date: Friday, Oct. 23, 2009
    Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT
    Site: Woodling Gym (3,000) - Cleveland, Ohio
    Series: Valpo leads, 15-6
    Last Mtg.: CSU 3, @Valpo 0 (9/26/09)

    Cleveland State vs. Butler (16-10, 6-3 HL)
    Date: Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009
    Time: 6:00 p.m. EDT
    Site: Woodling Gym (3,000) - Cleveland, Ohio
    Series: Butler leads, 22-10
    Last Mtg.: @BU 3, CSU 2 (9/25/09)

    QUICK SETS: Cleveland State faces its biggest weekend of the season as the Vikings host a pair of matches that will have huge implications on the Horizon League standings. The homestand begins with a showdown against Valparaiso on Friday (Oct. 23) at 7:00 p.m. with the winner taking over sole possession of first place in the league and having the inside track to hosting the league tournament in mid-November. Both teams are 8-1 in league play, but the Vikings do own a 3-0 win at Valparaiso earlier this season. On Saturday (Oct. 24), CSU hosts Butler (16-10, 6-3) at 6:00 p.m. The Bulldogs are the lone team to defeat CSU in league play this season. It will be a busy weekend for the volleyball program as Friday's match will be the annual CYO Day with sportsmanship awards being presented between the second and third matches to CYO teams. Saturday's match vs. the Bulldogs is Alumni Day with the Vikings welcoming back former players to the match and a postgame reception.

    REVIEWING LAST WEEK: Cleveland State ran its win streak to nine with two wins on the road last week. Following are brief recaps of both matches.

    Match 24: CSU 3, Bowling Green 0 (Oct. 13, Bowling Green, Ohio)
    Cleveland State won its eighth straight match with a 3-0 sweep at Bowling Green. Kara Koch and Liz Fazio paced the Vikings with 10 kills apiece, while Amy Benz and Beth Greulich added eight each as CSU hit .347 (45-11-98) for the match. Jordan Goad handed out 28 assists with eight digs.

    Match 25: CSU 3, Wright State 0 (Oct. 16, Fairborn, Ohio)
    Liz Fazio had 19 kills and 10 digs and Cleveland State reached the 20-win mark with a sweep at Wright State. Amy Benz added 10 kills and six blocks, while Kara Koch added six kills. Jordan Goad recorded 41 assists and four digs, while Amy Grabiec made 19 digs.

    PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: With one of the deepest and most talented rosters he has had during his tenure at Cleveland State, Chuck Voss has the Vikings off to a 20-5 start and in first place in the Horizon League. Leading the way are junior middle hitter Amy Benz (2.68 kpg, 0.95 bpg, .339) and senior right side Beth Greulich (3.13, 0.74, .339) who are both two-time first team All-Horizon League selections. Sophomore Megan Barhorst (1.02, 0.99, .193) joins Benz in the middle, while sophomore setter Jordan Goad (10.76 apg, 2.06 dpg, 1.03 kpg) is in her second season directing the Viking offense and continues to develop a good rapport with her hitters. Senior Liz Fazio (3.54 kpg, 2.71 dpg, .229) is the most experienced outside hitter on the team, while freshman Kara Koch (2.44, 0.96, .222) and sophomore Lindsey Griffith (1.52, 0.66, .054) 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 (4.07 dpg) leads the backrow, while sophomore Amy Grabiec (2.30), junior Meghan Mental (1.87) and freshman Amanda Medvetz (1.24) are defensive specialists who can get the Vikings into their offense with good ball control and passing skills.

    VIKINGS GET TO 20: With its two wins last week, Cleveland State reached the 20-win mark for the 11th time in school history and the second time in the last three seasons. The 20 victories are tied for the 10th most in a single season in program history.

    RPI WATCH: The NCAA released its second edition of the volleyball RPI earlier this week and the Vikings cracked the top-100, coming in at No. 99. It was the highest ranking among the nine league schools.

    FILL UP WOODLING: In conjunction with CYO Day on Friday night, the Vikings are attempting to set a program record for attendance. The current record is 982 fans, which was set during last year's CYO Day, which also happened to come against Valparaiso.

    ... AND WELCOME BACK ALUMS: The Vikings will welcome back former players for Alumni Day on Saturday (Oct. 24) when CSU hosts Butler. A dinner and reception will follow the match with the Bulldogs. Thusfar, 12 alums have RSVP'd with several more expected to take part in the festivities.

    LEAPING LIZARD: Liz Fazio has always been a successful attacker and that has never been more evident than this season as she ranks third in the league with 3.54 kills per set. However, it has been her defense that has been even more impressive as Fazio is ranked second on the team with 225 digs after totaling just 134 over the last two seasons. Fazio had a career-high 20-dig effort against Wright State (Set. 15) and leads the team with 10 double-doubles this year.

    ON THE ATTACK: The Vikings begin the week ranked first in the Horizon League with a .255 attack percentage, which puts CSU on pace to shatter the school record for hitting percentage in a season. That record is currently held by the 2005 squad which hit .239.

    DEFENSE... DEFENSE... DEFENSE: CSU has been equally impressive on the defensive side of the net, leading the Horizon League in opponent hitting percentage (.157).

    GREULICH IS GOOD: Senior Beth Greulich has been nothing short of spectacular in her final season. The Troy, Ohio, native is tied for second in the Horizon League in hitting percentage (.339) and eighth in kills (3.13) and points (3.56). That has allowed Greulich to continue her climb up the career charts at CSU as she is now ranked fourth all-time in hitting percentage (.318), sixth in kills (1,216), sixth in block assists (321) and ninth in blocks (346). She is four blocks shy of becoming just the second player in school history with at least 1,200 career kills and 350 career blocks (Jamie Bouyer; 1,626 kills, 558 blocks).

    BENZ ON TARGET: Junior Amy Benz has been one of the most accurate hitters during her career and this year has been no different as she is tied for second in the league in hitting percentage (.339). Benz, who led the league in attack percentage in each of her first two seasons, has hit better than .500 in 11 matches this season, including a career-best .737 (14-0-19) against Robert Morris (Sept. 1).

    ... AND MOVING UP THE CHARTS: Amy Benz is quickly making her way up the career charts at CSU, ranking third all-time in attack percentage (.325), fifth in block assists (343), sixth in total blocks (392) and 10th in solo blocks (49). Her block assist total is also eighth in Horizon League history.

    BONOMINI KEEPS DIGGING: Senior Maggie Bonomini is ranked seventh in the Horizon League with 4.07 digs per set, including double-digit digs in 21 matches. The Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week in each of the first two weeks, Bonomini is tied for seventh on the all-time digs list in school history with 1,053. She made a career-high 29 digs at Butler on Sept. 25.

    GOAD SETTING IT UP: Sophomore setter Jordan Goad continues to lead the CSU offense, ranking second in the Horizon League and 41st in the country in assists (10.76), while guiding CSU to a league-best .255 attack percentage. Goad, who was named to three all-tournament teams earlier this season and was the MVP of the LaSalle Invitational, is already ranked fifth on the all-time assist list in CSU history with 2,122.

    COUNTDOWN TO 200: Now in his 12th season as a head coach, Chuck Voss is just five wins shy of reaching 200 career wins. He is 195-166 during his tenure as a coach and picked up his 150th career win at CSU in the Vikings win over Western Carolina on Sept. 12. Voss, who is 162-130 in 10 seasons at CSU.

    WINNING WITH SWEEPS: The Vikings have won 16 of their 20 matches with 3-0 sweeps, which is currently the highest percentage of wins via sweeps in school history (.800). In addition, the 16 sweeps are the most since the 1983 squad swept 18 matches.

    UP NEXT: Cleveland State begins a four-match roadtrip with a pair of contests in Chicago next weekend. CSU will play at Loyola on Friday (Oct. 30) and UIC on Saturday (Oct. 31).