Cleveland State Upsets Top Seed UW-Milwaukee in Volleyball Semifinals

Nov. 20, 2004

Box Score

Cleveland State 3, UW-Milwaukee 3
(25-30, 30-28, 30-21, 27-30, 15-13)


YOUNGSTOWN-Jamie Bouyer had 18 kills and Danielle Siefker had 13 block assists, including one on match point, to lead Cleveland State to a grueling 25-30, 30-28, 30-21, 27-30, 15-13 upset of No. 1 seed UW-Milwaukee in the semifinals of the Horizon League Championship Saturday at Beeghly Center.


The No. 4 seed Vikings (15-12) never trailed in the decisive game five and took the lead for good on 14-13 on a kill by Bouyer. Siefker then teamed with Julie Stover to block Cheryl Hegemann's final attempt and propel Cleveland State into its first championship match in four years in the League. The Vikings, who had lost 22 straight to the Panthers, will meet the winner of Saturday's second semifinal between No. 2 seed Butler and No. 3 seed Loyola in Sunday's championship match at 1 p.m. EST.


UW-Milwaukee, which had won 11 straight and 15 of 16 entering the match, looked poised to continue its run in game one, bolting to a 5-0 and never trailing en route to the win. But Cleveland State found its rhythm in the next two games to take a 2-1 lead. The Panthers (19-8) then came back to take game four and set up the rubber game of the match.


Stover finished with 13 kills and 12 digs, while Nickole Kennedy added nine kills plus nine block assists and Emily Clark had 10 kills and a team-high 21 digs. Setter Kelly Crain turned in a solid all-around effort with 47 assists, 19 digs and eight kills.


UW-Milwaukee's Karen Fruit, the Horizon League Player of the Year, slammed a match-high 24 kills and added 17 digs. Her 76 attempts tied the tournament record for a single match, which was accomplished twice in 1990. Rachel Kuebbing had 20 kills, while Hegemann totalled 14.


"We played as a team today," said Cleveland State head coach Chuck Voss. "Everyone came up big when they had to. We talked all year about focus. The last two days we've been able to sustain that. That's what separates good teams from bad teams. We played great today."