Saturday, Sept. 22 Results
Cleveland State def., Milwaukee, 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-19)
Green Bay def., Youngstown State, 3-2 (25-22, 17-25, 25-22, 23-25, 15-12)
UIC def., Wright State, 3-1 (25-10, 25-12, 20-25, 25-6)
Valparaiso def., Loyola, 3-1 (26-24, 29-31, 25-22, 25-21)
Cleveland State picked up the biggest victory of the night on Saturday as the Vikings defeated defending Horizo League Champion, and preseason pick to win the conference, Milwaukee, 3-0. In winning, the Vikings snapped UWM's 26-match Horizon League win streak. CSU and UIC are the only undefeated teams in conference play after the first weekend. After the Vikings and Flames, there are four teams with 1-1 records. Regular season conference play will consists of 16 contests and the regular season champion will host the conference tournament from Nov. 16-18.
Cleveland State 3, Milwaukee 0
Behind a total team effort, the Cleveland State volleyball team dominated in a three-set sweep of Milwaukee Saturday evening at the Klotsche Center in Milwaukee, Wis. Saturday's victory marked CSU's first win over the Panthers since the 2009 season, while it also snapped Milwaukee's 26-match regular season Horizon League win-streak which dated back to the 2010 season.
With the victory, the Vikings are now 10-5 on the season and 2-0 in league play, while the Panthers fall to 6-9 overall and 1-1 in the league.
As a team, the Vikings notched 52 kills against the Panthers, on a .369 hitting percentage; the second highest percentage for Cleveland State this season. Offensively the Vikings were led by Kara Koch (17 kills), Marie Frease (14 kills, .545 hitting percentage), Jackie Dabbelt (7 kills) and Maggie Hannon (6 kills), while Amanda Medvetz led the defense with 15 digs. Koch also notched 10 digs for her seventh double-double of the year, while Frease extended her double-digit kill streak to seven matches.During the opening set CSU gained a three-point advantage at 14-11 on back-to-back kills from Dayna Roberts and Christina Toth. After a Milwaukee timeout, the Panthers brought the set within one point and stayed with the Vikings until the 18-17 mark when Cleveland State rattled off five straight points to gain a 23-17 lead. During that span the Vikings had three kills from Koch and a Medvetz service ace. The Vikings were then able to close out the frame on a Koch kill, earning the 25-20 victory.
The second set was much of the same, as the Panthers stayed with the Vikings until midway through the frame when CSU notched four of five points to extend their lead at 17-13. CSU gave up just four more points throughout the end of the set, once again closing the frame on a Koch kill for the 25-17 victory.
The Vikings dominated the final frame, holding at least a two-point advantage after the first eight points of the set. CSU posted three of the final four points in the frame, earning points off of two Frease kills and a Milwaukee error.
Julie Kolinske led Milwaukee with 13 kills, while Anna Bartz paced the defense with 12 digs.
Green Bay 3, Youngstown State 2
The Green Bay volleyball team (8-6, 1-1) closed out its opening weekend of Horizon League play Saturday afternoon with a 3-2 victory over Youngstown State (10-6, 0-2) at the Kress Center. The Phoenix won every other set in picking up its fifth win in the last six matches.
Leah Van Zeelandhad a career day for Green Bay in the win, posting a near triple-double performance. The junior recorded a season-high 18 kills – including four in the deciding fifth set – and also notched new career highs with 21 digs and eight blocks.
The Phoenix found itself in an early 3-0 hole to start the fifth and final set, but a timeout sparked a 5-0 run capped off by Van Zeeland’s first kill of the set, making it 5-3 Phoenix. Green Bay led 8-4 when the teams switches sides, and another Van Zeeland kill forced a YSU timeout at 9-4.
The Penguins kept it close and trailed just 11-10 after a kill by Alexis Egler, but the Phoenix scored three of the next four points to get a match point chance at 14-11. Jenna Cavanaugh’s match-high 19th kill prolonged the contest for YSU at 14-12, but Van Zeeland capped off her exceptional day with the match-clinching kill.
Green Bay out-hit the Penguins .346 to .176 in the fifth, recording 10 kills and committing just one error while forcing five Penguin miscues. The Phoenix finished the day with a .206 to .186 edge in hitting percentage and out-blocked the Penguins 15-6.
Van Zeeland, who hit an impressive .326 for the match, led four Phoenix players in double-figure kills, as Carmen Leitermann had 13, and Monica Anderson (Cottage Grove, Wis.) and Lyndsay Zabkowicz had 12 apiece.
Junior setter Leah Poel had a match-high 48 assists to go along with 15 digs, and Brittany Groth, who entered the contest third in the NCAA in digs per set (5.94), tallied a match-high 31 digs. In addition, three Phoenix players had at least six blocks, as Van Zeeland (8), Leitermann (6) and Katie Mroczenski (6) all had strong days for the Green Bay defense.
Green Bay trailed 15-11 in the opening set, but rallied to take a 20-18 lead following a kill by Anderson. The Phoenix extended its advantage to 22-19, but the Penguins fought back to make it 23-22, forcing Kirch to call a timeout. A Zabkowicz kill gave the Phoenix a set point chance at 24-22, and Zabkowicz finished off the 25-22 win with a big solo block.
It was all Penguins early in set two, as the visitors surged out to an 11-3 lead and held a 23-9 advantage late. The Phoenix mounted a comeback to get it to 24-17, but YSU finished off the 25-17 win to tie the match at 1-1.
The third set was tight throughout, as neither side led by more than four at any point. A kill by Anderson gave the Phoenix a set point opportunity and its largest lead at 24-20, and after two straight kills by YSU’s Shannon Watson, Poel found the floor to deliver the 25-22 win.
The Penguins opened up a five-point lead (20-15) in set four after another kill by Watson, but Green Bay stormed back to tie it at 20-20 using strong play on the block. YSU moved back ahead with a 3-0 run of its own, however, and eventually closed out the 25-23 win to send the match to the deciding fifth set.
In addition to Cavanaugh’s 19 kills, Missy Hundelt (15), Egler (15) and Watson (11) also reached double figures for YSU. Egler had 22 digs to lead a Youngstown State defense that had 3 players (Erika West – 21 & Hundelt – 20) with 20 or more digs.
UIC 3, Wright State 1
The UIC volleyball team (8-8/2-0 HL) posted a perfect 2-0 record to begin the Horizon League slate as the team downed Wright State (2-17/0-2 HL), 3-1 Saturday inside the Flames Athletic Center.
Senior Janise Dismuke posted 17 kills at .762, which ranks fifth in the record book for single-match attack percentage. That attack percentage bests Dismuke's previous career best of .682 set on Sept. 10, 2010 against Charleston Southern. Dismuke also chipped in on six blocks in the match.
In addition to Dismuke, three UIC members posted double-digit kills in Saturday's match. Senior Kelsey Safranek hammered down 20 kills (.318), followed by senior Aubrey Sniegowski and Sara Sternard with 18 (.515) and 11 (.526), respectively. Sniegowski's 18 kills ties her personal best, originally set against Youngstown State on Oct. 16, 2010.
In the first set the team hit at .421 as Safranek had six kills (.600) and Dismuke added five (.833). The Flames handled the Raiders In a 25-10 outcome to lead the match 1-0. The second set was similar with Sniegowski earning seven kills (.700) and Sternard chipping in five at .714 to lead UIC to a 25-12 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Raiders won the third set in a 25-20 outcome, before UIC hit at .556, the highest game in the match to conclude the set and match in a 25-6 decision.
Marisa Aiello had six kills to lead WSU offense. The Raiders had three players reach double-figures in kills, led by Katie Glassmeyer who had 13.
Valparaiso 3, Loyola 1
The Valparaiso volleyball team rebounded from Friday night's league-opening loss with a solid performance Saturday behind a career-best 18 kills from sophomore Morgan Beil defeating Loyola 3-1 in Chicago, Ill.
Valpo looked like it would cruise to the first set win, running out to a quick 6-1 advantage and pushing the lead out to 16-8. Loyola roared back, however, scoring 10 of the next 11 points to claim the lead at 18-17. The teams went back and forth looking to gain the late momentum, and it looked like the Crusaders would take the opener as they led 23-20. But the Ramblers scored the next four points to earn a set point chance at 24-23. Valpo responded with a kill from freshman Kelsey Berrington, and following a Rambler error, juniors Ellen Vanden Berg and Janelle Hobbs gave the Crusaders the opener in extra points.
While the first set featured late back-and-forth skirmishes for momentum, the second set was all about trading blows, as the two squads combined for an incredible 21 tie scores and 11 lead changes. Loyola looked to have control at 21-17, but the Crusaders scored five straight, including a pair of Vanden Berg kills, to set up a frantic final stretch. The Ramblers staved off four set point chances for Valpo, while the Crusaders kept the frame alive on a pair of Loyola set point chances before, leading 30-29, the Ramblers finally took advantage of a Crusader attack error to end the set and send the match into the in-game break tied at a set apiece.
Loyola used an 11-3 run spanning the middle portion of the third set to go ahead 17-11, and still looked solidly in control with a 20-15 advantage. But the Crusaders scored the next six points, including two service aces from junior Ariel Cudney and a pair of kills by senior Mary Dent to storm ahead 21-20. Then, with the set tied at 22-all, Vanden Berg sided out with a kill and delivered an ace from the service line to give Valpo set point, and Beil closed it out with a termination to give the Crusaders a 2-1 lead.
For a match that featured 37 combined ties and 17 lead changes through the first three sets, the final set was relatively benign, as the squads were tied on just three early occasions. Valpo put together a 9-3 spurt to turn a 6-5 lead into a 15-8 advantage, and while the Ramblers scored four straight later in the set to close within 20-18, the Crusaders never led by less than two points as a Beil kill eventually ended the match.
Beil's career-best 18 kills came on .417 hitting, a mark which was matched by Vanden Berg, who picked up 12 kills of her own. Cudney handed out 21 assists to go along with 18 from Berrington. Senior Taylor Root tallied 16 digs, leaving her just five shy of Valpo's all-time record in the category. Vanden Berg also tallied a match-high seven blocks, part of Valpo's season-best 12-block effort.
Loyola got 16 kills from Kathleen Vogel, 14 from Laura Purcell and 13 by Anna Eytchison, but the trio also combined for 26 attack errors on the match. Brittany Brown handed out a match-best 53 assists, while Stephanie Kinane picked up 24 digs.
