There were only two matches on the Horizon League volleyball schedule Saturday night as Cleveland State and Loyola both picked up victories to move their conference records to 3-1. The Vikings dropped UIC in straight sets and Loyola won in four sets at Youngstown State.
Two weeks into the conference schedule Loyola and Cleveland State are on top of the League standings with 3-1 records.
Saturday, Sept. 29
Cleveland State def. UIC, 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-14)
Loyola def. Youngstown State, 3-1 (25-16, 25-23, 16-25, 25-19)
Cleveland State 3, UIC 0
Behind a 20-kill performance from Kara Koch and a strong defensive effort, the Cleveland State volleyball team notched its 700th win in program history Saturday, defeating UIC in straight sets. The win improves the Vikings to 11-6 on the season and 3-1 in Horizon League play, while the Flames fall to 8-10 overall and 2-2 in the league.
Offensively the Vikings were led by Koch who notched her seventh 20-kill match of the season, while Marie Frease added nine kills and Kerry Winchester notched seven. CSU had four players register double-digit digs against the Flames, led by Amanda Medvetz who tallied 16. Koch tallied 14 digs for her eighth double-double of the season, Nikki Holmes had a career-high 13 and Brittany Holland added 10. Dayna Roberts notched 38 assists, with Frease posting five blocks, including one solo block.After trailing during the first part of the opening set, Cleveland State came back to take the lead at the 18-17 mark on back-to-back kills from Koch and Winchester and a UIC error. The Vikings held the advantage for the rest of the set, including a four-point lead (22-18) after picking up four straight points on three Flame errors and a Koch kill. Koch recorded her seventh and eighth kills of the frame to end the set, giving Cleveland State the 25-21 victory.
The Vikings jumped out to an 8-2 lead during the second set, and held the advantage for the rest of the frame. CSU held a seven-point lead at the 20-13 mark and notched five of the next eight points on kills from Koch, Jackie Dabbelt and Roberts for the 25-16 win.
The third set was much of the same, as CSU earned an early 6-2 lead and held the advantage for the entire frame. The Vikings gained a 10-point lead at the 22-12 mark on back-to-back kills from Frease and ended the set with points from Frease and Koch.
Kelsey Safranek led the Flames with seven kills, while Maggie Strus led the defensive effort with 15 digs.
Loyola 3, Youngstown State 1
Anna Eytchison led a balanced attack with 22 kills as Loyola earned a 3-1 win over Youngstown State this afternoon at the Beeghly Center in Youngstown, Ohio. The Ramblers improve to 11-6, 3-1 Horizon with their second consecutive road win while the Penguins slip to 11-7, 1-3.
Loyola spotted the hosts the first three points of the match before taking control of the opening set. Three straight YSU errors tied things up and a Vicki Wrobel ace and an Eytchison kill capped a larger 7-1 run that gave Loyola a 7-4 lead. The Ramblers kept pushing, opening a 15-7 lead on a Nichole Riedel kill, before four straight Penguins points got the home team back in the set. However, Loyola would not be denied and it immediately reopened the lead with Eytchison closing out the first set with two kills.
The second set was tight throughout but Youngstown State was the first to gain some space, taking a 12-8 lead on an Alexis Egler kill. Two Eytchison kills keyed a 4-0 LU run that tied the set at 12 and the Ramblers took their first lead of the set, 17-16, after kills from Laura Purcell and Eytchison. The teams essentially traded points to 20-all before LU took control. A Brittany Brown kill gave Loyola the lead and kills from Eytchison and Kathleen Vogel gave the Ramblers a 23-20 advantage. The Penguins scored the next two points to make it interesting but a YSU error and another Vogel kill closed out a 25-23 win that gave the visitors a 2-0 lead in the match.
Youngstown responded with a strong third set, jumping out to a 9-4 lead. The margin ballooned to nine (18-9) on a Missy Hundelt kill and a Loyola error gave the Penguins a 25-16 win to extend the match to a fourth set.
In that fourth set, Loyola raced out to an early 8-4 lead after a pair of YSU errors. The Penguins regrouped and rattled off six of the next seven points to grab a 10-9 lead and the set was tied at 13 apiece when the Ramblers made their move. Eytchison and Libby Bresser teamed up for a block to give LU the lead and an attack error and an Eytchison ace pushed the lead to three, 16-13. Kills later from Riedel and Purcell made it a 19-15 game, prompting a Youngstown State timeout, and the Penguins came back out of that break to get within two, 20-18. However, Eytchison had two kills and Purcell and Bresser combined for another key block as the Ramblers scored five of the last six points to claim the win.
Eytchison continued her torrid play, hammering 22 kills (22-6-44, .364) and adding 10 digs for a double-double. She received plenty of support from Vogel (13 kills, nine digs) and Purcell (11 kills) as the Ramblers hit a solid .279 for the match. Hundelt and Shannon Watson led Youngstown State with 11 kills apiece.
