Cleveland State clinched at least a share of the Horizon League Regular Season title with its 3-0 win over Wright State on Friday night. The Vikings, 11-1 in League play this season, will host the season-ending conference tournament which runs from Nov. 16-18.
Valparaiso, 8-3 in conference play, defeated Youngstown State, 3-1 on Friday, and remains the only team in the League that can still share the regular season title with Cleveland State. For that to happen, the Crusaders would have to win their final three League matches and CSU would have to lose its final two League matches. Valparaiso plays at Cleveland State on Saturday.
Green Bay, in a fight with Milwaukee and Youngstown State for the final two spots in the conference tournament, got a big boost to their League tournament hopes with a sweep of Loyola on Friday. UIC kept itself in position to receive the No. 2 seed and bye into the semifinals in the tournament with a 3-1 road win over Milwaukee.
Friday, Nov. 2 Results
Cleveland State def. Wright State, 3-0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-20)
Green Bay def. Loyola, 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-15)
UIC def. Milwaukee, 3-1 (20-25, 25-20, 28-26, 25-17)
Valparaiso def. Youngstown State, 3-1 (25-22, 25-23, 23-25, 26-24)
Cleveland State 3, Wright State 0
With a 3-0 victory over Wright State Friday evening the Cleveland State volleyball team clinched at least a share of the 2012 Horizon League Regular Season Title. This marks the second time that the Vikings have earned at least a share of the league title, also doing so during the 2009 season.
Along with clinching a share of the title, CSU will now host the 2012 Horizon League Championships, which will take place from November 16 through November 18.
Set scores against the Raiders were 25-14, 25-13, 25-20. CSU is now 19-6 on the season and 11-1 in league play, while WSU falls to 2-27 (0-11).
Kara Koch (17 kills) and Kerry Winchester (10) both tallied double-digit kills for the Vikings Friday evening, while Jackie Dabbelt was just shy with nine. Maggie Hannon also added seven kills for the Vikings, and Marie Frease posted six. Three Vikings notched double-digit digs, led by Amanda Medvetz who tallied 15. Koch (12 digs) and Ally Beck (10) also notched double-digit digs. Dayna Roberts tallied 42 assists to lead the offense, along with nine digs and two kills.During the opening set CSU cruised to a 25-14 victory and carried that momentum through the second frame. After gaining a 10-4 advantage in the opening points of set two, the Vikings extended their lead to 10 points (17-7) with kills from Dabbelt, Frease, Winchester and Roberts. The Raiders would post the next two points to bring the score within single digits (17-9), but that would be as close as Wright State would get, as the Vikings tallied eight of the final 12 points for the 25-13 victory. During the final 12 points CSU got kills from Dabbelt, Koch, Hannon and Christina Toth.
The Raiders kept it close during the first part of the third set, staying within three points of the Vikings until the 19-15 mark when CSU posted five straight points. During that run CSU got points from a pair of Hannon kills and kills from Koch and Winchester. The Vikings held the advantage throughout the remainder of the third frame, earning the 25-20 victory on a Frease kill.
Green Bay 3, Loyola 0
The Green Bay volleyball team (14-11, 5-6 HL) opened up its final homestand of the regular season Friday night in grand fashion, crushing visiting Loyola (15-10, 7-5 HL) 3-0 at the Kress Center. The Phoenix has now won four of its last five matches, including the last three on its home court.
Green Bay was dominant on the defensive end in the 25-22, 25-22, 25-15 win, holding the Ramblers to a .071 hitting percentage. The Phoenix finished with a 13-4 advantage in total team blocks, led by Carmen Leitermann and Leah Poel, who had six apiece.
On the offensive end, junior Lyndsay Zabkowicz led the Phoenix with 13 kills, hitting an impressive .355. Poel finished with a match-high 31 assists to go along with 10 digs, giving the junior her team-high 13th double-double of the year.
The Phoenix also celebrated five seasons of playing its home games at the Kress Events Center on Friday, as the Green Bay volleyball program held the building’s first event on Nov. 2, 2007.
After a back-and-forth start in the opening set, a Katie Mroczenski block capped off an 8-2 run that gave the Phoenix an 18-12 lead. The Ramblers battled back and cut it to two at 21-19 after a kill by Laura Purcell, but that would be as close as the visitors would get. Green Bay pushed its lead to 24-20 and a Leitermann kill closed it out at 25-22.
Set two saw another competitive start, as the two teams were tied at 12-12 at the midway point. Back-to-back kills by Zabkowicz broke a 17-17 tie to give the Phoenix a two-point advantage, but the Ramblers responded to knot things back up at 20-20. Another Zabkowicz kill followed by a Loyola error moved the Phoenix back in front by a pair, but a double-block followed by an Anna Eytchison kill made it 22-22, forcing Kirch to call her final timeout.
Zabkowicz hammered home her seventh kill of the set out of the timeout to give the Phoenix a 23-22 lead, and Leitermann closed out the 25-22 win with a kill of her own, giving her team the 2-0 lead.
Brittany Groth had 14 of her match-high 20 digs in the second set. The senior is now just 30 digs away from tying Megan Elfering (1,789 from 2005-08) atop Green Bay’s all-time digs list.
Green Bay also held a 2-0 lead in the first meeting between the two teams this season on Oct. 6 in Chicago, but the Ramblers stormed back to earn a 3-2 victory. The Phoenix made sure history didn’t repeat itself on Friday night, as the hosts pummeled Loyola 25-15 in set three to secure the 3-0 sweep.
The Phoenix forced the Ramblers to burn two quick timeouts after two straight blocks gave Green Bay an 11-5 lead. The breaks only delayed the inevitable, however, as a 4-0 run extended Green Bay’s advantage to 18-11, and a block by freshman Taylor Kasal gave the Phoenix its largest lead at 24-14. Monica Anderson secured the set and the match moments later with her ninth kill.
Green Bay held the Ramblers to a -.075 hitting percentage in the third, forcing 14 errors. The Phoenix ended the match with a .217 to .071 advantage in hitting percentage and a 40-36 edge in kills. Eytchison led all players with 15 kills for the Ramblers.
UIC 3, Milwaukee 1
The UIC volleyball team (16-12, 8-4 Horizon League) defeated Milwaukee, 3-1 (20-25, 25-20, 28-26, 25-17) Friday inside the Klotsche Center. Four members of the Flames squad posted double-digit kills on the night.
Nicole Allgood and MaryKate Imrie collected their third consecutive double-double match. Allgood had 13 kills and 19 digs, while Imrie dished out 53 assists and earned 11 digs. Imrie's double-double is her 16th of the season.
Kelsey Safranek also posted a double-double as she hammered down 19 kills to tie her season-high, while also collecting 15 digs. Janise Dismuke and Aubrey Sniegowski both captured 12 kills apiece.
The Flames dropped the opening set in a 25-20 decision, before winning the next three frames 25-20, 28-26, 25-17.
Julie Kolinske had 18 kills to lead Milwaukee. UWM (8-17, 3-8) also got 14 kills from Elizabeth Egerer while Anna Bartz led the back-row efforts with 21 digs, leaving her two shy of 1,000 for her career. Rachel Neuberger added eight kills and six blocks.
Valparaiso 3, Youngstown State 1
In a match which saw all four sets go down to the wire, it was Valparaiso which came out with its fifth straight victory, defeating Youngstown State Friday night 3-1 (25-22, 25-23, 23-25, 26-24) in Youngstown, Ohio to remain in second place in the Horizon League standings.
The first set was indicative of the way the match would go as a whole, as the teams combined for six lead changes and ten ties. A 6-1 run midway through the set gave Valpo a 19-15 lead, but Youngstown State rallied with a 6-1 run of its own to go ahead 21-20. Kills by junior Janelle Hobbs and sophomore Morgan Beil returned the lead to the Crusaders at 22-21, but a YSU kill tied the frame at 22-all.
A Penguin service error returned the serve to the Crusaders with a 23-22 edge, and YSU then committed an attack error to give Valpo the first of two potential set point chances. The Crusaders would need just one opportunity, however, as another kill from Beil ended the opening set in Valpo’s favor.
The second set looked like it would be all Crusaders early on, as multiple early kills from redshirt sophomore Kelsey Victor and junior Ellen Vanden Berg gave Valpo a 7-2 lead. After the lead was pushed to seven points at 13-6, YSU scored five in a row to close to within 13-11.
But the Crusaders answered with four straight points of their own on kills from Beil, Victor and junior Sarah Dooms, as well as a block from Vanden Berg and Victor, to increase their advantage to 17-11. The Penguins rallied to within one on numerous occasions at 19-18, 22-21 and 23-22, but every time, Valpo responded with a kill to push the lead back to two points.
Leading 24-22, an attack error followed by a YSU kill seemingly tied the frame at 24-all. But during a Crusader timeout, it was discovered that the Penguins had served out of rotation starting at 21-22. The resulting point deduction from YSU’s side of the scoreboard and addition to Valpo’s side made it 25-23 Crusaders and gave Valpo a two sets to none lead into the in-game break.
The third set looked like it would go Valpo’s way as well, as the Crusaders scored the first four points and cruised through the first half of the set with a significant advantage. Valpo still led by four at 19-15, but Youngstown State flipped the script, scoring eight of the next ten to go ahead 23-21. A kill from Beil brought the Crusaders back within one, and following a YSU kill, Victor came up with a termination to stave off one set point and bring Valpo to within 24-23. But the Penguins’ Nichole Johnson came up with a kill to extend the match.
The fourth set ended up containing an incredible 17 ties and eight lead changes. Valpo held an early 4-1 lead, the only time during the set that either side would lead by more than two points. YSU was up 20-19 approaching the late stages of the frame, but an attack error, followed by a kill from redshirt sophomore Lindsey Hauch gave the Crusaders a 21-20 lead.
The Penguins responded with three consecutive points to re-claim the advantage at 23-21, but Vanden Berg combined with senior Mary Dent on a block and a YSU error tied things up at 23-all. The Penguins earned a set point chance at 24-23 thanks to a Jackie Carlisle kill, but this time Dent combined with Beil on a rejection to send the frame into extra points. A kill by Victor gave the Crusaders their first match point chance, and again the block came up big, as Hauch and Victor combined for the decisive rejection to close out the four-set win.
Victor paced the Crusaders with a career-high 15 kills on Friday while hitting at a .433 clip, one of three Valpo players to finish the night in double figures in kills. Beil and Dooms added 12 kills apiece, while Vanden Berg posted nine as well. Freshman Kelsey Berrington handed out 32 assists and junior Ariel Cudney chipped in 19 assists.
Defensively, senior Taylor Root led all players with 31 digs, her fifth effort of at least 30 digs this season within Horizon League play. Dooms matched her career best with 24 digs for a double-double, while Berrington tallied 10 digs for a double-double of her own. Hauch also reached double figures with 12 digs. At the net, Vanden Berg and Victor were each in on a team-high five of the Crusaders’ ten team blocks.
Johnson and Missy Hundelt led Youngstown State (14-12, 4-8 Horizon) with 20 kills apiece, the former doing it on .600 hitting. Erika West paced the Penguins with 25 digs, while Jenna Cavanaugh led all players with eight blocks.
