Less than 24 hours after clinching at least a share of the 2012 Horizon League Regular Season Volleyball Title, Cleveland State secured the title outright as the Vikings dropped Valparaiso, 3-2, on Saturday afternoon.
The Vikings withstood a late charge from Valpo, who fought back from a 2-0 deficit to force a deciding fifth set, to win their first regular season title since the 2009 season.
In other action around the Horizon League, UIC won at Green Bay, 3-1, improving its League mark to 9-4, ½ game ahead of Valparaiso (8-4) for second in the conference. The top-two seeds in the Horizon League tournament receive byes into the semifinals.
Loyola knocked off Milwaukee, 3-1, to improve to 8-5 in the conference and stay in the hunt for second seed.
In the final match of the day, Youngstown State swept Wright State, 3-0, as the Penguins look to make the conference tournament for the first time since the League adopted the current six-team format.
Saturday, November 3 Results
Cleveland State def. Valparaiso, 3-2 (25-20, 25-17, 11-25, 21-25, 15-11)
Loyola def. Milwaukee, 3-1 (26-24, 25-20, 22-25, 25-17)
UIC def. Green Bay, 3-1 (12-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-21)
Youngstown State def. Wright State, 3-0 (25-23, 25-11, 26-24)
Cleveland State 3, Valparaiso 2
With a five-set victory over Valparaiso Saturday afternoon, the Cleveland State volleyball team clinched the 2012 Horizon League title outright. The 2012 title marks the second time that the Vikings have won a regular season championship, also doing so during the 2009 season.
Set scores against the Crusaders were 25-20, 25-17, 11-25, 21-25, 15-11. The win also gave the Vikings 20 wins on the season, as CSU stands at 20-6 overall and 12-1 in league play. Valparaiso is now 18-11 overall and 8-4 in the Horizon League.
Saturday's contest against Valparaiso served as senior day, with the Vikings honoring Jackie Dabbelt, Marie Frease, Brittany Holland, Kara Koch and Amanda Medvetz prior to the start of the match.
Offensively the Vikings were led by the trio of Koch (18 kills), Dabbelt (10) and Frease (10), as all three notched double-digit kills. Kerry Winchester and Maggie Hannon also helped the Viking offense, Winchester with nine kills and Hannon with six. Three Vikings tallied double-digit digs, Koch with 15, Ally Beck with 12 and Medvetz with 10. Dayna Roberts led the offense with 51 assists, while also adding seven digs, three kills and three blocks.
During the opening set Cleveland State held a lead for the entire frame, including a six-point advantage at the 14-8 mark following a Winchester kill. The Vikings held a sizeable lead for the next few points, until Valparaiso came within two (20-18), after three straight Crusader points. Cleveland State posted five of the next seven points though, to earn the 25-20 first set victory. During this stretch CSU got points off of kills from Koch and Dabbelt and a Roberts service ace.
The second set was much of the same, as Cleveland State held a lead for the entire frame. The Vikings gained a four-point lead at the 16-12 mark on a Hannon kill, and held at least a three-point advantage for the rest of the set. CSU posted four of the final five points in the frame, with kills from Winchester and Koch and two Crusader errors.
After dropping the third and fourth sets, CSU came from behind to claim a 15-11 victory during the fifth and final set. The Vikings got behind early at the 3-0 mark, but slowly made their way back into the frame and eventually took their first lead at the 5-4 mark on a Crusader error. After trading the next three points, CSU posted five straight to gain a four-point advantage (11-7) on a pair of kills from Dabbelt and Frease. The Vikings held the lead for the remainder of the frame and closed the set on a Winchester kill.
Valparaiso was led by Kelsey Victor who had 21 kills, while hitting .500 for the match. Taylor Root led the defensive effort with 33 digs.
Loyola 3, Milwaukee 1
Brittany Brown recorded her first career triple-double and Anna Eytchison rapped out a match-high 18 kills to lead Loyola to a 3-1 (26-24, 25-20, 22-25, 25-17) win over Milwaukee this afternoon at the Klotsche Center. The Ramblers, who earned their first season sweep of Milwaukee since 1996, snap their three-match losing streak and improve to 16-10 (8-5 HL).
The Ramblers got off to a solid start, scoring the first three points of the match and taking a 7-4 lead later on an Eytchison ace. Milwaukee rebounded to take the lead at 9-8 and opened up a 13-9 advantage on a Loyola error. After trading points to 14-10, Eytchison teamed up with Libby Bresser twice and Nichole Riedel once for blocks as the Ramblers rattled off five straight points to grab a 15-14 lead. After UWM's Rachel Neuberger forged a 21-21 tie, Loyola scored the next three to earn three set points. However, the home team erased all three and pulled even at 24 but a block from Riedel and Laura Purcell gave the Ramblers a fourth opportunity and a Panther error gave the visitors a 26-24 win.
Loyola carried the momentum into the second set, scoring five of the first six points of the match to play from in front. Vogel had two kills in a five-point scoring run later that gave LU a commanding 13-4 lead and an Eytchison kill later made it 21-10. A Brown kill made it 24-15 but the Ramblers would have to work for that final point, with UWM rattling off five consecutive points before a Riedel kill sent Loyola into intermission with a 2-0 lead in the match.
The third set was close throughout and neither team led by more than two points until Milwaukee scored three consecutive points to grab an 18-14 lead. The lead ballooned to five (22-17) on a Sammi Herron kill and the Panthers earned a handful of set points with a 24-19 lead. Two Vogel kills kept Loyola alive and a Brown kill made it 24-22 before Neuberger wrapped up the set with a kill.
The fourth set got off to a similar start as the second frame, as an Eytchison and Bresser block gave LU an early 4-1 lead. Two Eytchison kills helped the Ramblers extend the margin to seven (9-2) and it was still a 13-5 lead later after a Brown ace before UWM rallied. A Loyola error saw the home team get within three, 16-13, but two big kills from Vogel and another from Brown helped the Ramblers crawl back out to a six-point lead (20-14) and the Panthers would get no closer than five the rest of the way, with Eytchison's 18th kill closing out the match.
Brown finished with 10 kills, 29 assists, 10 digs and four blocks in a sterling performance to lead the way. Eytchison posted a double-double of 18 kills and 12 digs while Purcell also reached double digits, finishing with 10 kills. Bresser and Riedel led a strong Rambler block with eight stuffs apiece as Loyola racked up 16 blocks for the match.
Elizabeth Egerer led Milwaukee with 16 kills.
UIC 3, Green Bay 1
The UIC volleyball team (17-12, 9-4 HL) completed weekend play with a perfect 2-0 record as the team downed Green Bay Saturday, 3-1 (12-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-21) inside the Kress Center in Green Bay, Wis.
Kelsey Safranek and MaryKate Imrie paced the Flames as both posted double-double figures in the victory. Safranek had 12 kills and 15 digs. Imrie, with her 17th double-double of the season, had 44 assists and 16 digs.
Aubrey Sniegowski chipped in with 14 kills, while Janise Dismuke had eight kills at a .304 clip. Maggie Strus had 23 digs in the victory, while Nicole Allgood had 17 digs and Sara Sternard had 11 kills.
The Flames dropped 25-12 in the opening frame, before capturing the second, third and final sets.
In the second frame, UIC went on a four-point run where Safranek held serve and resulted in a 24-17 score. Sternard secured the final point in the set and UIC won 25-21.
Moving in to the third set, UIC maintained its momentum, including a five-point run that forced Green Bay to call a time out. With Imrie holding serve, and Dismuke hammering down two kills in the run, the Flames found a 14-8 victory. The Phoenix battled back, but UIC was able to win the set in a 25-23 outcome as Sniegowski confirmed the final point with a kill.
The Flames found a victory in the deciding set with a 25-21 outcome and a 3-1 victory in the match.
Youngstown State 3, Wright State 0
Kelsey Wagy posted a career-high seven kills and added five blocks on her senior night, and the Youngstown State volleyball team swept Wright State 25-23, 25-11, 26-24 on Saturday at Beeghly Center.
Wagy, a native of Greeley, Colo., had all seven of her kills and each of her five blocks in the final two sets. Junior Missy Hundelt added 15 kills and 11 digs, and Alexis Egler and Nichele Johnson both finished with nine kills. Aly Ryan added a match-high six blocks, and the Penguins posted 10.5 blocks as a team.
Heidi Splinter had nine kills, and Katie Glassmeyer posted a match-best 19 digs for Wright State.
YSU improved to 15-12 overall and reached 15 wins in a season for the first time since 1999. The Penguins are also 5-8 in Horizon League play and matched their highest-ever win total within the conference. YSU also took a two-match lead in the win column on Milwaukee for the sixth spot in the Horizon League Tournament.
Hundelt had seven of YSU's 17 kills in the opening set as the Penguins led by as many as four on four occasions. Back-to-back Wright State attack errors put YSU up 22-18, but the Raiders scored five straight points to take a 23-22 lead. Hundelt's seventh kill of the set gave the Penguins a side out, and she followed with a service ace to give YSU set point. Johnson's third kill of the set gave YSU the 25-23 win.
YSU then scored five of the first six points and built a 13-2 lead in the second set after Hundelt, Aly Ryan and Wagy combined for a triple block of Splinter. The Penguins' largest lead came at 24-8 when Jenna Cavanaugh and Wagy blocked Splinter. Wagy then put the set away with her third kill of the stanza.
The third set was much closer early, but YSU was able to create some separation with a 5-1 run that put it up 16-11. Wright State tied the set at 19 on a Splinter kill, but the Raiders were never able to grab the lead. Hundelt, Egler and Johnson had kills on three straight points, and Egler had another kill once Wright State tied the score at 24-24. Marisa Aiello's attempt on match point went into the net.
