Cleveland State's Kauth and Oakland's Baker Named Volleyball Players of the Week

INDIANAPOLIS -- Cleveland State sophomore Grace Kauth has been named Horizon League Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week, while Oakland junior Amanda Baker has earned Defensive Player of the Week honors for the period of Nov. 3-9.

Kauth led the Vikings with 29 kills last week to earn Offensive Player of the Week honors as Cleveland State recorded two road wins to qualify for the Horizon League Tournament. The Vandalia, Ohio native opened the weekend with 13 kills as the Vikings won at Green Bay. She had a match-high 16 kills on Saturday as CSU handed Milwaukee its third loss of the conference season with a 3-1 win. The sophomore added 31 digs on the weekend as she finished with two double-doubles (13 kills, 19 digs vs. GB and 16 kills, 12 digs vs. UWM) in the matches and now has eight on the season.

Cleveland State (13-13, 6-7) ends the regular season on Friday with a match at Youngstown State (16-12, 7-6).

Baker won her first Defensive Player of the Week honor after pacing the Horizon League with 17 blocks last week. She had 10 blocks (two solo and eight assist) in the four-set win over UIC on Friday night. The mark ranked ninth all-time in program history for blocks in a single match. On Saturday, she added seven more blocks in Oakland’s four-set win over Valparaiso. For the week, she averaged 2.12 blocks per set.

With the 17 blocks this weekend, the Neoga. Ill., native now leads all Horizon League players in blocks in League matches with an average of 1.24 per set.

Oakland (18-9, 10-2) enters the final week of the regular season in first place and with two victories can secure the outright regular season in its second season in the Horizon League. The Golden Grizzlies open the week with a match versus Milwaukee (15-12, 9-3) before closing the regular season with a match against Green Bay.

Other Top Performers for the Week:
Jillian Bauer, Green Bay (Jr., L) - Bauer tallied 31 digs in the win over Youngstown State on Saturday. During the weekend, she went over the 1,000-career digs mark.
Kelsey Berrington, Valparaiso (Jr., S) - Berrington tallied 82 assists last week as the Crusaders hit .247 as a team. She registered a double-double with 45 assists and 19 digs in four sets versus Oakland.
Jessica Dood, Oakland (So., RS) - Dood averaged 3.0 kills per set and 1.62 blocks per set for the Golden Grizzlies last week. She recorded double-digit kills in both contests (11 vs. UIC and 13 vs. Valpo) and had eight blocks in the win over UIC.
Lexi Egler, Youngstown State (Sr., OH) - Egler became the first player in the Horizon League this season to record 300 kills and 300 digs. She had two double-doubles last week with 12 kills and 10 digs at Milwaukee and 15 kills and 19 digs versus Green Bay.
Haley Garr, Wright State (So., MB) - Garr had 22 kills and hit .391 last week. She hit .462 (14-2-26) at UIC on Saturday.
Taylor Golabowski, Milwaukee (Sr., L) - Golabowski topped the UWM defense with 54 digs on the week, averaging 4.91 per set. She also added four service aces and 15 assists.
Shannon Grega, Cleveland State (Fr., L) - Grega recorded a career-high 22 digs in the win over Green Bay and finished the weekend with 36 overall.
Taylor Humm, Oakland (Sr., L) - Humm registered 34 digs - the most by a player in the Horizon League this season -- in the four-set win over Valparaiso.
Julie Kolinske, Milwaukee (Sr., OH) - Kolinske paced the UWM offense, leading the way with 45 kills and a 4.09 per set average on the week. She also added six blocks on defense.
Allie O’Reilly, UIC (Fr., DS) - O’Reilly had 25 digs last week, including 15 in the three-set win over Wright State.
Emily Riese, Green Bay (Jr., S) - Riese posted a triple-double in the win over Youngstown State. She finished the weekend with 16 kills on a .471 hitting percentage and 84 assists, while also contributing 25 digs.
Nikki Thompson, Youngstown State (Jr., L) - Thompson set YSU’s single season record for digs and now has 471 on the year. She had 17 digs in the four set match at Milwaukee and then had a career-high 30 in five sets at Green Bay.
Jessie Thornton, Wright State (Fr., L) - Thornton had 46 digs in six sets last week. She had 24 digs at Valparaiso and 22 digs at UIC.
Stephenee Yancy, UIC (Jr., MB) - Yancy recorded 32 kills on a .383 hitting percentage for the Flames as they went 1-1 last week. She hit .394 with 18 kills vs. Oakland and had 14 kills on a .370 hitting percentage against Wright State.

Horizon League Offensive Players of the Week:
Aug. 25 - Julie Kolinske, Milwaukee
Sept. 1 - Nicole Johnson, UIC
Sept. 8 - Emily Campbell, Valparaiso
Sept. 15 - Stephenee Yancy, UIC
Sept. 22 - Myanna Ruiz, Milwaukee
Sept. 29 - Morgan Beil, Valparaiso
Oct. 6 - Val Jeffery, Youngstown State/Stephenee Yancy, UIC
Oct. 13 - Stephenee Yancy, UIC
Oct. 20 - Cassie Pelloni, Oakland
Oct. 27 - Stephenee Yancy, UIC
Nov. 3 - Grace Kauth, Cleveland State

Horizon League Defensive Players of the Week:
Aug. 25 - Nikki Thompson, Youngstown State
Sept. 1 - Shannon Watson, Youngstown State
Sept. 8 - Nikki Holmes, Cleveland State   
Sept. 15 - Allison Ketcham, Valparaiso
Sept. 22 - Taylor Golabowski, Milwaukee
Sept. 29 - Maggie Hannon, Cleveland State
Oct. 6 - Nikki Thompson, Youngstown State
Oct. 13 - Jillian Bauer, Green Bay/Taylor Humm, Oakland    
Oct. 20 - Aly Ryan, Youngstown State
Oct. 27 - Alison Ketcham, Valparaiso
Nov. 3 - Amanda Baker, Oakland