Friday, October 26 Results
Cleveland State def. UIC, 3-1 (25-14, 23-25, 25-21, 25-19)
Green Bay def. Milwaukee, 3-1 (21-25, 25-16, 25-18, 25-18)
Valparaiso def. Wright State, 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-18)
Youngstown State def. Loyola, 3-2 (25-18, 20-25, 25-18, 24-26, 15-12)
Cleveland State 3, UIC 1
The Cleveland State Vikings got another league win Friday night, taking down UIC in four games. The four games went 25-14, 23-25, 25-21, 25-19 for a CSU win, bringing them to 17-6 on the year and 9-1 in league play.
Senior Kara Koch led the way once again for the Vikings notching 23 kills to help bring home the victory. Although Koch led the way for CSU, she wasn't the only one in double digit kills.
Two juniors, Kerry Winchester and Jackie Dabbelt finished with 16 and 11 kills respectively for the Vikings to help balance the offensive effort.
The win for the Vikings helps them continue to keep a strong hold on first place in the conference at 9-1, with Loyola two games behind at 7-3.
Green Bay 3, Milwaukee 1
The Green Bay volleyball team (13-11, 4-6 HL) picked up an important Horizon League win Friday night, defeating in-state rival Milwaukee (8-15, 3-7 HL) 3-1 in front of 353 fans at the Kress Center. The Phoenix dropped the opener, but responded with dominant victories in sets two through four (21-25, 25-16, 25-18, 25-18) to earn its first win over the Panthers since 2008.
Monica Anderson led a balanced Phoenix attack with 14 kills, while Carmen Leitermann and Katie Mroczenski also reached double-figures with 13 and 10, respectively. Junior setter Leah Poel directed the Green Bay offense with a match-high 49 assists, helping five players tally eight or more kills.
Milwaukee got off to a strong start in the first, using a 6-0 run to jump out to a 10-7 lead. The Phoenix fought back to tie the score at 10-10, and the two teams were all square at 18-18 late, but the Panthers closed with a 7-3 run to pick up the 25-21 win and the 1-0 advantage.
Set two was all Green Bay, as the hosts built a 15-8 lead after a kill by Lyndsay Zabkowicz. The Panthers cut it to three (17-14) with a service ace by Anna Bartz, but back-to-back kills by Leitermann and Anderson pushed the Phoenix lead to 19-14. A kill by Mroczenski gave Green Bay a set point chance at 24-16, and Zabkowicz ended it with a kill on the following point to knot things up at 1-1.
Three straight kills, including two by freshman Taylor Kasal, gave the home team a 12-8 lead in set three, forcing a Milwaukee timeout. Moments later, Green Bay rattled off four straight points to move ahead 17-9 thanks in part to a pair of Brittany Groth service aces. The Phoenix led by as many as nine (21-12) in the third, and Kasal capped off the 25-18 win with her fourth kill of the set.
Groth continued her hot serving in the fourth, serving six straight times while registering two more aces to help the Phoenix to a 6-2 lead. Green Bay extended its lead to five (14-9) after a kill by Leitermann, and three straight kills by three different players gave Green Bay its largest advantage at 21-13. Mroczenski notched her 10th kill of the contest to give the Phoenix a match point try, and Leitermann’s 13th kill ended it at 25-18.
Mroczenski’s 10 kills marked a career high, as the junior hit an impressive .400 on the night to help the Phoenix snap a nine-match losing streak against the Panthers.
Groth posted match-highs in digs (20) and service aces (4), while Leitermann led all players with seven blocks, including her school-record 100th solo block of her career. Julie Kolinske paced Milwaukee with a match-high 17 kills, while Elizabeth Egerer reached double-digits with 12, but also had 12 errors.
Valparaiso 3, Wright State 0
The Valparaiso volleyball team extended its winning streak to three matches on Friday evening, sweeping Wright State 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-18) at the Athletics-Recreation Center.
The opening set was never in doubt, as the Crusaders used an early 7-1 run to push their advantage to 13-5 at the halfway point. Four different Valpo players had kills during the run, while junior Ariel Cudney added a service ace in addition to her kill. After Wright State cut the lead to 14-10, another 7-1 spurt gave Valpo a double-digit lead, and while the Raiders rallied late to within 24-20, a kill by junior Ellen Vanden Berg gave the opener to the Crusaders.
The second set was much tighter in the waning stages, as a three-point run by the Raiders cut Valpo's edge to 19-18. The Crusaders responded with four of the next six points, including a pair of kills from redshirt sophomore Kelsey Victor,to go ahead 23-20, but Wright State scored the next two to move to within one point. A kill by junior Sarah Dooms gave Valpo set point, and while the Raiders held off one Crusader chance, a termination from junior Janelle Hobbs put Valpo ahead 2-0 into the in-game break.
An early 6-2 Crusader lead quickly turned into a deficit in the third set, as Wright State scored seven of the next nine to lead 9-8. The Raiders still led 11-10 before a huge 12-3 run by Valpo put it in complete control. The run showcased the balanced Crusader offense, as all six Valpo primary attackers had a kill during the run, which put Valpo ahead by eight points. Eventually, a kill from senior Mary Dent closed out the Crusader sweep.
Victor led the balanced Valpo offense with 11 kills on .556 hitting, while Dooms and Vanden Berg added eight kills apiece. Dent, Hobbs and sophomore Morgan Beil each chipped in seven kills as well as the Crusaders hit .271 as a team, posting 50 kills against just 14 attack errors. Freshman Kelsey Berrington handed out 24 assists to go along with 18 from Cudney.
Senior Taylor Root registered a tremendous 31 digs in just three sets, trailing only her own mark of 34 for most digs in a three-set match in the nation this season. Dooms added 17 digs and redshirt sophomore Lindsey Hauch posted 10 digs as Valpo out-dug Wright State 79-61.
Wright State (2-25, 0-10) was led by 12 kills on .391 hitting from Marisa Aiello, while Heidi Splinter added 10 kills and a team-best 16 digs. Ashleigh Lucco also registered a double-double in the losing effort for the Raiders with 30 assists and 11 digs.
Youngstown State 3, Loyola 2
The Youngstown State volleyball team posted a team attack percentage of .250 and got 15 kills from Missy Hundelt in a five-set victory (25-18, 20-25, 25-18, 24-26, 15-12) at Loyola on Friday at Gentile Arena.
Shannon Watson added 12 kills on a .409 attack percentage, and Alexis Egler's 11 kills and 10 digs represented the match's only double-double.
Jenna Cavanaugh added six kills and six blocks, and Nichele Johnson and Kelsey Wagy came off the bench to combine for 11 kills and five blocks.
Loyola's Anna Eytchison led all players with 26 kills, and Ramblers libero Stephanie Kinane posted a match-high 18 digs. Eytchison, Laura Purcell and Kathleen Vogel combined for 50 of Loyola's 61 kills.
The Penguins improved to 14-10 overall and 4-6 in Horizon League play while the Ramblers dropped to 15-8 overall and 7-3 in conference play. Loyola entered the evening in sole possession of second place in the league standings. YSU's 14 wins are tied for the most since the Penguins won 14 matches in 2000.
The match featured arguably the two most-improved teams in the country. Loyola's 11-win improvement from last season is the best in the nation, and YSU's nine-win improvement is the second-best.
YSU closed out the first set on an 8-2 run to win 25-18, but the Penguins saw Loyola pull away late in the second to win 25-20. A 9-3 run helped turn a 14-13 lead into an insurmountable 23-16 advantage for the Penguins in the third set.
The Penguins led 12-9 in the fourth set before Loyola went on a 12-3 run to go up 21-15. YSU rallied to tie the set at 22-22 on a kill by Wagy, and the Penguins saved one set point before a Maureen Carls kill gave the Ramblers a 26-24 win.
Loyola went up 4-2 in the fifth set after back-to-back kills by Eytchison, but kills by Hundelt and Johnson and a block of Eytchison allowed YSU to go up 5-4. Loyola tied the score at 5-5, and YSU led by as many as four before the Ramblers tied the set again at 11. Wagy had a kill to give the Penguins a side out, and YSU finished the match by scoring four of the final five points. Hundelt had a kill to make it 13-11, and Eytchison hit long to put the Penguins up 14-11. Purcell posted a kill to prolong the match, but Watson, Wagy and Hundelt came up with a triple block of Eytchison on the next point.
