CSU, Green Bay, Oakland and UIC Win on Saturday Night in #HLVB

Volleyball Scoreboard (Nov. 8)
Cleveland State 3, Milwaukee 1
Green Bay 3, Youngstown State 2
Oakland 3, Valparaiso 1
UIC 3, Wright State 0

Cleveland State 3, Milwaukee 1
Behind a balanced team effort, the Cleveland State volleyball team defeated league-leading Milwaukee Saturday evening, earning a 3-1 victory over the Panthers. With the win, the Vikings improve to 13-13 overall this season and 6-7 in Horizon League play.

Set scores against Milwaukee were 25-20, 18-25, 25-22, 25-22.

Grace Kauth tallied a match-high 16 kills along with 12 digs for her eighth double-double of the season, while Maggie Hannon tallied 11 kills and six blocks. Gina Kilner was CSU's primary setter for the match, recording 44 assists, along with seven digs, four kills and two blocks.

Shannon Grega had a team-high 14 digs against the Panthers, while Christina Toth posted a team-high seven blocks and nine kills, and Alexis Middlebrooks added seven kills and four blocks.

The Vikings got out to a strong start early on in the first set, gaining a 12-9 lead after three straight Panther errors. The Vikings then controlled play for the remainder of the frame, owning at least a two-point advantage for the rest of the set. CSU gained its largest lead at the 22-17 mark, following back-to-back kills from Kauth and Hannon and another Milwaukee error, while they closed the frame with three straight points – including kills from Hannon and Kauth once again.

After the Panthers were able to even the match with a 25-18 victory during the second set, Cleveland State came out firing after the intermission, picking up wins in the third and fourth sets to claim the match.

During the third set the Vikings were once again able to gain the advantage early on, owning a 13-8 lead after a 4-0 run that included two kills from Hannon. CSU then controlled play for the remainder of the frame, finally pulling away with a pair of Kauth kills for the 25-22 victory.

The fourth set was much of the same, as the Vikings held the advantage early on, but Milwaukee stayed within striking distance for the entire set. The Panthers were able to tie the frame multiple times over the final few points, but the Vikings were able to fight off every tie, finally putting the set and the match away with two Panther errors and a Hannon kill over the final four points.

Throughout the match the Vikings forced Milwaukee into 33 hitting errors, allowing them to hit just .140 for the match. On the flip side, CSU tallied 53 kills and recorded a .241 hitting percentage.

Green Bay 3, Youngstown State 2
Junior Jillian Bauer (Verona, Wis.) tallied 31 digs to move past 1,000 for her career, and sophomore Megan Powers (Glendale, Ariz.) posted a career-high 20 kills on Saturday, as the Green Bay volleyball team closed out the home portion of its schedule in thrilling fashion, rallying for a 3-2 win (19-25, 25-15, 24-26, 25-22, 15-10) over Youngstown State.

Bauer’s impressive dig total included a staggering nine in the decisive fifth set, when the Phoenix jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. In just two seasons with the program, the Horizon League’s Preseason Defensive Player of the Year has already accumulated 1,007 digs.

Sophomore Shannon Hurley (Connellsville, Pa.) and Powers each had three kills in the first seven points of the fifth set as Green Bay led 7-3. The Penguins would get no closer than three the rest of the set.

Youngstown State had won the first meeting between the two programs in five sets back on Oct. 10, and the Penguins took the first set on Saturday, 25-19. The Phoenix dominated the second set 25-15 to even the match heading to intermission.

Green Bay threatened to take the 2-1 lead by hitting .333 and taking a 23-20 lead in the third set, but the Penguins rallied to win, 26-24.

Powers and junior setter Emily Riese (Fond du Lac, Wis.) dominated the fourth set, with both recording five kills apiece as Green Bay forced the decisive fifth set with a 25-22 victory.

Riese posted a triple-double with 50 assists, 18 digs and 10 kills. The junior had 10 kills without an error in 20 swings for a .500 hitting percentage. She directed the Phoenix to a hitting percentage of .206 for the match.

The 2014 Horizon League Freshman of the Year, Hurley has missed nearly half of the season, but looked to return to form this weekend. She supported Powers with 15 kills on Saturday, and freshman Beth Kuske (Germantown, Wis.) also added 10 kills for the Phoenix.

Defensively, junior Becca Mastey (Green Bay, Wis.) and freshman Halle Barnabo (River Falls, Wis.) each had season-high dig totals, tallying 20 and 10, respectively.

Oakland 3, Valparaiso 1
Taylor Humm posted 34 digs, the most in the Horizon League this season, as the Oakland volleyball team extended its winning streak to six matches with a 25-23, 15-25, 34-32, 25-16 win over Valparaiso Saturday evening.

With the win, coupled with Milwaukee's loss to Cleveland State earlier in the day, Oakland now has a one-match lead heading into the final two matches of the season. The Golden Grizzlies will host Milwaukee Friday, Nov. 14 at the Athletics Center O'rena at 7 p.m.

"This was a very good win for our team; to win a pair of two-point sets against a talented Valpo team showed our competitiveness and mental toughness," said Oakland head coach Rob Beam. "We carried the momentum into the fourth set and played our best volleyball at the end."

Humm's 34 digs, which is tied for 13th-best in the NCAA this season in a four-set match, led four Oakland players in double figures as the Golden Grizzlies tallied 96 digs on the night. During the critical third and fourth sets, Humm notched a total of 19 digs.

Oakland (18-9, 10-2 HL) was led offensively by Melissa Deatsch's 16 kills, while Sammy Condon had 15 kills on a .400 hitting percentage. Cassie Pelloni added 14 kills while Jessica Dood also notched 13 kills on the night.

The third set turned into a marathon for both squads, as the set extended on for 10 set points. Oakland held off the Crusaders four times before making good on their sixth decisive serve with a kill by Condon to give the set to Oakland, 34-32.

Aiding Oakland defensively were Deatsch (17 digs), Allia Knight (15 digs), Ciara Schultz (13 digs) and Amanda Baker (seven blocks). The Golden Grizzlies tallied 13.5 blocks as a team.

Schultz added 46 assists in the win for Oakland.

Valparaiso (22-7, 8-5 HL) got a match-high 21 kills from Emily Campbell.

UIC 3, Wright State 0
Senior Sara Jo Sternard became the 16th member of UIC’s 1,000 Kills Club Saturday in UIC’s 3-0 sweep (25-21, 25-21, 25-21) over Wright State (4-22, 1-11 HL). Sternard needed four kills to achieve the milestone and put down six on 17 attempts.

Sternard had 156 kills as a freshman in 2011, 278 as a sophomore and 329 as a junior before her 237th kill this season made her a permanent part of UIC's record book. The last UIC player to reach 1,000 kills was Kelsey Safranek (2009-12), who achieved the feat during the 2011 season.

Junior Stephenee Yancy, who ranks eighth in the nation with 474 kills, extended her double-digit kill streak to 28 contests with 14 kills on 27 attempts for a .370 attack percentage. Yancy also tied her career-high with nine blocks, including four solo blocks. She had five kills and five blocks in the first set.

Redshirt freshman Nicole Johnson, who ranks second in the nation with 1,244 assists, had 40 assists, four digs and two kills. She also picked up her team-leading 24th service ace in the first set.

Sophomore Kara Johnson extended her double-digit kill streak to four contests with 13 kills on 36 attempts. She had seven kills on 13 attempts in the second set. Johnson also compiled nine digs and tied her career high with three blocks.

Freshman Allie O'Reilly recorded 15 digs for her second straight double-digit performance. O’Reilly also had two aces for the fifth time this season.

Redshirt senior Maggie Strus compiled 12 digs for her seventh consecutive double-digit effort and increased her program-record total to 1,647. Meanwhile, senior Molly McCoy had eight kills, 10 digs, two blocks and a service ace.

UIC had 11 total team blocks, the fourth time this season the Flames have collected double-digit blocks. UIC also set a three-set season high with 53 digs.

UIC jumped out to an early 6-2 lead in the first set and never trailed again in a 25-21 victory. The Flames used six blocks and three service aces in the first set to overcome 15 WSU kills.

The second set featured six lead changes but UIC used a .364 attack percentage to pull away from a 19-19 tie. Kara Johnson scored five consecutive points late in the set and two straight kills by Harris sealed a 25-21 win.

The Flames had four more blocks in the third set on their way to a 25-21 victory and the sweep. UIC forced the Raiders into 10 attack errors and held WSU to a .125 attack percentage.