Saturday, October 21 Results
Cleveland State def. Green Bay, 3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-23)
Loyola def. Wright State, 3-2 (23-25, 25-18, 25-21, 21-25, 15-13)
Valparaiso def. UIC, 3-1 (25-18, 25-23, 17-25, 25-22)
Youngstown State def. Milwaukee, 3-1 (25-22, 20-25, 25-21, 25-23)
Cleveland State 3, Green Bay 0
The Cleveland State volleyball team extended its win streak to six matches Saturday afternoon, earning a 3-0 victory over the Green Bay Phoenix. With the win, CSU improves to 16-6 overall this season and 8-1 in league play, while Green Bay falls to 12-11 (3-6).
Set scores against the Phoenix were 25-16, 25-22, 25-23.
Marie Frease led the Vikings with 10 kills against the Phoenix, while Kara Koch added nine and Kerry Winchester tallied seven. Dayna Roberts posted her third double-double of the season with 31 assists and 12 digs, while Amanda Medvetz (11 digs) and Koch (14 digs) also added double-digit digs.
Lyndsay Zabkowicz paced the Phoenix with eight kills, while Carmen Leitermann and Monica Anderson added seven apiece. Brittany Groth led all players with 25 digs, while Leah Poel had a team-high 30 assists.
After controlling the first two sets, Cleveland State had to battle for the victory in set three, coming from behind to earn the 25-23 win. The Phoenix kept the third set tight and eventually gained a two-point lead at the 22-20 mark before the Vikings tallied three straight points to earn a 23-22 advantage. Cleveland State then notched two of the final three points to put the match away.Loyola 3, Wright State 2
For the second consecutive night, Loyola banded together in the fifth set to earn a tough road win, knocking off Wright State, 3-2 (23-25, 25-18, 25-21, 21-25, 15-13), this evening at McLin Gymnasium in Dayton, Ohio. The win moves the Ramblers (15-7, 7-2 Horizon) into sole possession of second place in the Horizon League.
After a grueling five-set win last night at Valparaiso, Loyola got off to a sluggish start tonight. A Samantha Daniel kill helped Wright State open up a 13-9 lead but kills from Laura Purcell, Anna Eytchison, Libby Bresser and Brittany Brown keyed a 6-1 Loyola run that gave the Ramblers a 15-14 edge. The Raiders scored the next three points to regain the lead and Loyola could not get over the hump, closing within a point on several occasions but never able to get any closer with Heidi Splinter closing out a 25-23 WSU win with a kill.
Loyola regrouped and jumped out quickly in the second set, riding three Kathleen Vogel kills and three Eytchison aces in an 8-0 run that gave LU a 12-4 lead. The Raiders began to chip away, pulling with three (15-12) after two Splinter kills, but the Ramblers were able to regain their form and began to slowly extend their lead with a Purcell kill capping a 25-18 win to even the match at one set apiece.
Six consecutive WSU errors, two of which were blocks from Purcell and Nichole Riedel, gave the Ramblers control of the third set and another Wright State error later extended the margin to nine, 13-4. However, the home team was able to turn things around quickly, rattling off 12 of the next 15 points to pull even at 16-16. An Eytchison kill later helped Loyola build its lead back to three (21-18) but Wright State hung in there, getting as close as one (22-21) down the stretch but the Ramblers used an Eytchison kill and two Raider errors to take the set, 25-21.
Two Eytchison kills and a Riedel ace helped Loyola scored the first four points of the fourth set as the visitors were primed to close out the match. However, the home team had other ideas, rallying to take a 7-6 lead after two Mariah Nussbaum aces. The lead ballooned to six (14-8) midway through the frame before two Purcell kills and one from Eytchison helped the Ramblers get within three at 18-15. That would prove to be as close as they would get, however, as the Raiders pushed the match to a fifth set with a 25-21 victory.
After a long, five-set match last night, Loyola had to dig deep. The teams were tied 11 different times to get to 12-all before Loyola made its break. A Wright State service error gave LU the lead and a solid serve forced a Raider error to give the Ramblers a match point at 14-12. A Marisa Aiello kept the hosts alive but Riedel's third kill of the night was the match-winner, as Loyola took the fifth by the identical score it did last night, 15-13.
Eytchison led Loyola's offense with 20 kills and added 15 digs for a double-double. Purcell was terrific as well, ripping 11 kills to go with seven key blocks. Bresser had another solid match in the middle tonight, pitching in with eight kills and seven blocks. Brown picked up her second double-double of the weekend (45 assists, 14 digs) while Kinane racked up a career-best 35 digs, one shy of Alyse Serritella's school record set in 2007.
Valparaiso 3, UIC 1
Valparaiso bounced back from a loss Friday night to defeat UIC in Horizon League play Saturday evening at the ARC, 3-1 (25-18, 25-23, 17-25, 25-22).
For the second straight night, the Crusaders had a stellar blocking performance at the net. Saturday night saw Valpo tally 15 total team blocks, following a 20-block performance on Friday evening. Junior Ellen Vanden Berg led the way again with 11 blocks, matching her Friday total. Vanden Berg's 11 blocks are tied for fifth-most in a four-set match all-time at Valpo, while she has posted two of the top-15 blocking matches in program history over the last two nights. She is also the only player to reach the mark since the move to 25-point rally scoring.
Vanden Berg wasn't the only player to set or break a career record in the category Saturday, as junior Janelle Hobbs was in on six of the Crusaders' blocks to set a new career high. Redshirt sophomore Kelsey Victor tallied five blocks, while senior Mary Dent matched her career best with four rejections.
The Crusaders utilized a strong offensive performance, hitting .387 with 13 kills and just one attack error, and an 84% sideout percentage to take the opening set Saturday. The first half of the frame was back-and-forth, as a UIC kill tied the set at 14-all. But Valpo pulled away with an 11-4 spurt, not allowing the Flames to string together two straight points, and eventually ended the set on a block by Hobbs and Vanden Berg.
In the second set, a pair of Vanden Berg kills sandwiched around a block by Vanden Berg and Dent pushed Valpo's lead late to 19-15. But the Flames responded with five of the next six points to tie the set at 20 apiece. The Crusaders answered with three straight points, including a kill from Hobbs and a block by Dent and Victor, to go ahead 23-20, but again UIC rallied with three consecutive points to make it 23-all. A kill by Dent gave Valpo set point at 24-23, and a pipe attack out of the back row by redshirt sophomore Lindsey Hauch landed for a kill to end the set in the Crusaders' favor, giving them a 2-0 lead into the in-game break.
A four-point spurt midway through the third set broke an 11-11 tie as UIC pulled ahead 15-11. The two sides traded sideouts on the next six points before the Flames strung together five straight to lead 22-14, a lead it would not relinquish to send the match into the fourth set.
Valpo had the early momentum in the fourth frame, as the set started with back-to-back service aces by freshman Kelsey Berrington to force a quick UIC timeout. The Crusaders continued to push the advantage, totaling eight kills early on as they led 12-4. Despite a three-point spurt mid-set by the Flames, Valpo maintained its lead, with a Vanden Berg kill making it 19-13 Crusaders.
UIC rallied with three straight points to cut the lead to 19-16, and following a Dent kill, three consecutive Crusader hitting errors sliced the advantage to 20-19. But unlike Friday's fourth set, Valpo would not surrender the lead. Sophomore Morgan Beil and junior Sarah Dooms registered back-to-back kills, and following a UIC kill, Beil and Victor picked up terminations to give Valpo match point at 24-20. The Flames held off two match points on kills by Kelsey Safranek, but on the third chance, fittingly it was Vanden Berg teaming up with Victor on a block to end the match.
Vanden Berg also paced the Crusaders offensively in picking up her first career double-double, posting 13 kills on .344 hitting. Beil and Hobbs each tallied nine kills, while Dent added eight in the balanced Crusader attack. Berrington and junior Ariel Cudney each handed out 24 assists, while the former racked up three aces. Senior Taylor Root led the effort in the back row with 25 digs to go along with 19 digs by Dooms.
Aubrey Sniegowski hit .333 with a match-high 14 kills to lead UIC (13-11, 6-3), while Sara Sternard posted 13 kills and Safranek registered 11 kills. MaryKate Imrie registered a double-double with 51 assists and 11 digs, and Maggie Strus led five Flames in double figures in digs with 19.
Youngstown State 3, Milwaukee 1
The Youngstown State volleyball team had four players reach double digits in kills and hit .273 as a unit to defeat Milwaukee in four sets (25-22, 20-25, 25-21, 25-23) in a Horizon League match on Saturday at Beeghly Center.
Missy Hundelt tied for match-high honors with 17 kills, and the junior from St. Louis added 13 digs for YSU, which responded from a tough five-set loss to Green Bay on Friday. Alexis Egler added 12 kills while Jenna Cavanaugh had 11 kills and Jackie Carlisle had 10. Hundelt hit .438, and Cavanaugh's .474 attack percentage was the highest among any player with more than two kills. Erika West added a match-high 15 digs.
Elizabeth Egerer had 17 kills as one of three Panthers in double figures.
The win moves YSU into a three-way tie for fifth place with Milwaukee and Green Bay at 3-6.
There were 33 ties and 17 lead changes in the match, and the fourth set had 16 of those ties and nine of those lead changes.
YSU led 6-3 in the early going of the fourth after a kill from Kelsey Wagy, but Milwaukee scored four straight points to go up 7-6 and take its second lead of the set. From that point, neither team led by more than three the rest of the way. Another kill from Wagy put the Penguins ahead 14-12, but Milwaukee rallied again and led by one at 15-14, 16-15 and 18-17. YSU regained the lead at 20-19 on a Hundelt kill, and an attack error by Egerer gave the Penguins a 23-21 advantage. A Casey D'Ambrose kill put YSU at match point, and Egler had a kill to put the Panthers away at 25-23.
YSU hit .333 and got three kills apiece from Hundelt, Carlisle and Shannon Watson in the opening set en route to a 25-22 win. Milwaukee scored the first two points of the match, and it led 7-5 after a kill from Amber Simonton. YSU scored three straight points to force a Panthers time out, and the Penguins did not trail again the rest of the set.
Milwaukee trailed just twice in the second set, the final time being at 9-8, en route to a 25-20 win. The Panthers hit .333 in the set and were able to withstand four kills from Carlisle.
The turning point in the match was the end of the third set as the Penguins scored the final seven points to win 25-21. A 3-0 run gave the Panthers a 9-6 lead, and the visitors led by as many as five at 17-12. The Penguins called timeout to regroup, and they went on to score 13 of the final 17 points in the set. YSU tied the set after back-to-back Cavanaugh kills, and two straight Egerer errors – the second of which came on a block by Cavnaugh and Wagy – put YSU up 23-21. Egler then finished off the set with back-to-back kills.
