Friday Night #HLVB Results Set Championship Field

There is still a week left in the Horizon League volleyball regular season, but Friday night's results set the field for the six-team tournament that will be held at the site of the regular season champion from Nov. 20-22. Cleveland State, Milwaukee, Oakland, UIC, Valparaiso and Youngstown State have clinched berths into the championship which will determine the winner of the League's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The field has been determined, but none of the seeds have been clinched.

Volleyball Results (Nov. 7)
Cleveland State 3, Green Bay 1
Milwaukee 3, Youngstown State 1
Oakland 3, UIC 1
Valparaiso 3, Wright State 0

Cleveland State 3, Green Bay 1
 The Cleveland State volleyball team opened its final roadswing of the regular season Friday evening, posting a 3-1 victory over Green Bay. With the win, the Vikings are now 12-13 overall this season and 5-7 in Horizon League action.

Set scores against Green Bay were 25-17, 25-20, 21-25, 25-23.

Offensively, the Vikings were led by Maggie Hannon, Grace Kauth, and Christina Toth who combined for 40 of Cleveland State's 61 kills. Toth had a match-high 16, while Kauth added 13 kills and Hannon posted 11. Dayna Roberts recorded 34 assists on the match, while Gina Kilner chipped in 13.

Shannon Grega recorded a career-high 22 digs to lead the Viking defense, while Kauth notched 19, Roberts added 11 digs and Nikki Holmes posted 10. Hannon posted a team-high three blocks on the match.

The two teams were evenly matched during the opening frame, until the Vikings were able to go on a 3-0 run to gain a 16-13 advantage with kills from Sydney Mast and Hannon. Cleveland State was able to control play throughout the rest of the set then, closing the frame with back-to-back kills from Kauth and Alexis Middlebrooks.

The second set was much of the same, as the two teams battled throughout the entire frame until CSU was able to distance itself at the 23-18 mark following five straight points. During this stretch the Vikings got three points from Middlebrooks – one kill and two blocks – and a kill from Maggie Hannon. The Vikings then put the set away with kills from Roberts and Toth.

After dropping the third set, the Vikings battled back and picked up a two-point victory during the fourth set to claim the match. Green Bay was able to get out to an early lead during the fourth frame, but the Vikings went on a 5-0 run to gain their first lead of the match at the 10-9 mark. The two teams traded points over the next few plays, before Cleveland State gained a five-point lead at the 21-16 mark after a Kauth kill. The Vikings were then able to control play and fend off another Green Bay run, claiming the 25-23 victory, ending on another Toth kill.

Milwaukee 3, Youngstown State 1
Julie Kolinske recorded a match-high 20 kills to power host University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (15-11, 9-2 Horizon) to a hard-fought 25-15, 23-25, 26-24, 25-22 victory over Youngstown State (16-11, 7-5 Horizon) tonight at the Klotsche Center. With the win, the Panthers, who hit .329 on the match, remain tied with Oakland for first place in the Horizon League race.

The match was tightly contested throughout aside from the first set. With Milwaukee clinging to a one-point lead early in set one, a kill from Maggie Dunbar was followed by three straight Youngstown State hitting errors that gave the Panthers a 12-7 cushion.

Milwaukee, which hit a robust .423 (14-3-26), would eventually close out the set by notching the final seven points for a 25-15 victory.

Set two was a back-and-forth affair and a kill by Lauren Thompson and hitting error by the Panthers turned a tie into a 21-19 Youngstown State lead. Dunbar's kill on set point would bring Milwaukee within one, but Jessie Gerig's kill gave the Penguins a 25-23 victory and evened the match at a set apiece.

The Panthers fell behind 6-3 in set three before rallying to take a three-point lead. Another kill from Dunbar followed by back-to-back stops by Myanna Ruiz put Milwaukee on top 17-14. The Penguins stormed back to knot things up at 24, but consecutive kills from Ruiz and Kayla Price proved to be the difference in the Panthers' 26-24 victory.

Milwaukee found itself down three points again in the fourth set, but after Sam Watson's kill gave Youngstown State a 13-10 advantage, Milwaukee registered five of the next seven points to even things up at 15. Two straight Nicole Latzig kills turned a 22-22 tie into a two-point lead and Milwaukee never looked back en route to a 25-22 win and important match victory.

Kolinske was one of four Panthers in double figures in kills. Ruiz added 15, with Dunbar pitching in 14 and Blanchard 10. Price doled out 59 assists and collected 11 digs, while Taylor Golabowski (15) and Maddie Schmitz (10) reached double figures in digs.

Oakland 3, UIC 1
Amanda Baker registered 10 blocks (eight assists, two solo) - good for ninth in team history - while Cassie Pelloni led three Oakland players in double figures for kills as the Golden Grizzlies rallied from a rough first-set setback to defeat UIC in four, 14-25, 26-24, 25-21, 25-21.

"Our team fought hard against a very tough UIC squad," Oakland head coach Rob Beam said. "The players displayed courage in their response to a slow start and they handled our tactical adjustments well. It was also a huge benefit to have such a supportive gym with all of our families and friends there."

Pelloni led the Golden Grizzlies with 15 kills, while Jessica Dood added 11 and Melissa Deatsch tallied 10 in the win. Baker added seven kills, hitting .385 along the way.

Oakland (17-9, 9-2 HL) won their fifth consecutive match by recovering from a slow start thanks to solid offense and defense. After hitting -.030 in the first set, the Golden Grizzlies settled down to hit .247 in the final three sets. Oakland also put up a season-best 16.0 blocks as a team; along with Baker's effort, Dood added eight blocks (six assists, two solo).

The Golden Grizzlies turned the corner in the second set. Trailing the Flames 21-17, Pelloni connected on three consecutive kills in a five-point streak to take the lead. From there, the teams battled back and forth until UIC was serving match point. Oakland responded with the set's final three points: Dood had two kills and a block assist to sent the match into the break tied at 1-1.

Taylor Humm had a match-best 16 digs, while Ciara Schultz tallied 44 of Oakland's 48 assists.

UIC (12-15, 6-6) was paced by Stephenee Yancy's 18 kills.

Valparaiso 3, Wright State 0
Led by the efforts of a pair of seniors one day prior to Senior Night, the Valparaiso volleyball team posted its fourth consecutive sweep Friday evening at the ARC, taking down Wright State 3-0 (25-21, 25-11, 25-19).

On the attack, it was senior Kelsey Victor (Logansport, Ind./Logansport) with a standout performance.  Victor went up to swing 17 times and came down with a kill on 11 of those occasions, hitting at a .647 clip as she did not commit an attack error.  For Victor, it was a new career best in the hitting percentage column and was her 12th double-digit kill total of the year, six of which have come in the last eight matches.

Meanwhile, fellow senior Lindsey Hauch (Coloma, Mich./Coloma) enjoyed a solid all-around match, especially in the back row.  Playing all the way around the rotation on Friday, Hauch tallied a team-best 19 digs, setting a new season high in the category.  The fifth-year senior also chipped in a season-best five kills on .308 hitting, three assists, two blocks and two service aces.

The first set was extremely tight throughout, featuring 13 ties and a pair of lead changes.  The Raiders briefly seized the lead heading into the late stages and led as late as 19-18, but the Crusaders scored five straight points to take control.  Sophomore Emily Campbell (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) posted three kills during the run, while Hauch also had a kill as Valpo led 23-19.  Two points later, another Campbell kill gave the Crusaders set point at 24-20, and a WSU service error ended the opener in Valpo’s favor.

The second frame was not nearly as close, as the Crusaders combined strong defense – limiting Wright State to eight kills and posting four blocks – with solid offense – hitting .378 with 15 kills – to easily pull ahead 2-0.  An early six-point spurt, which featured two aces by sophomore Morganne Longoria (Burlington, Wis./Burlington) and a pair of kills from freshman Allison Ketcham (Mishawaka, Ind./Marian), gave Valpo an 8-2 lead, and the Crusaders would not surrender consecutive points the rest of the way.

Valpo looked to pull away in the third set with a 5-1 spurt mid-frame to make it 16-11 Crusaders, but the Raiders scored four straight to pull within 16-15.  It was still a one-point margin at 19-18 before a kill from Campbell and a Hauch service ace gave the Crusaders breathing room.  Following a WSU kill, the Raiders committed three straight hitting errors – three of just four unforced attack errors by WSU on the night – to give Valpo match point at 24-19, and fittingly Hauch converted on the first opportunity with a kill.

The Crusader offense, which entered the match leading the league in hitting percentage at .249, ran at a .309 clip on the evening.  Valpo posted 50 kills against just eight attack errors, resulting in its second-best hitting percentage within league play this year.  Campbell led the way with 12 kills to go with Victor’s aforementioned 11 terminations, while Ketcham hit .333 with eight kills.  Junior Kelsey Berrington (Britton, Mich./Tecumseh) handed out 37 assists and added five kills on just seven attacks.

Longoria joined Hauch with a pair of aces to lead the way as the Crusaders totaled eight service aces on the evening.  Longoria also posted 16 digs while Campbell registered another double-double, picking up ten digs of her own.  Victor recorded a match-high four blocks at the net as well.

Ashley Langjahr led Wright State (4-21, 1-10 Horizon) with nine kills on .360 hitting.  Maddie Lohmeier tallied 31 assists and 17 digs, while Jessie Thornton led all players with 24 digs.