Horizon League Volleyball Release #11
Oct. 29, 2007
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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Cleveland State sophomore Beth Greulich was tabbed Offensive Player of the Week for the second straight week, while UIC sophomore Casie Sullivan was named Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in her career.
Offensive Player of the Week:
Beth Greulich
Cleveland State
So., Outside Hitter, Troy, Ohio
Sophomore Beth Greulich was named Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week for the second straight week. The Viking outside hitter earns the award for the third time in her career. This past week, Greulich helped the Vikings to a record of 1-1. The Ohio native began the week by hitting .531 along with 19 kills in a 3-0 sweep of Loyola on Friday. She finished the week with 14 kills on Saturday in a 3-2 loss at UIC. For the week, Gruelich posted a hitting percentage of .391 and tallied 33 kills in eight games.
Defensive Player of the Week:
Casie Sullivan
UIC
Jr., Setter, Kewanee, Ill.
Sophomore Casie Sullivan was tabbed Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in her career after she helped guide UIC to a perfect 3-0 mark this past week. She becomes the first player from UIC to receive one of the League's weekly honors this season. The UIC sophomore began the week by collecting 11 digs and four block assists in a 3-1 over Bradley on Monday. She followed that performance with 20 digs in a 3-2 victory against Youngstown State on Friday. Sullivan then closed out the week by tallying 13 digs and seven block assists in a 3-1 win over Cleveland State. For the week, the Illinois native notched 44 digs and 11 total blocks.
Other Top Performances from Around the League
Porshia Allen
Butler
So., Outside Hitter, Indianapolis, Ind.
Allen led the Bulldogs on offense in their lone contest of the week against Wright State on Friday (Oct. 26), notching a match-high and tying her career-best with 28 kills while hitting .377 (28-8-53) in five games. She also added a career-high 21 digs for her team-leading 10th double-double of the season while chipping in two block assists.
Amy Benz
Cleveland State
Fr., Middle Blocker, Tiffin, Ohio
Benz averaged 2.38 kills and 1.38 blocks per game as CSU split a pair of matches in Chicago. In addition, she hit .417 (19-4-36) to improve her season hitting percentage to .340.
Dana VanDiggelen
Loyola
So., Right Side, Arlington Heights, Ill.
VanDiggelen pounded out 30 kills (4.29 kpg) at a .348 clip as the Ramblers split a pair of conference matches this past weekend. VanDiggelen opened the weekend with a team-high 12 kills and four blocks in a Friday night loss to Cleveland State before turning it up a notch on Saturday against Youngstown State, hammering down 18 kills against just four errors in 40 swings to lead the Ramblers to a four-game win over the Penguins. She leads the team with 304 kills and 358 points this season.
Jamie Gabrielsen
Milwaukee
Sr., Outside Hitter, Menomonee Falls, Wis.
Gabrielsen posted another strong overall performance to help spark the Panthers to a come-from-behind win over Valparaiso Friday night. Gabrielsen led the team with 18 kills and added 24 digs. She had three kills in the decisive fifth game as the Panthers won for the eighth-straight time. Gabrielsen has tallied 18 or more kills in six-straight matches and has reached double figures in kills in all but one match this season.
Christin Hunt
UIC
Jr., Outside Hitter, Freeburg, Ill.
Hunt helped guide UIC to a 3-0 week, averaging 3.64 kills per game. She totaled six blocks and posted a team-high .281 attack percentage in 14 games. Hunt owned a .333 offensive clip with a team-high 16 kills and four blocks in a 3-1 win over Bradley on Oct. 22. The junior then tabbed a team-best 21 kills in a five-game win over Youngstown State at home on Oct. 26. Hunt owned a .277 attack percentage with two blocks versus the Penguins. Hunt totaled 14 kills and a .235 attack percentage in a 3-2 victory over Cleveland State on Oct. 27.
Brittany Malicoat
Valparaiso
Jr., Libero, Elkhart, Ind.
Malicoat posted match-high dig totals of 32 against Milwaukee and 25 against Green Bay. She leads the League in digs per game both overall (5.85) and League-only (6.31). Malicoat has also averaged at least five digs per game in each of Valpo's last nine matches dating back to Sept. 29 at Butler. Against Green Bay she tallied her 1,500th career dig to become just the fourth Crusader to ever reach that milestone. Malicoat is just 33 digs shy of second place on Valpo's career digs list digs. She already ranks third in the Horizon League's single-season digs chart with 556 and is just 23 digs shy of the record.
Alisha Kimbro
Wright State
Sr., Outside Hitter, Lisle, Ill.
In two matches last week, Kimbro helped the Raiders to a 2-0 record with wins over Cincinnati (3-1) on Tuesday and and Butler (3-2) on Friday. For the week, the Illinois native registered 43 kills, 24 digs and 10 total blocks.
Laurie Shives
Youngstown State
Fr., Libero, Grove City, Ohio
Shives led the Penguins with 4.89 digs per game last week. Against UIC, Shives posted a team-high 24 digs. She also tallied 20 digs against Loyola on Saturday. For the season, Shives has posted double figures in digs 19 times and recorded at least 20 digs on nine occasions.
News From Around the League
Butler
Butler is in the midst of a six-match, season-ending home stand that includes five consecutive Horizon League matches.
The Bulldogs continue to be one of the top defensive teams in the League this season, ranking second with a .164 opponent hitting percentage and third with 2.50 blocks per game.
Sophomore Porshia Allen paces the team and ranks third in the league with 3.83 kills per game.
The Bulldogs feature two of the top blockers in the Horizon League, with senior Michelle DeGeeter ranking fourth with 1.16 per game and freshman Jalesa Lee posting 1.06 per game for eighth.
Cleveland State
CSU hit a season-best .357 in Friday's win at Loyola.
The Vikings limited UIC to 12 points in game four Saturday, the fewest allowed by the Vikings in a single game this year. It was also the fewest points allowed in a game by CSU since giving up 11 to Oakland on Oct. 11, 2005.
CSU's win on Friday at Loyola was its 11th league win, equaling the most by the Vikings in a single season. The Vikings also won 11 conference matches in 2005.
Alexis Korovich finished with a season-best 21 kills Saturday at UIC.
Beth Greulich has recorded double-digit kills in five straight matches and is averaging 16.2 kills per game during the stretch.
Green Bay
Green Bay closes out its home season Friday night against in-state rival Milwaukee. It will be the first-ever collegiate competition played in the brand-new Kress Center.
Senior Betty Slinger is just 12 assists shy of moving into second place on the school's all-time list.
After playing 15 matches over 37 days from Sept. 14 through Oct. 20, the team has just two matches from Oct. 21 through Nov. 8, a span of 19 days.
UIC
The Flames posted a 3-0 record last week with wins over Bradley, Youngstown State and Cleveland State. UIC averaged 13.1 kills and 16.0 digs per game. The Flames totaled 27 service aces and 55 blocks in three matches.
Junior Christin Hunt owned a team-high 51 kills, while sophomore Casie Sullivan led the Flames with 44 digs.
In addition, senior Amanda Kenny totaled 41 kills and 20 digs in 14 games, while freshman Taylor Szatkowski led the Flames with 54 blocks.
The Flames face Butler and Wright State on the road this weekend before returning home for matches against Valparaiso and Western Illinois on Nov. 10 and 11.
Loyola
Senior Keily Zins became the 11th Rambler to reach 1,000 career kills, hitting the milestone on the nose with 10 kills on Senior Day against Youngstown State. Freshman Ceci Mattei posted a career-best 11 kills against the Penguins.
Senior middle Melissa Craig moved into sole possession of fourth place on Loyola's all-time block assists list with six blocks in two matches. She sits 35 behind Shari Davis' school record. After winning just four of its first 20 matches, Loyola has won four of its last five outings.
Milwaukee
UWM now has wins in 22 of its last 23 matches and has a eight-match winning streak
The Panthers wrap up the regular season with four-straight road contests. The stretch began with a five-game win at Valparaiso on Friday and continues this week in Green Bay. The Panthers have a 5-2 record in road matches this season. UWM also has won 10 of their last 11 League road contests.
UWM continues to prove it has no problems with coming from behind. Friday's win at Valpo marked the third time this season the Panthers have rallied from a 2-0 deficit to claim a win, with UWM having also done it against Cincinnati and Northern Illinois. Overall, UWM is 5-1 in five-game matches this season, with its only loss coming at Cleveland State. That marks the most five-game wins for UWM since 2003, when the Panthers won six such matches.
Valparaiso
The Crusaders played their final home match of season Saturday against Green Bay and are 6-0 under head coach Carin Avery in their home finales. The senior class (Sara Hughes, Tiffany Meikle, Nicole Schulz) closed out their career at the ARC with a 37-9 record. They have won 96 matches over their four seasons, which is the third-most by a single class all-time at Valpo.
Schulz made her return to the court after missing over a month due to injury. In her return, she registered 16 kills on .297 hitting with three blocks against Milwaukee on Friday and followed with 11 kills on .320 hitting and five blocks versus Green Bay on Saturday. Hughes recorded double-doubles in both of the weekend's matches for Valpo (31 assists, 16 digs vs Milwaukee; 27 assists, 11 digs vs Green Bay).
Valparaiso out-dug Milwaukee, the nation's third-best team in digs per game, 98-91 on Friday. In the match, five different Crusaders reached double figures in digs. Valpo hit .344 as a team against Green Bay, hitting above .300 in all three games.
Wright State
The Raiders finished 4-4 on the road in League play, marking the first time WSU has been .500 or better in such matches since going 5-2 in 2001. Wright State has now defeated Butler seven straight times over the last three years.
The win over Cincinnati Tuesday was the first for the Raiders over the Bearcats since Wright State won in four games at the McLin Gymnasium on September 26, 1995, snapping a seven-match losing streak.WSU's double-figure block streak reached five with 14 against both Cincinnati and Butler. Wright State has now been in double figures in blocks 14 times this season and has had eight or more in all but four matches.
Wright State starts a five-match homestand this week to close out the regular season, beginning with a matchup Wednesday against crosstown rival and nationally-ranked Dayton (23-1).
Youngstown State
Senior Jessica Fraley moved into seventh place on the YSU single-season kills list with 368 kills and needs 21 more to move into sixth place. Fraley also needs 58 more kills to become the ninth player in school history to record 1,000 career kills.
Freshman Laurie Shives needs 21 more digs to become the first YSU player since 1999 and the first YSU player in the rally-scoring era to record at least 400 digs in a season. Shives currently has 379 digs, which ranks 10th on the single-season list.
With 1,062 assists this season, junior Karla Everhart moved into ninth place on the single-season assists list. She also ranks fifth all-time with 2,244 career assists. She is also just the third player in school history to post consecutive 1,000-assist seasons.
