Three of the four volleyball matches on Saturday saw the eventual winning team fall behind as it was a night of comebacks in the Horizon League. Loyola, who had a five-set comeback victory on Friday over Milwaukee, overcame a 2-0 deficit to Green Bay on Saturday to win 3-2. UIC won the first set in its match against Milwaukee, but dropped the next two to fall behind, before rallying to win the final two sets to win, 3-2. Valparaiso was the final comeback team on the night, dropping the first set to visiting Youngstown State, but the Crusaders rebounded to win the next three sets and take the win.
Cleveland State was the lone victor on Saturday night that did not need to make a comeback as the Vikings dispatched Wright State in straight sets.
Saturday, Oct. 6 Results
Cleveland State def. Wright State, 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-20)
Loyola def. Green Bay, 3-2 (21-25, 28-30, 25-23, 25-23, 15-10)
UIC def. Milwaukee, 3-2 (25-22, 22-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-11)
Valparaiso def. Youngstown State, 3-1 (22-25, 33-31, 25-17, 25-14)
Cleveland State 3, Wright State 0
The Cleveland State volleyball team improved to 5-1 in Horizon League play Saturday evening, earning a three-set sweep over the Wright State Raiders. The Vikings are now 13-6 overall this season, while the Raiders fall to 2-20 (0-5).
Kara Koch led the Viking offense with 15 kills against the Raiders, while Jackie Dabbelt added 10 and Marie Frease tallied nine. Amanda Medvetz and Brittany Holland each notched double-digit digs for CSU, Medvetz with 14 and Holland with 11, while Koch, Frease and Dayna Roberts each posted three blocks.
Koch's 15 kills on the match gave her 1,413 for her career, becoming just the third Viking to notch 1,400 kills on their careers, joining Jamie Bouyer (1,626) and Tenille Whiteside (1,416).
The Vikings were in control during the entire first set, earning a commanding 16-8 lead with six straight points including three kills from Koch. CSU held at least a five-point lead for the remainder of the frame, and closed out the 25-17 victory with a Frease kill.The second set was a different story, as the Raiders kept the frame close, including a three-point lead (17-14) during the middle of the set. The Vikings were able to battle back and take a two-point lead (19-17) with five straight points though, including a pair of kills from Dabbelt. CSU held the advantage for the rest of the set, and closed out the frame on five consecutive points, including a Kerry Winchester service ace, a Koch kill and three Wright State errors.
The third frame was much like the first, as Cleveland State held the momentum for the majority of the set. The Vikings earned a three-point lead at the 15-12 mark and never let up, holding at least a two-point advantage for the rest of the frame. The Raiders were able to fight off one match point before the Vikings put the contest away with a Maggie Hannon kill for the 25-20 third set victory.
Heidi Splinter had a double-double for Wright State, leading the team with 12 kills and also posting 11 digs. Katie Glassmeyer paced the Raiders with 13 digs.Loyola 3, Green Bay 2
Loyola used a match-high 23 points from Anna Eytchison and three others contributed at least 10 points apiece as the Ramblers erased an 0-2 deficit and escaped with a 3-2 (21-25, 28-30, 25-23, 25-23, 15-10) win over Green Bay this afternoon at Gentile Arena. Loyola improves to 12-6 (5-1 Horizon) while the Phoenix slides back to .500 (9-9, 1-4).
Loyola got off to a solid start, opening up a 12-7 lead in the opening set on a Kathleen Vogel kill. The Ramblers extended the margin to six (17-11) after a solo block and kill from Eytchison but Green Bay roared back, rattling off six straight points to even the set at 18. The run was just part of a greater, 13-3 Phoenix spurt that closed out the set, as the visitors took the opening frame, 25-21.
The second set followed a similar pattern, as Loyola used two Libby Bresser kills to grab an early 9-3 lead. Green Bay answered with an 11-4 run to take the lead and the teams battled back and forth the rest of the way. A block from Vogel and Nichole Riedel helped the Ramblers move out to a 21-18 lead but they were unable to put the Phoenix away. Four straight Phoenix points gave it a 22-21 lead but two straight Laura Purcell kills later gave the Ramblers first crack at the set with a 24-23 lead. A Lyndsey Zabkowicz kill erased that chance as the set progressed into extra points and LU forged a 28-28 deadlock on a Bresser kill but the Phoenix tallied the next two to claim a 30-28 win and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Again, it was all Loyola early on as the Ramblers scored four of the first five points. Green Bay battled back and pulled even at 8 but the home team pulled it together and led 15-11 after a Vogel/Bresser block. The Phoenix answered yet again, catching the Ramblers at 17-17, and the visitors eventually pushed out to a 22-20 lead on a Brittany Groth ace. A service error and block from Bresser and Eytchison got LU right back in it and, after a Carmen Leitermann kill, the Ramblers dug deep down the stretch, using a service error and two more blocks, the last a solo stuff by Vogel, to extend the match with a 25-23 triumph.
The fourth set had equal drama, despite the fact that Loyola led early for the fourth consecutive set. The Ramblers led 6-2 and 12-6 and seemed primed to send the match to a fifth set. Another Vogel block gave LU a 16-10 advantage and the hosts still led 22-15 after Bresser teamed up with Brittany Brown for a block before Green Bay rallied. The Phoenix scored five of the next six points to get within three (23-20) before an Eytchison kill gave the Ramblers a handful of set points. Green Bay fought off three of the four before a Riedel kill finally set the match to a decisive fifth set.
For the first time all afternoon, Loyola got off to a slow start with Green Bay scoring the first four points. Eytchison finally got the Ramblers on the board and it jumpstarted a 7-2 run that saw LU take a 7-6 lead. The Phoenix still held a 9-8 before the home team finally seized control. A Reidel kill tied the set at 9-9 and Brown served up five straight points to get the Ramblers to the brink, 14-9. Monica Anderson kept the Phoenix alive with a kill before a Green Bay error capped the Rambler comeback.
Eytchison finished with 16 kills, four aces and four blocks despite hitting just .122 for the match. Bresser gave the Ramblers a big lift with 13 kills and six blocks while Vogel also reached double figures in kills, racking up 10 to go with four blocks. Libero Stephanie Kinane led the back row with a season-best 33 digs.
UIC 3, Milwaukee 2
The UIC volleyball team (11-1043-2 Horizon League) played a hard-fought match to defeat Milwaukee (7-11/2-3 Horizon League) 3-2 (25-22, 22-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-11) Saturday inside the Flames Athletic Center. The Flames outplayed the Panthers in kills, attack percentage, assists and digs.
Seniors Aubrey Sniegowski and Janise Dismuke paced the Flames offensively as they had 19 and 18 kills, respectively. Sniegowski hit at .400, while Dismuke posted her fourth-straight .400-plus match as she hit at .467 on the night.
Senior Nicole Allgood and junior MaryKate Imrie captured double-doubles in the match. Allgood had 12 kills, while 11 digs and Imrie dished out 61 assists to lead all players and 16 digs.
Sophomore Maggie Strus paced the Flames defensively, picking up 28 digs. Sophomore Sara Sternard hit at .423 with 12 kills on the night.
The Flames opened up the first set with a 1-0 lead, and wouldn't find their next lead until Dismuke and Sniegowski posted a block to overtake the Panther, 23-22. The lead came on the coat tails UIC outscoring Milwaukee 10-2. The Panthers then committed an attack error, while Allgood then capitalized on the situation to close out the set 25-23 and earned a 1-0 lead in the match.
UIC then dropped the second and third sets, 25-22 and 25-23, in that order, before rallying back in the fourth and deciding set.
The Flames came out in the fourth set and collected three-straight points with kills by Dismuke, Sniegowski and Allgood. From there, the teams exchanged points, before UIC posted a three-point run to place the score at 16-13, which forced Milwaukee to call a timeout.
The Panthers we eventually able to tie the set at 22, but UIC scored three of the next four points to close the set at 25-23, and tie the match at 2-2.
UIC and Milwaukee played a cat-and-mouse game through the deciding set until the Flames gained a 10-9 lead on the Panthers. From there, Milwaukee called a timeout, but the Flames rallied on with three-straight points , including blocks by Dismuke and Sniegowski, a service ace by junior Justine Garcia and a kill by Sniegowski to make the score 13-9.
Sniegowski and Sternard then closed the door on the match with back-to-back kills to outlast the Panthers, 15-11.
Elizabeth Egerer led UWM with 20 kills, while Rachel Neuberger chipped in 17. Anna Bartz had a collegiate-best 31 digs to lead the Panthers defensive effort.
Valparaiso 3, Youngstown State 1
Winning the second set deep into extra points gave Valparaiso the momentum it was looking for, as the Crusaders went on to down Youngstown State, 3-1 (22-25, 33-31, 25-17, 25-14), Saturday evening at the ARC as part of Homecoming weekend.
The opening set saw the Penguins lead nearly start-to-finish, although the Crusaders made one late push to make a go at the opener. Trailing 20-15, sophomore Morgan Beil posted back-to-back kills, and a YSU error followed to move the Crusaders within two points. After a Valpo error, senior Mary Dent picked up a kill and Beil followed with her third termination of the spurt to close to within 21-20. But the Penguins scored the next three points to pull away again, eventually claiming the opening frame on their third set point opportunity.
It looked for a while like Youngstown State (12-8, 2-4 Horizon) would hold a two-set lead into the locker room, as the Penguins led by four points late at 22-18. Three straight YSU errors brought Valpo back to within one, however, and following a Penguin kill, first redshirt sophomore Kelsey Victor and then junior Ellen Vanden Berg racked up kills to knot the frame at 23-all. A YSU kill gave the Penguins set point at 24-23, but Victor answered with a kill of her own to set up a long run of extra points.
The sides combined for nine set point chances in all before the Crusaders finally converted the winner, ending the set with 17 ties and nine lead changes. Both sides ran out of subs in the late stages, with junior Janelle Hobbs rotating to the back row after combining on a triple block with Beil and redshirt sophomore Lindsey Hauch to make it 29-all. After a YSU kill, Hobbs smartly let a serve go just wide for a service error to tie the set at 30 apiece, and then had a couple key digs in the final few points. Trailing 31-30 after an error, the Crusaders got back-to-back big kills from junior Sarah Dooms to earn a fourth set point try, which junior Taylor Root converted with a service ace.
The third set was back-and-forth through the early stages until the Crusaders whipped up a big run on the serve of junior Ariel Cudney and Vanden Berg was a part of all five points the Crusaders earned during the 7-0 run which gave them an 18-11 advantage, posting three kills and combining with first Victor and then Dooms on blocks. Valpo cruised from there, scoring the final three points of the set to take a 2-1 lead.
An early run made the difference in the decisive fourth set, as a kill from Vanden Berg tied the set at 4-4 and Dooms stepped back to serve the next seven points. The junior had a service ace during the run, while Hauch posted two kills and also combined with Vanden Berg on a rejection as Valpo pulled out to an 11-4 edge. The lead never fell below four points the rest of the way, and the Crusaders closed out the four-set victory on an emphatic kill from Victor.
The Valpo offense hit .287 with 68 kills on Saturday, posting .419 hitting percentages in each of the last two sets. Vanden Berg led the way with a career-high 19 kills while hitting at a .441 clip, while Beil hit .385 with 14 kills. Dooms posted 12 kills and 14 digs for her second straight double-double, and Dent closed out four Crusaders in double figures with 11 kills.
Vanden Berg also tied her season high with seven blocks as Valpo posted 9.5 blocks as a team on Saturday. Root led the Crusader effort on the back line with 25 digs, and Cudney posted a double-double of her own with 16 digs and 26 assists.
