Milwaukee Wins on Saturday Night to Clinch At Least a Share of HL Title

Horizon League Volleyball Scoreboard (Nov. 9)
Cleveland State def., UIC, 3-1 (25-21, 25-23, 18-25, 25-22)
Milwaukee def., Green Bay, 3-1 (25-23, 24-26, 25-16, 25-21)
Youngstown State def., Valparaiso, 3-2 (25-18, 18-25, 25-21, 16-25, 15-11)

Milwaukee 3, Green Bay 1
Julie Kolinske led the offense with 17 kills while Taylor Golabowski spearheaded the defense with 25 digs as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee clinched at least a share of the Horizon League regular season title with a 25-23, 24-26, 25-16, 25-21 win at Green Bay Saturday night.

The victory, combined with Valparaiso's five-set loss to Youngstown State Saturday, means the Panthers (15-9, 11-1 Horizon) sit two matches ahead of the Crusaders (23-6, 9-3) with two matches to play.

The regular season league crown is Milwaukee's ninth in the last 11 seasons.

Rachel Neuberger added 12 kills for Milwaukee, sending her past 1,000 for her career. Plus Maggie Dunbar had 11 kills and hit .500.

Golabowski's 25 digs, along with UWM's 10 blocks, helped limit Green Bay (12-13, 7-5) to a .174 hitting clip. Reigning Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week Taylor Kasal was held to 10 kills and a .116 hitting clip.

After the two teams split the first two frames, the Panthers stepped on the gas in sets three and four. Milwaukee held Green Bay to just eight kills in the third set then tallied four of its 10 blocks in the final frame.

"I was really proud of this team after the match," head coach Susie Johnson said. "We pushed our way through the stress of the match. We weren't comfortable at the beginning, but we got comfortable as the match went on. It was a team effort where we had a lot of people stepping up and we went from being stressed out to having fun."

A tight first set went the way of the Panthers. After neither team could build more than a one-point lead much of the way, Green Bay pushed ahead 21-19 and forced a Milwaukee timeout. But the Panthers quickly responded, tying things at 21-apiece on an ace from Hannah Blanchard before going ahead 22-21 on a Myanna Ruiz kill. After Green Bay tied the frame at 22, UWM went ahead for good on a Neuberger kill and then moved to set-point on a block by Neuberger and Kayla Price. After one more Green Bay point, a kill from Kolinske finished things off.

The Panthers trailed by as many as three points early in the second frame and still found themselves down 17-14 after a kill by Kasal. The Phoenix then led 22-19 after a UWM error but Milwaukee rallied to forge a 23-all tie on a Green Bay error. The set was also tied at 24-apiece after a kill by Kaisa Mattson, but the Phoenix answered with the next two points to even the match.

Milwaukee was dominant in the third frame. The Panthers jumped out to leads of 5-2 and 10-6 before pushing the lead to 15-10 on a block by Mattson and Kolinske. UWM's lead grew to 19-13 after kills by Ruiz and Dunbar and Milwaukee went up 23-15 on a Green Bay error. Another Green Bay error provided the final point of the set and pushed Milwaukee back into the lead for the match.

The Panthers then closed things out with a solid performance in the fourth set. Milwaukee grabbed an early 9-7 lead on a kill by Dunbar and went up 14-11 following an ace from Golabowski. UWM then seized control with a quick four-point burst behind the serving of Maddie Schmitz, turning an 18-16 lead into a 22-16 advantage. Green Bay was able to cut the lead back to three points but could never get closer, with a block by Price and Mattson finishing things off.

"We needed different people at certain times and they came through. We know we can't just rely on one person, we need everyone." Johnson said. "Maggie had a great run of kills and Maddie really made some big plays for us late. Julie had some key kills, Kayla settled into the match and then someone like Kaisa Mattson stepped in and played like a veteran. It was cool to watch. We knew it wasn't going to be easy and we know it won't be easy going forward, but we're improving every day."

Cleveland State 3, UIC 1
Maggie Hannon posted a team-high 16 kills, including a pair of kills during a crucial stretch in the fourth set to lead the Cleveland State volleyball team to a 3-1 victory at UIC Saturday afternoon. With the win the Vikings improve to 14-11 and 4-8 in Horizon League play, while the Flames fall to 8-20 (3-9).

Set scores against the Flames were 25-21, 25-23, 18-25, 25-22.

Along with Hannon, the Vikings had three other players with double-digit kills, including Kerry Winchester who notched 14 – her first 10-plus kill match since the beginning of league play. Grace Kauth and Christina Toth each tallied 10 kills for the Vikings, while Dayna Roberts and Annie Djukic captained the offense – Djukic with 28 assists and Roberts with 22 helpers.

Djukic and Nikki Holmes led the Cleveland State defense each posting 13 digs, while Winchester and Kauth each added seven digs. Kelly Kiger had a team-high seven blocks with Hannon adding five.

The Vikings were able to gain a slight advantage early on in the first set, and controlled play for the remainder of the frame. After UIC tied the set at the 17-17 and 18-18 marks, Cleveland State was able to tally two straight points on a Toth kill and a Kauth service ace to gain a lead (20-18) that they would hold for the rest of the frame. The Vikings closed out the set with three straight points, including back-to-back Hannon kills for the 25-21 first set victory.

The second set was much like the first, as the Vikings held a slight lead for the majority of the frame, but didn't pull away from the Flames until the final points of the set. After the set was tied for the sixth time at the 14-14 mark, CSU rattled off a 5-0 run including kills from Hannon, Nesbitt and Winchester to gain a five-point advantage (19-14) which they would go on to hold for the rest of the frame. The Flames were able to stay in the set though, and even tied the frame once again at 23-23, but CSU held strong, closing the frame with a Toth kill and a Flame error for the 25-23 second set victory.

After letting the third set slip away, the Vikings were about to do the same during the fourth set when Hannon spurred a five-point comeback to give CSU its first lead of the frame at the 19-17 mark. During this stretch, CSU went on a 7-0 run, getting points off of kills from Winchester, Hannon and Kauth and blocks from Katie Nesbitt and Hannon. The Vikings were then able to keep a slight advantage for the next six points until UIC was able to gain a one-point lead at the 22-21 mark. This lead wouldn't last long though, as the Vikings rebounded with four straight points to end the frame, including two kills from Winchester and one from Toth.

Youngstown State 3, Valparaiso 2
The Youngstown State volleyball team showed its mettle on Saturday evening by defeating Valparaiso in five sets, 25-18, 18-25, 25-21, 16-25, 15-11, at the ARC.

The Penguins, coming off a disappointing loss on Friday at UIC, rebounded strongly to beat the Crusaders for the first time since 2007.

Alexis Egler had 17 kills and 22 digs while Nichele Johnson registered 12 kills for YSU, which improves to 15-12 overall and 7-5 in Horizon League play. The Penguins also had 13 blocks as a team with Jenna Cavanaugh leading the way with seven. Casey' D'Ambrose finished with 38 assists.

Sarah Dooms had 13 kills to lead Valparaiso, which dropped to 23-6 overall and 9-3 in conference play.

Youngstown State trailed 16-14 in the opening set before scoring seven straight points to go up 21-16. Egler had two kills, and Aly Ryan and Lauren Thompson combined for two blocks during the run. YSU did not allow the Crusaders to get closer than three the rest of the set.

Valpo went on a 9-2 run midway through the second set to pull away for the 25-18 win. The Penguins scored five straight points in the third set to go up 15-12, and they fought off the Crusaders to win 25-21.  One of Jackie Carlisle's eight kills gave the Penguins a side out at 23-21, and Cavanaugh blocked Ellen Vanden Berg on set point.

The fourth set was tied at 13-13 when Valpo closed it out with a 12-3 run. The Penguins then stormed out of the gate in the fifth set by scoring the first five points, and Valpo never caught them. Johnson and Cavanaugh combined four of the five points during that opening run. Valpo got within one at 8-7 following a 4-1 run, but YSU answered with its own 4-1 run to go up 12-8 on a Carlisle kill. Johnson's kill gave the Penguins a 13-9 lead, and she combined with Cavanaugh for the third time in the set to give the Penguins match point. Egler's 17th kill of the night finished the match.