Oakland, UIC, UWM and Valpo Win on Friday Night

Friday, October 11 Results
Milwaukee 3, Green Bay 1 (25-21, 24-26, 25-21, 25-21)
Oakland 3, Wright State 0 (25-13, 25-19, 25-20)
UIC 3, Cleveland State 2 (16-25, 18-25, 25-18, 26-24, 15-13)
Valparaiso 3, Youngstown State 0 (25-17, 28-26, 27-25)

Milwaukee 3, Green Bay 1
Julie Kolinske had 16 kills to lead four players in double figures as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee captured a 25-21, 24-26, 25-21, 25-21 win over Green Bay Friday night at the Klotsche Center.

The Panthers (9-8, 5-0 Horizon) hit .291 for the match and committed just one error in the fourth set en route to putting the contest away.

Nicole Latzig added 13 kills, Myanna Ruiz 11 and Rachel Neuberger 10 for Milwaukee, which probably should have swept the match but let three set-point chances get away in the only frame it dropped.

Taylor Golabowski had 15 digs to lead the Panther defense, which also collected seven blocks.

Mikaela Gunderson had 17 kills to lead the Phoenix (8-9, 3-2).

The Panthers controlled much of the first set, building leads of 14-10 and 18-13 before pushing the edge to 20-14 on a kill by Latzig. Green Bay was able to crawl back to within three but a kill by Kolinske finished things off.

Milwaukee then looked like it was poised to go up 2-0 as it built leads of 18-12, 21-16 and 24-21 in the set. But Green Bay successfully fought off three set-points and turned that into a five-point run, with a UWM error finally allowing Green Bay to even the match.

The Panthers responded nicely in the third set. UWM used a four-point run early to go up 10-7 and then never gave the lead back. The advantage grew to 16-9 on a kill by Hannah Blanchard and 23-13 on a Blanchard ace. Green Bay answered with six-straight points to make the score tighter, but kills from Ruiz and Kolinske sent the Panthers back ahead in the match.

UWM then closed things out with a late surge in the fourth set. Milwaukee had an early 11-8 lead after a run of four-straight points thanks to two kills apiece from Kolinske and Neuberger. But Green Bay eventually led 18-17 before the Panthers answered for good. A quick three-point burst put Milwaukee ahead 20-18 and an ace from Ruiz pushed the lead to 23-19. Kills from Kolinske and Latzig then finished things off.

Oakland 3, Wright State 0
Cassie Pelloni led Oakland with 11 kills and Melissa Deatsch recorded four service aces as the Golden Grizzlies (8-11, 2-3 HL) dispatched Wright State (6-16, 0-5 HL) in three sets. The set scores were 25-13, 25-19 and 25-20.

As a team, OU mustered a .347 hitting efficiency compared to the .079 posted by the Raiders. Amanda Baker tallied seven block assists closely followed by teammates Allia Knight and Brooke Wadsworth with five each.

The first set of the match began tightly but two kills from Wadsworth would give Oakland the 6-5 lead, which would hold for the remainder of the set. OU went on to win set one 25-13. In the second set, Wright State began with an early lead but gave up its advantage to the Grizzlies, who built a three-point gap at 16-13, but then allowed the persistent Raiders to catch back up. Alissa Valentine recorded a kill to even the score at 18-18 and it was clear sailing until the end of the set for Oakland, hanging on for the 25-19 victory and 2-0 advantage in the match.

Set three would turn out to be the final set of the match between the two teams though Wright State did maintain a lead for a good portion of the set. A Raider attack error brought Oakland to a deadlock with Wright State at 15-15 and the Grizzlies were back in the driver's seat. The final kill of the match came from none other than Pelloni to end the set 25-20 and win the match in three straight sets.

Stephanie Ruffing led the Raiders with nine kills and nine digs, while Ellen Senf had eight kills and a team-high .375 attack percentage.

UIC 3, Cleveland State 2
The UIC volleyball team (6-13, 1-3 Horizon League) fought back from a 2-0 deficit to rally for a 3-2 victory (16-25, 18-25, 25-18, 26-24, 15-13) over Cleveland State (12-5, 2-2 Horizon League) Friday night. The Flames received 13 kills from junior Sara Sternard and picked up their first league win of the season in thrilling fashion.

Senior MaryKate Imrie (40 assists and 11 digs) picked up her second double-double of the season while freshmen Kara Johnson (eight kills, 10 digs and four service aces) and Casey Harris (eight kills and nine blocks) were instrumental in the comeback.

Junior Olivia Desormey (seven kills and four blocks) and freshman Melissa Nava (seven kills and two blocks) provided a major presence at the net and slowed down CSU's offensive attack. Senior Justine Garcia recorded her ninth consecutive double-digit dig performance and nearly set a season high with 17 digs.

Redshirt sophomore Tracy Friel added 11 digs for the UIC defensive effort, which limited CSU to a .027 attack percentage in the final three sets. The Flames set a season high with 12 total blocks.

UIC held an early 4-2 lead in the first set and Desormey put down four kills on six attempts in the frame. However, CSU would go on to record 14 kills, three blocks and three service aces in a 25-16 victory.

UIC jumped out to a 10-7 lead in the second set following a dual block by Harris and Desormey. The Vikings would fight back and hold a 14-12 advantage following a Kerry Winchester ace. Sternard’s second kill of the set narrowed the CSU lead to 15-14 but the Vikings finished the set on a 10-4 run to collect a 25-18 victory.

UIC scored seven out of eight points early in the third set and led 11-6 following Johnson’s third ace of the match. The Vikings tied it up at 11-11 but UIC responded with three straight points to take control of the set. Sternard put down five kills on ten swings while Desormey had three kills on five attempts in the 25-18 win.

The Flames used five team blocks to win a tightly contested fourth set, which featured eight ties and six lead changes. CSU tied it at 24-24 following a Vikings’ block but a Nava kill and Harris’ fourth block of the set forced a fifth set.

The decisive fifth frame was stalemated until Sternard’s fourth kill of the set put UIC up 14-13. With Friel serving, the Flames’ intimidating block forced Kerry Winchester to send an attack long and UIC had rallied back for its first Horizon League victory of the season.

Valparaiso 3, Youngstown State 0
The Valparaiso volleyball team started on fire offensively and got huge performances from both of its middle hitters Friday evening in Horizon League action at Youngstown State, riding the momentum all the way to a 3-0 (25-17, 28-26, 27-25) sweep of the Penguins in Youngstown, Ohio.

Junior Morgan Beil led the way for the Crusaders offensively, racking up a match-high 14 kills on just 21 swings in the sweep. Her .667 hitting percentage was the second-best single-match effort of her career. Meanwhile, senior Ellen Vanden Berg was nearly as impressive, hitting .478 on the evening with 12 kills.

The duo combined for 10 of their 26 kills in the first set, helping Valpo take the opening frame for the first time in the last three matches. The Crusaders did not commit an attack error in the first set, hitting .395 with 15 kills on the offensive side of the ball while holding the Penguins to .170 hitting. Valpo claimed the lead for good at 6-5, and used a four-point spurt mid-frame to go ahead 14-8, from which point the Crusaders held YSU at bay.

Neither of the final two sets would come nearly as easy to Valpo. It looked like it might be easy early in the second set, as the Crusaders jumped ahead 7-2, but YSU fought back and eventually claimed its first lead of the set at 17-16. Following a timeout, Valpo scored five straight, getting two kills apiece from Vanden Berg and senior Sarah Dooms and an ace by senior Ariel Cudney, to go ahead 21-17.

The Penguins scored six of the next eight to tie the set at 23-all, and while a YSU attack error gave Valpo set point at 24-23, a service error forced extra points at 24-24. Beil tallied a kill, but yet another service error returned the serve to the Penguins, and a Valpo attack error provided YSU a set point chance at 26-25. But redshirt junior Kelsey Victor picked up a kill to keep the set alive, and following a Penguin error, Victor and Vanden Berg combined on a block to close out the set in the Crusaders' favor, giving them a 2-0 lead in the match.

The third set proved to be the most back-and-forth of the night, with 10 tie scores and five lead changes. Much like the second set, one team jumped out to an early 7-2 lead, only this time it was Youngstown State. As in the previous frame, however, the trailing team fought back, as the Crusaders clawed back to take the lead at 15-14 on the back of a 5-0 run.

The flip-flopping would continue, with the Crusaders scoring three straight points on two Dooms kills and an ace from freshman Morganne Longoria to go ahead 20-18 before four straight YSU points. Valpo responded with two straight, but the Penguins answered with the same to earn two set point chances at 24-22.

Kills by first Beil and then freshman Emily Campbell kept the set alive, however, as the two teams went extra points for the second straight set. YSU moved within one point of forcing a fourth set with a kill to make it 25-24, but Campbell responded with a kill to tie it at 25-all. Beil then recorded her 14thtermination of the night to push the Crusaders to the brink of the sweep, and a Penguin attack error made it a 3-0 Valpo win.

The Crusaders hit a robust .311 in the sweep, tallying 48 kills against just 11 attack errors as a team. Dooms backed up the stellar performances of Beil and Vanden Berg on the attack with a solid effort as well, hitting .333 with 12 kills. Cudney handed out 22 assists on the evening, while sophomore Kelsey Berrington added 17 assists. Defensively, Longoria posted a team-high 14 digs, while Dooms and Berrington each ended the night with double-doubles after recording 13 and 10 digs, respectively.

Youngstown State (10-9, 2-2 Horizon) received 14 kills from Alexis Egler. Erika West posted a match-best 16 digs.