Oakland, UIC, UWM and YSU Win on Saturday Night in #HLVB

Volleyball Scoreboard (Sept. 27)
Oakland 3, Cleveland State 2
Milwaukee 3, Valparaiso 2
UIC 3, Green Bay 0
Youngstown State 3, Wright State 0

Oakland 3, Cleveland State 2
Melissa Deatsch and Cassie Pelloni each had 15 kills as the Oakland volleyball team (10-6, 2-0 HL) not only came back from a two-set deficit but fought off three match-point serves Saturday afternoon to defeat Cleveland State, 25-20, 21-25, 10-25, 25-21, 19-17.

"That was an incredible match in which to compete," Oakland head coach Rob Beam said. "Cleveland State played extremely well, and we showed a lot of courage and belief in responding after the third set. I am very proud of our players for not only getting the win, but for doing it together."

A team effort indeed. Sammy Condon added 10 kills while Jessica Dood notched nine to pace the attack. Defensively, four players reached double figures in digs, led by Taylor Humm's 23. Deatsch (19), Ciara Schultz (12) and Alli Gutschow (10) also aided in the defense. Schultz had a match-best 47 assists.

Tied 10-10 in the fifth set, Cleveland State (8-7, 1-1 HL) took a two-point lead after a service ace and an Oakland miscue. The Golden Grizzlies knotted the set back up at 13-13, only to falter with a serving error. Facing the first of what would be three match point opportunities by Cleveland State, Oakland got back-to-back kills by Sammy Condon to force extra points.

Cleveland State served for the match at 16-15 and again at 17-16. But with a kill by Pelloni, an attack error by the Vikings, and an emphatic block by Pelloni and Amanda Baker, Oakland scored the final three points to earn the hard-fought Horizon League road victory.

Oakland captured the first set thanks to a .303 hitting percentage, but the Golden Grizzlies struggled in the next two sets. Oakland then rallied late in the fourth set with a .237 hitting percentage and forced the deciding set.

Milwaukee 3, Valparaiso 2
Myanna Ruiz collected her second career triple double to help the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee volleyball team end Valparaiso University's 13-game win streak Saturday afternoon in a five-set thriller at the Klotsche Center.

UWM (6-8, 2-0 Horizon) actually dominated early on to grab the first two sets before rallying late in the fifth, going on a 13-4 run to end the match with a dramatic 27-25, 25-21, 14-25, 20-25, 15-12 victory.

This marks the second triple double in Ruiz's career, and the second in just over one week, having first accomplished the rare feat in last Saturday's 3-0 win over LIU Brooklyn.

Ruiz was one of three Panthers in double figures in kills, while Taylor Golabowski had a season-high 23 digs on the day to lead all players.

"I would say that was a guts match," Milwaukee head coach Susie Johnson said. "We won the first two, so things were kind of running on all cylinders and then we just came back out and we struggled with getting the ball down (in the third and fourth sets). We really had a hard time getting that together so it became a real `what are you going to do' match.

"I was so proud of the team for turning it around and figuring it out. That wasn't easy to do, but it's what we did. Myanna really turned it on at the end and the defense really picked it up. I'm excited about our defense from this match and the fact that we were able to just stay the course and finish it out with the win."

The two teams went back and forth the entire first set. A kill by Kolinske in the early going made it 5-5 before Valpo rattled off four straight. Milwaukee retook the lead after a Maggie Dunbar kill to make it 14-13, but Valpo refused to go away, actually grabbing a 23-20 lead late in the match. A block by Dunbar and Kaisa Mattson evened it up at 23 apiece and Kolinske finished the match off with back-to-back kills.

UWM carried their hot streak from the first set into the second. Consecutive kills by Kolinske and Latzig drew the set up a 5-5 and Milwaukee would never look back. A block by Hannah Blanchard and Mattson stretched the Panther lead to 14-11 and an ace by Ruiz gave UWM its largest lead at 24-19. Dunbar then put the set away with an emphatic kill, one of her 11 on the day.

Valparaiso came out of the break flying high. After hitting just .065 in the second set, the Crusaders hit an impressive .522 in the third. Milwaukee was able to tie things up at 8-8, but from there it was all VU to close the gap.

The Crusaders continued to frustrate UWM in the fourth. Things went back and forth in the early going before Valpo was able to slowly pull away and force a fifth set.

After jumping out to an early 8-2 lead in the fifth, it looked like VU had the match. But Milwaukee refused to quit. Trailing 5-9, the Panthers rattled off seven-straight. Hannah Blanchard had a pair of emphatic kills to help spring UWM back on top, 12-9. Valparaiso kept things interesting but Dunbar's kill closed it out and secured the win for Milwaukee.

"It means a lot for us to start 2-0 (in league play), especially when Kayla Price is out," Johnson said. "She's healing up but she's an all-conference setter. The fact that this team is truly a team means a ton. We're not falling backward; we're actually pushing forward. We're getting better. Everyone on the team is adjusting and getting better and we always have to have the mentality that we're going to fight and we're going to win."

UIC 3, Green Bay 0
The UIC volleyball team (7-10, 1-1) captured its first win of the Horizon League season on Saturday with a 3-0 (28-26, 28-26, 26-24) sweep over Green Bay (2-11, 0-2) at the Kress Center. Junior Stephenee Yancy paced all players with 16 kills to contribute to the Flames’ 51 kills against the Phoenix.

UIC came out in the opening set and rallied back to take a 28-26 win with a .351 hit percentage after Green Bay was in position with a 24-22 advantage. The second set came in repeat fashion as the Flames pulled away with a 28-26 victory for a 2-0 lead. In the third and final set, the Phoenix climbed to a 19-14 lead, but UIC brought the score to 24-24 before clinching a 26-24 victory.

The Flames were led in kills by Yancy, who reached double digits for the 17th-consecutive match with 16, and sophomore Kara Johnson, who added 12 kills for her 14th double-digit outing of the season. Sophomore Casey Harris additionally put down nine kills to mark a season high in the category.

Redshirt-freshman Nicole Johnson dished out 39 assists to bring her season total to 781, while she additionally added three kills, two service aces and seven digs.

Maggie Strus produced a team-high 10 digs against to improve her double-digit dig streak to 10-consecutive matches. Strus owns a total of 242 digs on the season to contribute to her career total of 1,502.

Youngstown State 3, Wright State 0
The Youngstown State volleyball team hit .319 and got a double-double from Lexi Egler in a sweep of Wright State on Saturday afternoon at Beeghly Center. The set scores were 25-21, 25-16, 25-16.

YSU snapped a five-match losing streak and improved its record to 10-7 overall and 1-1 in Horizon League play.

Egler finished with 12 kills and 10 digs, and Sam Brown added nine kills on a .421 attack percentage. Lauren Thompson posted seven kills on 10 attempts without an error, and three Penguins had three blocks. Val Jeffery also had a double-double with 32 assists and a team-best 13 digs.

Ashley Langjahr led Wright State with 12 kills, and Jessie Thornton posted 15 digs.

Youngstown State jumped out to early sizeable leads in all three sets and was efficient enough offensively to keep Wright State from contending after the first set.

The Penguins led 10-3 in the first set and still led by six at 22-16 following an Egler kill. Brown's kill gave YSU set point at 24-19, and Egler's third kill of the set gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead in the match. YSU hit just .107 in the opening set, but Wright State had 10 attack errors.

Egler had five kills in the second set, and the Penguins built a 14-6 lead behind her serve. Egler and Shannon Watson combined for a block of Langjahr to put YSU ahead 22-10, and Egler finished the second set with her eighth kill of the match.

The Penguins then showcased their offensive prowess in the third set as they posted 20 kills and hit .486 collectively. Thompson had five kills on five attempts, and Brown had five kills on eight swings. Brown's third kill of the set put YSU up 13-4, and her fourth gave the Penguins a 16-5 advantage. Wright State got no closer than six the rest of the match, and Brown finished off the victory with another kill.