It was a repeat of last Friday night in Horizon League volleyball as three of the four matches were won by the road teams. Green Bay jumped out to a 2-0 lead over host Youngstown State and held on to defeat the Penguins in five sets after YSU won the third and fourth sets to force a final set. Loyola also was a five-set road victor, coming back from a 2-1 deficit to defeat Valparaiso. UIC swept Wright State on the road, 3-0, to win its fifth consecutive match.
First place Cleveland State was the lone home team to win on Friday as the Vikings defeated defending Horizon League champion Milwaukee, 3-0.
Friday, October 19
Cleveland State def. Milwaukee, 3-0 (25-9, 25-7, 25-14)
Green Bay def. Youngstown State, 3-2 (25-22, 25-22, 23-25, 16-25, 21-19)
Loyola def. Valparaiso, 3-2 (26-24, 24-26, 16-25, 25-21, 15-13)
UIC def. Wright State, 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-21)
Cleveland State 3, Milwaukee 0
The Cleveland State volleyball team opened up the second half of league play Friday evening with a dominating performance over the Milwaukee Panthers. The Vikings posted a 3-0 sweep over the Panthers, marking their 10th sweep of the season and their fifth in league play.
Set scores against the Panthers were 25-9, 25-7, 25-14.
Maggie Hannon and Kara Koch led the Viking offense against Milwaukee, Hannon with 10 kills and Koch with 12. Hannon and Koch both had error-free performances tonight, Hannon notching a .714 hitting percentage and Koch recording a .545 clip. Amanda Medvetz had a match-high 16 digs against the Panthers, while Dayna Roberts added 13 digs and 32 assists and Koch tallied 12 digs for her 10th double-double of the season.
Hannon also led the Vikings with seven blocks against the Panthers, while Marie Frease and Jackie Dabbelt added four and Roberts notched three.
The Vikings cruised to a 25-9 victory during the opening set, jumping out to an 11-3 lead, giving up just six more Panthers points throughout the frame. After gaining a 14-point advantage at the 23-9 mark, CSU put the set away with back-to-back kills from Hannon and Kerry Winchester.
CSU jumped out to another large lead during the second set, earning a 12-point advantage at the 15-3 mark. The Vikings allowed just four more Milwaukee points during the frame, as they earned the 25-7 victory on two Panther errors.
Milwaukee kept the third set close until the 11-8 mark when CSU was able to notch four straight points on a Roberts kill and three Panther errors. The Vikings held at least a two-point lead for the rest of the frame, closing out the set with seven straight points. During the final seven points CSU got points off kills from Winchester, Dabbelt and Frease.
Green Bay 3, Youngstown State 2
The Green Bay volleyball team (12-10, 3-5) opened the second half of its Horizon League schedule Friday night with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Youngstown State (12-10, 2-6) at Beeghly Center. After seeing its 2-0 lead disappear, the Phoenix came away with a 21-19 win in the deciding fifth set to pick up the 25-22, 25-22, 23-25, 16-25, 21-19 result.
Carmen Leitermann led the Phoenix with a team-high 17 kills, hitting .300 for the match. The senior also paced Green Bay with seven blocks, including her school-record 98th solo block of her career, moving her past former Phoenix standout Marie Kaland (97 from 1992-95).
The Penguins had three match point chances in the first-to-15 fifth set, but the Phoenix was able to deny each one and ultimately finish off its third win in the last four matches.
With YSU leading 14-13, Green Bay freshman Taylor Kasal drove home one of her career-high 13 kills to keep the Phoenix alive. Moments later with the Phoenix down 15-14, junior Lyndsay Zabkowicz her 14th kill of the match to once again even the score.
Green Bay had a pair of match point tries of its own (16-15, 18-17), but a Phoenix attack error and a kill by YSU’s Missy Hundelt knotted things back up at 18-18. A kill by Monica Anderson put the Phoenix on top 19-18, and a double-block by Leah Poel and Katie Mroczenski gave the visitors another match point chance at 20-19. Anderson delivered the final blow with her 11th kill of the contest, giving Green Bay the 21-19 win and its second five-set win over the Penguins this season.
Kasal, playing in just her eighth match of the season, finished the contest with 13 kills, eight digs and a pair of blocks.
Poel had a solid all-around night for the Phoenix, finishing with a match-high 52 assists to go along with six kills and 15 digs. Senior Brittany Groth, who entered Friday’s match ranked second in the NCAA in digs per set (6.19), led five Phoenix players with double-digit dig totals with 22. Hundelt paced the Penguins with a match-high 19 kills to go along with 20 digs and five blocks.
Loyola 3, Valparaiso 2
Libby Bresser teamed with Anna Eytchison and then Brittany Brown for blocks on the final two points as Loyola rallied past Valparaiso tonight, 3-2 (26-24, 24-26, 25-16, 25-21, 15-13), at the ARC in Valparaiso, Ind. The Ramblers (14-7, 6-2) avenge one of their two Horizon League losses while Valpo slips to (13-10, 5-3).
After Eytchison opened the match with an ace, Valpo was able to move out to an early 9-6 lead after back-to-back blocks. The lead grew to five (13-8) on an Ariel Cudney kill before Loyola rallied. Eytchison and Bresser each had a kill and combined for a block as the Ramblers ripped off the next five points to draw even at 13-13. The home team responded by scoring seven of the next eight to grab a seemingly comfortable 20-14 advantage but Loyola had some fight left. Two kills from Kathleen Vogel and one apiece from Nichole Riedel and Laura Purcell got LU within two (21-19) and the Ramblers rattled off four more points to grab a 23-21 lead. Valpo scored the three points to grab a set point at 24-23 but a Vogel kill erased that and Purcell pounded back-to-back kills as the Ramblers stole the opening set, 26-24.
The second set was close throughout until Valpo edged out to a 15-11 lead after two LU errors. Eytchison had two kills as Loyola pulled within a point (15-14) but the Crusaders were able to hang on to the lead, opening up a 22-19 advantage on a Mary Dent kill. Another Eytchison kill and a Vogel ace helped the Ramblers finally pull even (22-22) and the teams traded points to 24-all before a Kelsey Victor kill and a VU block helped the home team even the match with a 26-24 win of its own.
Valpo scored seven of the first eight points of the third set and opened up a 13-4 lead later on a Sarah Dooms kill. Loyola tried to chip away, getting within six (20-14) after kills from Bresser and Eytchison, but it would get no closer as Valpo grabbed a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-16 win.
Two blocks and an Eytchison kill got the Ramblers off to a good start in the fourth set but Valpo used a six-point scoring run in the middle stages to turn a 10-8 deficit into a 14-10 lead. A Riedel kill ended the run and Loyola clawed back to pull even at 17 on a Brown kill. A Dent kill gave the home team a 21-18 lead and prompted a Loyola timeout, from which the Ramblers rallied. A hitting error gave LU service and a Brown kill and another Crusader error made it 21-all. Loyola kept pushing, using two Vogel kills to get to 24-21 and Vogel teamed with Riedel for a block to cap a set-ending 7-0 run that pushed the match to a fifth set.
Two Brown kills helped Loyola take an early 5-2 lead in the final set but Valpo rallied and took an 8-7 lead as the teams changed sides. A Vogel ace later gave the Ramblers a 10-9 lead but Valpo scored the next two to regain the lead. A Purcell kill and two Crusader errors pushed the Ramblers within two points of the match (13-11) but kills from Dooms and Dent quickly pulled the hosts even at 13. Bresser and the Loyola block took over from there, as the sophomore teamed with Eytchison to give LU a match point and then combined with Brown for another stuff to give the Ramblers their first road win over Valparaiso since the Crusaders joined the Horizon League in 2007.
Eytchison led Loyola with 18 kills but hit just .041 for the match, indicative of the night for Loyola, which hit just .080 as a team. Vogel added 12 kills and a season-high 17 digs while Purcell also reached double figures, finishing with 11 kills and four blocks. Brown was solid at her setter spot (six kills, 43 assists, season-high 22 digs) while Bresser (six kills, eight blocks), Riedel (six blocks), Stephanie Kinane (30 digs) and Vicki Wrobel (career-high 16 digs) keyed Loyola's defense.
UIC 3, Wright State 0
The UIC volleyball team (13-10, 6-2) swept (25-18, 25-15, 25-21) Wright State Friday inside the C.J. McLin Gymnasium in Dayton, Ohio. The win is UIC's fifth-straight victory.
Seniors Kelsey Safranek and Aubrey Sniegowski piloted the Flames in kills with 10 each. Sniegowski hit at .429 on the night, while also assisting on four blocks.
Senior Janise Dismuke proved to stay consistent as she posted her sixth consecutive match of hitting at .400 or better. The middle hitter knocked down nine kills at .500, and also chipped in on five blocks.
Junior MaryKate Imrie dished out 39 assists to lead all players, while collecting seven digs. Sophomore Maggie Strus earned 17 digs to lead the Flames defensively.
The UIC squad captured its second victory of the season over the Raiders. The Flames dropped the Wright State team 25-18 in the first set, before improving to a 25-15 victory in the second set. UIC then took the deciding set in a 25-21 outcome.
The Flames out-performed the Raiders in each frame of play, with the exception of digs. UIC hit at .306 with 47 kills as a team, while the Raiders posted a .156 hitting percentage and 40 kills.
