Volleyball Results - Sept. 4
UIC def. Northern Illinois, 3-1 (26-24, 25-13, 20-25, 25-20)
Valparaiso def. Illinois State, 3-1 (13-25, 25-11, 25-22, 25-20)
Youngstown State def. Robert Morris, 3-0 (25-12, 25-17, 25-16)
IPFW def. Wright State, 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-16)
Pittsburgh def. Cleveland State, 3-0 (28-26, 26-24, 25-18)
It was a busy night in Horizon League Volleyball and on the Horizon League Network as four of Tuesday night's five volleyball contests were shown live on the HLN. Youngstown State extended its winning streak to five with a three-set sweep of Robert Morris in the Penguins home-opener. Valparaiso, also playing in its home-opener, battled back from a one-set deficit to defeat Illinois State, 3-1. UIC was the League's final winner on Tuesday, defeating Northern Illinois, 3-1.
UIC 3, Northern Illinois 1
CHICAGO - The UIC volleyball team (3-4/0-0 Horizon) defeated Northern Illinois (3-5/0-0 MAC) in a 3-1 (26-24, 25-13, 20-25, 25-20) outcome Tuesday evening inside the Flames Athletic Center.
In an all-around team effort, several Flames members chipped in at crucial points during the match. Senior Aubrey Sniegowski totaled 15 kills on the night at a .440 hitting percentage, committing only four errors.
The Flames captured the first set in a 26-24 outcome. The team was paced by Sniegowski, who hammered down five kills in the frame at a .444 hitting percentage, committing only one error.
UIC was able to rally on to a five-point streak which tied the set at 10-10, and a four-point run later in the set to overtake the Huskies, 19-17.
From that point in the set, there were six lead changes to close out the game. The Flames eventually closed out Northern Illinois as redshirt sophomore Maggie Strus held serve and junior MaryKate Imrie set up senior Kelsey Safranek for consecutive kills for the final two points of the frame and a 26-24victory to give UIC a 1-0 lead in the match.
UIC then handled Northern Illinois in the second set 25-13 victory. The Flames outscored the Huskies 8-2 to begin the frame, including three kills by Safranek and a service ace by Strus. Sniegowski improved her hitting percentage to .467 as she added an addition four kills (nine total) and again committing only one error in the frame. Through the first two games, the Flames compiled eight total blocks.
Moving in to the third set, the Flames had a 2-0 lead over the Huskies in the match. In a set of back-and-forth action, the Huskies were able to pull away to a 25-20 lead and place the match a 2-1.
In the fourth set, the Flames were behind 7-6 to the Huskies, before going on a five-point run, which was ignited with a kill by sophomore Molly McCoy (St. Charles, Ill./Wheaton Academy) to lead Northern Illinois, 10-7.
With the scored tied at 17-17, UIC outscored Northern Illinois 8-1 in the next nine points to place the score at 24-18, before finishing the set and securing the match in a 25-20 score.
The Flames travel south to Mother McAuley High School for a two-day tournament (Sept. 8-9). In addition to UIC, DePaul, Oregon State and Penn State round out the four-team field. There are four matches Saturday, followed by two on Sunday. Mother McAuley is the high school of head UIC coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley and assistant coach Ellen Hayes. Penn State serves as the alma mater to Schumacher-Cawley, while Hayes attended DePaul.
Valparaiso 3, Illinois State 1
The Valparaiso volleyball team opened the 2012 home season on Tuesday evening at the Athletics-Recreation Center, rallying from a first-set loss to defeat Illinois State, 3-1 (13-25, 25-11, 25-22, 25-20).
The Crusaders never led in the opening set, as Illinois State hit .326 with 18 kills to take a one-set advantage. But Valpo turned the tables in the second frame, hitting .400 with 14 kills to send the match into the in-game break tied at one set apiece.
Illinois State actually led 6-1 early on the second set, and after five straight Crusader points, picked up another point to lead Valpo, 7-6. But the Crusaders rattled off four more points in a row to cap a 9-1 run, taking a 10-7 advantage and forcing a timeout from the Redbirds.
Following the stoppage, the teams traded sideouts for the next six points as Valpo maintained a three-point lead at 13-10. But the Crusaders then started to pull away, scoring four more in a row, three of which came on kills from redshirt sophomore Kelsey Victor (Logansport, Ind./Logansport), to pull out to a 17-10 advantage.
Illinois State scored a point on a kill to briefly quell the Crusader momentum, but that didn't deter Valpo, which scored the final eight points of the set to run away. Four different Crusaders had kills during the final run, while Victor and sophomore Morgan Beil (St. Louis, Mo./Marquette) combined for a pair of blocks to close out the 25-11 set win.
"We had a very slow start to the match, but quickly turned that around in set two," said Crusader head coach Carin Avery. "We struggled early with making too many hitting errors and not being able to find the floor for kills, and also weren't able to slow them down defensively. Then finally in the second set, our attacking really came around and we were able to sustain our attack throughout the rest of the match."
Valpo led throughout the first half of the third set, putting some distance between itself and the Redbird with a 5-0 run at 7-7. With a 14-9 Crusader lead, however, Illinois State rattled off 10 points out of the next 11 to go ahead 19-15.
After five straight sideouts left the Crusaders still trailing 21-18, senior Mary Dent (Chicago, Ill./Von Steuben) tallied a kill, followed by a service ace by junior Ellen Vanden Berg (Little Chute, Wis./Little Chute) to bring Valpo within 21-20. After an ISU kill, Beil and Victor recorded back-to-back kills to tie the frame at 22, and following a timeout, redshirt sophomore Lindsey Hauch (Coloma, Mich./Coloma) posted two kills in a row to give Valpo set point. Once again, it was Beil and Victor combining on a rejection at the net to close the 25-22 win for the Crusaders and give them a 2-1 lead.
After a back-and-forth first half of the fourth set, Valpo rolled off seven straight points at a critical juncture, turning a 16-15 deficit into a 22-16 lead. Vanden Berg tallied three kills during the streak to go along with a pair from junior Janelle Hobbs (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead). Illinois State would rally back to within 23-20, but Beil and Hobbs teamed up for a block to give Valpo match point and Beil converted the first opportunity with a kill to close the match.
Dooms paced the Crusaders on offense Tuesday, tallying 12 kills on .250 hitting, while Victor added 11 kills. The balanced Crusader offense saw six different players register at least six terminations. Freshman Kelsey Berrington (Britton, Mich./Tecumseh) handed out 24 assists, while junior Ariel Cudney (LaPorte, Ind./LaPorte) dished out 16 as Valpo hit .220 for the match.
Senior Taylor Root (Jenison, Mich./Jenison) led the effort on the back line with 25 digs, one of four Crusaders to hit double figures. Dooms registered 16, Cudney 15 and Berrington 12 as the trio all finished the night with double-doubles. At the net, Beil tallied six blocks to go with four apiece from Hobbs, Vanden Berg and Victor.
"I thought we did a great job distributing the ball evenly tonight, which resulted in one of our better hitting matches of the year so far," said Avery. "I also thought we did a good job staying disciplined in ball handing, whether on serve receive or defensive transition. I really think that was the key to the match, that as it progressed, we maintained our discipline in ball handling, and that's why we won."
Valparaiso (4-4) competes in the third of its four early-season tournaments this weekend, traveling to Morehead State for the MSU Eagle Challenge. The Crusaders take on Missouri at noon on Friday before facing Savannah State at 3:30 p.m., with live stats for the entire weekend available through www.valpoathletics.com.
Youngstown State 3, Robert Morris 0
Youngstown -- The Youngstown State volleyball team hit .304 as a group and had five different players collect at least seven kills in a sweep of Robert Morris, 25-12, 25-17, 25-16, on Tuesday at Beeghly Center.
The Penguins, playing their 2012 home opener and their first match in Youngstown with coach Mark Hardaway, won for the sixth straight match and posted their fourth consecutive sweep. The Penguins are now 6-2, which gives them more wins than all of last season. YSU earned a sweep at Beeghly Center for the first time since 2008 and won six straight matches for the first time since 1999.
Alexis Egler hit at a .389 clip, and Jenna Cavanaugh posted eight kills and three blocks with a .438 attack percentage. Shannon Watson had a match-high six blocks and joined Missy Hundelt and Jackie Carlisle with seven kills apiece. Hundelt added a match-best 12 digs.
The Penguins had nine blocks in the three-set win and held the Colonials to a .021 attack percentage.
YSU scored the first five points in each of the first two sets and trailed just 1-0 in the third. The Guins took their first double-digit lead in the first at 16-6 on a block by Hundelt and Cavanaugh, and their largest lead was the final margin. Robert Morris closed the 5-0 deficit to 10-8 midway through the second, but that was as close as it got. A Watson kill capped a 9-1 run that put YSU ahead 23-12, and Hundelt got a kill on set point.
After Robert Morris led 1-0 in the third, YSU surged ahead with a 9-1 run and took a 10-4 advantage on a block by Watson and Aly Ryan. The Colonials went on a run of their own to cut the margin to 11-9, but YSU went on a 5-1 run to extend the lead to 18-12 and closed out the match on a 6-1 run.
Youngstown State will travel just an hour west of campus for three matches at the University of Akron’s Zips Invitational this weekend. On Friday, YSU will play Binghamton at 11 a.m. and SIU-Edwardsville at 5 p.m. The Penguins will then play the host Zips on Saturday at 2 p.m.
IPFW 3, Wright State 0
The Wright State volleyball team dropped a three-set decision to IPFW Tuesday night at the Gates Sports Center in Fort Wayne. The Mastodons won the match 25-16, 25-14, 25-16.
IPFW used an 8-2 burst to pull away from a 3-3 tie in the opening set and had a 12-6 run to break away from a 6-3 lead in the second set. The Mastodons then scored six straight to erase an early 1-0 deficit in the final set.
For the match, IPFW held a 42-23 kill advantage and outhit WSU .236-.037.
Setter Ashleigh Lucco posted a double-double of 21 assists and 11 digs for the Raiders whileHeidi Splinter nearly had one herself with 11 kills and nine digs. Libero Katie Glassmeyer tallied 12 digs.
Wright State (0-8) plays in its third tournament of the season this weekend at the West Virginia Golden Horseshoe Challenge in Morgantown, West Virginia. The Raiders face Saint Peter's (1:00) and Radford (5:30) on Friday, followed by Maryland-Eastern Shore (2:00) and the host Mountaineers (6:30) on Saturday.
Pittsburgh 3, Cleveland State 0
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Cleveland State volleyball team gave Pittsburgh all they had Tuesday evening, but it wasn't enough as the Vikings lost a tough three-set match to the Panthers in Woodling Gymnasium in their first home contest of the season. The loss drops CSU to 5-3 on the season, while Pittsburgh improved to 5-2.
Kara Koch tallied 14 kills against the Panthers to lead the Viking offense, while Marie Frease chipped in eight and Kerry Winchester added six. Amanda Medvetz had a team-high 16 digs, while Brittany Holland also recorded double-digit digs, posting 11.
During the opening set the Vikings were able to tie the frame at 15-15 on a Pitt error and were able to gain just their second lead of the set on a Jackie Dabbelt kill at the 17-16 mark. Pittsburgh and CSU tied the set three more times, while the Vikings were able to save three set points on a pair of Koch kills and a Pitt error before the Panthers were able to close the set with a CSU attack error.
The Vikings trailed during the first half of the second set, until a Medvetz service ace tied the frame at 19-19. CSU then posted back-to-back points to gain their first lead of the frame at 21-19 and held the lead until the 22-21 mark when the Panthers gained control. The Vikings once again held off a Panther set point, but eventually lost the 26-24 decision.
The Panthers took control early during the final set, jumping out to a 6-3 lead and held at least a three-point advantage for the rest of the frame. The Vikings mounted a comeback late in the frame with a Frease kill and a Pitt error, but CSU fell short, as Pittsburgh posted a 25-18 victory during the final set.
The Vikings will be back in action this weekend when they host the CSU Invitational. Cleveland State will host Buffalo, Eastern Kentucky and Oakland during the two-day event, opening the weekend with a 7:00 p.m. contest against Buffalo on Friday (Sept. 7).
