Valpo-Green Bay Five-Set Thriller Highlights Friday Night Action

Friday, October 4 Results
Cleveland State 3, Wright State 1 (26-28, 25-19, 25-15, 25-18)
Milwaukee 3, UIC 0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-15)
Oakland 3, Youngstown State 1 (25-17, 27-25, 19-25, 25-19)
Valparaiso 3, Green Bay 2 (9-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-23, 18-16)

Cleveland State 3, Wright State 1
Behind career-high performances from Kelly Kiger and Katie Nesbitt the Cleveland State volleyball team picked up its first Horizon League victory of the season Friday, notching a 3-1 win at Wright State. The Vikings are now 11-4 overall this season and 1-1 in league play, while Wright State falls to 6-14 (0-3).

Set scores against the Raiders were; 26-28, 25-19, 25-25, 25-18.

Kiger led the Vikings with a career-high 15 kills along with a team-best six blocks, while Nesbitt recorded a personal-best 11 kills. Kerry Winchester also notched double-digit kills against the Raiders, notching 12. Nikki Holmes tallied a team-high 18 digs to lead the Viking defense, while Grace Kauth posted 14 digs and Dayna Roberts added 12. Roberts also notched 20 assists – marking her fifth double-double of the season.

After dropping the first set, the Vikings battled back to sweep the next three frames to earn the 3-1 victory.

In the second frame CSU jumped out to a 7-3 lead on a Kauth kill, forcing a Wright State timeout and would hold the advantage for the rest of the set. After the Raiders came within two points at the 12-10 mark, the Vikings tallied five of the next six points with two kills from Winchester and one from Kiger to extend their lead to 17-11. CSU then held a steady lead for the rest of the frame, putting the set away with a Kiger kill – her fourth of the set.

During the third set, the Vikings had to overcome an early deficit, gaining their first lead of the frame at 6-4 following back-to-back Annie Djukic service aces. The Vikings were able to extend their lead at the 12-8 mark with a pair of kills from Kiger and Nesbitt, and quickly went on a six-point run, gaining an eight-point lead at 18-10. From here, CSU cruised to a 10-point victory, ending the set on a Nesbitt kill.

The fourth and final set was much like the second, as CSU was able to jump out to an early lead and hold the advantage for the rest of the frame. After gaining a six-point lead at the 14-8 mark on a WSU error, Cleveland State was able hold at least a four-point advantage for the remainder of the frame, and closed the set on a 4-1 run with two kills from Winchester and one from Maggie Hannon.

Wright State had two players reach double-figures in kills, led by Ashley Langjahr with 12. Miranda Puthoff had a match-high 34 assists, while Heidi Splinter led the Raiders with 16 digs.

Milwaukee 3, UIC 0
Myanna Ruiz and Rachel Neuberger had 11 kills apiece as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee collected a 25-23, 25-16, 25-15 win at UIC Friday night.

The Panthers (7-8, 3-0 Horizon) hit .301 for the match and were never really threatened after winning a hard-fought first set.

In fact, Milwaukee hit .355 in the final two frames and completely shut down the Flames (5-12, 0-2), who hit just .103 for the match. Ruiz and Taylor Golabowski had 11 digs apiece, while reigning league defensive player of the week Neuberger had a part in six of Milwaukee's seven blocks.

UWM again had great balance on offense as setter Kayla Price (39 assists) spread the ball around. Julie Kolinske added nine kills, Hannah Blanchard seven and Nicole Latzig six.

Sara Sternard had eight kills to lead UIC.

Milwaukee won a hard-fought first set by riding the lead much of the way. The Panthers jumped out to an early 9-6 lead after a three-point burst, highlighted by two Neuberger kills. Milwaukee still led 10-7 after another Neuberger kill before UIC turned the tables with a 7-1 burst, claiming a 14-11 advantage. UWM struck right back, scoring four in a row for a 15-14 advantage before taking the lead for good at 16-15 on a Ruiz kill. The Panthers eventually led by as many as four points before UIC fought back to forge a 22-all tie. Milwaukee had the final answer, though, with a kill from Latzig putting the Panthers back ahead for good before a kill from Kolinske ended the set.

The Panthers controlled the second set. UWM grabbed an 8-3 lead following a Neuberger kill and was still up 12-7 following a kill from Ruiz. UIC did counter with four in a row to pull within 12-11, but the Flames would never get the lead. Instead, Milwaukee scored the next four points to claim a 16-11 advantage and then went ahead 19-13 on another Ruiz kill. The lead hit 23-14 on an ace by Golabowski and then kills from Latzig and Blanchard finished things off.

The Panthers then finished off the match with a dominating performance in the third set. UWM jumped out to a 6-2 lead before UIC responded with five of the next six points to tie things at 7-apiece. The Flames had no answers after that, though, as a kill by Neuberger pushed the lead back to 12-9 and sparked an 8-0 run by Milwaukee. UWM had four blocks during the burst and went ahead 19-9 on a UIC error. The lead eventually grew to as many as 11 points before a kill from Kolinske provided the final point of the match.

Oakland 3, Youngstown State 1
Cassie Pelloni earned 12 kills and Taylor Humm and Ciara Schultz finished with 10 digs apiece as Oakland (7-10, 1-2) defeated Horizon League opponent Youngstown State (9-8, 1-1) in the Athletics Center O'rena on Friday night. The set scores were 25-17, 27-25, 19-25 and 25-19.

Brooke Wadsworth had two solo blocks and three block assists and Amanda Baker recorded a solo block with two block assists at the net for the Golden Grizzlies. Oakland recorded a .243 hitting percentage in the match compared to Youngstown State's .226, including .370 and .333 in the first and fourth sets.

Oakland did not waste much time in taking control of the first set as the score was tied 6-6 before OU was off to the races and gained some momentum in the match. The team cruised to a 25-17 win for the 1-0 advantage overall. In set two, Oakland had the upper hand for most of the set but the score remained much tighter. Youngstown gained a four-point lead at 24-20 and was on the brink of winning the second set of the match until Oakland tied the score on a big double block from Wadsworth and Jessica Dood. The set went in to extra volleyball but Oakland snuck out the 27-25 win, making the match score 2-0.

Set three featured a total momentum shift between the two teams as the Penguins jumped out to a five-point lead early on in the set. OU was never able to regain their footing and dropped set three 19-25. The Grizzlies regained their hunger for the final affair of the match, however, beginning much stronger in this set than the previous. The score was tied 4-4 before Oakland took a lead that they would not relinquish for the remainder of the set, although three ties did occur. Baker put the final nail in the coffin for Oakland for the 25-19 set victory to win it all.

Youngstown State’s attack was led by Alexis Egler and Shannon Watson who both finished with 15 kills.

Valparaiso 3, Green Bay 2
Whether it was being down one set twice, being down 23-21 in the fourth set, or facing match point in the decisive fifth set, Valparaiso never folded on Friday evening, earning a come-from-behind 3-2 (9-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-23, 18-16) victory over Green Bay in its Horizon League home opener Friday night at the ARC.

The decisive fifth set reflected the nature of the match, as it featured five ties and three lead changes.  The Phoenix scored the first two points of the frame, but Valpo answered with a 7-1 run, including two kills each from freshman Emily Campbell  and senior Ellen Vanden Berg, to go ahead 7-3.

The Crusaders continued to push, eventually going up by five points at 10-5 on a kill by senior Janelle Hobbs, but Green Bay responded with five of the next six points to close within 11-10.  A Phoenix attack error and a kill from junior Morgan Beil put Valpo within two points of claiming the win.

The Phoenix would tally three straight kills to tie the set at 13-all, setting up a dramatic closing sequence in which both squads had match point chances before the Crusaders closed out the win. A kill by Beil gave Valpo the first chance at the match, but an attack error knotted things up at 14. Another Beil kill made it 15-14 Crusaders, but back-to-back kills by the Phoenix gave Green Bay its first match point at 16-15.

The Phoenix committed an attack error to once again tie the decisive set at 16 apiece. Senior Ariel Cudney then stepped back to the service line and delivered, unleashing a jump serve which dipped in front of the Green Bay back row to make it 17-16 Crusaders. With its third match point chance, Valpo finally closed the door, as a Green Bay hitting error gave the victory to the Crusaders.

It looked unlikely that the match would get to the fifth set early on, as Green Bay dominated the opening frame. The Phoenix hit .609 in the opening set, sided out on all 10 chances and led start to finish. Valpo rebounded in the second set, however, thanks to a pair of late runs. A four-point spurt which included kills by Beil and senior Sarah Dooms and a block from Beil and Hobbs gave Valpo a 22-17 lead. The Phoenix responded with five straight points to tie the set at 22-all, but Valpo answered with kills from Hobbs and Dooms, and a Green Bay error sent the match into the in-game break tied at one set apiece.

The Crusaders seem poised to take the lead in the match in the third set, leading from the beginning and forcing Green Bay's second timeout of the set at 20-16. But out of the stoppage, the Phoenix went on a 9-1 run to close the frame, going ahead two sets to one.

It would take a rally late in set four for Valpo to even force a fifth set. As in the third set, the Crusaders led by four points late, this time at 21-17, but Green Bay ripped off six consecutive points to move within two points of the match win at 23-21. A Beil kill gave the Crusaders a sideout, and Campbell followed with a termination to make it 23-all. Redshirt junior Kelsey Victor then took care of an overpass, tallying a kill to give Valpo set point, and Campbell stepped up with another kill to even up the match at two sets apiece.

Beil led the Crusader offensive effort on Friday evening, finishing just one off her career high with 17 kills while swinging at a .364 clip. Campbell and Dooms picked up 11 kills each as well. Sophomore Kelsey Berrington handed out 32 assists and Cudney added 17 helpers.

Dooms and Campbell both finished the match with double-doubles, as the former led Valpo's effort in the back row with 19 digs and the latter tallied 11 digs. Freshman Morganne Longoria added 14 digs as well. The Crusaders matched a team season high with 13 blocks, as the balanced effort at the net defensively resulted in at least three blocks for each of the six Valpo hitters.

Green Bay (7-8, 2-1 Horizon) got a match-high 22 kills from Monica Anderson, while Leah Van Zeeland totaled 15 kills and Shannon Hurley added 13 of her own. Jillian Bauer led all players with 24 digs, and Mikaela Gunderson was in on all eight of the Phoenix blocks.