The top of the standings got tighter on Friday night as second-place Valparaiso went on the road and knocked off first-place Milwaukee, 3-1. The Crusaders had been swept at home by Milwaukee four weeks ago, but Valpo was able to return the favor Friday as the Crusaders won the first two sets and then outlasted the Panthers in the fourth set to claim the win.
With just three weeks remaining in the regular season, Milwaukee has a half-game lead over Valparaiso with a 9-1 League record. The Crusaders are second at 8-1 and Youngstown State - winners of four of its last five matches - is third at 6-3.The Horizon League Tournament will be hosted by the regular season champion and begins on Friday, Nov. 22.
Friday, November 1 Results:
Valparaiso def. Milwaukee, 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 20-25, 30-28)
Green Bay def. UIC, 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-18)
Oakland def. Cleveland State, 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-23)
Youngstown State def. Wright State, 3-0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-21)
Valparaiso 3, Milwaukee 0
The Valparaiso volleyball team avenged its lone Horizon League loss Friday night, taking down Milwaukee on the road 3-1 (25-15, 25-19, 20-25, 30-28) to move into a tie in the loss column atop the league standings with the Panthers. The win also marked the ninth consecutive victory for the Crusaders.
"It was a great win for us this evening, and I thought we did a great job executing our game plan," said Crusader head coach Carin Avery. "I give so much credit to our senior class, not only for tonight, but for the entire season. They are a special group both on and off the court, and they have done a great job leading this big group. We have a lot of matches left, so we will re-focus tomorrow, but tonight, we will celebrate a good win."
While the first three sets featured just one lead change combined, it was quite the duel between the Crusaders and the Panthers in the fourth set, as the frame featured 17 ties and six lead changes. With Valpo entering the set holding a 2-1 advantage, Milwaukee claimed a two-point lead late at 22-20 following three straight Crusader attack errors. Juniors Morgan Beil and Kelsey Victor posted back-to-back kills to tie it at 22-all, but the Panthers got a kill from Julie Kolinske to make it 23-22 as they attempted to force a fifth set.
A service error tied it up again at 23, and freshman Emily Campbell followed with a kill to give Valpo match point at 24-23. But Kolinske sent the frame into extra points with a kill, and following another termination from Beil for the second match point chance, it was again Kolinske who kept the Panthers alive, tying the set at 25-all with another kill.
Making the most of her rotation in the front row, Campbell picked up another kill to make it a third match point opportunity for Valpo, but again the Panthers responded, this time with back-to-back kills as they claimed a 27-26 edge and moved within one point of that fifth set. Senior Ellen Vanden Berg kept the fourth set moving forward with a kill, and following another UWM kill for its second set point chance, the senior combined with fellow senior Janelle Hobbs on a block to tie things at 28 apiece.
It was another senior who gave Valpo its fourth chance at claiming the match, as Sarah Dooms put down a kill to push the score to 29-28 Crusaders. Finally, the Crusaders would finish and deal the Panthers their first loss in Horizon League play, as Beil recorded the match-ending kill.
Milwaukee started the match by scoring the first four points, but Valpo responded with 11 of the next 13 points as it took control of the opening set. Then, the second set saw the Crusaders score the first five points and never look back, as Valpo went into the in-game break up two sets to none, having forced the Panthers into 20 attack errors in the first two frames. Milwaukee fought back to force a fourth set, however, going on an 8-3 spurt midway through the third to extend its lead.
It was a balanced offensive effort for the Crusaders on Friday, as Campbell, Dooms and Vanden Berg all tied for team-high honors with 11 kills, while Beil added 10. All but Dooms hit at better than a .200 clip as well on the attack. Senior Ariel Cudney dished out 25 assists, while sophomore Kelsey Berrington handed out 22 helpers.
Defensively, Dooms led the way on the back line with 23 digs, one of five Crusaders to end in double figures as they tallied 96 total digs on the evening. Freshman Morganne Longoria added 19 digs, while Campbell, Berrington and Cudney all joined Dooms with double-doubles. Vanden Berg continued her strong performance on the block recently, posting seven rejections as Valpo totaled 11 team blocks.
Rachel Neuberger led Milwaukee (13-9, 9-1 Horizon) with 15 kills on .289 hitting, while Kolinske added 14 kills. Taylor Golabowski posted a match-best 25 digs.
Green Bay 3, UIC 0
Freshman Shannon Hurley ripped 11 kills and the Green Bay (11-12, 6-4 HL) returned home in style with a 3-0 sweep (25-20, 25-15, 25-18) over visiting UIC (7-17, 2-7 HL) in Horizon League volleyball action on Friday night at the Kress Events Center. The Phoenix defense recorded 11 team blocks in holding the Flames to a hitting percentage of just .037.
Green Bay and UIC were knotted at 20-20 late in the opening set, but the Phoenix used two kills from Van Zeeland during a 5-0 run to end the set. Green Bay had 11 kills and just one error in the first set, helping to overcome five service errors.
After UIC took a 7-4 lead early in the second set, Green Bay dominated the rest of the way. The Phoenix ripped off eight-straight points and 13 of the next 16 to lead 17-10. Green Bay had five blocks in the set and entered the third with eight blocks, led by five block assists by senior Katie Mroczenski.
Green Bay’s offense was dominant in the third set, recording 16 kills and just two errors en route to a hitting percentage of .350. The Phoenix finished the match with 39 kills and seven errors for a hitting percentage of .311.
Hurley added 10 digs or a double-double while senior Leah Van Zeeland and sophomore Taylor Kasal added nine kills each. Sophomore Emily Riese had 36 assists as the Phoenix has assists on 38 of 39 kills.
Mroczenski and Van Zeeland each had six blocks while sophomore Jillian Bauer recorded a team-high 15 digs.
UIC was paced by Molly McCoy's eight kills and Maggie Strus' 14 digs.
Oakland 3, Cleveland State 0
Melissa Deatsch recorded 12 kills and 12 digs, while Cassie Pelloni and Allia Knight finished with nine kills each, as the Oakland women's volleyball team (11-14, 5-5 HL), swept past Cleveland State (12-10, 2-7 HL) in a Horizon League match Friday night at Woodling Gymnasium. The Golden Grizzlies won with set scores of 25-23, 25-22 and 25-23.
"This is an outstanding win for our team," said coach Rob Beam. "I thought that we played with great maturity and executed very well in completing three come-from-behind sets wins against a quality Cleveland State team. This is certainly a match that demonstrates our consistent growth over the season."
Ciara Schultz would also record a double-double with 14 assists and 10 digs. Alissa Valentine led the team with 16 assists and Alli Gutschow finished with 10 digs.
In the opening set, OU trailed 17-12 before fighting back to tie the match at 20-20 led by two Deatsch kills. Oakland would score five out of the last eight points by forcing two attack errors and getting kills by Knight and Pelloni for the 25-23 win.
The Golden Grizzlies led 14-10 in the second set led by three kills by Deatsch and two from Jessica Dood. The Vikings would eventually take the lead at 19-17, but OU swung back the momentum with a 8-3 run to end the set with Pelloni getting thee kills for the 25-22 set victory.
In the final set, the Golden Grizzlies once again trailed by the score of 18-11 until they went on a 10-2 run to take a 21-20 advantage as Knight earned three kills. Dood and Deatsch would earn two kills each towards the end of the set to secure the sweep in a 25-23 set win.
Kerry Winchester led Cleveland State with eight kills, while Nikki Holmes had a match-high 18 digs.
Youngstown State 3, Wright State 0
The Youngstown State volleyball team hit .310 as a group while posting 12 blocks defensively in a 25-20, 25-14, 25-21 victory over Wright State on Friday evening at Beeghly Center.
The Penguins improved to 14-10 overall and 6-3 in Horizon League play while Wright State dropped to 6-22 and 0-10. Youngstown State set a new school record with its sixth conference victory, and its .310 attack percentage was the second-best for a league match in school history.
Alexis Egler led all players with nine kills, and Lauren Thompson had seven kills on a .462 attack percentage. Aly Ryan and Jenna Cavanaugh had six blocks apiece for YSU, which entered the match ranking 26th in the country in blocks per set.
Stephanie Ruffing had eight kills to lead Wright State.
Youngstown State did not trail after taking a 9-8 lead in the opening set, and the Penguins led from start to finish in the second set. The third set had eight ties early, but YSU took the lead for good again at 9-8.
