Matches 21-23
Cleveland State (15-5, 4-1) at Youngstown State (5-11, 3-3)
Date: Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009
Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Beeghly Center (6,300) - Youngstown, Ohio
Series: CSU leads, 44-13
Last Mtg.: CSU 3, @YSU 1 (11/14/08)
Cleveland State vs. Milwaukee (5-10, 2-2)
Date: Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009
Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Woodling Gym (3,000) - Cleveland, Ohio
Series: UWM leads, 30-7
Last Mtg.: @UWM 3, CSU 0 (11/7/08)
Cleveland State vs. Green Bay (5-10, 1-3)
Date: Sunday, Oct. 11, 2009
Time: 4:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Woodling Gym (3,000) - Cleveland, Ohio
Series: CSU leads, 24-15
Last Mtg.: CSU 3, @UWGB 0 (11/8/08)
QUICK SETS: Cleveland State has another busy week ahead as the Vikings will be in action three times, beginning with a 7:00 p.m. contest at Youngstown State on Wednesday, Oct. 7. The Vikings will then return home to host Milwaukee on Saturday (Oct. 10) at 7:00 p.m. and Green Bay on Sunday (Oct. 11) at 4:00 p.m. The Vikings, who have won four straight matches, enter the week at 15-4 overall and in first place in the Horizon League at 4-1, one-half match ahead of Butler and Valparaiso.
REVIEWING LAST WEEK: Cleveland State ran its win streak to four with three wins last week. Following are brief recaps of the four matches.
Match 17: CSU 3, Eastern Michigan 0 (Sept. 29, Cleveland, Ohio)
Jordan Goad handed out 40 assists and led the Vikings to a .430 attack percentage to lead CSU to a 3-0 win. Liz Fazio added a double-double of 14 kills and 12 digs, while Beth Greulich added 11 kills as the Vikings never trailed in any of the three sets.
Match 18: CSU 3, UIC 0 (Oct. 2, Cleveland, Ohio)
Amy Benz had 13 kills and Beth Greulich added 11 as Cleveland State earned a 3-0 sweep over UIC. Liz Fazio finished with eight kills and 12 digs, while Maggie Bonomini made a match-best 17 digs. The Vikings iced the match with a 10-3 run midway through the final set.
Match 19: CSU 3, Loyola 0 (Oct. 3, Cleveland, Ohio)
Cleveland State won its fourth straight match and moved into first place in the Horizon League with a 3-0 win over Loyola. Beth Greulich recorded 14 kills and Kara Koch added 10. Jordan Goad handed out 38 assists, while Maggie Bonomini finished with a match-best 15 digs.
PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: With one of the deepest and most talented rosters he has had during his tenure at Cleveland State, Chuck Voss has the Vikings off to a 15-4 start and in first place in the Horizon League. Leading the way is junior middle hitter Amy Benz (2.70 kpg, 0.86 bpg, .342) and senior right side Beth Greulich (2.89, 0.73, .323) who are both two-time first team All-Horizon League selections. Sophomore Megan Barhorst (1.02, 0.97, .209) joins Benz in the middle, while sophomore setter Jordan Goad (10.39 apg, 2.06 dpg, 1.07 kpg) is in her second season directing the Viking offense and continues to develop a good rapport with her hitters. Senior Liz Fazio (3.30 kpg, 2.61 dpg, .183) is the most experienced outside hitter on the team, while freshman Kara Koch (2.46, 1.00, .210) and sophomore Lindsey Griffith (1.54, 0.68, .062) are also in the mix, making up for the loss of senior Kayla Lefeld who is out of the season with a knee injury. Senior libero Maggie Bonomini (4.01 dpg) leads the backrow, while sophomore Amy Grabiec (2.17), junior Meghan Mental (1.84) and freshman Amanda Medvetz (1.15) are defensive specialists who can get the Vikings into their offense with good ball control and passing skills.
THE HEAD COACH: In his 10th year at the helm of the CSU volleyball program, head coach Chuck Voss has methodically built the Vikings from the ground up and made them a perennial contender for the league title. The Vikings have advanced to the Horizon League semifinals five times under Voss, including three appearances in the league title match (2004, 2007, 2008). Ranked second on the all-time wins list at CSU, Voss has mentored the only two All-Americans in school history, the 2005 Horizon League Player of the Year, 14 first team all-league picks, nine all-newcomer team members and four league Newcomer of the Year choices.
GREULICH TABBED PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Senior right side Beth Greulich was selected as the Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week after leading the Vikings to three wins last week. The Troy, Ohio, native averaged 4.00 kills per set, while hitting .471 (36-3-70) in three sweeps.
... AND IS HAVING A STRONG SEASON: Beth Greulich is once again showing why she has established herself as one of the top players in the Horizon League during her four-year career. Greulich is ranked fifth in the league in hitting percentage (.323), while also averaging 2.89 kills, 0.73 blocks and 3.31 points per set, numbers that rank her just outside the top-10 in the league stats.
FAZIO CAN HIT & DIG: Liz Fazio has always been a successful attacker and that has never been more evident than this season as she ranks fifth in the league with 3.30 kills per set. However, it has been her defense that has been even more impressive as Fazio is ranked second on the team with 175 digs after totaling just 134 over the last two seasons. Fazio had a career-high 20-dig effort against Wright State and leads the team with nine double-doubles this season.
WINNING WITH SWEEPS: With at least 12 matches left this season, the Vikings have already won 15 matches, four more than they won all of last season. In addition, 12 of CSU's 15 wins have come via sweeps, including the last four wins.
BENZ ON TARGET: Junior Amy Benz has been one of the most accurate hitters during her career and this year has been no different as she ranks fourth in the league in hitting percentage (.342). Benz, who led the league in attack percentage as both a freshman and sophomore, has hit better than .500 in nine matches this season, including a career-best .737 (14-0-19) against Robert Morris (Sept. 1).
... AND MOVING UP THE CHARTS: Amy Benz is quickly making her way up the career charts at CSU, ranking third all-time in attack percentage (.324), fifth in block assists (324), sixth in total blocks (370) and tied for 10th in solo blocks (46).
IT'S ALL GOAD: Sophomore setter Jordan Goad has the CSU offense rolling, leading the Vikings to a .242 attack percentage, the second best in the Horizon League. In addition, Goad is second in the league in assists (10.39 aps), while also averaging 1.07 kills, 2.06 digs and 0.46 blocks per set. Goad has been selected to a pair of all-tournament teams this season (La Salle and Western Carolina) and was the MVP of the La Salle Invitational. She is already ranked sixth on the all-time assist chart as CSU with 1,924, needing 121 helpers to move into the top-five.
SMOOTH TRANSITION: Senior Maggie Bonomini has made a smooth transition in taking over as CSU's libero this season. The most experienced backrow player on the roster, Bonomini ranks seventh in the league in digs (3.70) and was the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week in each of the first two weeks of the season. She has recorded double-digit digs in 11 of 15 matches this season, including 26 versus Syracuse which was one shy of equaling her career-high.
ACE, ACE, BABY: One statistical category that the Vikings have dominated this season is serving, recording 95 aces to just 66 for opponents. Sophomore Megan Barhorst ranks sixth in the Horizon League with 0.29 aces per set, while sophomore Jordan Goad is ninth at 0.25.
WINNING WITH DEFENSE: The Vikings have been very strong on defense this season as opponents are hitting a league-low .148 against CSU. In addition, the Vikings have surrendered a Horizon League low 66 aces this season, less than one per set, while also ranking second in the league with 2.11 blocks per set.
COUNTDOWN TO 200: Now in his 12th season as a head coach, Chuck Voss is just 10 wins shy of reaching 200 career wins. He is 190-166 during his tenure as a coach and picked up his 150th career win at CSU in the Vikings win over Western Carolina on Sept. 12. Voss, who is 157-130 in 10 seasons at CSU, is second on the all-time wins list in school history, trailing only Mary Motley, who won 293 matches from 1978-92.
UP NEXT: Cleveland State is back in action with two matches next week, beginning with a 7:00 p.m. contest at Bowling Green on Tuesday, Oct. 13. The Vikings will then play at Wright State on Friday, Oct. 16, to begin the second round of league play.
