Final Stats
Oct. 2, 2007
Contact: Greg Murphy
VALPARAISO, Ind. - Cleveland State extended its win streak to five straight matches and handed Valparaiso its first conference loss of the season with a 30-16, 21-30, 30-26, 30-25 victory in Horizon League action Tuesday night at the Athletics Recreation Center.
CSU improves to 12-5 overall and 5-1 in league play, while Valparaiso, who was the last unbeaten team in the league, fell to 13-4 overall and 4-1 in conference play.
"We are starting to play with a lot of confidence and are going into matches with the mindset that we are going to win," head coach Chuck Voss said. "We are battling when we need to and really starting to come together as a team.
"Valpo has a very talented team," Voss continued. "But they are really banged up and missing a few key players right now."
Four Vikings reached double-digit kills on the evening, including sophomore Kayla Lefeld who recorded 11 kills and hit .556 (11-1-18).
"Kayla was huge for us tonight," Voss said. "She came off the bench and gave us a big spark, especially in the fourth game."
Lefeld totaled seven of her 11 kills in game four.
Sophomore Alexis Korovich (11 kills, 12 digs) and freshman Amy Benz (11 kills, 11 blocks) finished with double-doubles, while senior Mel Snyder dished out 49 assists and junior Jordan Bateman registered a match-best 22 digs.
With her 11 blocks, Benz has now recorded 100 in her rookie campaign. CSU finished with 30 blocks tonight and held the Crusaders to a .175 hitting percentage.
Junior Jenni Ramminger, the reigning Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week, was the fourth Viking to reach double-digit kills as she ended the match wtih 10.
The Vikings started out fast by scoring the first three points of the match and never trailed in game one as Valparaiso committed 12 attack errors in the opener.
"It was good to get out quick in game one, especially being on the road," Voss said.
After losing game two, CSU found itself trailing in game three, 24-21, but rallied to close the game on a 9-2 run to take a 2-1 lead. From there, it was all CSU as the Vikings never trailed in the fourth game and pushed the advantage to as many as 10 points (24-14).
Angie Porche led the Crusaders with 20 kills and 10 digs, while Sarah Hughes finished wtih 40 assists and eight digs.
The Vikings will return to action on Friday night when it hosts UIC at 7:00 pm in Woodling Gym.
