Oct. 31, 2008
Final Stats
Contact: Greg Murphy
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Cleveland State volleyball team appears to be peaking at the right time.
Just six days after rallying from two sets down to defeat Wright State in five, the Vikings posted a 25-21, 25-22, 25-22 win over Butler on Friday night in Woodling Gym.
CSU improved to 6-16 overall, but more importantly, 5-7 in the Horizon League. The Bulldogs fell to 17-7 overall and 7-5 in league play.
"This was a really big win for us tonight because we proved that we could win close sets," head coach Chuck Voss said. "Earlier in the season, we might have lost some of those sets, but we kept our focus and remained mentally tough the entire match.
"We have really been playing well defensively this season and are starting to get in a nice groove offensively. If we can continue to put things together, we could be able to do some special things over the final weeks of the season."
Kayla Lefeld finished with a match-high 12 kills, while Amy Benz added 10 and Jenni Ramminger and Liz Fazio nine each. Jordan Goad handed out 43 assists with eight digs and Jordan Bateman chipped in a match-best 24 digs. Maggie Bonomini had 15 digs.
The first set featured 10 ties and two lead changes with the Vikings scoring breaking open a 14-14 tie by scoring five of the next six points to take a 19-15 lead and the Bulldogs would get no closer than three points the rest of the set.
Benz led CSU's offense by connecting on all six of her attack attempts.
The Vikings took a quick 5-0 lead in the second set as Bateman served CSU to five straight points, including two kills each from Lefeld and Beth Greulich.
However, Butler rallied to come back and slice the lead to 9-8. From there, CSU scored seven of the next eight points to reclaim a 15-9 lead. But once again, Butler responded with a 6-2 run to slice the deficit to two points (17-15). However, that was as close as the Bulldogs could get the rest of the set.
The third set was much like the second as CSU scored nine of the first 10 points to take a 9-1 lead. Amy Grabiec served CSU to eight of those points, including two service aces. The Bulldogs were able to come back to cut the CSU lead to 13-11, but would get no closer the rest of the way.
The Vikings outhit Butler, .207-.156 and had more assists (46-33), aces (4-1), digs (65-61) and blocks (17-13).
Porshia Allen led Butler with 10 digs, while Katie Daprile had 18 digs.
CSU returns to action on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 1) when the Vikings conclude home slate of their regular season with a 4:00 p.m. match against Valparaiso. It will serve as Senior Day for CSU's three seniors, Bateman, Alexis Korovich and Ramminger.
