Aug. 28, 2009

Final Stats

Contact: Greg Murphy

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Beth Greulich and Liz Fazio combined fow 20 kills and Cleveland State hit .286 as the Vikings swept Air Force, 3-0, in the 2009 season opener at the La Salle Invitational on Friday afternoon at Tom Gola Arena.

Match scores were 25-17, 25-20, 25-15.

Greulich paced the Vikings with a match-high 11 kills, while hitting .409 (11-2-22), while Fazio added nine kills and nine digs to just miss a double-double.

Jordan Goad handed out 27 assists, while Maggie Bonomini recorded a match-best tying 11 digs. Amy Grabiec chipped in eight digs.

Goad got the Vikings off to a hot start with back-to-back aces to start the match. However, an 8-2 run by the Falcons forced a CSU timeout as the Vikings fell behind, 8-4. A CSU attack error pushed the Air Force lead to 9-4, but CSU rallied to score seven of the next eight points to assume an 11-10 lead.

Kara Koch and Amy Benz both had two kills during the run.

CSU would extend the lead to as many as nine points (23-14) on a USAFA attack error and closed out the set on a Koch kill.

The freshman finished with six kills in her collegiate debut.

Air Force jumped out to a quick 7-3 lead in set two, but once again, the Vikings would rally all the way back and take their first lead of the set (14-13) on a Falcon attack error.

The teams continued to trade points until it was 19-19 as the Vikings would score the next four points, including three kills from Fazio, to take a 23-19 lead. CSU would close out the match on Air Force service and attack errors.

The first half of the third set was close throughout until the Vikings used a big run to break it open. Leading 15-11, CSU closed the set on a 10-4 run to earn the sweep.

The Vikings will continue play at the La Salle Invitational on Friday (Aug. 28) night when CSU plays Canisius at 7:00 p.m.