Vikings Stay Perfect With Sweep at Robert Morris

Sept. 1, 2009

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. - Cleveland State improved to 5-0 as the Vikings earned their fifth straight sweep to start the season on Tuesday night with a 3-0 victory at Robert Morris at the Sewall Center.

Match scores were 25-13, 25-15, 25-15.

RMU fell to 3-2 with the loss.

The Vikings have held their five opponents to under 20 points in 14 of the 15 sets they have played this season.

CSU displayed a solid, crisp offense all night as sophomore setter Jordan Goad handed out 30 assists and directed the Vikings to a .409 attack percentage. The Vikings finished with 43 kills in 88 attempts, committing just seven errors all match.

Junior Amy Benz recorded 14 kills and no errors in 19 attempts (.737), while freshman Kara Koch hit .478 (12-1-23).

Senior Liz Fazio added 10 kills as the trio of Fazio, Benz and Koch accounted for 36 of CSU's 43 kills.

Maggie Bonomini, the reigning Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week, finished with 13 digs, while Megan Barhorst added five blocks.

CSU scored the first three points of the match, but RMU rallied to tie the set at 4-4. From there, the Vikings went on a 6-0 run, highlighted a pair of kills from Benz and Koch, to assume control of the set at 10-4. The Vikings continued to push, extending the lead to the final 12 point margin.

Set two was close until midway through as the Vikings used a 9-2 run to turn a one point lead (12-11) into a 21-13 lead. Beth Greulich and Fazio had two kills apiece in the run, while Goad added a kill and an ace.

The Vikings used an early run in the third set to take control and earn the sweep. Leading 7-6, CSU turned to Benz who came through with three straight kills to extend the lead to 10-6. A RMU attack error and another Benz kill made it 12-6 and RMU would not threaten the rest of the way.

CSU will return to action this weekend when the Vikings host the CSU Invitational Presented by the Crowne City Plaza Centre on Friday and Saturday (Sept. 4-5). The Vikings begin play on Friday with a 7:00 p.m. match against No. 20 Michigan State.

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