Sept. 11, 2009

Final Stats

Contact: Greg Murphy

CULOWHEE, N.C. - Liz Fazio finished with 13 kills and 10 digs for her third double-double in the last four matches as Cleveland State opened play in the VB Rags Western Carolina Invitational with a 3-0 sweep of Howard on Friday afternoon.

The Vikings improved to 7-2 with the win, while Howard remained winless (0-9).

Amy Benz added nine kills and three blocks, while Beth Greulich had eight kills and Lindsey Griffith seven. Jordan Goad added 37 assists, six digs and four kills, while Maggie Bonomini, the reigning two-time Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week, chipped in eight digs.

"This was a good team win and a good way for us to open the tournament," head coach Chuck Voss said. "I thought we were good on offense and defense and were able to find some open spots to hit to. We'll have to get a little bit of rest and get ourselves refreshed because we have another tough match in a few hours."

The Vikings outhit Howard, .357-.129, and were seemingly in control of all three sets.

CSU took a 3-1 lead in the opener and would never trail the rest of the way, pushing the lead to 17-9 on a Fazio kill.

The Vikings stormed out to an 18-9 advantage in the second set and extended the lead to 21-11 on a service ace by Whitney Dalessandro. However, an 11-6 brought Howard within 24-20 as they would fight off four set points before a Greulich kill gave CSU a 2-0 lead.

Howard did come out and score the first three points of the third set, but an 11-2 run by CSU gave the Vikings an 11-5 lead on a Lindsey Griffith kill and Howard would not threaten the rest of the way. Griffith and Benz each had two kills in the run, while Megan Barhorst added a service ace.

CSU continues play in the invitational when the Vikings play host Western Carolina at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night.