Sept. 18, 2009
Final Stats
Contact: Greg Murphy
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Cleveland State faced a long day of volleyball on Friday as the Vikings split a pair of five-set matches to open the Ohio State Sports Import Classic at St. John Arena.
The Vikings began the day with a 25-23, 20-25, 26-28, 25-17, 15-11 setback to Xavier, before coming back for a 3-2 win over Bowling Green.
Match scores were 25-20, 23-25, 25-20, 22-25, 15-10, as CSU improved to 11-3 this season.
"I thought we played pretty well in both matches," head coach Chuck Voss said. "We had a chance to win both today, but couldn't close out Xavier and they took advantage of it. But I was happy with the way we bounced back against Bowling Green, especially with the short turn around time."
Beth Greulich finished with 16 kills against Xavier, while Liz Fazio added 15 kills and 15 digs. Kara Koch had 14 kills and eight digs and Amy Benz finished with 11 kills. Jordan Goad amassed 39 assists and six digs, while Maggie Bonomini recorded a team-high 19 digs.
The Vikings took a trailed 22-20 in the first set vs. Xavier, but rallied on a pair of kills from Koch and a Muskateer attack error to assume a 23-22 lead. However, Xavier scored the final three points to take a 1-0 lead.
CSU came back to take a 19-15 lead in the second set on a Benz kill and Xavier would get no closer than two points the rest of the way as the Vikings tied the match at 1-1.
The third set proved to be the most entertaining, as the teams needed a combined four extra points to determine the winner. CSU held a 17-11 lead, but the Muskateers slowly began to chip away at their deficit, tying the set at 20-20 and taking a 23-21 lead on a CSU attack error.
A kill from Hillary Otte pushed the XU lead to 24-22 and gave them set point, but a XU attack error and Koch kill followed to tie it at 24-24. The teams traded points and with the set tied at 26-26, Fazio came up with back-to-back kills to give CSU a 2-1 lead.
The Vikings staved off four set points in the third set.
Using that momentum, CSU jumped out to an 11-8 lead in the fourth set, but the Muskateers closed on a 17-6 run to send the match to a deciding fifth set. Once there, XU took a quick 6-1 lead, but the Vikings would not go away, slicing the deficit to 9-6. However, that would be as close at they got as the Muskateers scored the next three points to take a 12-6 lead and eventually win the match.
With less than two hours or so to come back and face a BGSU team that had yet to play today, the Vikings rallied together to pull out the five-set win.
Greulich and Fazio had 20 kills apiece, while Benz added 15. Fazio now has 998 career kills, needing just two more to become the second CSU player to reach 1,000 career kills this season (Greulich).
Goad finished with 53 assists and eight digs, while Amy Grabiec recorded 15 digs and Bonomini nine.
CSU took a 14-10 lead in the first set against the Falcons, extending the lead to as many as five points before winning by that margin.
BGSU jumped out quickly in set two, taking a 4-1 lead on a CSU attack error. The Vikings battled all the way back to tie the set at 13-13 and took their first lead of the set (21-20) on a Falcon attack error. However, three straight BGSU points gave them a 23-21 lead and they held on for the win.
Following the intermission, the Falcons raced out to a quick 13-9 lead, but a 5-1 CSU run pulled the Vikings even (15-15). The teams proceeded to trade points and with the set tied at 19-19, the Vikings closed on a 6-1 run, using a pair of kills from Greulich and aces from Goad and Amanda Medvetz, to take a 2-1 lead.
With the match on the line, BGSU came out on fire in set four, taking a quick 10-3 lead and appeared to be in total control of the set. However, CSU had other ideas, going on an 11-3 run of its own to assume a 14-13 advantage.
Neither team would lead by more than two points the rest of the way and with the set tied at 22-22, BGSU scored three straight points to send the match to a deciding fifth set.
Unlike earlier in the day against Xavier, CSU was the agressor, taking a 7-1 lead and was never seriously threatened in claiming the win.
The Vikings will conclude action at the Ohio State Sports Import Classic on Saturday when CSU plays the host Buckeyes at 11:30 a.m.
