Sept. 5, 2009

Final Stats

Contact: Greg Murphy

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cleveland State rallied to win the final three sets and defeat Syracuse, 3-2, in the CSU Invitational-Presented by the Crowne Plaza City Centre on Saturday afternoon in Woodling Gym.

After losing the first two sets, 25-15, 25-22, the Vikings came back with wins in the final three sets, 25-19, 25-23, 16-14.

But it was the fifth and final set that CSU will remember for a long time.

The Vikings scored the first point of the fifth set on an Orange attack error. However, Syracuse came back to take an 11-7 lead on a Viking attack error, to put the Orange comfortably in front. But the Vikings began to rally.

Liz Fazio started the rally with a kill and Beth Greulich followed with two straight. A service ace by Maggie Bonomini, that clipped the top of the net, tied the set at 11-11 and forced a timeout by Syracuse.

The Orange responded with three straight points out of the timeout, taking a 14-11 lead. But they would not score again as the Vikings closed the set by scoring the final five points of the match to Shock the Orange.

Greulich started the furious rally with a kill and following a Syracuse attack error, the Vikings used kills by Fazio, Greulich and Fazio again to close out the match.

"This was a great team win for us," head coach Chuck Voss said. "We went down 2-0, but never gave up and kept fighting through. I am so proud of the way we battled and never gave up today. I think that shows signs of how mature this team is. But we don't have much time to celebrate or dwell on this because we have another big match this afternoon."

Greulich finished with a match-high 17 kills, allowing her to surpass the career 1,000 kill mark. It occurred early in the second set and Greulich now has 1,011 kills in her CSU career.

Benz added 16 kills, while Fazio recorded her second straight double-double with 14 kills and 12 digs.

Jordan Goad also had a double-double effort with 58 kills and 11 digs to go along with seven kills, while Maggie Bonomini added 26 digs and a career-best seven assists. Amy Grabiec also finished with a career-best 22 digs.

"We had so many different players step-up and make key plays for us," Voss said. After taking 20th-ranked Michigan State to four sets last night, the Vikings came out sluggish in set one, falling behind 13-4 and never being able to put together a run.

CSU responded in the second set, taking a 15-10 lead on Goad's kill. CSU was still holding a three-point lead (20-17), after a kill by Goad, but the Orange would score the next three points to knot it at 20-20. The teams traded points to make it 21-21, but the Orange closed the set on a 4-1 run to take a 2-0 lead.

With their backs against the wall, CSU came out and took an 8-4 lead and would never trail as the Vikings sliced their deficit to 2-1.

CSU took a 12-9 lead in the fourth set, but the Orange rallied to take a three-point lead of their own (18-15) on a CSU attack error. A 6-3 run by CSU tied the set at 21-21 on a Grabiec service ace. The teams exchanged points and at 23-23, Greulich and Goad recorded back-to-back kills to force the deciding fifth set.

CSU will conclude play in the invitational when the Vikings host 20th-ranked Michigan State at 4:00 p.m. The Spartans defeated CSU, 3-1, on Friday night.