Sept. 24, 2010
Final Stats
Contact: Greg Murphy
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Kara Koch had 24 kills and Lindsey Griffith added 17, but Cleveland State was handed its first defeat of the season, 3-2, by Milwaukee in Horizon League volleyball action on Friday night in Woodling Gym.
The loss was CSU's first of the season, dropping the Vikings to 10-1 overall and 1-1 in league play, while Milwaukee improved to 5-7 overall and 2-0 in the league.
Match scores were 22-25, 31-29, 25-18, 24-26, 18-16.
"Anytime you play Milwaukee, you know you are going to be in for a battle and that was the case tonight," head coach Chuck Voss said. "Give them credit because they battled hard all night and didn't give up. I thought that second set was huge and gave them a little momentum going forward. I was proud of the way we battled back to win the fourth set and had some chances to seal the match, but couldn't get it done."
Koch added 15 kills to notch a double-double, while Jackie Dabbelt finished with 11 kills and seven digs. Jordan Goad amassed 58 assists, eight digs and seven kills, while Brittany Holland made a career and match-high 21 digs.
CSU raced out to a 7-3 lead in the first set before Milwaukee rallied back within two points (12-10) on a CSU ball handling error. CSU's lead swelled back to five points (21-16) on a UWM attack error. The Panthers got back within two points on a few occasions before a Dabbelt kill sealed the set.
The second set proved to be the most exciting, featuring 11 ties and five lead changes. CSU scored the first three points of the set, but the Panthers rallied to knot the set at 4-4 on a Natalie Schmitting ace. Neither team would lead by two points the rest of the way as the team's traded points from 24-24 on until another Schmitting service ace and Panther kill evened the match at 1-1.
UWM used that momentum from set two to claim a seven point win in the third set, using a run midway through to pull away. A Panther attack error gave the Vikings a 10-7 lead, but a 10-3 UWM gave them a 17-13 lead on a Viking attack error and CSU did not threaten the rest of the set.
Set four was also tight throughout, featuring 12 ties and seven lead changes. The Panthers raced out to a 10-6 lead, forcing a Viking timeout. CSU came out of the timeout and used a 9-5 run to even things up at 15-15 on a Panther attack error. CSU took a 19-17 lead on back-to-back Panther attack errors, but Milwaukee scored two straight points to once again even the set.
The teams would trade points until a CSU attack error gave the Panthers a 24-22 lead and a pair of match points.
CSU was able to fight them off as the Panthers committed four straight attack errors, forcing a fifth and deciding set.
The Vikings appeared to be in control of the final set, taking a 14-10 lead on a Koch kill. However, just like the Vikings did in the fourth set, Milwaukee was able to fight off match points, using an Elizabeth Egerer kill and three straight CSU attack errors to even the set at 14-14.
A UWM attack error stopped the run and gave CSU another match point. However, a CSU service error evened things up at 15-15. After an exchange of points, Rachel Neuberger tallied a kill for the Panthers and combined with Jena Berg on a block to seal the five set win.
Egerer led the Panthers with 18 kills, while Berg had 51 assists, seven digs and six kills.
The Vikings will be back in action on Saturday (Sept. 25) when CSU hosts Green Bay at 4:00 p.m. in Woodling Gym.
