Sept. 28, 2010

Contact: Greg Murphy

Complete Release in PDF Format

Match 13

Youngstown State (2-14, 0-3 HL) at Cleveland State (11-1, 2-1)
Date: Friday, Oct. 1, 2010
Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT
Site: Woodling Gym (3,000) - Cleveland, Ohio
Series: CSU leads, 46-13
Last Mtg.: @CSU 3, YSU 0 (11/13/09)

QUICK SETS: Cleveland State continues its season long five-match homestand when the Vikings host Youngstown State at 7:00 p.m. on Friday (Oct. 1) in CSU's lone match of the week. The Vikings begin the week at 11-1 overall and 2-1 in league play after splitting a pair of contests last weekend, while the Penguins are 2-14 overall and 0-3 in league play.

REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Vikings split a pair of league matches at home over the weekend. Following are recaps of both contests.

Match 11: Milwaukee 3, CSU 2 (Sept. 24, Cleveland, Ohio)
Cleveland State was handed its first loss of the season in a five-set thriller with Milwaukee. The Vikings had four match points in the fifth set, but UWM staved them off before winning, 18-16. Kara Koch tallied 24 kills and 15 digs, while Brittany Holland made a career-high 21 digs. Jordan Goad finished with 58 assists, eight digs and seven kills.

Match 12: CSU 3, Green Bay 1 (Sept. 25, Cleveland, Ohio)
Cleveland State won three straight sets after dropping the first set, knocking off Green Bay, 3-1. Amy Benz had 15 kills and Kara Koch added 12, while Amy Grabiec made a match-high 28 digs. Annie Djukic recorded her first career double-double with 24 assists and 10 digs.

PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: Now in his 11th season at the helm of the Cleveland State volleyball program, head coach Chuck Voss has re-tooled the squad and has them off to the best start in school history. Headlining the list of returnees is junior setter Jordan Goad (10.84 aps, 1.89 dps), who was a first team All-Horizon League and honorable mention All-America pick last year after finishing 36th in the country in assists. Freshman Annie Djukic (4.25 aps) is Goad's backup after redshirting last season. Senior Amy Benz (.328, 2.51 kps, 0.73 bps) headlines a deep and talented group of middles that also includes junior Megan Barhorst (0.82 kps, 0.94 bps), sophomore Marie Frease (.288, 1.62 kps) and freshman Erin Turner. Sophomore Kara Koch (3.82 kps, 2.16 dps) and junior Lindsey Griffith (2.18 kps) are the most experienced outside hitters on the roster, while sophomore Kourtney Volkmer (0.33 kps) and freshman Kerry Winchester (1.33 kps) will also get opportunities. Freshman Jackie Dabbelt (.292, 2.82 kps), is the starter on the right side. The Vikings will once again be strong in the backrow with junior Amy Grabiec (5.20 dps) taking over the libero role. Senior Meghan Mental (1.90 dps), junior Whitney Dalessandro and sophomores Amanda Medvetz (2.39 dps) and Brittany Holland (2.15), a transfer from Youngstown State, all receive time as defensive specialists in the backrow.

RECORD START: The Vikings won their first 10 matches of the season as part of the best start to a season in school history. The streak was snapped on Friday (Sept. 24) night with a 3-2 setback to Milwaukee. The 1977 team held the old mark of seven consecutive wins to open a season.

10 IN A ROW: The 10 wins to open the year not only represented the best start to a season in school history, but was also tied for the fourth longest winning streak in program history. The 1976 team holds the school record with 16 consecutive wins, while the 1974 team won 12 straight and the 1982 team won 11 in a row. The 2002 team also has a 10 match win streak.

CSU IN THE NCAA STATS: The Vikings are well represented in the latest NCAA statistics that were released on Monday (Sept. 27) afternoon. As a team, CSU is 12th in the nation in winning percentage (.917), 37th in assists (12.87) 40th in kills (13.73) and 51st in digs (16.22). Individually, Amy Grabiec is 29th in digs (5.2), while Jordan Goad is 34th in assists (10.84) and Kara Koch 58th in kills (3.82).

ACCURATE HITTERS: The Vikings have been on the mark offensively this year, leading the Horizon League and ranking 58th in the nation in attack percentage (.243). CSU has hit better than .290 in five of its 12 contests this year, including a season-best .429 against Hofstra (Sept. 4), and has three players ranked among the top-10 in attack percentage in the latest league statistics.

... AND JUST AS GOOD ON DEFENSE: For as good as the Vikings have been on offense this year, they have been equally as impressive on defense, leading the league in opponent hitting percentage at .130. Last year, CSU became the first team in Horizon League history to lead the league in attack percentage (.247) and opponent attack percentage (.160).

BENZ CLIMBS UP THE CHARTS: Amy Benz has her name plastered throughout the CSU career record book. She is third all-time in hitting percentage (.319); third in total blocks (457) and block assists (398); and seventh in solo blocks (62).

... AND CLOSING IN ON 1,000: Amy Benz in closing in on becoming the 14th player in school history to reach 1,000 career kills. She enters the weekend with 989, needing 11 more to accomplish the feat.

FAMILIAR FACE: Sophomore Brittany Holland will see a familiar foe on the other side of the net on Friday night when Youngstown State comes to town. Holland played at YSU last season, averaging 1.96 digs per set in 26 matches. She transferred to CSU this year and is fourth on the team in digs (2.15), including a career-high 21 versus Milwaukee on Friday.

ON THE OUTSIDE: Kara Koch has been nothing short of dominant through the first five weeks of the season, ranking second in the league and 58th in the country in kills (3.82), adding 2.16 digs per set. Koch leads the team with three double-doubles this year, including a 24 kill, career-high 15 dig effort against Milwaukee on Saturday (Sept. 24).

SHE CAN DIG IT: Junior Amy Grabiec is continuing the strong tradition of the libero position at CSU, averaging 5.20 digs per set to rank second in the league and 28th nationally. Grabiec, who has reached double-digit digs in 20 of the last 21 matches dating to last season, made a career-high 31 digs in the win over Marshall.

AIR JORDAN: Jordan Goad, an honorable mention All-American last year, has picked up right where she left off a season ago, ranking second in the Horizon League and 34th in the nation in assists (10.84), helping the Vikings top the league in attack percentage (.243). Goad is already ranked fifth on the all-time assist chart at CSU with 2,919.

DJUKIC SHINES: Backup setter Annie Djukic got the call midway through the second set against Green Bay on Saturday (Sept. 25) and responded with her first double-double of 26 assists and 12 digs.

ON THE ATTACK: When it comes to accurate hitters in the league, it doesn't get much better than CSU as a Viking has led the league in attack percentage in each of the last seven seasons. It began with Jamie Bouyer leading the league in 2003 (.361) and 2004 (.368) and continued with Nickole Kennedy in 2005 (.318), Beth Greulich in 2006 (.364), Amy Benz in 2007 (.334) and 2008 (.303) and Greulich (.328) last season.

WHAT ABOUT THIS YEAR???: The Vikings have three players ranked in the top-10 of the Horizon League stats in hitting percentage led by senior Amy Benz who is ranked third at .328. Jackie Dabbelt and Jordan Goad are tied for seventh at .292.

UP NEXT: The Vikings have their busiest week in tap, playing four matches over a six day span. CSU will host Butler on Tuesday (Oct. 5) at 5:00 p.m. and Wright State on Wednesday (Oct. 6) at 7:00 p.m. to conclude their homestand before hitting the road to play at Valparaiso on Saturday (Oct. 9) at 7:00 p.m. and at Loyola on Sunday (Oct. 10) at 5:00 p.m.