CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Cleveland State volleyball team opened its 2023 home slate Wednesday evening, picking up a 3-1 victory over Akron in the Holiday Inn Cleveland Clinic CSU Invitational. With the win, the Vikings improve to 5-2 on the young season.

The Viking offense was led by Laken Voss with 16 kills, while Liberty Torres added 12 kills and Madison Olinger chipped in nine.

Karly Klaer finished with 44 assists on the night, along with 18 digs for her fourth double-double of the season.

Emma Walker led the Vikings with 23 digs, while Voss added 17 and Reilly Wadden posted 10.

As a team, the Vikings combined for 13.0 blocks, including seven from Olinger and four from Madalynn Butler.

After trailing for much of the first set, the Vikings stormed back at the end of the frame, rattling off five straight points to gain the 26-24 victory. Cleveland State was able to hold off five set points for the Zips, starting the run with an Akron error, and capping off the first set victory with a Madison Olinger solo block.

The Vikings were able to carry their momentum into the second set then, as they jumped out to an 8-2 lead on a Liberty Torres kill. Cleveland State held the advantage for the rest of the frame, earning a 20-15 edge on an Olinger kill, and closing out the 25-17 second set victory on an Olinger and Madalynn Butler block.

Despite dropping the third set, the Vikings responded with a 25-21 victory in the fourth frame, pulling out the 3-1 victory.

The two teams traded points throughout the frame, with Cleveland State gaining a late 20-19 lead on a Laken Voss kill, before back-to-back kills from Nia Hall gave the Vikings match-point at 24-21, with the final point coming on an Akron error.

The Vikings will continue the Holiday Inn Cleveland Clinic CSU Invitational on Friday, hosting Harvard at 6:00 p.m.