ROCHESTER, Mich. – After finishing with 22 digs at Oakland, senior libero
Emma Walker set the Cleveland State Career Digs Record, ending the night with 1,566 total digs. Walker notched her record-breaking performance in a 3-1 win at Oakland, helping the Vikings improve to 17-6 on the year and 8-4 in Horizon League play.
Walker's 1,566 digs topped Jordan Bateman's mark of 1,545 career digs that stood since 2008. Walker is one of just two Vikings all-time to eclipse the 1,500-dig mark in program history.
Along with Walker, the Cleveland State defense was led by
Ella Mihacevich with 16 digs,
Reilly Wadden with 11 and
Laken Voss with 10. In addition, Cleveland State combined for 13.0 total team blocks, including seven from
Allana Appleby and five from
Nia Hall.
Offensively,
Liberty Torres tallied a team-best 19 kills, while Hall added 14 and
JeriLynn Koehler added 10.
Mihacevich also recorded 42 assists on the night, notching her sixth double-double of the season.
Despite holding a sizable lead early in the first set, the Vikings let Oakland back into the frame, with both teams trading points until late in the frame when the score was tied at 22-22. Cleveland State was able to respond with a
JeriLynn Koehler kill to gain a 23-22 edge and force an Oakland timeout, before closing out the set with back-to-back points on a
Liberty Torres/
Allana Appleby block and Appleby kill.
After dropping the second set, the Vikings answered with a 25-19 victory in the third frame, taking a 2-1 lead into the fourth set.
During the fourth set, the two teams battled back and forth until late in the frame, with Cleveland State taking a two-point lead at 20-18 following a Torres kill and an Oakland error. The Vikings were then able to hold a slim edge until a few points later when Oakland tied the frame at 22-22, before Cleveland State regained a 23-22 edge on a Koehler kill.
Cleveland State then tallied the final two points of the frame, forcing back-to-back Oakland errors to close out the 25-22 fourth set victory.
Cleveland State will be back in action this weekend, traveling to IU Indy for a pair of matches on Friday, November 1 and Saturday, November 2.
