Cleveland State University

In this Celebrate. Recognize. Inspire. series relive the first league tournament championships among our women's programs,
and get to know more about a featured student-athlete from those respective title teams.

 
On November 18, 2007 Cleveland State won its first-ever Horizon League Volleyball Tournament title, marking the first of four tournament titles for Cleveland State during the 2007-08 academic year, helping CSU capture the Horizon League’s McCafferty Trophy and making Cleveland State Volleyball a perennial contender in #HLVB play for years to come. 

After finishing regular season play with a 20-8 overall record and a then program-best 13-3 league mark, the Vikings earned the No. 2 seed for the 2007 #HLVB Tournament, entering tournament play as a top-two seed for just the second time in program history.

Cleveland State, who notched the first 20-win campaign since 1988 with its 20-win regular season, opened tournament play with a 3-0 sweep over No. 7 Youngstown State in the Quarterfinals, before picking up a 3-1 victory against third-seeded Wright State in the Semifinals. 

In Cleveland State’s second Horizon League Championship match appearance during Voss’ tenure, the Vikings notched their 23^rd win of the season, capturing their first-ever #HLVB tournament title with a 3-1 victory over fourth-seeded Valparaiso, earning the team’s first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament. 

During the 2007 tournament run, the Vikings were led by All-League honorees Amy Benz, Beth Greulich and Mel Snyder, with Benz also being named the league’s Newcomer of the Year. In addition, Benz, Alexis Korovich and Jenni Ramminger were named to the 2007 All-Tournament Team, including an MVP honor for Benz.

Cleveland State would go on to face Albany in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament, becoming the seventh team to represent the Horizon League in the National Tournament. 

The 2007 championship would be the first of what would eventually become five Horizon League tournament titles for the Vikings (2007, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017), tying Cleveland State for second among league teams in the volleyball record book and making volleyball the most decorated women’s sport at CSU. 

As a senior in 2007, Mel (Snyder) Badziong was part of a Cleveland State team that would make a place for itself in the CSU Record Book, capturing the program’s first-ever Horizon League Tournament title. 

A two-time All-League honoree, Badziong was part of a senior class (along with Seanna Steinle) that led CSU to 75 career victories – culminating with a trio of wins that led to the 2007 #HLVB Tournament title – marking the most wins by a graduating class in over 20 years.

Badziong graduated ranked third in the CSU Career Record Book with 4,076 assists, including a CSU Single-Season record 1,469 helpers during the 2007 campaign – 151 of which came during #HLVB Tournament play. Badziong’s 1,469 assists ranks seventh among league players in the single-season record book, while it led all #HLVB setters during the 2007 season. 

During the 2007 #HLVB Championship campaign, Badziong captained a Viking offense that set program records for kills (1,945), kills per set (15.81) and assists (1,775).

After leading the Vikings to the 2007 Horizon League Tournament title as a three-year starting setter, Badziong returned to her alma mater as an assistant coach in 2012. 

In five years on the sidelines (2012-2016), Badziong helped guide Cleveland State to three more #HLVB Tournament championships (2012, 2015, 2016), with the 2015 and 2016 titles marking the start of what would become a three-peat for the Vikings – making Cleveland State one of just two teams in league history to win three straight tournament titles.

Being a student-athlete at Cleveland State allowed me to...experience things on and off the court that I never could have imagined, and gave me the opportunity to continue playing the sport that I loved while being part of a team that was instrumental in the building blocks of what Cleveland State volleyball has become today.