Nov. 20, 2004

Box Score |  Quotes |  Notes

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Cleveland State picked the perfect time to finally beat the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

The Vikings tallied 20 blocks and had three players in double figures in kills to claim a 25-30, 30-28, 30-21, 27-30, 15-13 win over the Panthers in the semifinals of the Horizon League Volleyball Tournament Saturday afternoon.

The win is CSU's first over UWM in its last 22 tries and it sends the fourth-seeded Vikings into the championship match Sunday against either Butler or Loyola.

Horizon League Player of the Year Karen Fruit had 24 kills and 17 digs for the Panthers (19-8), who could not overcome a .121 hitting percentage.

UWM trailed most of the decisive fifth game but fought back to tie the frame at 12-all on a triple block by Melissa David, Rachel Kuebbing and Cheryl Hegemann. The game was tied again at 13 after a CSU error, but a kill by Jamie Bouyer made it 14-13 and a block by Julie Stover and Danielle Siefker wrapped up the match for the Vikings (15-12).

Bouyer led Cleveland State with 18 kills, while Siefker had a career-best 13 blocks and Nickole Kennedy added nine kills and nine blocks.

Kuebbing added 20 kills for the Panthers, who also got 23 digs from Jamie Gabrielson and 14 kills and five blocks by Hegemann.

"We lost to a very good Cleveland State team," UWM head coach Kathy Litzau said. "We were definitely off, but Cleveland State was definitely on. We were just scrambling the whole match, even when we were ahead. It was not easy for us to score any points today.

"We didn't have that extra push that we normally have, while Cleveland State was very good and very scrappy. They got to a lot of balls and made a lot of good plays, and we couldn't find our chemisty today."

UWM tied the match at two games apiece by winning the fourth frame. The Panthers led most of the way, taking the lead for good at 18-17 on a CSU error. A service ace by Gabrielson made it 27-22 and the Panthers were never seriously threatened in wrapping up the game.

The Vikings had moved to the brink of winning the match by controlling the second part of the third game, turning a 14-all tie into a 20-14 edge following six-straight points. The Panthers could never get closer than three points the rest of the way, and kills by Emily Clark and Kelly Crain wrapped up the frame for Cleveland State.

The two teams split the first two games, with the Panthers leading most of the way in game one and the Vikings rebounding from an early deficit to even the match in game two.

The Panthers jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the first frame, capped off by a Fruit ace. Cleveland State fought back to tie the game at 10, but UWM scored eight of the next 10 points to rebuild an 18-12 edge. The Panthers couldn't put the game away, though, with the Vikings pulling within 21-20 on a Bouyer ace. UWM bounced back, though, scoring five of the next six points for a 26-21 edge and a kill by Fruit closed out the game for the Panthers.

UWM jumped to a 13-8 lead in the second game. But, Cleveland State rebounded with five of the next six points to tie the game at 14 and neither team could take control from there. The Panthers took their final lead of the game at 25-24 on a Fruit kill, but the Vikings claimed a 29-27 lead on back-to-back kills by Bouyer. A Kuebbing kill pulled UWM to within one by her service error then gave the Vikings their final point.