| CSU Vikings.com | WEB |
Oct. 2, 2006 Contact: Brian McCann
Complete Release in PDF Format
Women's Soccer Is The Lone Team At Home As Vikings Hit The Road. . . Cleveland State's athletic teams will once again scatter across the eastern part of the country, going anywhere from New Jersey to Chicago with women's soccer being the only team to stay at home. Women's soccer, which has played nine of its first 12 matches on the road, returns home to start a regular season ending stretch that will have the Vikings play six of their final seven contests at home. CSU plays a Wednesday (Oct. 4) match against Notre Dame College before resuming Horizon League play with matches against Loyola on Friday (Oct. 6) and UW-Milwaukee on Sunday (Oct. 8). All three contests will be played at Krenzler Field with the first two kicking off at 7:00 p.m. and the UW-Milwaukee match starting at 12:00 noon. The volleyball team continues its Horizon League schedule with road matches at Butler on Friday (Oct. 6) and Wright State on Saturday (Oct. 7) while the men's soccer team plays a mid-week match at Rutgers on Tuesday (Oct. 3) before resuming league play at UIC on Sunday (Oct. 8). The men's tennis team plays in its last tourney of the fall when the Vikings competes in the Louisville Invitational over the weekend (Oct. 6-8). The men's golf team continues it fall slate by playing in the 18-team Joe Agee Invite on Monday-Tuesday (Oct. 2-3) in Williamsburg, Va. The cross country returns to the course after a week off to run in the annual All-Ohio Championships on Friday (Oct. 6) in Delaware, Ohio. Volleyball Returns To The Road To Continue Horizon League Play. . . Having played just three matches at home all year, the volleyball team (12-4, 2-2 HL) hits the road again this week for a pair of Horizon League tests. The Vikings will travel to Butler for a 7:00 p.m. match on Friday (Oct. 6), before heading to Wright State for a 4:00 p.m. tilt on Saturday (Oct. 7). CSU is 0-12 all-time against the Bulldogs in Indianapolis and has won five straight regular season matches with the Raiders, although WSU upset the Vikings in last year's league championship. "Last weekend is a perfect example of why we need to play with a little more consistency," head coach Chuck Voss said. "We played so solidly against Loyola, but then really struggled the next day against UIC. We've got to give a better effort -- especially at home. But this is a new week and I'm sure we'll come ready to play." Cleveland State went 1-1 in a pair of Horizon League matches last weekend in Woodling Gymnasium, sweeping Loyola on Friday (Sept. 29), before falling to UIC on Saturday (Sept. 30) in four games. Freshman Beth Greulich led the way against the Ramblers, ripping a then career-high 12 kills on .647 hitting, while freshman Liz Fazio added 10 kills and 10 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. The sweep was the 10th of the year for the Vikings. Fazio paced CSU with 15 kills against the Flames, while Greulich established a new career-best with 14 kills on .370 hitting. Freshman Alexis Korovich chimed in with 13 kills and 12 digs for her team-leading seventh double-double of the season. Men's Soccer Travels To Rutgers & UIC. . . The Cleveland State men's soccer team is now 4-6-1 (1-2 in Horizon League play) heading into two road matches this week. On Tuesday (Oct. 3), the Vikings travel to Rutgers for an 8:00 p.m. match. CSU continues its road stretch on Sunday (Oct. 8) at UIC with kickoff set for 7:00 p.m. CSU notched its first Horizon League win since 2003 on Saturday (Sept. 30) when freshman George Kephart scored in the 98th minute to give the Vikings a 1-0 overtime win at Butler. Sophomore Kasey Gray posted a career-high nine saves to earn the shutout. "The win at Butler was a great win for us," head coach Ali Kazemaini said. "We have showed a lot of courage in our last couple of matches, and our level of play has risen because of that. We are really coming together at the right time of the season." The youth of the Vikings has benefited CSU this year. Kephart, who is second on the team with three goals, leads the team in both shots (25) and shots on goal (12). Freshman Andrew Gutting leads the Horizon League with six assists and is second on the squad with eight points. The Viking defense, led by freshmen Mitch Boyer, Anthony Baraldi, Eric Tattersall and junior Tom Sadd, has been stifling of late, allowing one goal or less in three of the last four matches. Gray has been steady in goal, currently ranking third in the Horizon League in goals against average (1.17), saves (41) and save percentage (.804). Women's Soccer Returns Home For Three Matches This Week. . . After opening the year by playing nine of its first 12 contests on the road, the Viking women's soccer team gets to turn the table, playing three home matches this week at Krenzler Field as part of a stretch that will see CSU close the regular season by playing six of its final seven contests at home. The Viking begin the week by hosting Notre Dame College on Wednesday (Oct. 4) at 7:00 p.m. and then continue Horizon League play with a 7:00 p.m. match against Loyola on Friday (Oct. 6). CSU closes the schedule by hosting UW-Milwaukee at noon on Sunday (Oct. 8). "It will be good to get home again and play on Krenzler Field," head coach Derrek Falor said. "It is difficult to play so much on the road, although I thought we had done a good job of adapting to the different playing surfaces until last week when we let things get away from us. It is important that we use the matches this week to refocus and finish the regular season off well." The Vikings are coming off their worst week of the season, dropping road matches to Robert Morris (2-0), Detroit (7-0) and Butler (7-1) to drop to 1-11 overall and 0-2 in Horizon League play. "There is no excuse for how we played last week and if we aren't careful, the three teams that we play this week have the ability to post similar numbers," Falor said. Sophomore Lisa Conway scored the lone Viking goal last week, the 11th of the season, giving CSU one more goal than it scored during the entire 2005 season. Men's Golf Travels To Williamsburg, Women Idle. . . The men's golf team travels to Williamsburg, Va. on Oct. 2-3 for its next-to-last tournament of the fall. The Vikings are one of 18 teams competing in the Joe Agee Invitational hosted by William & Mary at the 6,721 yard, par 70 Stonehouse GC. CSU finished sixth at last year's event. The women's team is off until Oct. 9-10 when they take part in the Detroit Invitational at the Western Golf & Country Club in Redford, Mich. "We've been struggling to put back-to-back good rounds together so far this fall," CSU head coach Brian Varsey said. "We're working hard in practice, but it's just not translating into low scores in competition yet." The Vikings finished 12th at the DePaul John Dallio Memorial Invitational in their only action last week (Sept. 25-26). Senior Ben Grandy carded a 226 to finish in a tie for 32nd, while junior Doug Barber was tied for 36th at 227. On the women's side, CSU had it's busiest week of the fall, finishing seventh at the Butler Fall Invitational (Sept. 25-26) and 10th at the Bucknell Fall Classic (Sept. 30-Oct. 1). Sophomore Ashley Davidson and freshman Katie Broere paced the Vikings with matching 251s at Butler, while freshman Laren Beese finished in a tie for 29th at 169 at Bucknell. Men's Tennis Competes At Louisville Invitational. . . The Cleveland State men's tennis team will travel to the Louisville Invitational this weekend, Oct. 6-8. The tournament is the last weekend event for the men's team this fall before the ITA Regional Tournament, which starts Oct. 19. Head coach Brian Etzkin became CSU's all-time men's tennis wins leader on Tuesday (Sept. 26) in the Vikings' 7-0 sweep of IPFW. Etzkin, who already holds the school record for wins in women's tennis, now has 47 men's tennis wins at CSU. The previous record was 46 wins by Forrest Miller (1948-55). "The wins record is a great accomplishment for our program," Etzkin said. "It speaks volumes about the level of talent we've had here and how hard our players have worked." Every player on the men's team is .500 or better in singles play, with freshman Ryan Hamning leading the team with a 7-2 singles record, playing mostly at No. 3 singles. Sophomore Rob West is 6-1 at the No. 6 spot, while freshman Phil Orno and sophomore Steven Wipprecht are both 5-2. Junior Brad Groleski has played in the top spot of the lineup and gone 5-4, while senior Dan Singer is 4-4. "All of our players are playing well, and giving us a chance to win in every spot of the lineup," Etzkin said. "Anybody on our team can win on any given day." The men have rotated doubles combinations in almost every match, but they may have found a winner with their two freshmen playing together. Orno and Hamning are a team-leading 5-0 as a doubles tandem, including a win at No.1 doubles against IPFW. Women's Tennis Preps For ITA Regional. . . An injury-depleted Viking women's tennis team will have more than two weeks to rest up and prepare before closing their fall schedule at the ITA Regional in East Lansing, Mich. on Oct. 17-19. Injuries severly limited CSU at the Ball State Invitational last weekend (Sept. 29-30) as only four of the eight players on the roster were able to compete. The women won three of their four doubles matches, with seniors Sarah Galon and Morgan Ungerott going 2-0 to improve to 8-1 at No. 1 doubles this season. Sophomore Kristin Chamberlain and freshman Charlotte Gibbons went 1-1 in doubles play and are now 3-4 as a doubles tandem. "Our doubles play has definitely been our strength this season," Etzkin said. "We have been also getting some good singles wins, but I am very happy with the way we have played in doubles in our tournaments." Galon won two singles matches on Friday to advance to the semi-finals of Flight A, but lost twice on Saturday to finish fourth. She is now a team-best 8-3 this fall. Chamberlain (6-5) and Gibbons (5-4) are the other two Vikings over .500 in singles play. Cross Country Heads To All-Ohio Championship. . . Cleveland State's women's cross country returns to action this week to run in the All-Ohio Championship on Friday (Oct. 6) beginning at 2:00 p.m. in Delaware, Ohio. In its last competition of the fall, CSU placed fifth at the Ohio Invitational on Sept. 23. It was the second-best finish of the fall, trailing only the fourth place effort at the Tom Evans Invitational in Akron on Sept. 9. Freshman Caitlan Ebner has led the Vikings in each of the team's four meets, posting her best time of the year (20:10) at the Toledo Invitational (Sept. 16). Sophomore Madeline Singer has consistently been in the team's top three finishers, and freshman Colleen Conway, a mid-season addition to the squad, has come on strong, finishing second on the team at the Ohio Invitational. The team has persevered despite being riddled by a series of injuries throughout the season. Sophomores Audrey and Julie Piotrowski have been unable to run in three of the team's meets and their return to the lineup this season is unlikely. Junior Christina Swierz has also missed time on the course because she has been playing with the CSU softball team. "Our runners have shown a lot of toughness this season," head coach Joe Jaketic said. "Caitlan has been consistently competitive in every meet and we have had many different people step up at times this season. We have battled and competed hard in every meet and we're ready for another strong performance this weekend at the All-Ohio Championship." Viking High Fives Beth Greulich -- Ranked 18th in the nation in hitting percentage heading into last week, the freshman opposite improved on that number by hitting .477 (26-5-44) in a pair of matches to raise her season percentage to .427. George Kephart -- The freshman's overtime goal at Butler on Sunday gave the Vikings their first league win since 2003. Sarah Galon & Morgan Ungerott -- The senior tandem won two matches at Ball State over the weekend to improve to 8-1 at No. 1 doubles this year. Liz Fazio -- The redshirt freshman is a prime example of the 12-4 volleyball team being just as successful in the classroom. She's earned the Horizon League's Student Athlete of the Week award twice in the first month of the season. The Week Ahead For The Vikings Oct. 2 (Monday) Oct. 3 (Tuesday) Men's Golf at Joe Agee Invite Oct. 4 (Wednesday) Oct. 6 (Friday) Women's Soccer hosts Loyola Volleyball at Butler Men's Tennis at Louisville Invitational Oct. 7 (Saturday) Men's Tennis at Louisville Invitational Oct. 8 (Sunday) Men's Soccer at UIC Men's Tennis at Louisville Invitational
|
   
|
|||||||||||||
