With one conference game left in the season, Cleveland State volleyball has had a season full of team and individual highlights so far.
Team
With 12 returning letterwinners, including reigning Horizon League Volleyball Freshman of the Year Laken Voss and All-League honorees: Karly Klaer and Madison Olinger, the Vikings were voted to finish fifth out of the 10 teams in the Horizon League Preseason Poll.
Off to a strong start, the Vikings had a clean sweep at the Leatherneck Classic, winning the tournament title and beginning the season with a 3-0 record for the first time since 2018.
Moving further into the season, the Vikings went 6-8 in September, for an overall record of 9-8. Since then, the team has ramped up, looking to end the season strong.
From Friday Oct. 13 through Tuesday, Oct. 24, the Vikings then went on a five match win streak, dropping just two sets over the same time frame.
Through the end of October, the team had played in 25 matches, averaging 12.24 kills, 10.96 assists, 2.41 blocks and 16.77 digs per set, with an overall record of 14-11.
Of the 14 wins, six have been straight sets, with the Vikings coming out on top 3-0.
Traveling to Wisconsin, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Kentucky, and throughout Ohio, the team has a record of 6-3 for away matches.
Individual
On Saturday, Oct. 28, CSU junior Emma Walker surpassed 1,000 career digs, ending the match with 1,002 digs. She had eight digs in the loss to Northern Kentucky.
Liberty Torres, a junior outside hitter, has been named the Horizon League Player of the Week twice this season.
Torres was named Horizon League Volleyball Player of the Week for the first time on Aug. 28, after leading the Vikings to the Leatherneck Classic tournament title. Torres had 10, 7, then 8 kills per game, adding 8 digs and 2 blocks over the weekend.
Prior to earning her second Horizon League Volleyball Player of the Week honor on Oct. 16, Torres led the Viking offense in their previous two games. The team defeated Green Bay 3-1 on Oct. 13 and Milwaukee 3-0 on Oct. 14, with Torres recording 16 kills and 15 kills, respectively. Torres had at least 15 kills in six straight matches, including Green Bay and Milwaukee.
Horizon League
With a 3-1 victory against Purdue Fort Wayne on Tuesday, Nov. 7, the Vikings have officially secured a spot in the 2023 Horizon League Volleyball Tournament, which is set to begin Friday, Nov. 17.