Final issue of vol.15

The Cleveland Stater newsroom.

"GONE FISHING" (after finals week).

Look for more updates after Winter Break. See you around.

From,
John Cuturic

Volleyball ends season in Milwaukee

The Cleveland State University volleyball team ended their season Nov. 23, falling in the Horizon League semifinals to the UW Milwaukee Panthers.

The team’s semifinal performance finishes off a 16-13 season, where the Vikings saw both a 5-game winning streak and a 6-game losing streak.

The Vikings ended the regular season by beating Milwaukee 3-2, with double-doubles for senior Kerry Winchester and junior Maggie Hannon. But the Vikings fell a few kills short in their playoff match. The scores of the first three sets: Milwaukee 25-23, Milwaukee 25-21 and Cleveland State 25-23. 

A big story for the volleyball team is the loss of star outside hitter Kara Koch, who graduated after last season. The team had 1,558 kills last season, and 1,487 this time around. Koch scored 500 in her senior year.

The Vikings’ offensive leader this year was freshman Grace Kauth with 305 kills. Hannon took 297 and made the All-Horizon-League Team. Winchester scored 233 kills--along with Annie Djukic, she played her last season this year.

Going forward, the Vikings’ offensive hopes have a lot to do with Kauth, who made the Horizon League All-Freshman team this season, and sophomore Christina Toth. Toth scored 231 kills this season.

On the defensive side, sophomore Nikki Holmes posted a team-high 495 digs, good for about 4 and a half per set.

The team will lose Djukic and Winchester next season, but fans saw some strong performances from underclassmen this time out.

“Next season promises to be an exciting one as we return the majority of our team,” said Vikings coach Chuck Voss. “Everyone is excited for the future.”

Who knows if we’ll get back to 23-7 next year -- but we’re definitely going to have a team to look forward to.

Former Vikings goalie Brad Stuver drafted to pros

The Columbus Crew, a major-league soccer team, has selected former Cleveland State University goalkeeper Brad Stuver in the 2013 MLS Waiver Draft.

Stuver, a Cleveland State graduate from Twinsburg Ohio, spent the 2013 season as a pool goalkeeper. This means that an MLS team in “extreme hardship” which had lost some of its goalkeepers could call Stuver up as a replacement. Stuver was on the gameday roster for four different teams last season, but he hasn’t yet made his MLS debut.

The Montreal Impact drafted Stuver in the second round of the 2013 MLS Super Draft, but because of the Waiver Draft he wound up on the Columbus Crew, where he will join Matt Lampson and Daniel Withrow at goalkeeper.

As a goalie at Cleveland State University, Stuver got a 33-27-7 record. In his senior year, the Vikings’ record was 11-6-3, with Stuver as starting goalkeeper. Stuver allowed, on average, about 0.86 goals (or about 86 hundredths of a goal) per game. He saved about 80 percent of the shots that came at him.

The Vikings won that year’s Horizon League championship. Stuver was Horizon League MVP, and made the All-League team. That season also saw the Vikings’ first return to the NCAA tournament since 1980.

Cleveland State’s Tumblr page quotes Stuver as saying, “To play at the next level would be awesome. I’ve been playing soccer almost my whole life.”

The coach of the Vikings soccer team, Ali Kazemaini, said, "For us to continue to build [the CSU] program, we need to recruit players that can advance to the professional ranks. Of course, it's great to see that happening now with Brad and Josh Williams."

Coach Kazemaini said the team wishes Stuver the best."[He's] just a local kid that loves his hometown," Kazemaini said. "He has great tools, and he's just realizing how good he can be."