DAYTON — The Wright State volleyball team took down No. 4 seed Cleveland State in four sets on Saturday afternoon in the semifinals of the Horizon League Volleyball Championship. 

The Raiders (27-3, 18-0 Horizon) have now won 22 consecutive matches and turn their sights to a title game matchup against No. 2 seed Northern Kentucky on Sunday, November 20, inside McLin Gymnasium. First serve is set for 2 p.m. on ESPN+. 

Tickets for Sunday's championship match can be purchased in advance by clicking here. Raider fans are encouraged to arrive early as a large crowd is anticipated. 

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH INFORMATION
Sunday, November 20 - vs. Northern Kentucky - 2 p.m. - Watch - Live Stats - Tickets

Wright State grabbed control early, taking the opening set 25-18. However, the second set finished 25-20 in favor of Cleveland State (14-17, 10-8 Horizon), tying the semifinal. The Raiders got back in front with a 25-16 third-set victory before sealing the postseason win with a come-from-behind 25-22 final tally in set four. 

Sam Ott led the way with a match-high 17 kills to go along with six digs and four blocks. Callie Martin recorded a double-double with 14 kills and 11 digs, while Taylor Bransfield tallied 11 kills. Aaliyah Byers also reached double-figure kills with 10 on 21 attempts. Katie Meyer passed out 50 of Wright State's 59 assists in addition to 14 digs. 

Defensively, WSU limited the Vikings to a .161 hitting percentage and just two aces. The Raiders edged CSU in blocks, 10-to-4, highlighted by a team-leading six stuffs by Byers. Jenna Story added a match-best 22 digs in the winning effort. 


SET ONE
Wright State jumped out with five of the first six points behind kills from Byers and Martin and later used a 6-1 stretch to push to a 16-9 advantage. Cleveland State responded a 5-1 run of its own to pull to within three at 18-15, but the Raiders closed the set with seven of the final 10 points behind three kills from Ott and four Viking attacking errors.
 
SET TWO
A role reversal from the opening set, as Cleveland State scored eight of the first 11 points before the Raiders climbed back into the set and used a five-point run to take the lead at 16-14 thanks to kills from Alders and Bransfield. The visitors responded, however, with five straight points of their own to regain the lead and later tallied four of the final five points to knot the score.

SET THREE
Back-and-forth in the early going, the Raiders rolled off five straight points thanks to Martin and Ott to take a 14-8 advantage and gain firm control. Neither side could get any long scoring rallies going from there until Wright State recorded four of the final five points of the set behind kills from Byers and Ott to take the 2-1 advantage.
 
SET FOUR
Both sides alternated short runs in the opening points of the set, with Cleveland State pushing out to a 16-10 advantage in the midpoint before the Raiders rallied. Wright State tallied 15 of the final 21 points, tallying point clusters of two and three in a row before taking the lead for good behind a 5-0 run aided by a kill from Bransfield and a kill and service ace from Martin to make it 23-20. Back-to-back Cleveland State tallies pulled them back within one, but Wright State ended the afternoon with kills from Seiler Hruska and Ott to punch their ticket to the championship.