EDINBURG, Texas – Senior Kellie Phillips tallied a match-best 14 kills as host Texas-Pan American (4-11) claimed a 3-0 (25-14, 25-11, 25-8) victory over Chicago State (0-22) tonight at the UTPA Fieldhouse in Edinburg, Texas.
In the first set, the Broncs broke a 6-all tie with five straight points to claim an 11-6 lead after a service ace by senior Chelsea Blakely. A kill and a service ace from Phillips at 13-8 later jumpstarted a 12-6 scoring drive which gave the home team a one-set lead in the match.
The second set saw UTPA open with a commanding 12-3 lead after junior Rebecca Toddy notched back-to-back service aces. Phillips later recorded kills on consecutive plays to increase the Broncs' leading margin at 16-4. The home team took its biggest lead of the set at 24-10 on a kill from senior Deanna Scheyer and entered intermission with a 2-0 advantage.
The Broncs opened the third set with an early 9-0 lead behind the serve of Phillips and hiked their leading margin to 10-1 on a kill from sophomore Danielle Reed. CSU later sliced its deficit to 14-4 on a kill from freshman Mazvita Maziveyi (Harare, Zimbabwe/Hillside (NC)) (Durham, N.C.), but UTPA closed the match with an 11-4 run.
Maziveyi led Chicago State with a .417 hitting clip with five kills on 12 attacks and a service ace. Redshirt junior Shamara Clark (Bloomington, IN/South) (Bloomington, Ind.), junior Niena Posey (Chicago, IL/Lincoln College) (Chicago, Ill.) and sophomore Hope Lockett (St. Paul, MN/Central) (St. Paul, Minn.) each added three kills for the Cougars. Sophomore Hanya Minta (Eden Prairie, MN/Eden Prairie) (Eden Prairie, Minn.) posted 10 assists, while junior Chy Crichton (The Dalles, OR/Mt. Hood CC) (The Dalles, Ore.) recorded seven assists and six digs.
Blakely finished with a double-double of 25 assists and 13 digs, both match highs, in addition to six kills for UTPA. Scheyer added six kills, while Toddy posted 10 digs and a match-best four service aces. Junior Noelle Mayor paced the Broncs' defense with three block assists.
The Cougars face Houston Baptist at the UTPA Fieldhouse in a neutral-site match tomorrow afternoon beginning at 2 p.m.
~ CSU ~
