EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (Oct. 31, 2008) – Chicago State volleyball continued its four-match road swing tonight with a 3-0 (11-25, 17-25, 21-25) loss to host SIU Edwardsville at SIUE's Valdabene Center. The SIUE Cougars improved their season record to 10-12, while the CSU Cougars fell to 0-27 on the year.
SIUE opened the first set with an 8-3 lead after sophomore Noelle Franke recorded back-to-back kills, but CSU would score four of the next seven points to slice its deficit to 10-7 on a kill from junior Jean Keenan (/) (Braidwood, Ill.). Senior Kelsey Hubert notched consecutive service aces during a 10-2 scoring drive which hiked the home team's advantage to 20-9 and SIUE finished the set by tallying five of the final seven points.
CSU rebounded from an early 3-0 deficit in the second set with four straight points which included a pair of kills from freshman Mazvita Maziveyi (Harare, Zimbabwe/Hillside (NC)) (Durham, N.C.) to gain a 4-3 lead. A 12-3 scoring run, led by four kills from junior Brittni Birkey, helped SIUE capture a 15-7 leading margin. After a freshman Ashlee Brockenbrough kill gave the home team its biggest lead of the set at 21-10, the Green and White tallied three consecutive points with two kills by sophomore Hanya Minta (Eden Prairie, MN/Eden Prairie) (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and a service ace from junior Chy Crichton (The Dalles, OR/Mt. Hood CC) (The Dalles, Ore.) to pull within 21-13. Both teams split the final eight points with SIUE heading into intermission with a two-set lead.
The visitors jumped out to a 7-3 advantage to begin the third set and later hiked its lead to 9-4 on a kill from junior Niena Posey (Chicago, IL/Lincoln College) (Chicago, Ill.). SIUE posted an 11-6 scoring drive behind three kills from Franke and a pair of kills from sophomore Sydney Winslow to knot the score at 15-15. After a solo block from Posey even the score at 17-17, the home team finished the match by scoring eight of the final 12 points.
Crichton paced Chicago State with a double-double of 15 assists and 10 digs. Minta, Keenan and Maziveyi each recorded five kills. Redshirt junior Shamara Clark (Bloomington, IN/South) (Bloomington, Ind.) notched a match-leading 11 digs and Minta posted 10 digs.
SIUE was paced by senior Mallory Clements' double-double of a match-best 24 assists and 10 digs to go along with a match-high three service aces. Franke and senior Samantha Schulte posted a match-best seven kills, while senior Emily Rahn added 10 digs.
The Cougars conclude the road portion of their schedule tomorrow afternoon at UMKC with a start time of 4 p.m.
~ CSU ~
