KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Chicago State volleyball finished the road portion of its 2008 campaign Saturday afternoon with a three-set (11-25, 15-25, 9-25) loss to host UMKC at Swinney Gymnasium. The Kangaroos hiked their record to 11-17 and the Cougars dropped to 0-28 on the year.
In the first set, UMKC broke a 2-2 tie with an 8-0 run behind three kills from junior Jamie Hagerman to take a 10-2 lead. After CSU closed to within 12-5 on a UMKC hitting error and a solo block by junior Niena Posey (Chicago, IL/Lincoln College) (Chicago, Ill.), the Kangaroos finished the set by scoring 13 of the final 19 points with freshman Kate Humphreys producing five kills during the run.
The home team recorded an early 5-1 lead in the second set after a kill from sophomore Holly Schmidt and a service ace by freshman Christiana McQuin. CSU rebounded with a short 5-3 scoring drive which sliced its deficit to 8-6 after a kill from sophomore Hanya Minta (Eden Prairie, MN/Eden Prairie) (Eden Prairie, Minn.). A 14-6 run propelled UMKC to a 22-12 advantage that culminated with back-to-back service aces from freshman Erin Wellwood. Both teams split the final six points of the set, but the Kangaroos entered intermission with a 2-0 advantage.
Senior Mandy Tipton recorded four kills and four service aces in helping UMKC post a commanding 17-4 advantage in the beginning of the third set and the Cougars could never get closer than 11 points the rest of the way.
Minta recorded a double-double of 14 assists and a match-high 13 digs to lead Chicago State. Redshirt junior Shamara Clark (Bloomington, IN/South) (Bloomington, Ind.) contributed 10 digs and junior Jean Keenan (/) (Braidwood, Ill.) added four kills. Freshman Mazvita Maziveyi (Harare, Zimbabwe/Hillside (NC)) (Durham, N.C.) and sophomore Shandella Darring (Chicago, IL/Kentucky State) (Chicago, Ill.) each recorded three kills.
Leading UMKC was senior Danni Sperry who tallied a double-double of a match-best 15 assists and 10 digs, while McQuin finished with a match-high six kills. Wellwood also finished with 15 assists and three service aces. Sophomore Christina McCarthy posted a match-high four block assists for the Kangaroos.
CSU is idle until Nov. 14 when it returns to the Jacoby Dickens Center for its regular season finale against Valparaiso with the first serve set for 8 p.m.
~ CSU ~
