CHICAGO (Oct. 17, 2009) – Chicago State closed a three-match Great West Conference homestand this afternoon after falling to visiting Texas-Pan American in three sets (25-16, 25-19, 25-18) at the Jacoby Dickens Center. The Cougars saw the season record fall to 0-18 (0-7), while the Lady Broncs improved to 5-15 (3-6).
Today's match was also part of the month-long Dig Pink rally which college teams from across the country have been raising funds that will be donated to research and awareness for breast cancer.
The first set saw the visiting team gain an early 9-0 advantage after junior Kaitlin Vasquez recorded nine straight service points and fellow classmate Marci Logan posted four kills during the run. Logan and freshman Sarah Davis each added three kills to help UTPA tally 11 of the next 19 points to increase its leading margin to 20-8. CSU later recorded an 8-3 scoring drive to close within 23-16 that included four service points and a pair of service aces by junior Hanya Minta (Eden Prairie, MN/Eden Prairie) (Eden Prairie, Minn.), but a kill from freshman Ijanae Holman and a service ace from junior Cassandra Trevino concluded the set for the Lady Broncs.
Both teams battled back and forth through ties and lead changes in the beginning of the second set before UTPA scored three straight points to gain a 13-10 lead that culminated with a kill from Logan. The Cougars then scored three of the next four points to close within 14-13 after a kill from freshman Kimberly Naut (Reno, NV/Galena) (Reno, Nev.), but junior Rita Gonzalez tallied four kills as part of an 11-6 scoring run to give the visitors a 2-0 advantage.
Junior Ariana Bermea posted five consecutive service points and two service aces as part of a 7-1 scoring run that transformed an early 2-1 CSU lead into an 8-3 advantage. The home team stayed within distance of the Lady Broncs by scoring five of the next eight points to slice its deficit to 11-8 following a UTPA hitting error. A 10-6 scoring drive helped the visitors increased its advantage to 21-14 for its biggest leading margin of the set before splitting the final eight points with CSU to end the match.
Naut tallied nine kills to lead Chicago State, while sophomore Mazvita Maziveyi (Harare, Zimbabwe/Hillside (NC)) (Durham, N.C.) added eight kills and a pair of blocks on the day. Minta posted 26 assists and three service aces, while senior Jean Keenan (/) (Braidwood, Ill.) added 12 assists and junior Brittany Hale (South Holland, IL/Grand View (Iowa)) (South Holland, Ill.) notched six kills.
Logan recorded a match-best 12 kills to pace Texas-Pan American, while Davis contributed nine kills. Gonzalez posted a match-high 28 assists, and Bermea tallied 16 digs and three service aces for the Lady Broncs.
The Cougars are back in action this Tuesday afternoon as it travels to the west side to face inter-city foe UIC at the Flames Athletic Center with the first serve set for 5 p.m.
~CSU~
