TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Chicago State volleyball opened its final in-season tournament this afternoon with a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Ball State at the Best Western ISU Classic, held at the ISU Arena on the campus of Indiana State. The Cardinals improved their season record to 3-5 and the Cougars' record dropped to 0-7.
Sophomore Jennifer Boyd recorded a pair of kills and service points to help BSU post a 10-3 lead to open the match's opening set. The Cardinals later closed out the set by scoring 15 of the next 23 points behind four kills and two solo blocks from senior Alisha Green.
The second set saw BSU jump out to an early 6-1 advantage following back-to-back kills from senior Julie Breivogel and later increased its leading margin to 23-7 when a kill and a solo block by sophomore Kelsey Brandl capped a 17-6 scoring drive. CSU posted a quick 3-1 scoring run thanks to kills from freshman Kimberly Naut (Reno, NV/Galena) (Reno, Nev.) and junior Shandella Darring (Chicago, IL/Kentucky State) (Chicago, Ill.), and a service ace by sophomore Mazvita Maziveyi (Harare, Zimbabwe/Hillside (NC)) (Durham, N.C.) to slice its deficit to 24-10 before a Breivogel kill handed the Cardinals a two-set lead heading into intermission
BSU produced a 6-1 lead to open the third set with four service points coming from freshman Lauren Schlaker and three kills by Boyd before CSU came back to score seven of the next 11 points to pull within two points at 10-8 following a Cardinal attack error. A 12-2 run increased the Cardinals' leading margin to 22-10 after a service ace from sophomore Christie Waters and BSU finished the match by scoring three of the final five points.
Leading the Cougars was senior Niena Posey (Chicago, IL/Lincoln College) (Chicago Heights, Ill.), who recorded four kills and two blocks. Naut also finished the match with four kills, junior Hanya Minta (Eden Prairie, MN/Eden Prairie) (Eden Prairie, Minn.) added 10 assists and junior Brittany Hale (South Holland, IL/Grand View (Iowa)) (South Holland, Ill.) notched eight digs.
Boyd tallied a .750 hitting clip with a match-high 10 kills to lead Ball State, while Green added nine kills. Redshirt freshman Andrea Felton posted a match-high 22 assists and Waters finished with a match-best nine digs for the Cardinals.
The Cougars continue the Best Western ISU Classic with a pair of contests tomorrow beginning at 12 p.m. against Indiana State and later in the afternoon against Eastern Illinois at 3:30 p.m.
~CSU~
