Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
Delaware State HTML Box Score I Saint Peter's HTML Box Score
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Chicago State volleyball earned their first two victories of the 2013 season on Friday (Sept. 13) with sweeps of Delaware State and Saint Peter's at the Syracuse University Candlewood Suites Challenge. The Cougars won the opening match over Delaware State 26-24, 25-22, 25-16 and Saint Peter's 25-16, 25-11, 25-13. The wins give Chicago State head coach Toby Rens 300 victories for his NCAA career.
Chicago State 3, Delaware State 0
Senior Paula Sioto (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Instituto Educacional Raphael Di Santo) hit .538 with a career-high 16 kills on 26 attempts in Chicago State's victory over the Hornets.
Chicago State won the first set despite a late charge from Delaware State. The Cougars led 22-15 before the Hornets went on an 8-1 run to tie the score at 23. It was a 24 all match when the Cougars put the set away with a kill by senior Rachel Levitt (Willow Springs, Ill./Lyons Township) for point 25 and a Delaware State attack error for point 26.
The Cougars jumped out to a quick 12-5 lead in the second set only to see the Hornets rally once more and take a late 21-20 lead on a kill by Jasmine Jackson. The Hornets would score just one more point the rest of the set as Chicago State finished on a 5-1 run. Sioto had a kill and two block assists for three of the Cougars' five points in the late push.
"Today we played some of the big pressure points today better than we have earlier this year," Rens said. "We came through with some big sideouts when we needed them."
There would be no comeback in set three for the Hornets. The Cougars opened leads of 7-2, 10-3 and 15-7 before winning 25-16. Sioto had kills for points 23 and 25.
The Cougars hit .282 as a team with junior Valeria Desiderio (Chicago Heights, Ill./Bloom) adding eight kills and seven digs. Levitt added seven kills. CSU notched seven aces with freshman Mackenzie Lotter (Indianapolis, Ind./Franklin Central) recording three and senior Madeleine Radtke (Stevensville, Mich./Lakeshore) and junior Julia Menhart (Augsburg, Germany/FOS Friedberg) each adding two aces.
Chicago State 3, Saint Peter's 0
Sioto was even better in the nightcap. She hit .630 with a career-high 17 kills on 27 swings and no errors.
The only set which featured a lead change was the first. Even then the Cougars took early control thanks to a 6-0 run with Menhart serving. Sioto had a pair of kills in the run. Menhart spurred another 6-0 run the next time she went back to serve. She helped give the Cougars a 22-12 lead.
The second set was all Chicago State. The Cougars finished the frame on a 7-0 run with Radtke and Levitt each recording a pair of kills in the stretch. The Cougars scored the first six points of the third set to erase any hope of Saint Peter's perusing a comeback.
Chicago State hit a season-high .381 with 41 kills as a team. Levitt added nine and Desiderio recorded eight. Junior Mia Townsell (Gardnerville, Nev./Douglas) provided a season-high 19 digs.
"We were very good in both matches as a team," Rens said. "We had good set distribution, passing was solid, defense was very good and when we weren't serving for aces we were hitting our zones and doing a good job of keeping them out of system."
When asked about win 300, Rens credited the work ethic of his teams.
"I've been fortunate to have a number of teams that have worked exceptionally hard and really bought in to the system and style of play to play some pretty good team volleyball," Rens said.
Chicago State moves to 2-8 with the pair of victories. The Cougars play Syracuse on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. CT.
