Volleyball Closes 2015 Season with WAC Road Contests at Grand Canyon and CSU Bakersfield

Sophomore libero Shontanae Addison currently ranks third in the WAC in digs per game

This Week: Chicago State volleyball closes out the 2015 season on the west coast this week with a pair of Western Athletic Conference contests. The Cougars travel to Phoenix on Thursday evening where they will battle host Grand Canyon with a start time of 6 p.m., Pacific Time. CSU then heads to California two days later to take on CSU Bakersfield in a WAC Digital Network broadcast with the first serve set for 1 p.m., Pacific Time.

Scouting CSU: CSU has produced a season record of 1-25 entering the final week of the regular season while holding a 0-12 mark in WAC play. The Green and White opened a three-match road swing last week by dropping a 3-0 decision on Nov. 6 at Missouri-Kansas City. Junior outside hitter Elli Woinowsky (Berlin, Germany/Merian Oberschule) leads the team with averages of 2.99 kills per set and 25 service aces on the year to go along with 1.80 digs a set. Sophomore setter Corey Davis (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Thousand Oaks) is averaging 7.20 assists and 2.12 digs per set, while the CSU defense is paced by two sophomores in libero Shontanae Addison (Little Elm, Texas/Wakeland) with 3.21 digs per set and middle hitter Arieta Vaimaona (Lauli'i, American Samoa/Faga'itua) with 42 total blocks (13 solo, 29 assisted – 0.42).

Scouting GCU: Grand Canyon heads into the week with a 4-20 record on the season which includes a 2-10 mark against WAC opponents. GCU dropped a pair of conference contests last weekend in the Southwest with a 3-0 loss at UT Rio Grande Valley and a 3-1 defeat at WAC regular season champion New Mexico State. Sophomore outside hitter Natalie Tardy leads the Antelopes with a team-best 2.88 kills per set in addition to 1.72 digs a set. Junior setter Michelle Steagall is currently dishing out a team-high 6.71 assists per set, while sophomore middle blocker Hannah Hicks is the team leader in blocks with 61 (seven solo, 54 assisted – 0.71 bps). Freshman libero Haley Glass is second in the WAC in digs with an average of 3.68 per set.

Scouting CSUB: CSU Bakersfield enters the final week of the regular season sporting a record of 10-14 and is currently tied for second place in the WAC standings at 8-4. The Roadrunners suffered a pair of three-set losses last weekend on the road to NM State and UTRGV. Senior outside hitter Kelsee Sawyer leads CSUB with 3.67 kills per set and a .258 hitting percentage, while senior setter Luiza Martins is averaging 10.17 assists a set and senior outside hitter Edithza Urias has posted a team-best 29 service aces. Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Sydney Haynes has tallied 54 blocks (eight solo, 46 assisted) for an average of 0.67 per set and junior outside hitter Carol Grasso is averaging 2.91 digs per set.

Snapping a Streak: CSU had snapped its 28-match losing streak dating back to last season on Sept. 19 after defeating Western Illinois, 3-0, in the finale of the ISU Classic. The Cougars posted their first win since gaining a 3-2 win against UMass Lowell on Sept. 21, 2014.

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