Volleyball Begins 2016 Season at Memphis Invitational

Juniors Corey Davis (L) and Arieta Vaimaona will help lead CSU in its season-opening tournament this weekend at Memphis

This Week: Chicago State volleyball heads south this weekend to open its 2016 season for the Memphis Invitational at UM's Elma Rhone Fieldhouse. The Green and White open the tournament tomorrow against the host Tigers at 12 p.m. and Belmont at 5 p.m. before facing Central Arkansas on Saturday at 12 p.m.

Scouting Chicago State: CSU returns four letterwinners from head coach Brandon Reeves' inaugural squad in 2015. The top returners for the Cougars are junior middle blocker Arieta Vaimaona (Lauli'i, American Samoa/Faga'itua), junior setter Corey Davis (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Thousand Oaks) and junior defensive specialist/outside hitter Shontanae Addison (Little Elm, Texas/Wakeland). Vaimaona averaged finished second on the team last year in kills (172 – 1.95 kps) and total blocks (45 – 0.51 bps), while Davis ranked fifth in the Western Athletic Conference in assists (622 - 7.23 aps) and Addison averaged a team-leading 3.30 digs a set last year to finish third in the WAC. Senior right side hitter Dzeni Hadzisehovic (Belgrade, Serbia/First Private School for Catering and Tourism) and junior outside hitter Juma Armando (Toronto, Canada/Archbishop Romero) are just two of 11 newcomers that will look to help the Green and White contend this season in the WAC.

Scouting Memphis: Memphis welcomes back 10 letterwinners, including three starters, from last season's 19-14 team that finished fourth in American Athletic Conference play at 10-10. Senior outside/right side hitter Catlin Lilly averaged 2.79 kills and 2.56 digs a set a year ago to go along with 34 service aces, while senior right side hitter McKenzie Hayes produced 2.39 kills and 0.66 blocks per set last season.

Scouting Belmont: Belmont recorded a 19-14 overall record with an 11-5 ledger in Ohio Valley Conference play before capturing the league's tournament title and advancing to the NCAA Tournament last season. The Bruins, returning 10 letterwinners from last season's team, were recently picked to win the OVC title in the league's preseason poll in addition to having three preseason all-conference selections. Junior outside hitter Arianna Pearson averaged 4.06 kills, 3.13 digs and 0.34 blocks per set in addition to a team-best 46 service aces en route to winning the OVC Tournament MVP award last season. Junior right side hitter/middle blocker Brie Lewis was second in kills at 2.60 per set to go along with 1.90 digs a set.

Scouting Central Arkansas: Central Arkansas was recently picked to finish third (media) and fourth (coaches) in the Southland Conference preseason polls after posting a 16-13 record with a 12-4 mark in conference play last season. The top returners for the Sugar Bears are a pair of preseason All-SLC selections in junior outside hitter Megan Nash (first team) and junior right side hitter/middle blocker Samantha Anderson (second team). Nash posted averages of 2.08 kills and 1.32 blocks a set last year while Anderson averaged 2.25 kills and 0.99 blocks per set for UCA.

Facing The Nation's Best: Four teams that competed in last year's NCAA Tournament will take on CSU this season in WAC champion New Mexico State, OVC tournament champion Belmont, Colorado State and NCAA Final Four participant Kansas.

Road Warriors: CSU looks to log lots of mileage over the first four weeks of the season with tournaments in Tennessee, Kansas, Alabama and Colorado to go along with a mid-week contest at Western Illinois on Sept. 13. The Cougars kick off their home schedule on Sept. 20 against UIC at the Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center before taking on UMKC in their WAC opener three days later at the Jacoby Dickens Center.

Up Next: Chicago State heads to Lawrence, Kan., to compete in the Kansas Invitational on Sept. 2-3 where it will take on the host Jayhawks, Arkansas and Maryland.

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Players Mentioned

#14 Shontanae Addison: DS/OH; 5' 8"; Junior

#6 Corey Davis: S; 5' 9"; Junior

#3 Juma Armando: OH; 5' 11"; Junior

#10 Dzeni Hadzisehovic: RS; 6' 5"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#14 Shontanae Addison
: 5' 8"; Junior
: DS/OH

#6 Corey Davis
: 5' 9"; Junior
: S

#3 Juma Armando
: 5' 11"; Junior
: OH

#10 Dzeni Hadzisehovic
: 6' 5"; Senior
: RS

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned