Volleyball Closes Regular Season in Southwest This Weekend

Match #32
Chicago State (9-22, 3-11) at UT Rio Grande Valley (20-8, 11-3)
Thursday, Nov. 15, 2018 – 7 p.m.
UTRGV Fieldhouse – Edinburg, Texas
Live Video - Live Stats

Match #33
Chicago State at New Mexico State (20-7, 10-4)
Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018 – 1 p.m.
Pan American Center – Las Cruces, N.M.
Live Video - Live Stats

Opening Serve – The Chicago State volleyball team closes out its regular season schedule with a pair of Western Athletic Conference matches this week in the southwest. CSU heads to Texas tomorrow night to take on WAC co-leader UT Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg with a start time of 7 p.m. The Cougars then travel to Las Cruces, N.M. two days later for their season finale against New Mexico State beginning at 1 p.m.

Scouting the Cougars – CSU brings a season record of 9-22 into the final week of the season which includes a 3-11 ledger against conference opponents following last week's split at home with a 3-0 win over Seattle U and a 3-0 defeat to Utah Valley. The Green and White have been paced this season by the duo of junior libero Megan Klavitter (Fenton, Mich./Linden) and senior outside hitter Lauryn Dela Cruz (Provo, Utah/Timpview). Klavitter ranks first in the WAC with 643 total digs and an average of 5.69 digs per set in addition to recording a team-best 33 service aces, while Dela Cruz ranks third in the league in kills per set (3.59).

Scouting the Vaqueros – UTRGV sits in a tie for first place in the WAC with Kansas City thanks to an 11-3 conference record and holds a 20-8 overall record while riding a six-match winning streak since Oct. 18. Last week, the Vaqueros knocked off California Baptist in a five-set thriller at home before claiming a 3-0 victory at Seattle. Senior outside hitter Ragni Steen Knudsen is averaging a team-leading 3.99 kills per set followed by senior middle blocker Alexandra Ecker posting a team-high 99 total blocks (15 solo, 84 assisted) for an average of 0.99 per set. Senior libero Gysell Zayas has produced a team-best 5.29 digs per set on the season.

Series History – UTRGV has recorded a 24-1 advantage in the all-time series with CSU since the 1996 season that included a 3-0 victory in the teams' first meeting on Oct. 4 at the Jacoby Dickens Center in Chicago.

Scouting the Aggies – New Mexico State has amassed a 20-7 season record with a 10-4 mark in WAC play following a 3-1 win at Grand Canyon and a 3-1 home victory over CBU last weekend. Senior outside hitter Tatyana Battle is averaging 3.33 kills and 3.05 digs to lead NM State while Megan Hart leads the team in blocks at an average of 1.07 per set (12 solo, 98 assisted - 110 total) as well as a .371 hitting percentage.

Series History – NM State currently holds an 11-0 lead over Chicago State all-time on the volleyball court after claiming a 3-0 win on Oct. 6 in Chicago at the Jones Convocation Center.

Aiming to Take Another Record - After capturing the school's Division I career digs record last month and cracking the WAC's career Top 10 two weeks ago, Klavitter is now aiming to claim another record as she has tallied 643 digs for the season to rank second on the WAC's single-season list and needs 34 more to pass the record of 676 set in 2006 by San Jose State's Jessie Shull.

Honoring Seniors – The Green and White honored their four seniors in Dela Cruz, Ludmila Bomfim (Belo-Horizonte Minas Gerais, Brazil/Escola Estadual Pedro II), Gabby Pearl (Farmer City, IL/Blue Ridge) and Carmen Carvajal (Lugo, Spain/I.E.S Lucus Augusti) during a pre-match senior day ceremony last Saturday in their home finale against UVU.

CSU's Double Stack – The Cougars have produced 13 double-doubles so far this season with Dela Cruz leading the way with 39 followed by junior outside hitter Beatriz Palmieri (Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo, Brazil/Professora Carlina Cacapava de Mello) and sophomore setter Lacee Adams (Muncie, Ind./Muncie Central) with 10 apiece. Other players posting double-doubles this season are senior setter Ludmila Bomfim (Belo-Horizonte Minas Gerais, Brazil/Escola Estadual Pedro II) (four), senior outside hitter Iva Alebic (Obermaiselstein, Germany/Gertrud-von-le-Fort Gym) (one) and freshman outside hitter Autumn DeSantis (Canfield, OH/Cardinal Mooney) (one).

Up Next – The WAC Tournament takes place next week at the Icardo Center in Bakersfield, Calif., from Nov. 22 through Nov. 24 with the champion earning the league's automatic bid to the 2018 NCAA Tournament.

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Players Mentioned

#6 Lacee Adams: S; 5' 7"; Sophomore

#16 Iva Alebic: OH; 6' 1"; Senior

#11 Ludmila Bomfim: S; 5' 9"; Senior

#8 Lauryn Dela Cruz: OH; 5' 8"; Senior

#4 Megan Klavitter: L/DS; 5' 3"; Junior

#15 Gabby Pearl: OPP; 6' 2"; Senior

#2 Autumn DeSantis: OH; 6' 1"; Freshman

#7 Beatriz Palmieri: OH; 5' 11"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#6 Lacee Adams
: 5' 7"; Sophomore
: S

#16 Iva Alebic
: 6' 1"; Senior
: OH

#11 Ludmila Bomfim
: 5' 9"; Senior
: S

#8 Lauryn Dela Cruz
: 5' 8"; Senior
: OH

#4 Megan Klavitter
: 5' 3"; Junior
: L/DS

#15 Gabby Pearl
: 6' 2"; Senior
: OPP

#2 Autumn DeSantis
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: OH

#7 Beatriz Palmieri
: 5' 11"; Junior
: OH

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned