Volleyball Faces Host Northern Illinois Tomorrow Night on ESPN+

Junior Beatriz Palmieri (7) and the Cougars face Northern Illinois on ESPN+ tomorrow night at 7 p.m.

Match #12
Chicago State (5-6) at Northern Illinois (2-8)
Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018 – 7 p.m.
Victor E. Court – DeKalb, Ill.
Live Video – Live Stats

NIU Match Notes

CHICAGO -

Opening Serve – Chicago State volleyball travels north to DeKalb, Ill., for a mid-week in-state battle tomorrow night against host Northern Illinois at Victor E. Court. The match will have a live online broadcast on ESPN+ with the first serve set for 7 p.m.

Scouting the Cougars – Chicago State heads into the NIU match with a 5-6 record while capturing wins in four of its last seven contests since Aug. 31. Last weekend at the GSU Invitational in Atlanta, the Cougars posted a 3-0 victory over host Georgia State but fell to Ole Miss (0-3) and Sam Houston State (1-3). Senior outside hitter Lauryn Dela Cruz (Provo, Utah/Timpview) and junior defensive specialist Megan Klavitter (Fenton, Mich./Linden) now pace CSU on the year. Dela Cruz is averaging 3.71 kills per set and Klavitter has tallied a Western Athletic Conference-leading 5.21 digs per set. Sophomore setter Lacee Adams (Muncie, Ind./Muncie Central) has produced a team-best 6.26 assists a set and 12 service aces, and sophomore middle blocker Summer Farris (Farmington Hills, Mich./North Farmington) leads the team in blocks with 34 (five solo, 29 assisted – 0.94 bps).

Scouting the Huskies – Northern Illinois brings a 2-8 season record into tomorrow night's match after going 1-2 this past weekend at the Bama Bash Challenge in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The Huskies fell to Georgia Tech and host Alabama in a pair of 3-0 decisions while defeating Marshall in a three-set sweep. Senior middle blocker Meg Wolowicz leads NIU in kills per set with an average of 3.57, while freshman setter Grace Balensiefer has averaged 6.56 assists per set and freshman middle blocker Jasmine Kemp leads the team in blocks at 1.09 per set. Sophomore defensive specialist Miranda Karlen has recorded a team-best 4.42 digs per set and 16 service aces.

Series History – Tomorrow night's match marks the first time CSU and Northern Illinois have met on the court since 2010 when the Huskies posted a 3-0 victory at the NIU Invitational in DeKalb. The Cougars captured their only win in the series on Nov. 2, 1974 after coming back from a 15-10 defeat in the first set to take the last two sets by scores of 15-9 and 15-13.

Gaining a Grand – Klavitter comes into tomorrow's match at NIU with 1,036 digs in her collegiate career becoming the second CSU player to post 1,000 career digs in the school's Division I era. She achieved this feat during the third set of the Georgia State match last Saturday and is the only active player in the WAC with more than 1,000 digs. Klavitter is 279 digs away from surpassing Mysta Townsell's (2010-13) D-I school-record total of 1,314.

CSU's Double Stack – The Cougars have produced 11 double-doubles so far this season with Dela Cruz and junior outside hitter Beatriz Palmieri (Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo, Brazil/Professora Carlina Cacapava de Mello) each recording a team-high four apiece. Other players posting double-doubles this season are Adams (two) and senior setter Ludmila Bomfim (Belo-Horizonte Minas Gerais, Brazil/Escola Estadual Pedro II) (one).

Up Next – CSU heads back to Florida this weekend for its last in-season tournament at the Stetson Invitational in DeLand. The Cougars will play twice on Friday against Brown at 10 a.m. and Bethune-Cookman at 1:30 p.m. before facing host Stetson on Saturday morning at 10 a.m.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

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

#1 Summer Farris: MB; 6' 2"; Sophomore

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

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

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

#1 Summer Farris
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: MB

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

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

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned