Cougars Battle Eastern Illinois and Kansas City in Volleyball Action This Week

Match #18
Eastern Illinois (5-11) at Chicago State (7-10, 1-1)
Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018 – 6 p.m.
Jacoby Dickens Center – Chicago, Ill.
Live Audio - Live Stats

Match #19
Chicago State at Kansas City (11-5, 2-0)
Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018 – 4 p.m.
Swinney Recreation Center – Kansas City, Mo.
Live Video - Live Stats

EIU-UMKC Match Notes

CHICAGO -

Opening Serve – Chicago State volleyball takes a break from Western Athletic Conference play tomorrow with an in-state battle against Eastern Illinois at the Jacoby Dickens Center starting at 6 p.m. The Green and White then head to Missouri for a WAC showdown against co-league leader Kansas City at the Swinney Recreation Center on Thursday night with the first serve set for 7 p.m.

Scouting the Cougars – The Cougars head into this week's action with a 7-10 season record and have produced a 1-1 mark in WAC play. Last week, CSU opened its conference slate on the road with a 3-2 victory at Utah Valley and a 3-0 defeat at Seattle U. Chicago State is led on the offensive end by senior Lauryn Dela Cruz (Provo, Utah/Timpview) as she is averaging 3.78 kills per set, while junior outside hitter Beatriz Palmieri (Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo, Brazil/Professora Carlina Cacapava de Mello) has tallied a team-best 16 service aces. Junior defensive specialist Megan Klavitter (Fenton, Mich./Linden) leads the Green and White's defensive unit as she is averaging a WAC-best 5.91 digs per set which also ranks her fifth among the current NCAA Division I leaders.

Scouting the Panthers – Eastern Illinois brings a 5-11 record into Tuesday's match with the Cougars after posting a split in its first weekend of Ohio Valley Conference play thanks to a 3-0 home win over SIU Edwardsville before dropping a three-set decision at Tennessee State. Sophomore outside hitter Laurel Bailey leads the Panthers in kills (3.20) and service aces (14) followed by freshman setter Bailey Chandler producing a team-leading 232 assists for an average of 4.83 a set.

Series History – Tuesday's match marks the 12th lifetime meeting on the volleyball court between Chicago State and Eastern Illinois with the Panthers holding a 10-1 margin in the series. The Cougars earned their first ever win over EIU last season with a five-set victory on Sept. 9, 2018 en route to winning the Panther Classic in downstate Charleston.

Scouting the 'Roos – Kansas City enters this week's action an 11-5 season record and is now tied with CSU Bakersfield atop the WAC standings at 2-0 after earning a pair of road wins last week at Grand Canyon (3-1) and Utah Valley (3-2) which garnered freshman right side hitter Melanie Brecka WAC Offensive Player of the Week honors on Monday morning. Junior outside hitter Alicia Harrington is averaging a team-best 3.31 kills and 2.64 digs per set for the 'Roos. Redshirt junior middle hitter Tyrecia Lukes has recorded team highs of 66 blocks (11 solo, 55 assisted – 1.03 bps) and a .424 hitting percentage.

Series History – UMKC holds a 38-4 advantage in the all-time series with Chicago State that dates through the old Mid-Continent Conference and the WAC. Last season, the 'Roos won both meetings, including a 3-0 victory in Kansas City on Oct. 6, 2017. CSU's last win in the series came during the Mid-Con years on Oct. 22, 2004 with a five-set win at the Dickens Center.

Gaining a Grand, Dig That! – Klavitter heads into this week's action with 1,216 digs in her collegiate career and she's only the second CSU player to record 1,000 career digs in the school's Division I era. She achieved this feat during the third set at Georgia State on Sept. 9 and is the only active player in the WAC with over 1,000-plus digs. Klavitter is now 99 digs shy of surpassing Mysta Townsell's (2010-13) D-I school-record total of 1,314.

CSU's Double Stack – The Cougars have produced 23 double-doubles so far this season with Palmieri leading the way with eight followed by Dela Cruz with seven and Adams with four. Other players posting double-doubles this season are senior setter Ludmila Bomfim (Belo-Horizonte Minas Gerais, Brazil/Escola Estadual Pedro II) (three) and freshman outside hitter Autumn DeSantis (Canfield, OH/Cardinal Mooney) (one).

WAC Leader That's Nationally Known – Klavitter ranks first among the WAC dig leaders with an average of 5.91 per set which also ranks her fifth in the current NCAA Division I national standings.

Up Next – The Green and White open a season-best three-match WAC homestand next week with a couple of matches that begins on Oct. 4 against the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley at the JDC with a start time of 7 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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

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

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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

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

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned