Las Cruces, N.M. — The Chicago State volleyball team (17-9, 9-5 WAC), fell to New Mexico State Saturday afternoon in its final regular season match, three sets to one.
The loss caps the best regular season for Chicago State volleyball in the program's Division I era, as the Cougars earned a record 17 wins and featured the WAC's top offensive superstar. Yanlis Feliz, a sophomore outside hitter, finishes the regular season with 499 kills, averaging 5.25 kills per set, the most per set in program history. Feliz finishes the regular season slate near the top of NCAA Division I in both categories.
Feliz finished with 22 kills Saturday, her 35th consecutive match in double figures.
The Cougars came out hot, winning the first set, 25-21. On the first point of the game, Maria Lopez Torres Tapia launched an ace, which started a 3-1 Cougars run. New Mexico State rallied back and took an eventual 10-7 lead before a storm of Cougar points in a 9-0 run during which Feliz, Nailah Jones and Berenice Almeyda all recorded kills. New Mexico State would eventually pull to within one, but the Cougars finished strong, leaning on Feliz, to take a 1-0 lead.
In set two, after a Cougar kill from Jaclyn Inclan kicked off the set, New Mexico State stormed back to take a 9-5 lead on a Shaney Lipscomb ace. The two sides dueled along to 16-13 NMSU before the Aggies closed strong and earned a 22-13 advantage on the back of Katie Birtcil.
Down the stretch, an Almeyda ace made it interesting, but NMSU held on for a 25-17 win.
The Cougars opened with a Feliz ace in the third set, and another one from Ece Erol made it 4-3 CSSU moments later. However, New Mexico State grinned away to take a 10-7 lead behind their strong blocking. The Aggies held a lead for the rest of the set, which they won, 25-19.
The final set again started with CSU momentum, as the Cougars won three of the first four points on a few NMSU errors. However, the Aggies smothered Chicago State in the remainder of the set, with Mari Sharp, Cat Kelly and Lia Mosher all starring. Feliz and the Cougars pulled it to within two at 13-11, but the Aggies took it, 25-15, to win the match, 3-1.
With the win, New Mexico State clinches the WAC West Division. The Cougars will next compete in the WAC Tournament for the second consecutive season, with play kicking off on Friday, November 19 in Las Cruces.
About Chicago State
Chicago State University Athletics is comprised of 15 intercollegiate teams involving over 150 student-athletes that compete in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and volleyball. CSU held memberships in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and NCAA Division II before transitioning to NCAA Division I in 1994. Melvin Bland was the first CSU student-athlete to gain NAIA All-American status in 1974 as a wrestler. Fred Evans became the first black swimmer ever to win a national championship in 1975. CSU's women's basketball team earned a spot in the 2011 Women's Basketball Invitational and CSU's men's basketball team won the 2013 Great West Conference Tournament title and made an appearance in the CollegeInside.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). The Men's Outdoor Track & Field 4x100-Meter Relay team were 2019 Honorable Mention All-Americans and WAC Champions. Their feat marked the first time the Chicago State's men's track & field program was represented at the national meet.
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