CHICAGO — The Chicago State women's volleyball team (15-8. 7-4 WAC) defeated the California Baptist University Lancers Thursday night in a five-set thriller.
After losing the first set, 25-22, the Cougars won the second set, 29-27 and the third, 25-17. The fourth set went to the Lancers, 25-22, before the Cougars sealed the match with a 15-13 set five win.
Yanlis Feliz racked up a career-high 39 kills on 93 total attempts, both the most she's had as a Cougar. Feliz has registed double-digit kills in 32 consecutive matches and leads the WAC with 439 on the season.
With 15 wins, the Cougars have continued their best season in Division I program history. The victory also ended CBU's six-game win streak.
In the first set, the Cougars started off with an attack error that gave the Lancers a 1-0 lead. However, the Lancers then committed a mistake themselves which tied it all up at 1-1.
This trend of play continued throughout the set, as neither team was ever able to pull away, leading to a 7-7 tie coming off a ferocious kill by
Jaclyn Inclan when CBU answered back and suddenly erupted for a 4-1 scoring run that gave them an 11-8 lead.
The Cougars relentlessly fought to come back but fell short as the Lancers cruised to a 25-22 win.
To start off the second set, CBU came out fired up after their set win and racked up an early 3-0 lead.
The Cougars then bounced back with the help of an astonishing kill by Feliz that energized the team as they went on a 5-1 scoring run that featured two additional stellar kills by Feliz and a mesmerizing service ace by Inclan.
However, the Lancers did not give in, leading to a 24-22 score as they closed in on a comeback on the Cougars. Chicago State unexpectedly collapsed and committed two consecutive attacking errors that tied it all up at 24-24.
This went on until a 27-27 thrilling score in which the Cougars finally established their superiority with two consecutive service wins by
Berenice Almeyda as they closed out the set with a 29-27 score and a win, tying it all up in sets overall 1-1.
In the third set, the Cougars came out with a 3-0 lead as the Lancers committed three consecutive attack errors.
This start echoed throughout the rest of the set as the Cougars completely dominated the Lancers. With the score at 16-13, the Cougars went on a 12-1 run and closed out the set with a dominating 25-17 win as they now led in sets, 2-1.
The Lancers were keyed by senior Tessa Oaks in the fourth set as they dominated down the stretch to win it, 25-17. Freshman Scherine Dahoue also played a crucial role.
In the fifth and final set of the match, the Lancers quickly jumped out to yet another 3-0 lead with two points off of attacking errors by the Cougars. However, the Cougars answered back with a 3-1 scoring run capped off with a kill by none other than Feliz that tied the match up at 4-4.
This led to an 8-7 tightly contested match when suddenly the Cougars erupted for five straight points featuring an attacking error by the Lancers and yet another amazing kill by Feliz which had the Cougars up 12-8.
The Lancers looked to come back multiple times yet fell short as a strong CSU finish sealed the set win for the Cougars at 15-13, winning the match in sets overall 3-2. Feliz, who leads the WAC and ranks third in the NCAA with 5.00 kills per set, closed strong for Chicago State.
"I've never coached a player as competitive as (Feliz)," head coach
Tony Trifonov said.
The Cougars next face Seattle University on Saturday at 1 p.m. for Senior Day at the Jones Convocation Center.
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.
Follow the Cougars
For complete coverage of Chicago State University athletics, follow us on social media @ChiStateCougars (Twitter), @ChiStateCougars (Instagram), /ChiStateCougars (Facebook), or visit the official home of Chicago State athletics at GoCSUCougars.com.
