By Sebastian Montoya, Athletic Communications Intern
To open the 2021 season, the Chicago State women's volleyball team (1-0) took down the Bellarmine Knights (0-1) in Charleston, Illinois, winning the first, third and fourth sets: 25-19, 26-28, 25-21 and 25-22.
"We showed our resilience today," head coach Tanio Trifonov said. "We played really good volleyball today, so that's the positive. There's still a lot of improvement to make with this young team, but we're thrilled to beat a really good Bellarmine team. We'll continue to get better as the season progresses."
In the first set, the Cougars and the Knights began with a point each with kills by
Nailah Jones of CSU and Seville Gates of Bellarmine. The Cougars then went on a six-point run, gaining two of the six due to an attacking error and a poor set by Bellarmine, bringing the total tally to 6-2 in a very positive start for the Cougars.
After a ball handling error by Bellarmine's Sam Rickert, the Cougars quickly bounced back and snatched a streak of two straight points in the forms of two kills by
Yanlis Feliz and
Jaclyn Inclan. The Cougars were then easily dominating, with a score of 9-3.
The rest of the set produced a slew of back-and-forth points for both teams, yet the Cougars ultimately pulled away from the Knights and ended the set with three straight points — with two of the three produced from kills by Feliz, bringing her to a total seven kills.
To begin the second set, the Cougars fired first.
The Knights then went on a rampage, posting up three straight points with kills by Scott, Gates, and Chrysanthi Stamatiou, which brought the tally to 3-1.
The Cougars and Knights continued the set with various streaks for each, at one point the Knights scoring five straight points, with three of the points off of attacking errors and mistakes by the Cougars.
With the score tied at 25, the Knights then committed two attack errors and one service error, sealing the victory for the Cougars.
In the third set, the Knights scored the first point, but the Cougars quickly stormed back with a point of their own, very much the story throughout the first part of the set until the score got to 10-10. The Cougars then went on an onslaught and scored five straight point, featuring a stellar kill by Jones, bringing the score to 15-10.
Both teams then scored several points, including several lead changes, but the Cougars pulled away for the win, capped off with a kill by Feliz.
In the fourth and final set, the Cougars opened up the scoring securing their first and second points off of two attack errors by the Knights.
The majority of the set consisted of both teams producing lead changes. This led to a 22-22 tie, in which Feliz once again fired a kill that energized the Cougars and led the Knights to commit two attacking errors, thus sealing the victory for the Cougars, three sets to one.
Feliz led both teams with 19 kills, while Inclan reacked up 43 assists.
Berenice Almeyda, who earned All-WAC Tournament honors last season, posted a .409 hitting percentage.
The Cougars next face IUPUI and Eastern Illinois tomorrow at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
"We'll see how we respond tomorrow," Trifonov said. "They'll be tired. But this was a great way to start the season."
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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