By Sebastian Montoya, Athletics Communications Intern
CHICAGO — To start off the Windy City Classic, the Chicago state women's volleyball team (3-1) took down the Niagara University Purple Eagles in straight sets, winning 25-19, 25-19 and 25-16.
To kick off the the first set, the Cougars started off strong with back-to-back aces from setter Jaclyn Inclan and kills from Yanlis Feliz and Laura Ilizastigui, with the Purple Eagles only scoring one in between.Â
"We stayed consistent in our serving and applied pressure," head coach Tanio Trifonov said. "It kept them out of system. We still made a lot of unforced errors, but we did pick up a lot of tips that we didn't last week. We still have to transition faster to the outside. We were also much better blocking today. This is becoming a staple of our team."
The Eagles then clawed their way back with a stuff of their own to bring it to 4-2 and then rampaged on with a service ace and an attack error by the Cougars which brought the score to 4-4.Â
The Cougars quickly bounced back and never looked back in the first set, scoring nine points — all of them kills — while the Eagles were only able to muster three points, which forced them to take a breather with the Cougars red hot at 15-6, clearly dominating the first set.Â
The Eagles then earned two points off of service and attack errors by the Cougars, the only two points scored by the Eagles as the Cougars yet again answered back with a streak of their own with four points featuring once again Feliz with two kills, bringing the score to a landslide at 19-9 for the Cougars.Â
The set ended with another rampage by the Cougars, capped off with a kill from Berenice Almeyda, bringing the final score of the set to a dominating win for the Cougars at 25-12.
In the second set, both teams began with two errors, which evened the score at 2-2.Â
The Cougars then shook off the errors and proceeded to a streak of four points with exhilarating kills by Nailah Jones and Mesalina Severino, the score now 6-2 in another dominating start for the Cougars.
The Eagles then continued to bounce their way back into the set with kills courtesy of Jaycie Roberts, Jenna Vogen, and Cassie Seminoff.
A ball-handling error and an attack error then resulted after clawing their way back at 7-6, which forced the Eagles to take a timeout.
The Cougars and Eagles then traded blows, yet the Eagles failed to earn a lead the whole set which saw the Cougars capping it off with six straight points, taking the victory at 25-19 in the second set.
The third set featured Severino in a starring role. En route to a .700 hitting percentage on the afternoon, Severino squelched the Purple Eagles routinely. With the score tied 10-10 midway through the set, Severino tallied two kills and Feliz three to pull the Cougars ahead. Down the stretch, returning libero Andrea Calderon also served two aces to keep the Cougars in the driver's seat. Later, with Chicago State up 24-16, Almeyda fed Jones for the match-winning kill.
Jones, a South Holland, Illinois native, led the Cougars with 14 kills, while Feliz racked up 11. Inclan's 31 assists guided the Cougars, who managed a .400 hitting percentage.
The Cougars are back in action at 7:00 p.m. against North Dakota State on the WAC Digital Network.
