CHICAGO — The Chicago State volleyball team battled it out against the Eastern Illinois Panthers Friday night, and won a five-set thriller. The win marked the Cougars' second ever against Eastern Illinois.
Yanlis Feliz led in kills with sixteen while Berenice Almeyda, Ezgi Dokuzlar, and Mesalina Severino all added nine.
Set One: Eastern Illinois: 25, Chicago State: 14
- Eastern Illinois kicked off the scoring with a kill by Giovana Lopez
- The Cougars answered back with a kill of their own from Whitney Barnes
- The Panthers then went on a 7-0 run and suddenly led 8-1
- Eastern Illinois dominated Chicago State as they cruised to a set win at 25-14
Set Two: Chicago State: 25, Eastern Illinois: 20
- Eastern Illinois again kicked off scoring at 1-0
- Cougars again retaliated, this time with a service error to tie it 1-1
- Back-and-forth play ensued which led to a 21-19 minuscule lead for the Cougars
- The Cougars suddenly erupted with a 5-1 run featuring kills by Feliz and Ezgi Dokuzlar
- Chicago State took the set win with a final score of 25-20
Set Three: Chicago State: 27, Eastern Illinois: 25
- Eastern Illinois came out hot with a 4-1 lead early on
- The Cougars quickly bounced back with a run of their own at 7-1 featuring two service aces by Yunju Lee and kills from Barnes, Jaclyn Inclan, and Berenice Almeyda
- Both teams battled with back-to-back runs which led to a 24-24 score where a 2 point lead was needed to win
- Eastern Illinois edged the Cougars 25-24
- Chicago State unexpectedly went on a 3-0 run and took the set win at 27-25
Set Four: Eastern Illinois: 25, Chicago State: 20
- The Cougars kicked it off with a 3-0 run featuring a kill each by Barnes and Feliz
- Eastern Illinois answered back with a 2-0 run
- Chicago State retaliated with a 5-2 run which forced EIU to a timeout
- Once again both teams battled to a tie at 20-20
- The Panthers erupted for a 5-0 run, winning the set at 25-20
Fifth Set: Chicago State 17, Eastern Illinois 15
- The Panthers came out hot and jumped up to a 5-1 lead
- The Cougars bounced back with a 6-1 rally featuring kills by Feliz, Barnes, and Inclan to tie it up 9-9
- Back-and-forth led to 15-15 score
- The Cougars finished it off with a 2-0 run gifted by the Panthers as they committed back-to-back attack errors
- Chicago State took the set win at 17-15
The Cougars next face UIC tomorrow at 2:30 p.m.
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. In 1991, the Chicago State women's tennis team became the first all-black college team to amass an unbeaten season at the NCAA level. 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, also making 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. Chicago State volleyball recorded a historic season in 2021, with Yanlis Feliz becoming CSU's first volleyball All-American and head coach Tony Trifonov earning selection as WAC Coach of the Year. During that same season, three different CSU teams earned victories over Big Ten opponents with men's soccer beating Northwestern, women's basketball upending Wisconsin and volleyball, which established a school record 17 wins and hosted a post-season volleyball tournament for the first time in program history, swept Indiana in Bloomington.
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