The Chicago State volleyball team released their 2024 schedule today. The Cougars are set to open the season Friday, August 30 at Bowling Green in the first of four tournaments and will make their home debut on Monday, September 16 against UIC.Â
Â
CSU will also play in tournaments at Evansville, Indiana and Green Bay to begin the season and will match up against Cincinnati, Samford, Miami (OH), Ball State, Southern Indiana, North Dakota, St. Thomas and Minnesota.Â
Â
"We open the season on the road against a very good Bowling Green team," head coach
Tony Trifonov said. "Our second match is against Cincinnati, a power 5 team, who is also very good. Then we go to Evansville and we have developed a good rivalry with them. Going to Indiana will be extremely challenging, playing Indiana and Ball State back-to-back."Â
Â
The Cougars will be looking for leadership from their returners and a couple of veteran transfers to replace some key losses from last year's team. All-American
Yanlis Feliz and Messalina Severino depart via graduation and Trifonov has several candidates to step up in their absence.
Â
"We have some very big shoes to fill with
Yanlis Feliz and Messalina Severino," Trifonov said. "Both of them were good enough to sign professional contracts after graduating from college. Yanlis was an All-American and carried the team for the last four years so it's going to be impossible to replace her.Â
Â
"We have
Patrycja Lagida returning," Trifonov continued. "She was on the other outside position and we're hoping for her to lead and she brings experience.
Berenice Almeyda has competed in junior world championships and world university games so we're expecting her to step up in that leadership role although, from the middle, the outsides carry more of the load on the court.Â
Â
"We have the starting setter from Cleveland State coming in, Karly Klaer. She's definitely going to challenge for the setting position and depending on how we look, we may consider playing two setters. We've done that before, so maybe both her and
Wiktoria Zagumny can play at the same time in a 6-2 formation. We also have a couple of middle's coming in with some experience. Zeynep Ertan was at Albany and Ranger College and is a junior, so there's a little bit of experience there."Â
Â
The Cougars will step into conference play for the first time in two years, competing in the Northeast Conference (NEC) and will spend most of the month of October at home.
Â
"We're playing some difficult matches on the road," Trifonov said. "The nice thing is we'll spend most of the month of October at home, so we'll get a little bit of a break from all of the September road games. Hopefully we'll be able to get into a rhythm by the time we get to conference play with some new players. It will be a challenge."
Â
The Cougars will open NEC play on the road at Central Connecticut State before hosting Long Island University, the 2023 NEC Conference Tournament champions. Conference matches will take place with one match Friday and one Saturday against the same opponent throughout the conference season beginning in October. The Cougars will close the regular season on the road at Saint Francis November 15-16. The Red Flash had the second highest RPI in the conference a season ago, just behind LIU. CSU will also play at FDU. The Knights lost to LIU 3-1 in last year's NEC championship match.
Â
"There are a lot of good teams that we are not that familiar with in the NEC so it will be a challenging schedule for us," Trifonov said. "We are returning five starters from last year's team that went to the NIVC. Those kids are motivated to be in a conference and excited to have something to compete for postseason-wise at the end of the year. We know it will be a challenge, but I'm excited to get started and watching this team come together on the floor this year."
Â
2024 Chicago State Volleyball Schedule
Â
August
30 at Bowling Green
31 vs. Cincinnati
Â
September
6 vs. Samford
6 at Evansville
7 vs. Miami (OH)
13 at Indiana
13 vs. Ball State
14 vs. Southern Indiana
16 vs. UIC
19 vs. North Dakota
20 vs. St. Thomas
21 vs. Minnesota
Â
October
4 at Central Connecticut State
5 at Central Connecticut State
11 vs. LIU
12 vs. LIU
18 vs. Le Moyne
19 vs. Le Moyne
25 vs. Stonehill
26 vs. Stonehill
Â
November
1 at FDU
2 at FDU
8 vs. Mercyhurst
9 vs. Mercyhurst
15 at Saint Francis
16 at Saint Francis
Â
Home Match in Bold
About Chicago State Athletics
Chicago State University sponsors 16 Division I intercollegiate athletic teams and competes in the Northeast Conference with the exception of men's and women's tennis who will compete in the Horizon League during the 2024-25 season. CSU's athletic program includes over 150 student-athletes that compete in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, indoor and outdoor track, triathlon and volleyball.Â
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.
Â
