CHICAGO — The Chicago State women's volleyball team lost to LIU 3-0 (14-25, 11-25, 18-25) in a Northeast Conference matchup on Saturday (Oct. 10).
CSU started the opening set with a
Nina Mitchell kill and a block by
Rayon Thigpen and
Camryn McCollum, and later moved in front 6-3 on a Graci Littlejohn kill and a
Nayella George service ace. LIU came back to tie the set at 7-7 and moved ahead 9-7, then stretched the margin from 9-8 to 13-8 during a run built on Cougars attack errors. Mitchell and George added kills as Chicago State tried to answer, but LIU continued to pull away behind swings from Sara van Gisteren, Sara Garcia and Bella Correia. Littlejohn and Mitchell recorded late kills for CSU, but LIU reached set point at 24-13 and closed the set 25-14 on a Correia kill.
Mitchell answered the opening point with a kill from
Kristine Bakhad to tie the second set 1-1, but LIU took the next five points, including two Sara van Gisteren kills and two Cougars attack errors, to move ahead 6-1. George had two early kills and Littlejohn added one as CSU got to 8-4, but LIU pushed the margin back out with a stretch from 10-5 to 14-5 on two Reese Teves service aces and two Bella Correia kills. After
Jenesis Perrin's kill made it 18-7, Chicago State added a block by Thigpen and George and later kills from George and Littlejohn, but LIU closed the set with the final three points for a 25-11 win.
LIU moved ahead 5-1 in the third set, but CSU answered behind Bakhad kills, two
Hailee Collins service aces and a block by Littlejohn and George to take a 7-6 lead. After the teams traded points, Bakhad had three kills during a stretch that put Chicago State in front 13-10. LIU scored four straight to move ahead 14-13, and although
Jenesis Perrin tied it with a kill, LIU later built a 19-15 lead before the Cougars pulled within 20-18 on kills by McCollum and Perrin. LIU closed with the final five points, including three Sara van Gisteren service aces, to take the set 25-18.
LIU is now 8-7 overall and 4-0 in NEC play while Chicago State is now 1-15 overall and 1-3 in NEC play.
Up Next
Chicago State travels to New Britain, Connecticut, to face Central Connecticut State University on Friday, Oct. 16 in a NEC matchup starting at 5 p.m. CT.
