CHICAGO — The Chicago State women's volleyball team defeated Stonehill 3-2 on Friday (October 2) to open Northeast Conference play as the Cougars won 25-21, 26-24, 11-25, 23-25, 16-14.
CSU finished with an 18-6 blocking advantage in the five-set win.
The Cougars opened the first set with the first three points, getting a
Nina Mitchell kill from
Nayella George and a
Camryn McCollum kill from
Kristine Bakhad after a Stonehill attack error. Stonehill worked back to tie it at 8-8 on consecutive Samantha Loyd kills, and the teams traded points through the middle of the set until Annabelle Svenson's kill put Stonehill ahead 18-17. CSU answered with a Mitchell kill and a Stonehill attack error, and after a service error tied the set at 19-19,
Rayon Thigpen delivered consecutive kills to put Chicago State in front 21-19. Stonehill stayed within 21-20 and later 23-21, but CSU took four of the final five points, with a McCollum kill setting up set point and a block by Graci Littlejohn and Mitchell closing the set 25-21.
Stonehill moved from a 10-7 deficit to a 13-10 lead with six straight points, including a service ace by Reegan Mishkin and two kills by Samantha Loyd. CSU answered with five of the next six points, getting a kill from Bakhad and blocks involving McCollum, Thigpen, Mitchell and George to move in front 15-14. Stonehill later broke a 17-17 tie and built the advantage to 24-21, but Chicago State closed the set with five straight points. A block by Thigpen and George started the finish, George tied it at 24-24 with a kill from Bakhad, and Littlejohn was part of the final two blocks as the Cougars took the set 26-24.
After Stonehill's opening point, CSU answered with a McCollum and Thigpen block, but Stonehill followed with six straight points to move ahead 7-1, the last five coming on Abby Farrell's serve and including two aces. Stonehill used three straight Rosa Smith aces to reach 12-3, before George put down kills to give the Cougars sideouts at 12-4 and 13-5. Thigpen added a kill at 16-7, but Stonehill later scored four consecutive points on Addy Frye's serve to make it 21-7. CSU put together three late points, including a George kill and a Littlejohn-McCollum block, to get to 22-11 before Stonehill scored the final three points to take the third set 25-11.
The Cougars opened the fourth set with three straight points, including a Thigpen kill, and later led 8-6 after a
Jenesis Perrin kill. Stonehill scored the next four points, with Addy Frye recording two kills in that stretch, and after CSU pulled within 13-10 on another Thigpen kill, Stonehill moved ahead 14-11. Chicago State responded with four straight points, getting a George kill, blocks involving Littlejohn, Mitchell and Perrin, and a Mitchell kill to take a 15-14 lead. Stonehill came back to lead 21-18 and reached set point at 24-20 before the Cougars cut it to 24-23 on a service error and kills by Bakhad and George, but Samantha Loyd finished the set for Stonehill at 25-23.
In the fifth set, CSU moved ahead 7-4 with kills from Mitchell, Littlejohn and Mitchell after the teams traded points early. Perrin's kill and a Stonehill attack error pushed the lead to 9-5, but Stonehill answered with four straight points to tie it at 9-9. Chicago State rebuilt the margin to 13-10 behind a Mitchell kill, a Thigpen block and another Stonehill attack error, and George's kill later made it 14-11. Stonehill came back to tie the set at 14-14, but a service error put the Cougars back in front before George finished the 16-14 set with a kill from Perrin.
CSU is now 1-12 overall and 1-0 in NEC play while Stonehill is 3-14 overall and 0-1 in NEC play.
Up Next
These two teams meet up again tomorrow on Saturday, Oct. 3, at 1 p.m. at Jacoby Dickens Center in Chicago, Illinois.
