CHICAGO — The Chicago State women's volleyball team lost to Le Moyne 3-2 on Friday (Oct. 23) in Northeast Conference play with set scores of 16-25, 25-17, 25-20, 18-25, 15-17.
Le Moyne controlled the start of the opening set, scoring the first seven points and later pushing ahead 12-2 before Graci Littlejohn's kill stopped the run. The Cougars began cutting into the deficit with kills from Littlejohn and
Nina Mitchell, and after Le Moyne moved ahead 15-8,
Reece Mazzier served through four straight Cougars points, capped by
Nayella George's kill from
Hailee Collins, to make it 15-13. Le Moyne answered with four straight points to rebuild the lead at 19-13, then kept CSU from getting closer than six the rest of the set. After George's kill made it 21-15 and a Le Moyne service error brought the Cougars to 22-16, the visitors closed the set with three straight points, including two Skylar Jehlen aces, for a 25-16 win.
After a 2-2 start, CSU won five of the next six rallies, getting a
Nayella George kill, a Collins ace, a Graci Littlejohn kill and a
Jenesis Perrin-Littlejohn block to move ahead 7-3. Le Moyne pulled within 8-7, but the Cougars stayed in front as Mitchell and George added kills and Littlejohn helped push the margin to 15-12. George then served two aces around another Littlejohn kill to make it 19-13 before Le Moyne answered with three straight points. Mitchell stopped that stretch with a kill for a 20-16 lead, and Mazzier followed with two aces during a four-point service run that put CSU at 24-16 before Mitchell closed the set at 25-17.
After Le Moyne moved ahead 8-6, the Cougars answered with a George kill, and George's serve helped produce four straight points, capped by a Mitchell kill for an 11-8 lead. CSU pushed the set to 16-10 behind a Perrin kill and two Le Moyne attack errors during
Kristine Bakhad's service turn. Le Moyne cut back into the margin with two Cami Zajac aces and later pulled within 18-17, but George ended that stretch with a kill before Littlejohn added consecutive kills and Collins served an ace for a 22-17 edge. Le Moyne got as close as 22-20, but a service error, a George ace and a block by George and Littlejohn closed the Cougars' 25-20 set win.
Le Moyne built a 5-0 start behind three Katie Barbour service aces and kills by Nina Salas and Eiley Schneider, then later pushed the lead to 11-3. CSU answered with five straight points on a George kill, consecutive Littlejohn kills, a Mitchell kill and a Perrin-Littlejohn block, and a later Littlejohn kill and Mazzier ace cut it to 12-10. After Le Moyne moved back ahead 15-11, the Cougars used a Mitchell kill, a
Skye Riley ace and a George kill to pull within 15-14. Le Moyne scored the next three points to make it 18-14, stretched the margin to 23-16 and closed the set 25-18.
After Jazmin Rodriguez gave Le Moyne the opening point, Mitchell tied the set off a
Kristine Bakhad assist, and CSU built an 8-2 lead behind
Skye Riley's ace, kills by George and Littlejohn, and a
Tenese Buttry ace. Le Moyne cut the margin to 8-7 with four straight kills before Littlejohn stopped the run, and the Cougars later moved to 14-10 on Mitchell's back-to-back kills and a block by Perrin and
Rayon Thigpen. Le Moyne answered with four straight points to tie the set at 14-14, and after Mitchell put CSU back in front, Le Moyne scored the final three points on a block, an Alana Surigao ace and another block to take the fifth set 17-15.
Up Next
These two teams meet up again Saturday, Oct. 24, at 1 p.m. at the Jacoby Dickens Center in Chicago, Illinois.
