CHICAGO — The Chicago State women's volleyball team lost to LIU 3-0 (15-25, 18-25, 15-25) on Friday (Oct. 9).
Chicago State opened the first set with a
Rayon Thigpen block and stayed even at 2-2 before LIU scored three straight points, including two Sara Garcia service aces, to move ahead 5-2.
Nayella George stopped that stretch with a kill from
Kristine Bakhad, but LIU answered with six consecutive points to reach 11-3 behind kills from Yasmeen Muhammad, Sara van Gisteren and Mia Rojas-Avila plus a van Gisteren ace. The Cougars continued to trade sideouts, getting kills from
Jenesis Perrin and
Camryn McCollum and another Thigpen block, but LIU pushed the margin to 21-13. Perrin added a kill and
Skye Riley served an ace after LIU reached 24-13, but Bella Correia finished the set with a kill for LIU's 25-15 win.
CSU opened the second set with a
Nina Mitchell kill from Bakhad and a
Reece Mazzier ace, but LIU worked back into a back-and-forth stretch that featured ties through 12-12. After George tied it at 13-13 with a kill, LIU scored three straight points to move ahead 16-13, and although Mitchell answered with a kill, LIU followed with four more points for a 20-14 lead. Chicago State got late kills from Bakhad, Mitchell and George, but LIU closed the set with the final three points, including consecutive kills by Mia Rojas-Avila, to take it 25-18.
The Cougars moved in front 4-2 in the third set on
Rayon Thigpen's service ace and a LIU attack error, but LIU pulled even at 4-4 and the teams stayed close through a 9-9 tie. LIU created separation with kills by Sara van Gisteren, Sara Garcia and Bella Correia around CSU answers from Mitchell and George, moving ahead 14-10 and then 17-13. From there, LIU scored six straight points, including a van Gisteren kill, two Reese Teves service aces and three Chicago State errors, to stretch the margin to 23-13 before the Cougars got a service error and a George kill from
Hailee Collins. Correia gave LIU set point with a kill, and LIU finished the set 25-15 on a CSU bad set.
LIU improves 7-7 overall and 3-0 in NEC play while Chicago State is now 1-14 overall and 1-2 in NEC play.
Up Next
the Cougars host LIU on Saturday, Oct. 10, at 1 p.m. at Jacoby Dickens Center in Chicago, Illinois.
