Volleyball Extends Win Streak to Three with Five-Set Road Win at Bradley

PEORIA, Ill. – Chicago State volleyball extended its current winning streak to three matches in a row here Tuesdaynight after producing a thrilling five-set victory over host Bradley at BU’s Renaissance Coliseum. 

The Green and White opened the first set with 6-4 lead on a Bradley attack error, but the home team responded by scoring six of the next nine points to claim a slim 10-9 lead after a CSU hitting error. After several ties and lead changes, Chicago State would tally six of the final seven points which included kills from junior Lauryn Dela Cruz on three consecutive possessions to take the stanza. 

Bradley jumped out to a 6-3 lead in the beginning of the second set and later grabbed a 17-15 advantage on a service ace by Hannah Angeli. Following a timeout, the Cougars then came back to score six of the next 10 points played to even the score at 21-21 on a kill from senior Paige Eyring. Back-to-back service aces from junior Carmen Carvajal gave CSU a 23-21 lead before consecutive Dela Cruz kills pushed its lead to 2-0 entering intermission.

The home team started the third set with a quick 7-4 scoring margin which turned a 3-3 tie into a 10-7 lead after an Angeli kill. BU finished the stanza by scoring 15 of the final 28 points to slice its deficit to 2-1 then evened the match at 2-2 after posting a 25-16 win. 

CSU bounced back in the beginning of the fifth set with a 5-0 lead on a Bradley hitting error and later increased its advantage to 10-4 on another hitting miscue by the hosts. The Braves scored the a quick 3-1 run to pull within 11-7 before an Eyring kill helped the visitors score four of the final five points to win the match. 

Two players recorded double-doubles for the Green and White in Dela Cruz (22 kills, 12 digs) and freshman Lacee Adams (47 assists, 11 digs). Carvajal contributed 15 kills and two service aces, sophomore Megan Klavitter added a team-best 21 digs and a season-high nine assists, and Eyring finished with 12 kills and a career-high seven blocks. 

Yavianliz Rosado (31 digs) and Erica Haslag (22 kills) tallied match highs for Bradley (2-5), while Angeli dished out a match-leading 58 assists. 

The Cougars head back downstate this weekend to Charleston for the Eastern Illinois Panther Classic at Lantz Arena to take on Western Illinois, Alabama A&M and the host Panthers. CSU opens the classic against rival WIU on Fridayevening at 6pm