MACOMB, Ill. - Junior Monique Houston paced the Western Illinois volleyball team to a 3-0 (30-12, 30-15, 34-32) victory over Chicago State in the final match of the 2007 season on Waste Management Court at Western Hall. The Wheeling, Ill., native tallied 15 kills and hit .387 (15k-3e-31ta) in the non-conference victory.

"I really liked the things that I saw from Monique," said head coach Kym McKay. "She has been playing at another level. Every ball that she hits is either a kill or forcing teams to struggle with the ball on the other side of the net. She has been stepping up to a new role for us and she is taking it on well."

The Westerwinds (13-12, 9-3 The Summit League) and the Cougars (4-22) battled back and forth at the start of game one with five tie scores until junior Sarah Trimpe broke a 6-all tie to put Western ahead for the remainder of the match. The Westerwinds then pulled away from CSU with a seven-point run that started at 11-9 on a kill by senior Amy Sauerwein.

Game two started out close again with Chicago State tying the game at four before Western earned two-straight points to take the final lead of the game. The Westerwinds extended their lead to six points when senior Ashley Baker landed a kill to start a nine-point run.

The Cougars made game three a much closer one, as they started out with an early lead and held onto it until late in the game. Chicago State lead by as many as six points before Western was able to close the gap to just two points at 20-22 with a four-point run. The Westerwinds then used a three-point run four points later to tie the game at 25. The lead then volleyed back and forth until Western secured the match victory with kills from Sauerwein and Trimpe.

"In game three there was no energy on our side of the net," said McKay. "Chicago State could have come out and given up, but they came out and fought. They deserve all the points that they recorded and that is a good testament to their program."

The Westerwinds face North Dakota State and South Dakota State this weekend in two key matches in The Summit League. Western faces NDSU, Friday, November 2 at 7 p.m. and South Dakota State, Saturday, November 3 at 6 p.m. Both matches are scheduled for Brophy Hall and will be the final two home matches of the 2007 season.

Notes: Sauerwein recorded her 11th double-double of the year with 13 kills and 19 digs...Trimpe garnered her 14th of the season with 35 assists and 14 digs...all 11 players that dressed tonight saw action during the match...senior Michelle Donnelly recorded 11 kills...Western is currently in a five-way tie for first place in the conference standings with IPFW, NDSU, Oral Roberts, and SDSU.