CHICAGO, Illinois - The University of Texas-Pan American volleyball team will begin Great West Conference play tonight looking for their third straight victory as they face off against Chicago State University at the Jacoby Dickens Center. Thursday's match is the first of two straight GWC road matches this weekend as the Broncs face NJIT on Saturday.

The Broncs (3-13) have won their last two matches with victories over Morgan State and Universidad Autonoma De Nuevo Leon. Both wins were 3-0 victories.

The victory over the Tigrillas, was a hard-fought international friendly between the Broncs and the Monterrey, Mexico based school. The game allowed the Broncs to play everyone on their roster as a final tune-up for conference play. The Broncs won the match against the Tigrillas 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-14), dominating the final set by closing it out on a 16-5 run.

The Broncs were led on the attack by Ijanae Holman, who had a team-high nine kills along with eight digs defensively. Diara Reynolds and Michelle McNamee added eight kill apiece on the attack for UTPA. Krysta Freitas led on the defensive side of the net with 20 digs while libero Juri Franzen added 12 digs. Shauna Miller and Macey Singleton split time at the setter position on Tuesday. Miller led the Broncs with 22 assists, while Singleton added 18 helpers.

Holman, who averages 2.25 kills per set leads the Broncs on the attack this season. McNamee's next kill will be her 100th of the season as she averages 1.9 kills per set. On the defensive side of the net, Franzen is the digs leader with 4.04 per set.

The Cougars (1-15) are currently on an 11-match losing streak with their most recent defeat coming in their home opener a  3-0 (25-19, 26-24, 25-16) loss to Indiana State. The Cougars opened their season with 15 straight matches away from their home floor.

Their lone victory this year was against NAIA school Judson University. The win snapped a 94 match losing skid for the Cougars that spanned three seasons.

Sydney Van Munster and Alexandra Mason lead the Cougars on offense. They both average over two kills per set. Mysta Townsell is the leader on defense with nearly 4.5 kills per set.

Thursday's match-up is the first of three straight away from the UTPA Fieldhouse for the Broncs. After Saturday's match with NJIT, the Broncs battle Prairie View A&M on Monday. The Broncs return home on October 8th when they face GWC rival Houston Baptist.