Volleyball Voices

Oregon State Volleyball Women Upset #18 Arizona, Stanford Sweeps Washington State Beats , UC Irvine Beats Cal State Northridge, Bulls Fall To Kent State, Ohio State Over Wisconsin

• Oregon State Volleyball Women Upset #18 Arizona, 
• Stanford Sweeps Washington State Beats , 
• UC Irvine Volleyball Team Beats Cal State Northridge, 
• Bulls Fall To Kent State, 
• Ohio State Over Wisconsin

Bulls Volleyball Team Drops MAC Contest To Kent State, 3-0

KENT, OH  The University at Buffalo volleyball team travelled to Kent State
on Saturday night, dropping a 3-0 contest to the Golden Flashes at the
M.A.C. Center.  The loss drops the Bulls to 15-13 on the season and 5-9 in
the MAC.  The Bulls are now in 4th place in the MAC East and eighth overall
as they head into the final weekend of regular season play.

   The Golden Flashes took the contest, 25-17, 26-24, 25-20 as they hit
.250 for the match, opposed to .108 for the Bulls.  Both teams hit extremely
well in the first set as the Bulls hit .324, but Kent State nearly doubled
that by hitting .607.  Neither team was able to keep up those numbers in
sets two and three, but the Golden Flashes prevailed in both of those.

   ³I give credit to Kent State for extending the rallies tonight,² said
head coach Todd Kress.  ³They kept the ball off the court and that fight was
the difference in the match tonight.  We must get better this week as we
prepare for Akron and Toledo.²

   The Bulls were led by a career-high eight kills from sophomore Abby
Niekamp (Celina, Ohio/Marion Local/Florida State).   Dani Silvers
(Waynesville, NC/Tuscola/Mars Hill) added seven kills while junior Lindsey
Schlegel (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) had five kills and 24 assists.

   Kent State was led by 15 kills from Arjola Prenga and 10 kills from Liva
Brivule.  Jenny Keck had 36 assists and Kristen Barr added 15 digs.
   The Bulls remain on the road on Thursday as they head to Akron for their
final road match of the year.  UB hosts Toledo on the final night of the
season on Saturday.

No. 5 Stanford Volleyball Women Led By Alix Klineman 

Sweep No. 24 Washington State

 

PULLMAN, Wash. -- Alix Klineman’s 18 kills led the No. 5 Stanford volleyball team (16-7, 9-4) to a 25-17, 25-20, 25-22 win over No. 24 Washington State (16-8, 5-8) Saturday night before 1,231 fans at Bohler Gym.

 

WSU’s Cassie Robbins led the Cougars with 12 kills and six blocks while Jackie Albright had 10 kills and 17 digs. Setter Renee Bordelon had 35 assists and Oceana Bush had 20 digs. Meagan Ganzer added nine kills and five blocks. The Cougs hit a mere .108 for the match.

 

Stanford’s Jessica Walker led the match with seven blocks with Janet Okogbaa and Stephanie Browne each contributing another six blocks. Gabi Ailes had 25 digs and two service aces, and Karissa Cook had 27 assists.

 

“I think it was similar to last night from the stand point of you really saw the difference in the outside position in these two matches,” WSU Head Coach Andrew Palileo said. “Number one, the differences in the teams’ two outsides in terminating balls, and number two, the defenses were pretty good tonight. We only won two out of the many long rallies. Stanford was able to sustain their momentum. We would get ahead and then Klineman would come in and bring them back. Stanford came in and was just another team ready to play and is getting ready for the end of the season. They did a good job coming in here.”

 

The Cardinal took a 17-9 lead in the first set and extended it to a 20-13 advantage. WSU came back to close the gap to four, still down 21-17. The Cardinal tallied the final four points of the set for the 25-17 win. Klineman had six kills as SU hit .310. Ganzer and Robbins each had four kills for WSU with Robbins hitting .667 but the Cougars were held to a .059 hitting percentage.

 

WSU took early control of the second set, taking a 10-7 lead and holding it until Stanford tallied a trio of points for a 14-12 lead. The Cougars battled back and the score was knotted at 17 when WSU’s Robbins landed back-to-back kills to put the home team ahead, 19-18. Stanford roared back, scoring seven of the next eight points for the 25-20 win. Klineman contributed seven of SU’s 16 kills in this set. Robbins had five kills and Albright added four kills for the Cougs.

 

The Cougars took an 8-3 lead in the third set before Stanford scored five consecutive points after a timeout. The teams see-sawed back-and-forth, contributing to the 13 ties in the set. With the score tied at 19-all, Stanford scored four straight points, only one on a WSU serving error, to take a 23-19 lead. Cougars Rachel Todorovich and Ganzer landed kills to bring WSU to 21 points but Browne’s attack put SU serving for match. An attack error by Klineman gave WSU its 22nd and final point. Browne’s tip ended the set in the visitor’s favor, 25-22.

 

Next weekend WSU volleyball takes to the road playing No. 7 UCLA (19-6, 9-3) Friday night and No. 17 USC (15-9, 4-8) Saturday night in Los Angeles.

 

www.wsucougars.com

 

Oregon State Volleyball Rebounds with Upset over No. 18 Arizona

 

Corvallis, Ore. – Senior Rachel Rourke (Queensland, Australia) hit .373 with 31 kills to lead the Oregon State volleyball team to a four-set upset over No. 18 Arizona (30-28, 23-25, 25-16, 25-22) on Saturday evening in legendary Gill Coliseum.

 

“Rachel [Rourke] for a while didn’t even have an error in the match, and I think she really played well,” head coach Taras Liskevych said. “The freshmen that played tonight did a great job. Megan [McBride] also did a great job at setting. We had four freshman right there on the floor, which will build great things. We hit better, we sided out better. The only negative thing was we missed too many serves. But we persevered, which was the main thing of the night.”

 

Oregon State (12-12, 3-9) hit .299, nearly a season-best, while holding the Wildcats (17-7, 6-7) to .156. And the Beavers outblocked Arizona 14.0 to 4.0.

 

Rourke recorded her fifth double-double of the season, adding a career-high tying 12 digs and three blocks. Freshman Megan McBride (Auburn, Wash.) posted a number of career bests, playing in all four sets, with seven kills, 38 assists, six digs and four blocks.

 

Defensively, sophomore Betsy Devich (Kirkland, Wash.) dug a match-high 19 balls with junior Jill Sawatzky (St. Andrews, Manitoba) and freshman Alyssa O’Neil (West Linn, Ore.) adding 15 each. Senior Lexie Rathgeber (White Rock, British Columbia) set a new season-best with eight blocks.

 

Leading 24-21, the Beavers looked to have locked down the first set, holding the lead from the first rally. But Arizona came back to tie things at 24, pushing the set into extra points, reminiscent of the first meeting in Tucson. Tied at 28-28, Rourke recorded her 10^th kill of the match, followed by McBride’s first to close out the set with the Beavers holding a 1-0 edge.

 

Arizona held on for the second set win to tie the match at one set each, but coming out of the break the Beavers regained the lead in set three. The two teams exchanged sideout points before Oregon State took the definitive lead at 6-5, led by Rourke’s nine kills.

 

In the deciding set, the two teams tied things six times before Oregon State took the one lead change at 6-5, again, behind a Rathgeber and McBride block. The Beavers led by as many as four at 20-16, but Arizona continued to battle, tying things at 21 all. But A pair of unforced Wildcat errors, coupled with kills by Rourke and Sawatzky put the match away.

 

Arizona’s Tiffany Owens paced the Wildcat offense with17 kills, while libero Alanna Resch had a team-high 18 digs.

 

The Beavers head to No. 13 California next Friday at 7:00 p.m. before facing No. 5 Stanford on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.

 

Oregon State Notes – Freshman Megan McBride set new career bests for kills (7), digs (6) and assists (38) … Senior Rachel Rourke recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 31 kills and 12 digs; Rourke joins the 30-kill club for the second time this season, third in her career; Rourke tied her career-best for digs ... Senior Lexie Rathgeber set a new season-best for blocks with eight … Freshman Camille Saxton tied her career-best for kills with seven … Arizona is the fourth ranked team Oregon State has defeated this year … Oregon State is now 13-36 all-time against the Wildcats, winning three of the last six, all at home.

 

Support Oregon State University Athletics by making your tax deductible donation to the Beaver Athletic Student Fund.  For more information follow this link or call 541-737-2370.  You can make an “everyday champion.”  Follow Beaver Athletics on twitter.

 

 

UC IRVINE Volleyball Women SWEEP CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE

 

IRVINE, Calif. --- Juliane Piggott recorded a match-high 18 kills to lead UC Irvine to a sweep (26-24, 26-24, 25-17) of Cal State Northridge Saturday at Crawford Court. The win lifted UCI to 19-6 overall (8-4 Big West) while CSUN fell to 7-18 overall and 3-8 in conference matches.

Piggott hit .359 for the match, committing just four errors in 39 swings while Larissa Nordyke blasted a .370 percentage, putting away 11 of 27 attempts with one miscue. Kristin Winkler led all players with 18 digs while Taryn Robertson handed out 38 assists while picking up 12 digs and putting up a pair of blocks. Alexandra Hauser and Courtney Moeller each had four block assists.

CSUN was led by Lynda Morales, who had 11 kills while Angela Hupp totaled 17 assists, seven kills and nine digs. Monica McFarland totaled a team-best 16 digs.

The two teams traded points in the first set until at 13-13, UCI went on a 4-1 run to take a 17-14 lead on a kill by Piggott. The margin extended to four points at 20-16 as Piggott and Moeller denied Morales at the net. However, at 22-17, the Matadors scored seven straight points to take a 24-22 lead. UCI answered, reeling off four consecutive points, winning the frame on consecutive attack error by Puneet Pataria.

The Anteaters built an early four-point lead at 9-5 on a kill from Nordyke to cap 4-1 rally. CSUN chipped at the lead, scoring three straight to close the gap to two points at 17-15 on a kill from Hupp. At 19-15, Brittney Graff’s attempt rode the tape and dropped in for a kill, sparking a Matador rally. CSUN eventually tied the set at 23-23 on a service ace by Tela Burnett and a kill by Morales. Moeller put away the ball on the slide to give UCI set point at 25-24 and Nordyke tooled off the block to stake UCI to a 2-0 set lead.

In the final set UCI pulled away from an 11-11 tie and used an 8-2 run to take a 19-13 lead. The Matadors never threatened in the frame and at 22-17, the Anteaters scored the final three points for the win.

CSUN              24        24        17
UCI                  25        25        25

Kills: Piggott (UCI) 18; Morales (CSUN) 11

No. 19 LSU Women's Volleyball Team Faces Arkansas on CST

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 19 LSU volleyball team continues its four-match road swing Sunday at Arkansas. First serve is slated for 1 p.m. and the match will be televised on CST.

“You know we have to take of our matches if we want to have a chance at the overall SEC title,” head coach Fran Flory said. “Arkansas is a scrappy team, and we’ll have to be ready for another tough match.”

LSU (19-5, 13-2 SEC) has won 12 of its last 13 matches and secured its fifth consecutive SEC Western Division crown with a 3-0 triumph over Ole Miss on Friday. The Tigers connected for a season-best .416 hitting percentage against the Rebels.

Brittnee Cooper and Marina Skender have powered home 289 kills on the season and their 3.44 spikes per set are tied for sixth in the SEC. Skender ripped a season-best .556 clip against Ole Miss, while Cooper enters Sunday’s match one kill away from reaching 1,000 for her career.

Michele Williams and Lauren DeGirolamo join Cooper in the SEC Top 5 in blocks per set. The duo ranks fourth and five in league matches with 1.18 and 1.17 per set average, respectively.

Sam Dabbs has fueled five Tigers to at least 1.50 kills per set. She ranks second in the SEC and passed out 11.14 assists per set. She has set LSU to over a .300 hitting percentage in five of the last eight matches.

Lauren Waclawczyk and Sam Delahoussaye have combined for 26 double-digit dig efforts to anchor the back row. Waclawczyk posts 3.45 digs and 0.25 aces per set to rank 10th in the SEC.

Arkansas (11-14, 5-9 SEC) is paced by four-time SEC Freshman of the Week winner Jasmine Norton. She is third in the SEC with 3.92 kills per set and reached double-figure kills in 10 consecutive matches. Defensively, Amanda Anderson has averaged 0.87 blocks per set and Janeliss Torres-Lopez follows closely with 0.85 swats pet frame. Behind the block, Phoebe Bautista has corralled 3.86 digs per set.  

Live stats are available in the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net and fans can follow in-match updates of the five-time SEC Western Division champions via www.twitter.com/lsuvolleyball.

Ohio State Volleyball Women Over Wisconsin

COLUMBUS, Ohio

 - The Ohio State (20-7 overall, 8-6 Big Ten) women's volleyball team completed a weekend trip with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-19) sweep at Wisconsin (11-12, 6-8) Saturday night in Madison, Wis. OSU's Kristen Dozier posted a team-high 14 points in the match with Katie Dull adding 12.5. Dozier recorded seven kills (.467), three solo blocks and eight assist blocks with Dull adding 11 kills (.320), one solo block and one assist block.

 Wisconsin's Allison Wack posted a match-high 14.5 points with 14 kills (.273) and an assist block. Brittney Dolgner contributed 12 points with 11 kills and one ace serve for the Badgers.

Two Kelli Barhorst kills and a Badger error opened set one to give Ohio State a 3-0 lead.

 Wisconsin responded with the next six points starting with two OSU errors. a kill and ace serve from Dolgner and kills from Alexis Mitchell and Kirby Toon made it 6-3 Wisconsin. Two Badger errors and a Dozier solo block tied the set at six. The score advanced for both teams with eight ties to reach 15-all. Buckeye kills from Dozier and Anna Szerszen gave OSU a 17-15 lead. An Elle Ohlander-Wack block cut the lead to one at 17-16. A Wisconsin error and a kill from Dozier made it 19-16 OSU. Wisconsin cut the lead to one at 19-18 with kills from Wack and Janelle Gabrielsen. A solo block from Dull and a Dolgner kill made it 20-19. Buckeye kills from Barhorst and Emily Danks and a Wisconsin error gave OSU a 23-19 lead. A kill and ace serve from Gabrielsen cut the lead to two at 23-21. A Dull kill made it 24-21 to give Ohio State set point. The Buckeyes won the set, 25-21, with a Szerszen-Barhorst block to take a 1-0 lead in the match. The Buckeyes hit .200 to .053 for Wisconsin.

Tied at eight in set two, Ohio State took an 11-8 lead with a kill and solo block by Szerszen and a Barhorst ace serve. At 12-9, two kills from Dolgner cut the margin to one at 12-11. Dozier responded with two kills to make it 14-11. At 16-13, a Toon-Mitchell block, a Toon kill and an OSU error tied the set at 16. The Buckeyes responded with kills from Dull and Danks and a Badger error to lead 19-16. The teams exchanged points to reach 23-20, OSU. A Dozier-Dull block made it 24-20 and set point for Ohio State. An OSU error stopped the set point at 24-21. The Buckeyes won the set, 25-21, with a kill from Dull to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Ohio State hit .452 for the set to .265 for Wisconsin.

The Badgers broke a 2-2 tie with a kill from Mitchell and a Gabrielsen ace serve to take a 4-2 lead. Trailing, 6-4, Ohio State tied the set with a kill from Dull and a Chelsea Noble ace serve. At seven-all, an OSU error and a Dolgner kill gave Wisconsin a 9-7 lead. At 10-8, two Wisconsin errors tied the set at 10. At 11-all, a Dozier solo block, a Wisconsin error, an Ashley Hughes-Dozier block and a kill by Hughes gave Ohio State a 15-11 lead. Kills from Dolgner and Wack cut the OSU lead to 15-13. At 16-14, a kill from Dull gave OSU a three-point lead at 17-14. The Badgers cut the lead to one at 17-16 with a Wack kill and a Gabrielsen-Mary Ording block. Kills from Barhorst and Wack made it 18-17. A Barhorst kill and a Badger error made it 20-17, OSU. A Dolgner kill made it 20-18. A Danks-Szerszen block and one from Danks and Dozier gave OSU a 22-18 lead. An OSU error made it 22-19. A Szerszen kill followed by a Wisconsin error set match point at 24-19. Ohio State won the set, 25-19, with a Dull kill to sweep the Badgers, 3-0. The Buckeyes hit .414 for the set to .071 for Wisconsin.

For the match, Ohio State hit .347 to .123 for Wisconsin. The Badgers had a 41-39 advantage in kills with the Buckeyes having a 4-3 margin in ace serves. Wisconsin's Gabrielsen recorded a match-high two aces. Ohio State had eight service errors to four for Wisconsin. Defensively, the Badgers had a 46-41 advantage in digs. OSU's Noble posted a match-high 17 digs in the contest. At the net, Ohio State had a 16-4 advantage in team blocks. Dozier posted a match-high 11 total blocks for the Buckeyes with three solos and eight assist blocks. At setter, Hughes recorded a match-high 33 assists for Ohio State. Gabrielsen posted 29 assists for Wisconsin.

Ohio State, with the Wisconsin victory, has 20 victories this season. It marks the first season since 2006 that the Buckeyes have reached 20 wins.  The eight wins in the Big Ten also marks the most conference victories in a season since 2006. 

### OhioStateBuckeyes.com ###

 

New Mexico Lobos Volleyball Women Beat BYU, 3-0; Rose Morris Gets Marriage Proposal, #4 UW Huskies Volleyball Women Lose At Home, Cal Poly Stuns UCSB 3-2

• New Mexico Lobos Volleyball Women Beat BYU, 3-0; 

Rose Morris Gets Marriage Proposal, 

#4 UW Huskies Volleyball Women Lose At Home, 

Cal Poly Stuns UCSB 3-2

Huskies Volleyball Women 

Lose 3-2 Heartbreaker To Bears

Washington has a half-game Pac-10 lead over UCLA heading to L.A. next week.

SEATTLE – For the first time this year, the fourth-ranked UW volleyball team came up short on its home floor, dropping a 3-2 decision against 13th-ranked California at Bank of America Arena. The Huskies (20-3, 10-3 Pac-10 were led by a career-high 26 kills from junior Kindra Carlson, but the Bears (15-8, 8-5 Pac-10) won out, 23-25, 25-18, 14-25, 25-23, 15-13.

 

Carlson’s 26 kills were the most for a Husky this season, surpassing her 24 kills last week at Arizona State. She also added 12 digs and senior Airial Salvo had a double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs. Washington was held to a season-low .220 attack percentage, while the Bears were at .252 for the match. The Huskies were hampered by the Cal blockers, who put down 17.0 blocks on the night, a season-high for a UW opponent. Hana Cutura led the Bears with 33 kills.

 

Washington got off to slow starts in every set, and may have had a natural letdown after an emotional 3-0 victory over No. 5 Stanford Friday night.

 

“We just had a tight match. The margin of error is so thin and we made too many little errors,” said head coach Jim McLaughlin. “I told the team there was a different vibe going into the Stanford match. That team’s a good team. We’re still in control of our destiny right now; we just have to make sure we’re prepared. We got off to bad starts in all games, and against a good team early points are as critical as late points.”

 

Cal took a 4-0 lead out of the gate and the Dawgs took a quick timeout. The Bears extended out to an 8-3 lead but Washington went on a 3-0 run with Carlson serving. Carlson had back-to-back fierce kills, and Collymore drilled her first ace of the night to bring the Dawgs even at 9-9. Her next serve was misplayed over for a Cal error and the Bears needed time to regroup from the serving barrage. Hagglund aced the Bears to move UW to a 13-11 advantage. The teams traded sideouts for several points, Collymore banging her first kill and Cutura keeping Cal close. Sophomore Bianca Rowland put down an overpass, and then earned a solo stuff on a Cutura attack for a 17-14 lead. Hagglund served another ball that caromed wildly off the Bears for an ace and Cal needed time with UW up 21-18. The Bears battled back to knot the score at 22, and UW needed timeout after a Cutura kill gave the Bears a one point lead. Collymore broke the run with a solid kill off the block. Rowland tucked in a kill on the next point to bring up set point. A bad Cal pass forced Cutura to hit wide and the Dawgs had the set, 25-23.

 

The Huskies outhit Cal, .244-.233 and had three aces to Cal’s one in the set. Carlson led UW with five kills and Rowland was perfect with three kills on three swings. Cutura had 11 kills in the first set alone for the Bears.

 

Once again Cal grabbed a 4-0 lead in set two and again the Huskies called timeout. Hagglund fed Carlson out of the break and she got UW on the board with a smash. Another tough Collymore serve led to a Carlson kill, and a point later, Salvo and Rowland teamed up for a block to pull UW within 8-6. A 3-0 streak by the Bears opened a 14-9 lead and forced UW to take its last timeout. Washington went to Carlson to end the streak with her sixth kill of the set. Junior Becky Perry checked in and earned a kill on her first attempt, and a Bear miscue got UW within four. Cal earned its fifth block of the set to open up a 20-14 lead. Washington saved a couple set points, but Cal put the set away, 25-18, with a Correy Johnson kill. Cal had 6.5 blocks in the second set alone, and held UW to just .075 on offense.

 

Rowland made sure UW wouldn’t fall behind early in the third, banging one to the floor on the second point. Freshman setter Jenni Nogueras checked in with UW down 4-2, and set Rowland again for another kill. Collymore fired her second ace of the night, and then Cal misplayed her next serve over and Carlson finished for a 5-4 lead. Freshman Kelly Holford netted her first ace of the match to put UW back up 7-6, and a thunderous block from Nogueras and Dunaway gave the Dawgs a two-point edge. Cal took time after the Huskies dug a number of balls in a row leading to a Carlson blast that gave UW a 9-6 edge. Consecutive Cal errors and a solo stuff by Rowland extended the Husky lead to 14-10. Rowland was there again with Carlson on the next point and rejected another Bear effort, and Collymore put one down for a 16-10 lead. A Carlson ace made it 18-11 and the Bears needed time to recover. Collymore earned service for herself with a kill off the block, and then Carlson finished one on the next point, a results of a free ball off a Collymore laser. Dunaway spiked an overpass for set point, and Salvo banged one down for a 25-14 win.

 

The Dawgs rolled to a .306 attack percentage in the third compared to just .062 for the Bears. UW had three blocks and three aces, and Nogueras dished 11 assists.

 

Washington opened set four with a block from Rowland and Collymore, and an ace from Miyashiro. Yet another Collymore serve divebombed down for an ace and a 5-2 edge. Cal answered back with three in a row, but Salvo snapped the run with her eighth kill. The score was tied up multiple times until a 3-0 Cal run gave them a 12-9 lead and the Huskies needed time. Salvo and Carlson led a three-point Husky run, but Cal answered with three straight to make it 20-14. A Perry kill pulled the Dawgs to within 20-23, and Cal hit long on the next point and needed its first timeout. Cal earned set point on the next point, but Rowland saved the first with a finish, and a Carlson attack on the next point rolled over and down, and Cal took its last timeout. The Bears finally converted their third set point out of the break with a kill by Tarah Murrey, winning 25-23. The Bears were red-hot in the set, hitting .400 while UW was at .281.

 

Cal jumped out to a 3-0 fifth-set lead before Salvo painted the line to break the run. A Husky miscue made it 6-2 Bears and UW took time. A kill by Carlson and a dump finish by Hagglund kept UW in the hunt, but they could not get closer than three until a Salvo blast made it 11-9 and Cal took time. The Bears came through with consecutive blocks out of the timeout to take a 13-9 lead and UW needed its last timeout. Carlson got the kill out of the timeout, and then Perry fired one off the defense for a 13-11 score. The Bears earned match point on the next play, but Carlson saved the first one with her 26th kill. With Miyashiro serving, Cal hit long on the next point to make it 14-13 Bears and Cal used its last timeout. Unfortunately for the 2,602 Dawg fans in attendance tonight, Cal’s Mindi Wiley was able to send the next attack down for the final point, giving Cal the set 15-13 and the match.

 

Washington will now regroup for its last road trip of the regular season, heading to USC next Friday and then prepping for a potential first-place showdown with UCLA on Saturday night.

 

Lobo Volleyball Team Beats BYU In Home Finale, 3-0

Seniors make most of final regular season match at Johnson Center, and one gets a proposal

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  --- It was an exciting night from start to finish for the University of New Mexico volleyball seniors as the Lobos beat BYU, 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-23) in the final home match of their collegiate careers.  Anna Lehne, Rose Morris and Allie Suiter were introduced with their parents, along with the four BYU seniors – Morgan Lloyd Sorenson, Marisa Boaz, Kayla Walker, and Stephanie Lau – prior to the start of the match.

The next phase of the evening was an exciting Lobo win, the 18th of the season (18-8, 9-5 MWC), backed by a season-high crowd of 2,613.  It is the first time in Lobo volleyball history that every home crowd of the season has been over 1,000.

A kill by Lehne, a BYU attack error and a Lisa Meeter service ace got the Lobos off to a 3-0 start in the first set.  New Mexico never relinquished the lead but the Cougars stayed close, even as late as 24-23.  Meeter recorded one of her team-high 13 kills to finish the set, 25-23.

The Lobos maintained a little more wiggle room in the second set.  After Sorenson put BYU within two at 7-5 with a service ace, Meeter put down a kill to get the ball back for the Lobos, 8-5.  UNM went on a 7-1 run to build a 15-6 lead and kept the set out of the Cougar reach, 25-17.

After the intermission, both teams came out ready to play tough.  UNM took a 2-0 lead on BYU attack errors and never gave up the lead in the third set.  But BYU tied the set at six points, the last at 17-17.  As in the first set, BYU closed to 24-23 on a kill by Christie Carpenter.  A kill by Lehne finished the set and the match for UNM, 25-23.

Along with Meeter’s 13 kills, Taylor Hadfield had nine and Morris and Lehne had seven each.  Meeter also added to her list of double-doubles on the season with a team-leading 11 digs.

The evening capped off with the seniors and head coach Jeff Nelson saying their good-byes and thank yous to the Johnson Center crowd, before one more big moment.  Morris was surprised by a marriage proposal on the court in front of everyone from her boyfriend, Matt Doxtator.  And the answer was a resounding, yes!

The Lobos finish up the regular season with three matches over the next three weeks, Nov. 12 at UNLV, Nov. 20 at TCU, and Nov. 27 at New Orleans.

-UNM-

Arizona State Women's Volleyball Falls Short to No. 14 Oregon

EUGENE, Ore. – Ten kills from Sarah Reaves and a split setter offense couldn’t save the ASU Volleyball team Saturday night in a 25-16, 25-16 and 25-20 loss to the No. 14 Oregon Ducks Saturday night as they fell to 13-12 overall and 3-10 in conference play as Oregon advances to 16-6 overall and 6-6 in the Pac-10.

In first set, ASU couldn’t put it together as they hit eight attack errors to place them even in attack percentage. Oregon’s Sonja Newcombe had four kills in the set to lead the Ducks as they took a 25-16 win.

Set two saw Sarah Reaves with five kills leading the ASU offense as the Oregon offense hit .324 in the set with five team kills and six kills from Heather Meyers to lead the Ducks as they took another 25-16 win to take a 2-0 lead into the break.

The Sun Devils rallied back in the third set with three kills from Sarah Reaves and Sonja Markonovich apiece, but the effort just wasn’t enough as Oregon rallied to hit .333 in the set to rally back against the Devils with a 25-20 win to finish the sweep.

The Sun Devils will head to Tucson next weekend as they take on Arizona in round two of the Duel in the Desert next Friday at 7 p.m.

UCR Women's Volleyball Enjoys First Winning Weekend With 

3-1 Defeat Of CSU Bakersfield

Riverside, CA - The UC Riverside volleyball team enjoyed their first winning weekend of the 2009 season as they defeated CSU Bakersfield 3-1 on Saturday evening in non-conference action after previously earning a 3-2 Big West victory over Cal State Northridge on Friday night.

The Highlanders (6-17) won 25-21, 22-25, 26-24, and 25-19 as they improve to 4-2 in their last six matches. With their two wins this weekend, UCR wins back-to-back matches for the first time since Oct. 4-10, 2008 and wins consecutive home matches for the first time since 2001.

Tonbara Youpele tallied a double-double for UCR with 19 kills and 11 digs. Dominique Cowling added 15 kills and 14 digs while Kelley Quinn recorded 13 kills. Brittney Murrey posted 42 assists while Shannon Moyneur added five blocks for UC Riverside.

The HIghlanders scored first in set one and opened up a 12-8 and 17-12 advantage en route to a 25-21 win. UCR hit .325 for the set while keeping the lead the entire time.

In the second, the Highlanders' .176 hitting percentage was slightly better than CSUB's .175, but the Roadrunners took the set 25-22 to tie up the match a one set apiece.

Down 20-17 in the third set, UC Riverside went on a 5-2 run to tie up the set at 22 capped off by a CSUB error. After two more tie scores, the Highlanders used kills from Quinn and Cowling to win 26-24 and take a pivotal 2-1 advantage in the match.

In the fourth set, UC Riverside went down 10-6 but rallied to tie it up at 12 all as they then proceeded to take a 17-14 lead. The Roadrunners then came back and tied the set at 17, but the Highlanders ran off an 8-2 run down the stretch to win 25-19 and earn their first four-set win of the season.

The Highlanders are back at home for two Big West Conference games on Thursday, Nov. 12 and Saturday, Nov. 14 as they take on Long Beach State and UC Irvine respectively. Matches are slated to tip off at 7:00 pm at the Student Recreation Center.

Cal Poly Women's Volleyball Team Stuns Big West Leader 

UC Santa Barbara in Four Sets

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Freshman middle blocker Jennifer Keddy led four Mustangs in double-digit kill figures with 17 as the Cal Poly volleyball team terminated a seven-match losing streak Saturday evening by knocking central coast rival UC Santa Barbara from its Big West Conference-leading perch with a 23-25, 25-22, 25-18, 25-18 victory in Mott Gym.

Freshman outside hitter Megan McConnell recorded 16 kills and freshman outside hitter Chelsea Hardin and junior middle blocker Dominique Olowolafe each added 10 for the Mustangs (7-19, 3-10), whose .326 team hitting percentage was 51 points higher than their previous season best. The decision, Cal Poly’s first this season against an opponent with a winning record, furthered the program’s home winning streak to five-straight matches against the Gauchos. With the loss, UC Santa Barbara (19-6, 9-4) tumbled into a second-place tie in the conference standings with UC Davis and remains a half match behind new leader Long Beach State.

The Mustangs opened the match with a 10-5 lead before UC Santa Barbara steadily whittled the advantage into a 21-21 deadlock. The second of two-straight McConnell hitting errors handed the Gauchos the lead on the ensuing point.

Cal Poly returned during the second set to hit .333 against three errors and, with the help of an early 7-1 advantage, led UC Santa Barbara wire-to-wire in squaring the match at a set apiece. The Mustangs held UC Santa Barbara to a .106 hitting percentage during the second set.

A season-high .483 hitting mark against only two errors during the third set helped propel the Mustangs to a 20-13 advantage. A 4-0 Gaucho run powered by a pair of kills from freshman outside hitter Leah Sully allowed UC Santa Barbara to close its deficit to 20-17, but the Mustangs yielded just a single point down the stretch in plundering the match advantage.

Cal Poly solidified its eighth victory against UC Santa Barbara during the previous 10 meetings by utilizing a McConnell kill to earn a 7-6 lead in the fourth set. Twice the Gauchos leveled the scoreline but Cal Poly closed the match with an 8-2 run.

Cal Poly, which outblocked UC Santa Barbara, 21-8, received a match-best 54 assists from freshman setter Anuhea Keanini. Keddy hit a match-high .500 while Olowolafe swung for a .333 mark and McConnell a .317 figure.

The Mustangs complete the road portion of their 2009 campaign at Pacific on Friday, Nov. 13 and at UC Davis on Saturday, Nov. 14. First serve for both matches is 7 p.m.

Santa Clara Women's Volleyball Team Falls 3-1 to Saint Mary's

Santa Clara, Calif. - Santa Clara fell 3-1 on Saturday night to first
place Saint Mary's.  Set scores were 25-23, 25-23, 23-25 and 25-17.
Santa Clara is 14-11 and 4-6 in the WCC and first-place Saint Mary's
moves to 18-4 and 10-1 in the WCC.

Santa Clara hit .180 with seven team blocks and three service aces.
Saint Mary's hit .273 with 10 team blocks and six service aces.
Individually SCU was led by freshman Katherine Douglas who collected a
team-leading 13 kills, hitting .182 with six digs.  Senior Lindsy
Davigeadono hit .261 with 10 kills. Freshman Samantha Selsky had 43
assists and collected 14 digs.  Libby Morrison had 12 digs in the
losing effort.

Santa Clara struck first, scoring off a long rally on a kill by Knudsen
on a set by Davigeadono.  The two teams traded points in the early
going, tying it up three times when SMC scored two straight on kills
off the block to take a 6-4 lead.  SMC moved the lead to 9-6 on a
service ace and then 10-6 on a kill when Wallace called timeout.  SCU
scored two points out of the timeout, 10-8 SMC.  Down 13-10, SCU scored
on a Gael error and two kills by Knudsen to tie it up at 13-13.  A
service error and Santa Clara in the net and the Gaels once again had a
two point lead, 15-13.  But an error by SMC and an ace by Libby
Morrison and it was back tied, 15-15.  SMC moved ahead 20-16 before
Wallace called timeout.  After a SMC service error and a tip out of
bounds and SCU was down 20-18.  A Bronco hitting error gave the ball
back to the Gaels who scored on their first serve and went up 22-18
before wacking it into the net.  Two straight Bronco team blocks and
SCU trailed by one when Saint Mary's stopped by with a timeout, up 22-
21.  The two teams traded points twice with SMC still ahead 24-23.  SMC
took game one 25-23 on a kill.  SCU hit .111 and SMC hit .209.  Knudsen
had four kills and three Broncos collected four digs each.

In set two the two teams tied it up at 3-3 on a team block by the
Broncos.  Tied 4-4, SMC scored three straight before Knudsen crushed a
kill in the front.  A Bronco team block and a kill by Lommori and it
was once again tied, 7-7.  SCU went up 10-7 on a back-row kill by
Lommori, a Gaels error and another Lommori kill.  The teams traded
points three times with two Tanya Schmidt kills giving SCU a 13-10 lead
and two SMC errors making it 15-10 SCU.  SMC called timeout.  Trading
points SCU went up 17-11 on two straight back-row kills.  Davigeadono
crushed the ball to the back to make it 18-12 SCU.  SMC scored two
straight points before Selsky dumped the ball to the middle to make it
19-14.  The two teams traded hitting errors, pushing the SCU lead to
20-15.  Again the teams traded points with Selsky dumping the ball for
the third time in the middle and then a service ace by her gave SCU a
22-16 lead with SMC calling timeout.  SMC scored three times out of the
timeout when Wallace called timeout with SCU up 22-19.  SMC scored on
an ace and then a kill when SCU called time again, only up 22-21.  SMC
had scored five straight before Davigeadono crushed a kill to make it
23-22 SCU.  A Gael kill tied it up again and they took the lead on a
team block, 24-23 SMC.  SMC won set two by winning nine of the last 10
points of the set, finishing it off 25-23.  SCU hit .243 and SMC hit
.324.


In set three SCU went up 3-1 and then 4-2 on a kill by Douglas.  SCU
moved ahead 7-3 on two Gael hitting errors.   SCU advanced its lead to
8-5 on a Gael ball handling error and then 12-6 on two Kelley kills and
a net error by SMC.  The teams traded points twice with SCU maintaining
the lead at 14-9. Four straight Gael points on service pushed SCU to
call timeout at 14-13.  SMC tied it 14-14 on a kill, scoring five
straight before Davigeadono crushed a kill to to the back row, giving
SCU a 15-14 lead.  Another Morrison ace made it 16-14 SCU.  SCU moved
ahead 19-16 on a kill by Douglas off the block and another by Knudsen;
and took a 21-18 lead on two SMC errors.  After trading points after a
Gael timeout, SMC pulled within one, 22-21 SCU, when Wallace called
timeout.  SMC tied it up 22-22 on a kill, but a Kelley tip gave SCU the
lead again, 23-22.  A Gael error and SCU marched ahead 24-22 when SMC
called time again. A Douglas kill off the block gave SCU set three, 25-
22.  SCU hit .256 and SMC hit .265.  Douglas had six kills in set
three.

In set four Saint Mary's took a 2-0 lead, a Douglas kill and another by
Davigeadono tied it up 2-2.  Saint Mary's scored 10 of the next 12
points to take an 12-4 lead when SCU called its second timeout of the
set.  The two teams traded points twice.  SCU rallied to score straight
points off kills by Davigeadono and Douglas and a team block by
Samantha Peters and Davigeadono, making it 14-10 SMC.  A Davigeadono
kill and two Saint Mary's errors quieted a two-point Gael rally.  SMC
scored three of the next four points to take a 20-14 lead.  A Knudsen
kill and a dump by Selsky make it 20-16 SMC when the Gaels called time.
SMC won three of the next four points to take a 23-17 lead.  A Gael
team block and kill gave SMC the set and the match, 25-17.  SCU hit
.105 and SMC hit .308.

 

Week 11: NCAA College Volleyball Game Results Today Nov. 7

UMBC Volleyball Drops Home Finale to Binghamton, 3-0, Saturday Night

BALTIMORE—The UMBC volleyball team dropped its 2009 home finale to Binghamton, 3-0, Saturday night at the RAC. With the loss, the Retrievers drop to 13-11 on the season and 5-4 in America East play, while the Bearcats improve to 12-14 and 4-5 in conference action.

The Bearcats outhit the Retrievers, .291-.059 and earned eight blocks to UMBC’s two on their way to a 25-18, 25-17 and 25-20 win.

“We got away from playing the type of volleyball that helped us succeed earlier in the season,” head coach Ian Blanchard said. “We didn’t do a lot of the little things necessary to win.”

Sophomore Alyssa Lang (Richmond, Va./Deep Run) earned her seventh double-double of the season with 10 kills and 10 digs, while senior Pam Jarrett (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Pius X) led the Retrievers with 13 digs.

The Retrievers return to action next Sunday when they play at New Hampshire in their 2009 regular season finale at 2 p.m.

Samford Volleyball Women Sweep Appalachian State, Will Honor Seniors Sunday

--- Bulldogs hold fast at first place in conference standing with win over Mountaineers ---

 

Nov. 7, 2009

 

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford University volleyball team closed out the Homecoming Day festivities Saturday night with a 3-0 sweep of Appalachian State. With the win, the Bulldogs maintain first place in the Southern Conference standings with a 16-12 record overall and a 10-4 record in the league. The Mountaineers fall to 11-16 overall, 7-6 in conference play.

 

“This was a very solid team effort tonight,” Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. “Elizabeth Neisler hitting .368 with 10 kills and Shelby Brandon hitting .500 with six kills spreads out their defense and makes life easier for us.”

 

Sheriden Stangohr led the Bulldogs in kills with 11 while Neisler notched a team-high and a career-high hitting percentage. Stangohr also hit .364 while grabbing two block assists, one solo block and one ace. Neisler added one assist, one dig and one block assist.

 

Brandon and Rachel Gadberry both notched six kills against the Mountaineers. Brandon hit .500 on 10 attacks and only one error. She also added one dig and one block assist. Gadberry hit .308 while adding two block assists, one solo block and one dig. Allie Bettinger knocked down seven kills and grabbed two aces, eight digs and one solo block.

 

Hillary Fountain dished out a team-high 21 assists with two kills, one ace, five digs and one block assist. Casey Garvey was right behind with 18 assists along with one kill and one ace. Sarah Gardner grabbed four aces, four digs and one assist while Alexis Bauer led the back row with 14 digs and Alicia Roth served up one ace.

 

Appalachian State was led by Maja Jechorek who posted 10 kills, three digs, one ace and one block assists. Cassie Engelgau led the back row with 10 digs while Kasey Sauls dished out 26 assists. Becca Norris led in blocks, grabbing five of the Mountaineers’ eight while Caroline Sedon and Lauren Swecker each added three block assists.

 

The Bulldogs will close out home play Sunday when they host Western Carolina at 2 p.m. The Catamounts were swept by Chattanooga earlier on Saturday bringing their record to 3-24 overall and 0-13 in conference play.

 

Samford will honor its seniors in a ceremony before Sunday’s match. Live streaming of the match will be available for free onwww.samfordsports.com and a full recap and results will be posted upon the completion of the match.

 

Samford 3, Appalachian State 0

 

Samford took an early four-point lead in the first set with a 6-2 run which started with a kill by Stangohr. After two errors, Appalachian State called its first timeout. The Mountaineers came out of the break and put together a 5-1 run to tie the score at seven but the Bulldogs answered back with an 8-2 run of their own to push the lead back out to six. After another Mountaineer timeout, Samford pushed the lead out to eight on a block by Brandon and Stangohr and a kill by Brandon. ASU cut the lead to six but Samford tacked on four straight points to take a 10-point lead. The Bulldogs would go on to win set one, 25-15.

 

Appalachian State grabbed the first point of the second set on a kill by Sedon but Neisler answered back with a kill of her own to even things up. Samford then added three more points to take a three-point lead but the Mountaineers rallied back with a 3-0 run to tie the score at four. The score would be tied five more times before Samford took another three-point lead, forcing the Mountaineers to take a timeout.

 

Samford maintained that lead for while before ASU got within two causing the Bulldogs to call a timeout with the score at 23-21. Out of the break, Stangohr knocked down a kill to lock in set point but the Mountaineers would score three straight points to tie the score at 24. Stangohr blasted another kill to put the Bulldogs ahead but followed with an error to even the score at 25. ASU’s Swecker put down a kill to put the Mountaineers ahead by one but Sedon followed with a service error to tie the score at 26. Then Maggie Seeds committed two hitting errors to lock in the 28-26 second set win for the Bulldogs.

 

In the third set, ASU grabbed a quick 2-0 lead on a blocking error by Brandon and a block by Jechorek and Sedon. Samford evened things up quick though with a kill by Neisler and an ace by Garvey. The Bulldogs then went on an 8-3 run to go ahead by five causing the Mountaineers to call their first timeout of the set. ASU scored three straight points out of the break to get within two but Samford forged ahead and pushed its lead out to six, forcing another Mountaineer timeout. With the score at 18-12, ASU came out of the break and put together an 8-3 run to get within one, causing Samford to call its second timeout of the entire match. ASU’s Engelgau served up an ace out of the break to tie the score at 21, but Samford would go on a 4-2 run to lock in the 25-22 win.

 

*** SAMFORD BULLDOGS ***

 

W&M SWEEPS JMU 3-0 IN CAA VOLLEYBALL

 

WILLIAMSBURG, Va., Nov. 7, 2009 – William and Mary hit .409 as a team, the best of the season by a James Madison opponent, en route to a 3-0 victory in a Colonial Athletic Association volleyball match Saturday night in Kaplan Arena.

 

W&M improved to 16-10 overall and 8-4 in the CAA after winning by set scores of 25-12, 25-13, and 25-21.  The win kept the Tribe in fourth place in the CAA with two matches remaining before the four-team CAA Championship.  JMU fell to 11-18 overall and 4-9 in the CAA with one match left.

 

JMU head coach Disa Garner commented, “William and Mary was fired up for senior night and played very well and we just didn’t execute very well.  We made some switches in the third set and played much better.  The passing wasn’t great tonight.  I was disappointed and thought we could have played better, but we didn’t execute the game plan, especially our passing.”

 

Freshman Danielle Erb (Tampa, Fla./Plant) led all players with 11 kills on .429 hitting for the Dukes.  Junior Lindsay Callahan (Virginia Beach, Va./Landstown) added seven kills, 13 digs, and five assists.  Freshman Megan Wiechmann(Sunland, Calif./Village Christian) posted 19 assists and four digs.  Redshirt freshman Natalie Abel (Washington, Pa./Trinity) picked up 13 digs.

 

Garner added, “We got Dani and Natalie back in tonight, though they were not 100% and still feeling the effects of their illnesses.  But they were back in and played very well. Dani had a big match.  They really carried the load for us tonight.”

 

Five W&M players hit better than .400 with at least six kills. Erin Skipper led the Tribe with 10 kills on .474 hitting with four digs and three aces.  Lindsay Kresch had a near double-double with nine kills on .429 hitting with 12 digs and three blocks.  Lauren Powell hit .500 with eight kills and seven digs.  Cassie Crumal posted 32 assists and six digs.  Lindsey Pflugner led with 18 digs.

 

The Tribe never trailed or tied in either of the first two sets with a pair of lopsided wins.  Set three featured 10 ties and five lead changes.  JMU led 10-9 when W&M started to pull away with a 6-1 run.  The Dukes battled back with three quick points and later trailed 20-19.  A kill by junior Jessica Zeroual (Ottawa, Ont./De La Salle) pulled JMU within two at 23-21, but kills by Power and Ginny Bray finished the victory for the Tribe.

 

JMU has one match remaining in the 2009 season next Saturday, Nov. 14, at George Mason at 7 p.m.

 

UW VB: Badgers fall to Ohio State

 

 MADISON, Wis. - The Wisconsin volleyball team (11-12, 6-8) dropped its third consecutive match on Saturday, losing to Ohio State 25-21, 25-21, 25-19 in the UW Field House. The loss marks Wisconsin’s longest losing streak of the season in both matches (three) and sets (nine).

“I’m disappointed in the way we performed tonight,” said head coach Pete Waite. “That was a team we knew had a hot streak coming in and we had to battle them with everything we had. Our passing wasn’t up to par so our offense wasn’t able to run quite as well. I thought Ohio State blocked very well. There were just too many errors on our part. It was too much to give a good team like them.”

A lack of consistent hitting limited the Badgers as they posted a .123 hitting percentage, while Ohio State connected on .347 percent of its shots. Wisconsin’s offense also could not overcome the Buckeyes’ 16 team blocks. The Badgers, in comparison, only totaled four team blocks.

Wisconsin did surpass Ohio State in several statistical categories. The Badgers out-performed the Buckeyes in kills (41-39), assists (41-35) and digs (46-41). Allison Wack and Brittney Dolgner headlined the UW offense with 14 and 11 kills, respectively. Wack also maintained a solid .273 hitting percentage. Janelle Gabrielsen directed Wisconsin’s offense, putting up 29 assists.

Two Badgers had double-digit digs as Kim Kuzma saved 14 shots, while Gabrielsen added 10 digs.

Ohio State was led by Katie Dull, who put down 11 kills while hitting a .320 percentage. Kelli Barhost followed with nine kills and a match-high .471 hitting percentage. Ashley Hughes dished out a match-high 33 assists.

Kristen Dozier highlighted the Ohio State defense with 11 total blocks, while Chelsea Noble led the Buckeyes with 17 digs.

Waite said that Ohio State has improved a lot since losing to Wisconsin on Oct. 2 in Columbus, Ohio.

“They’ve really evolved as a team and we’ve seen that coming,” Waite said. “We’ve seen them beat some really good teams along the way since we beat them. That happens sometimes—you beat someone and they change things.”

Both teams continuously exchanged points in the first set where there were 10 ties. With the score knotted up at 15, Ohio State put down two straight kills to take a 17-15 advantage. Poor hitting prevented the Badgers from retrieving the deficit as the Buckeyes took the set 25-21. UW hit just .053 percent for the set.

 After nine ties, the Buckeyes grabbed a 16-13 lead in the second set. The UW responded by scoring three consecutive points to equal the score at 16 apiece. Ohio State would then regroup following a timeout to take a 19-16 lead, which it would not lose en route to a 25-21 set victory. Wisconsin bettered its hitting with a .265 percentage, but was overshadowed by Ohio State ’s impressive hitting percentage of .452.

Wisconsin came out strong in the third set and seized an early 6-4 lead over Ohio State. A kill from Caity DuPont evened the set at 11, but the Badgers then lost control of the set as the Buckeyes scored three straight points to take a 14-11 lead. Although the Badgers narrowed the margin to one at 18-17, Ohio State’s .414 hitting percentage helped them earn a 25-19 match victory.

“We come out next week and we’ve got another opportunity on Monday to train and watch tape and get better,” Waite said. “That’s been our goal and we’ve hit a plateau as far as the energy level on the court. Last week at Michigan we did really well and our energy level was great, then a little notch down against Michigan State. In the Big Ten, if you have any sort of a flat day, you’re going to pay for it.”

 

Wisconsin has a tough week ahead as it travels to Iowa City, Iowa, on Wednesday to take on Iowa before it returns home to face Minnesota on Nov. 15. The Badgers look to split the season series after losing to Iowa, 3-1, in its Big Ten opener on Sept. 23. UW also lost at Minnesota, 3-0, on Sept. 25

Week 11: The Latest NCAA College Volleyball Game Results Today Nov. 7

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William and Mary Volleyball Women Blow By 

James Madison on Senior Night, 3-0

MURFREESBORO, Tenn.  – The FIU volleyball team clinched the Sun Belt Conference regular season title on Saturday night at Alumni Memorial Gym with a 3-1 (26-24, 25-22, 22-25, 26-24) victory over Middle Tennessee. The Panthers are winners of 19 straight matches and improve to 26-2 (16-0 SBC) on the season with the win.

The squads battled to a 12-12 tie in the first set before the Blue Raiders pulled ahead, 17-14. Following an FIU timeout, MTSU got another point before the Panthers tallied one of their own to make it 18-15. Senior Olga Vergun took a pass from junior Natalia Valentin and slammed home a kill to pull FIU within two, but a Panther hitting error put the gap back to three at 19-16.

FIU then recorded four of the next five points to knot the score at 20-20 and force a Blue Raider timeout. After the break, MTSU came through with a pair of points to go ahead by two and a Rosa kill was off-set by a Panther service error as the Blue Raiders went ahead, 23-21, but FIU would not go away as Rosa recorded a kill and a service ace to tie the score at 23-23.

The Blue Raiders tallied a point to reach set-point position at 24-23 and FIU called a timeout. Following the break, Bjelica slammed home a kill and with the score tied at 24-24, Rosa came through the middle for a kill to put FIU ahead, 25-24. An MTSU attack error ended the set and the Panthers came away with a 26-24 first-set victory to go ahead, 1-0, for the match.

The second set saw the same intensity as the first, as both teams fought to numerous ties and lead changes. With the score knotted at 16-16, FIU tallied four straight points to go ahead 20-16. MTSU retaliated with a pair of points but Vergun and Rosa each scored on tips over the net to pull ahead, 22-18.

Following a Blue Raider timeout, MTSU tallied two points to come within two at 22-20 but Rosa slammed home a kill from the left side to put FIU up by three at 23-20. A Blue Raider kill once again brought them within two at 23-21 but Rosa struck from the right side this time to put FIU in set-point position at 24-21. MTSU gained one more point but Bjelica tallied a kill to give FIU a 25-22 second-set win and a 2-0 lead for the match.

Set three matched the competitiveness of the first two stanzas and with the score tied at 17-17 MTSU went ahead, 18-17, to force an FIU timeout. Out of the break, Bjelica came through the middle for a kill to knot the score at 18-18 before a Blue Raider attack error and an MTSU violation put the Panthers on top by two at 20-18.

The Blue Raiders then scored five consecutive points to take the lead at 23-20. The Panthers countered with two hard kills to come within one at 23-22, but MTSU retaliated with a pair of points to take a 25-22 set win.

Up 2-1 for the match, FIU held a 17-15 lead in the fourth set. MTSU tallied a point but Rosa retaliated with a kill. The Blue Raiders then recorded two points to knot the score at 18-18 before Bjelica connected from the right side and Vergun and senior Ines Medved combined for a block to give the Panthers a two-point advantage at 20-18.

After an MTSU timeout, Vergun and Medved teamed up again for a stop at the net to put the Panthers on top, 21-18. The Blue Raiders gained a point but Bjelica retaliated with a kill to make the score, 22-19. MTSU got another tally before Vergun recorded a score to put the score at 23-20.

The Blue Raiders recorded a pair of points to force a Panther timeout and out of the break, MTSU tied the score at 23-23. Rosa slammed home a kill from the left side to put FIU in match-point position but MTSU came back with a kill to tie the score at 24-24. A pair of Blue Raider service errors then gave the Panthers a 26-24 set victory and a 3-1 win.

Three Panthers reached double digits in kills on the night, as Rosa recorded 21 kills and Vergun and Bjelica added 18 and 14 kills, respectively. Valentin tallied 52 assists while Vergun led the FIU defense with six blocks. Lakovic had another outstanding night as she tallied four kills compared to zero errors for a hitting percentage of .500. She also added a pair of block assists.

FIU will return to the court on Wednesday, Nov. 11, as the Panthers host non-conference foe Florida Gulf Coast at 6:30 p.m. at the U.S. Century Bank Arena. FIU will then travel to Boca Raton, Fla., on Saturday, Nov. 14 to face Florida Atlantic in the squad’s SBC regular season finale. First serve versus the Owls is set for 7 p.m.

 

-FIU-

Panthers Volleyball Team Clinch SBC Regular Season 

Title With 3-1 Win Over MTSU

FIU wins 19^thstraight match, Panthers improve to 26-2 overall

 VCU RALLIES PAST GEORGE MASON, 3-2; RAMS IN CAA DRIVER’S SEAT 

RICHMOND, Va. – Freshman Michala Kvapilova (Liberec, Czech Republic) blasted eight of her 19 kills in the final two sets to spearhead Virginia Commonwealth University’s 3-2 (25-17, 22-25, 13-25, 25-15, 15-13) come-from-behind victory over George Mason Saturday at the Verizon Wireless Arena. 

VCU has won seven straight and improves to 22-8 overall and 10-2 in the Colonial Athletic Association. The Rams have pulled even with Delaware for first place in the CAA. However, VCU owns the tiebreaker with the Blue Hens, by virtue of its 3-2 victory earlier this season. 

George Mason slipped to 20-8 overall and 9-4 in CAA play. 

Kvapilova hit .750 in the final two sets and did not record an error as the Rams hit .393 and .292, respectively. Freshman Marisa Low (Carlsbad, Calif.) was critical at libero Saturday, registering 20 digs, many in spectacular fashion. 

The Rams were teetering on disaster by the end of the third set, as they watched the Patriots record eight blocks in a 25-13 blowout to take a 2-1 advantage in the match. 

However, VCU was able to refocus and pick up a victory that may end up deciding the CAA regular season champion. 

“We were ready to play today, but Mason made some great adjustments,” VCU Head Coach James Finley said. “A lot of teams, when you get beat like that in game three will fold. But the girls were determined not to let this one get away. I’m proud of the way they gutted it out in game four to give us a chance.” 

Also for VCU, junior Mariel Frey (Lititz, Pa.) logged 11 kills and 18 digs, while senior Ivana Rich (Cumberland, Va.) kicked in 10 kills and .450. 

Holly Goode sparked George Mason with 13 kills, 15 digs and seven blocks. Kelsey Bohman added 11 kills and nine blocks, including six in the third set alone. 

The Rams will look to clinch their first CAA regular season title with a pair of matches next weekend. On Friday, Nov. 13, VCU will meet Georgia State in Atlanta at 5:30 p.m. On Sunday, Nov. 15, the Rams face UNC Wilmington at 1 p.m. 

  - The senior class was honored before the match, and then stepped to the fore and led the William and Mary volleyball team to a dominating 3-0 sweep of James Madison in the final home match of the 2009 season on Saturday night. With the win, the Tribe improves to 16-10, 8-4 in the CAA, while the Dukes fall to 11-18, 4-9 CAA. 

Box Score 

"What a terrific way to send our seniors out of the Hall," coach Melissa Aldrich Shelton '91 said. "[The seniors] KG, Lindsey, Pita, and B all had terrific performances tonight. Our team played loose and with purpose, such a turnaround from last night. I couldn't be prouder." 

Senior Katie McCarney (Dallas, Texas) hit a career-high .700 with eight kills and two blocks to lead her team to the win. Classmate Lauren Powell (Tulsa, Okla.) also hit amazingly well, scoring eight kills and no errors on a .500 attack, while adding seven digs, two aces, and two blocks. Lindsey Pflugner (Sarasota, Fla.) continued to make her case for all-conference honors, providing a match-high 18 digs. Senior Bryana Carey (Balboa Island, Calif.) was also very effective coming off the bench to provide a steadying influence on the court, and the senior class finished the night hitting .500 with 16 kills, 27 digs, four blocks, three assists, and two aces. 

The underclassmen also played extremely well, as the team hit .409 with 42 kills and only six errors, the 13th-best attacking performance in school history. It was also the best performance since the Tribe hit .451 against Hampton in 2006, when the seniors were freshmen. 

Junior Erin Skipper (Yorktown, Va.) scored a team-best 10 kills on a .474 attack, and added four digs and three service aces. SophomoreLindsay Kresch (Moon Township, Pa.) had nine kills and no errors on a .429 attack, and added 12 digs and tied Ginny Bray (Cary, N.C.) with three blocks. Bray was the third underclassmen to hit better than .400, totaling six kills and one error for a .455 attack. Junior setter Cassie Crumal (Castle Rock, Colo.) directed the offense with 32 assists on 62 attempts, and added six digs and an ace. 

JMU was able to hang close early in the first set, but the Tribe blew open the game with a 10-2 run to go up 17-7, and closed the set on a 7-1 run to win 25-12. W&M hit .448 in the opening stanza, led by McCarney's 5-for-5 performance and Kresch's 4-for-9, including the final two points of the set. 

The College hit even better in the second set, totaling 13 kills on a .476 attack, and again closed on a 7-2 run to win 25-13. While there wasn't an extended run in the middle of the frame, W&M was very methodical and unstoppable in putting together two- and three-point rallies against one-point efforts for the Dukes. Crumal had 11 assists on just 21 attack attempts in the set, as Skipper hit four kills in five attempts. 

Coming out the break, James Madison managed to find their attack, but it was simply not enough as the Tribe hit .342 with 15 kills and broke open a close set with a 6-1 run in the middle of the stanza to go up 15-11. A renewed Dukes attack began the close the gap, getting as close as one at 20-19, but the College put together a 5-2 run to close out the match and win the set, 25-21. Crumal had 14 assists, and Skipper had five kills on a .500 attack to go with two aces, three digs, and a solo block. 

The Tribe will hit the road next weekend to close out the regular season at UNC Wilmington and Georgia State. With one more win, William and Mary can clinch a spot in the CAA Championships for the third year in a row, and will seek that victory either Friday night at UNCW at 7 p.m., or Sunday in Atlanta at 12 p.m.

Georgia State Volleyball Falls to Northeastern in Four

Boston, Mass. - For the second straight night the Georgia State
volleyball team stepped up and played some of its best defense of the
year. Unfortunately, the Panthers could not overcome a pair of Huskie
triple-doubles as the Panthers fell 3-1 (27-25, 24-26, 25-22, 25-22) to
Northeastern on Saturday night.
Junior Ashley Jones scored her 16th double-double of the season to lead
the Panthers. Jones landed 10 kills and 14 assists, as well as nine
digs, falling one dig shy of her seventh triple-double of the season
which would have tied her with Stanford’s Cassidy Litchman for the
national lead. Jones has missed five triple-doubles this season by just
one dig.
The loss dropped Georgia State to 16-12 and 3-9 in the CAA. The win
improved Northeastern to 14-11 and 7-5 in the CAA. The Huskies still
have an outside shot to qualify for the CAA Championship which will only
take the top four teams this season with one week to play.
Redshirt-junior Audrey Cantrell scored 23 digs to move within 29 of the
single-season record held by Kumi Ishiyama since 2002. Cantrell has 484
digs this season, the third-most in a single season. The Rockwall, Texas
native also moved within 37 of Ana Paul Ferreira (2003-07) for fourth on
the all-time digs list.

Freshman Jamiee Freeman finished one kill shy of a career-high with
nine, while adding 18 of the Panthers 83 digs. Freeman also scored four
total blocks as Georgia State finished the match with three block solos
and 20 block assists.

Junior Raquel Jones, who has continued to see more playing time since
transferring to State, scored four kills and seven total blocks, one shy
of a career-high.

Senior Jocelyn Waldern, playing her final road match for the Panthers,
finished with six kills and 11 digs, along with a pair of service aces.
Georgia State entered the weekend fifth in the NCAA in service aces per
set, scoring a total of five on Saturday evening.

Sophomore Muki Kangwa finished the match with five kills and seven
digs, while fellow sophomore Chelsea Perry added a team-high 16
assists.

Redshirt-sophomore Vineece Verdun added six kills and five total blocks
for State.

Northeastern scored triple-doubles from Britney Brown and Jessica
Tkachuk. Brown scored 20 kills, 22 assists and 14 digs, while Tkachuk
finished the match with 14 kills, 25 assists and 19 digs.

Leah Neubeck added a 34 digs as the Huskies swept the Panthers in the
season series.

The Panthers return home for Senior Weekend next Friday, for the final
weekend of the regular season. Georgia State will take on VCU at 5:30
p.m., before closing the season against William & Mary on Sunday at
noon. State will honor lone senior Jocelyn Waldern in pre-match
ceremonies on Friday night.

---www.GeorgiaStateSports.com---

Mavs Volleyball Women Knock Off Lamar, Clinch SLC Tourney Bid

 

November 7, 2009

 

ARLINGTON, Texas – Three players finished with double-figure kills and Alicia Shaffer led UT Arlington with a career-high 26 digs in the Mavericks 11-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-17 victory over Lamar on Senior Night at Texas Hall on Saturday. The victory secures UT Arlington (11-15, 7-7 SLC) a spot in the Southland Conference Tournament while Lamar drops to 13-12 overall and to 8-6 in the SLC.

 

“I think it was a very exciting match,” UT Arlington head coach Diane Seymour said. “I don’t necessarily think it was a consistently well played match by either team throughout the match. I told our players that we need to make a strong statement against this team, because we might be seeing them in the conference tournament. Our team did a good job of that tonight.”

 

Amanda Aguilera led all players with 14 kills, Tara Frantz had 13 kills and equaled a career best four blocks while Bianca Sauls recorded her third double-double this season with 10 kills and 14 digs. Shaffer’s 26 digs are the most by a Maverick since Nov. 10, 2007.

 

A lackluster first set saw the Lady Cardinals post a 25-11 victory. UTA never led in the set and had six hitting errors (.059) as Lamar used 15 kills to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Shaffer put up eight digs in the first set.

 

UT Arlington took the second set, 25-23, after the Mavericks and Lady Cardinals had 14 ties and seven lead changes in a set that neither team led by more than two points. Aguilera had four kills on six swings and Sauls notched four kills with one hitting error on nine swings. Shaffer tallied five digs and setter Raegan Daniel collected 13 assists in the frame.

 

Daniel finished with her 10th double-double of the season with 40 assists and 12 digs to go with six kills and a pair of blocks.

 

The Mavericks trailed 19-20 late in the pivotal third set before Frantz sparked the Mavericks with five kills to guide UTA to the 25-21 victory.

 

Frantz recorded kills in all five swings with no errors while Aguilera chipped in four kills in the third set and Shaffer added six digs.

 

The Mavericks trailed 11-12 before going on a 9-3 run that put UT Arlington in the lead for good. During the run, UTA used kills from Aguilera, Daniel, Sauls and Christy Driscoll and capitalized on two Lamar hitting errors.

 

UT Arlington recognized senior Teena Sobczak prior to the match, who is the lone senior for the Mavericks. With the Mavs trailing 21-22 in the second set, Sobczak recorded a kill to tie the set, but went down on the play and did not return. She also recorded two digs in the match.

 

 

UT Arlington finishes the regular season on the road with a pair of matches next week at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Nov. 13 – 7 p.m.) and UTSA (Nov. 14 – 3:30 p.m.).

 

MATCH NOTES:

UT Arlington improves to 49-26-2 all-time against Lamar with a dominating 22-3 record over the Lady Cardinals in Arlington... the victory snaps a four-match losing streak to Lamar (last win on 10/14/06).

 

Mavericks finish season 7-1 in SLC matches at home... In SLC play, UTA went 6-1 at home in 2007 and had a perfect 9-0 record at Texas Hall in 2006.

 

Third time this season UT Arlington had three players with at least 10 kills and the first time since Sept. 26... also had three players with double-figure kills against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and had four players with at least 10 kills against UTSA (Sept. 24).

 

Mavericks’ second straight match with at least 10 blocks, as UTA finished with 11.0 against Lamar... UTA has nine matches this season with at least 10.0 blocks and are 9-0 in those matches.

 

It was the 13th time this season that UTA has limited its opponent to below a .200 hitting percentage... Lamar hit .204 on Saturday... UTA has held seven opponents below a .100 hitting percentage, which is the most since 2006 (7 times in 2006).

 

It was Bianca Sauls’ 15th career double-double and third this season... UTA is 3-0 this season when Sauls puts away a double-double.

 

Raegan Daniel collects her 21st career double-double and 17th career match with at least 40 assists (40 vs. Lamar)... She now has seven matches this season with at least 40 assists... Daniel had 10 matches with 40 or more in 2008.

 

Amanda Aguilera led the Mavericks in kills for the second straight match and for the fourth time this season.

 

Alicia Shaffer has now led the Mavs in digs 11 times this season, including four of the last five matches... Shaffer has six career (4 this season) matches with at least 20 digs... Previous career-high was 25 at Sam Houston State this season on Oct. 3, 2009.

 

For more information on Mavericks Volleyball check out their new official website @ http://www.utamavs.com/sports/w-volley/txar-w-volley-body.html

No. 2 TEXAS Volleyball Women sweep past Missouri

Texas hits .371 and notches 11.0 team blocks in its 3-0 win over the Tigers.

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The second-ranked Texas Volleyball team hit .371 as a team and notched 11 blocks in its sweep of Missouri, Saturday evening at the Hearnes Center. The 25-21, 25-8, 25-23 victory improved the Longhorns to 19-1 on the year and 14-1 in the Big 12, while the Tigers dropped to 15-11 overall and 6-8 in conference matches.

 

Texas led early in the first before a 4-1 Missouri rally erased the Horns’ advantage and tied the set at eight. The Longhorns answered immediately with a 5-1 run capped by a kill from senior All-America outside hitter Destinee Hooker to take a 13-9 lead. A 4-1 rally paced by three MU miscues allowed Texas to push the advantage to 19-12. The Tigers narrowed the margin to 19-15, but three straight points, including a back row kill from Hooker gave UT a 22-15 edge. Missouri rallied late to shrink the lead to 24-21, but a Hooker kill ended the set 25-21.

 

In the second, Texas led from the start and used a 9-1 run headlined by two kills and a solo block from junior middle blocker Jennifer Doris to balloon the lead to 13-4. A 5-0 run paced by three Texas blocks stretched the margin to 19-6. After allowing one Mizzou point, Texas went on a 6-1 run to close the frame, taking advantage of two of its seven second-set blocks to seal the set 25-8. Sophomore middle blocker Rachael Adams recorded five block assists in the set and senior All-America opposite hitter Ashley Engle notched four block assists.

 

The Longhorns used a quick 6-0 run paced by a kill and a block from Doris to grab a 7-1 lead to start the third set. Missouri battled back to narrow the lead to four, but a 4-1 Texas run led by two Doris kills pushed the Texas lead to 19-12. The Tigers answered with an 8-3 run of their own to move the tally to 22-20. Two Mizzou errors and a Hooker kill forced set point at the 24-20 mark, but Texas did not close the match until Hooker connected for her 17th kill of the match to end the set 25-23.

 

Hooker paced the Texas attack with a match-high 17 kills on .400 hitting, while Doris notched eight kills on 11 error-free swings and equaled a career-best with a .727 attack mark. Engle and junior All-America outside hitter Juliann Faucette each tallied six kills, with Engle adding 17 assists, nine digs and four blocks.

 

Texas returns to action on Wednesday, Nov. 11 when it plays host to Texas Tech. First serve is set for 6:30 p.m. Central.

 

POST-MATCH NOTES

·         Texas’ win improves its record to 18-10 all-time against Missouri.

·         Jennifer Doris equaled her season-best effort with eight kills against Mizzou and equaled her career-best hitting percentage with her .727 attack mark.

·         The Longhorns notched seven total blocks in its 25-8 second-set win.

·         Texas out-hit Missouri 11.0-to-4.0 and out-hit the Tigers .371-to-.075.

 

POST-MATCH QUOTES

Head coach Jerritt Elliott

General statement: I am very pleased and I feel like we bounced back really well. We had two very good days of practice and it showed tonight in a place that we have struggled in the past. I thought our team did an excellent job of managing our new system. We got a lot of good production from a lot of people. This is a fun team to coach.

 

On Texas’ offensive balance: It has been a focus for us. Against Iowa State we got pretty predictable and didn’t have as much balance as we needed. This new lineup gives us an opportunity with players getting healthy and it lets us get more from the middles and our right pin.

 

On Texas’ efficiency: We blocked really well in game two and our production was really good in all three games. We made a few too many errors in game three and in rally scoring that can let the other team back in the game. You need to be efficient on both ends of the ball. We earned 22 points in game three and when you do that you should win handily.

 

 

Blackbirds Get by Saint Francis (Pa.), 3-1

 

LORETTO, Pa. – The Long Island University volleyball team held off a late Saint Francis (Pa.) charge and took a 3-1 (25-17, 23-25, 25-21, 29-27) victory on the road to extend its conference unbeaten streak to 13 matches. Three Blackbirds registered double figures in kills, led by senior Martina Racic (Pula, Croatia) with 18.

 

In the first set, the Blackbirds (16-13) jumped out to an 8-2 lead and never looked back en route to a 25-17 win. Saint Francis battled back in the second stanza, narrowing the match at one set each with a 25-23 win. Long Island answered back with a 25-21 win in the third frame.

 

The fourth set was tight from the get-go, as the teams traded points from the outset. As it turned out, the allotted 25 points would not be enough to decide the set. With the score knotted at 27-27, Racic scored a kill, followed by an attack error by Saint Francis’ Shirley Miller, giving the Blackbirds a 29-27 victory in the set and a 3-1 win in the match.

 

Long Island hit .248 for the match and enjoyed a 57-53 advantage in the kills column. Racic also finished with a team-high 14 digs. JuniorZuzana Buchlova (Pelhrmov, Czech Republic) added 13 kills and senior Svetlana Simic (Klek, Serbia) chimed in with 12 of her own.

 

Saint Francis dropped to 7-21 (4-8 NEC). The Red Flash hit a chintzy .159 for the match. Saint Francis was led by 18 kills from Lauren Wingard and 15 digs from Miller.

 

Long Island will return to action on Sunday, Nov. 8 with a visit to Robert Morris at 1:00 p.m.

 

 

 

 

- LIU -

Mastodons Sweep Leathernecks

 

Rebekah Roehm picks up double-double with 15 kills and 11 digs

 

Macomb, IL – The IPFW Mastodons swept the Western Illinois Leathernecks on Saturday evening 25-23, 25-20, 25-22, shrugging off any after-effects of the team’s tough three-set loss the night before, moving one step closer to earning their third Summit League Tournament bid in as many years in the league.

 

Rebekah Roehm tied for the match-high with 15 kills, as Maya Schlindwein added 10. Taryn Parker and Stephanie Lamberti were each near the double-figure mark with seven kills each. Roehm led the team with 11 digs for her 35^th career double-double, which ties the senior for the fifth most career double-doubles in school history.

 

Schlindwein led the team with four blocks, as Alli Hook and Parker had three apiece. Schlindwein also added a trio of service aces, as freshman setter Megan Steenhuysen dished out 41 assists, as 44 of the team’s 45 kills were assisted on the evening.

 

With the evening’s win, the Mastodons improve to 10-6 in the Summit League, and have moved into third place in the league standings with one weekends’ worth of contests remaining. North Dakota State has secured the regular season title, and IUPUI has a slim lead on the IPFW and Oakland for the second seed. The Jaguars are 11-6 in the conference, while the Mastodons and Grizzlies are both 10-6, with IPFW holding the tiebreaker over their travel partner.

 

IPFW trailed on just one occasion in the opening set, when the hosts scored the match’s first point, leading 1-0, before the Mastodons ran off runs of 5-0 and 3-0 to lead by six at 18-12. Ahead by six at 24-18, the Leathernecks fought back, scoring five straight points to put the set in doubt, but a Roehm kill ended the comeback hopes for the hosts in the 25-23 opening-set win.

 

Early goings in the second set were a tight effort, as the teams found themselves tied at every increment from two to six, and again at eight before the hosts ran off three straight points to lead 11-8. The Western Illinois lead grew to as many as four at 17-13, before the ‘Dons mounted a comeback, ending the set on a 12-3 run, putting IPFW ahead 2-0 heading into the between-set intermission.

 

Western Illinois jumped ahead early in the third set, but would lead by only as many as two on a pair of occasions, until IPFW scored six straight points to lead by five at 11-6. The ‘Dons would not trail again; however, the feisty Leatherneck squad fought back, and eventually tied the set at 20 and 21. With the team’s knotted at 21, IPFW put its foot on the gas pedal, and scored four of the match’s last five points to secure the sweep.

 

Cait Egan led Western Illinois with 15 kills, as Krissy Bergquist added 13. Ellen Miller had a match-best 20 digs, with Lindsay Muehlbauer adding 14. Miller, in addition to her high dig total, dished out 40 assists to pace the Leathernecks.

 

The Mastodons host UMKC and Southern Utah to cap the 2009 regular season at the Hilliard Gates Sports Center.

 

~Dons~

 

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Week 11: More NCAA College Volleyball Game Results Today Nov. 7

Week 11: More NCAA College Volleyball Game Results Today Nov. 7

Huskies Can’t Put Away Bowling Green, Lose in Five Sets

Meagan Schoenrock leads NIU with 15 kills, four blocks

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - After taking a 2-0 advantage in the match with
all of the momentum in its favor, the Northern Illinois volleyball team
could not close out Bowling Green, as the Falcons rallied to win the
final three sets to defeat the Huskies on Saturday evening at Anderson
Arena in a Mid-American Conference contest.

In the fifth set, Bowling Green (11-18, 4-10 MAC) held an 8-5 lead at
the turn after a block by Allison Kearney and Shari Luther, and backed
it up with another block on the next sequence by Luther and Kaitlin
Jackson.  BGSU then got a kill from Luther and an ace by Corey Domek to
go up 11-5.  After an NIU timeout, Domek notched another ace, and kept
the momentum in the Falcons’ favor to help close out the match, 15-7.

“I really felt that we could have made a run if we just made one or
two positive plays in that fifth set,” said NIU head coach Ray Gooden.
 “They made better adjustments than we did.”

The Huskies (13-14, 7-7 MAC) took the first set by breaking a 21-21 tie
following an NIU timeout, and finishing strong.  A bad set by Kearney
gave NIU the lead again and then senior Monica Lang (Chicago,
Ill./Marist) tallied an ace on the next play to force Bowling Green to
take a timeout.  But the Falcons failed to regroup as Emily Kauth’s
attack error gave NIU a chance for set-point.   However, Kauth’s swing
on the next sequence found the ground for a point.  Huskie sophomore
Allison McGlaughlin (Morton, Ill./Morton) then followed with a kill to
end it, 25-22.

NIU continued its strong finish into the second set by scoring the
first five points, and later opened up a 15-3 lead after a McGlaughlin
kill forced BGSU to take a timeout.  Even after the timeout, NIU
didn’t slow down, as McGlaughlin and senior Cassie Yates (LaPorte,
Ind./LaPorte) notched back-to-back kills before the Falcons got on the
board again.  With a 17-4 lead, the Huskies were then able to ride the
momentum to a 25-5 win to go up 2-0 in the match.

“In the second set, we played our most dominant set of the year,”
Gooden said.  “I hoped that we weren’t going to take our foot off
the gas.”

Then the momentum took a complete 180-degree turn after the break.

“They just got momentum and played more confidently,” said Gooden
of the sudden turn of the table.  “We became them, like they were in
the first two sets.”

In the third set, the Huskies got off to a slow start and had to call a
timeout, trailing 6-3 after a kill by Noelle Spitler.  Yates started the
Huskies off with a kill out of the timeout, but still struggled to get
it going, as  they had to use another timeout following a kill by Domek
that gave the Falcons a 15-10 lead.   NIU senior Meagan Schoenrock
(Sylvania, Ohio/Northview) responded with a kill, and then an attack
error by Spitler brought the Huskies closer, 15-12.  After a kill by
Domek, Alex Zlabis’ serve error and an attack error by Domek forced
the Falcons to take a timeout, leading 16-14.  BGSU then regrouped to
end the set, 25-21.

The Huskies started slow again in the fourth set and had to burn a
timeout, trailing 12-6 after an attack error by McGlaughlin.  However,
BGSU did not slow down and extended the lead to 17-7 following a kill by
Jackson.  The Falcons then finished the set, 25-13, to force the
decisive fifth set.

Schoenrock led NIU with 15 kills, and had four blocks.  McGlaughlin
also reached double-digits with 11 kills, while sophomore Kristin
Hoffman (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) tallied 44 assists and 12 digs for her
fourth double-double of the season, and second in a row.

On defense, freshman Sue Hayes (Evergreen Park, Ill./Mother McAuley)
led the team with a season-high 17 digs.  Junior Maddie Hughes (St.
Charles, Ill./North) reach double-figures as well with 14 digs.

NIU wraps up the regular season on the road next weekend with a 6 p.m.
(CDT) match against Eastern Michigan on Friday and a 6 p.m. match versus
Central Michigan on Saturday.

-NIU-

Falcons Cap Improbable Rally By Beating Northern Illinois

 

Bowling Green, Ohio – Bowling Green volleyball coach Denise Van De Walle couldn’t recall any of her previous 497 career wins going quite like this.

 

The Falcons squandered away a 21-19 lead in the opening set of their Mid-American Conference match with Northern Illinois, and then the wheels came off completely. Bowling Green looked disoriented and lost as the Huskies hit .545 and dominated the second set for an unbelievable 25-5 win. Even more unbelievably, the Falcons dominated the final three sets to pick up an improbable 22-25, 5-25, 25-21, 25-13, 15-7 victory.

 

Since the NCAA adopted 25-point sets prior to the 2008 season, Bowling Green had never won a match in which it lost a set worse than 25-13. In fact, the Falcons had never even played in a set as lopsided as the 25-5 second. The NCAA adopted rally scoring for the 2001 season and played 30-point sets until 2007 and Bowling Green played in just two sets in which one team failed to reach double-figure scoring during that stretch. The winner of those sets won the match both times.

 

That second set was a House of Horrors for the Falcons after dropping six of the final seven points in the first set to fall behind in the match. Bowling Green had just four kills and hit -.107 while Northern Illinois had 12 kills without an attack error. But when the two teams went to the locker room following that frame, the script flipped.

 

Northern Illinois had just two attack errors over the course of the first two sets but had four in the third and 13 in the fourth. Bowling Green, on the other hand, had nine team blocks in the final two set after posting none in the first two and only one in the third.

 

The Falcons steadied the ship with a hard-fought 25-21 victory in the third. BG jumped out to an early 6-3 lead and the set was never tied after that. Northern Illinois cut the deficit to two points on a handful of occasions but Noelle Spitler and Corey Domek closed out the set with kills.

 

That win got things rolling for Bowling Green as the Falcons dominated the fourth set. Northern Illinois hit -.061 as the Orange and Brown turned in seven team blocks in the stanza. Kaitlin Jackson and Emily Kauth had four each and Allison Kearney added three to knot the match up.

 

As the fifth set opened, Kauth and Domek took over. Kauth had kills on each of Bowling Green’s first three points and Domek served up two aces and added two kills and three digs. Northern Illinois never had a lead in the deciding set.

 

Kauth and Domek ended the match with 14 kills each and Shari Luther added 12. Alex Zlabis had a match-high 24 digs and Kearney added 16 for a double-double to go with her 46 assists. Jackson added 15 digs and six blocks.

 

Northern Illinois falls to 13-14 overall and 7-7 in MAC play with the loss. Bowling Green, after dropping its first six conference contests, is now 11-18 overall and 4-10 in MAC play. The win is Van De Walle’s 498^th of her career and she will go for 500 in the final weekend of the regular season. Bowling Green will host Kent State Thursday at 7 p.m. and MAC leader Ohio Saturday at 6 p.m.

Yale Volleyball: Dartmouth Downs Bulldogs, 3-1

HANOVER, N.H. — Senior Alexis Crusey recorded her fourth consecutive double-double and junior libero Kelly Ozurovich had a match- and season-high 31 digs, but the Yale volleyball team fell short on Saturday afternoon at Dartmouth, dropping a four-set decision to Big Green by set scores of 20-25, 25-13, 25-23 and 25-20. Crusey and Ozurovich both passed Phoebe Dann ’98 to move into a tie for seventh place on the Bulldogs’ career digs list with 1,190 each.

 

With the loss, Yale falls to 18-4 overall and 8-3 in the Ivy League. Big Green evens its record at 11-11 in victory and moves to 7-5 in Ancient Eight competition. The Bulldogs defeated Dartmouth in New Haven on Oct. 23 by a score of 3-0.

 

Crusey had 15 kills and 22 digs to fill out her double-double, and sophomore Bridget Hearst totaled 14 finishers for the Bulldogs. Freshman Haley Wessels also recorded double-figure kills for the Bulldogs with 10 on 19 swings (10-2-19, .421). Senior Cat Dailey had nine kills and 13 digs, and senior captain Julia Mailander totaled 10 digs. Freshman Kerry Clavadetscher and junior Kate Parker split the setting duties, registering 24 and 20 assists, respectively.

 

Big Green took an early 4-3 lead to open the match and kept the Bulldogs at an arm’s length up to a score of 12-10, when Yale notched three straight point to earn its first lead at 13-12. The Bulldogs put together another three-point spurt shortly after to grab a 17-14 edge and force Dartmouth to burn its first timeout. Yale maintained its momentum out of the stoppage and coasted from that point forward to a 25-20 set one victory.

 

Dartmouth was once again the aggressor in the opening stages of set two, winning six of the first eight points in the frame before Coach Appleman to her first timeout. Big Green continued to roll after the timeout, and the Bulldogs were soon calling for another stoppage, now trailing 18-9. Yale could do nothing to derail Dartmouth, as well as the raucous Senior Day crowd at Leede Arena, as the home team led by as many as 13 points en route to tying up the match, 1-1, with a 25-13 win.

 

Big Green stormed out of the gates in the pivotal third set, taking a quick 6-1 lead. This time the Bulldogs had an answer for Dartmouth, running off five straight points to knot the score at 6-6. The stalemate held up to a score of 12-12, when the Bulldogs finally put consecutive points together to take a 14-12 lead and force a Big Green timeout. Dartmouth would quickly erase that deficit with two straight points of its own, and eventually reclaimed the lead, 20-19, at which point Yale burned its first timeout. Big Green would open up a three-point lead at 22-19 before Yale stormed back to knot the score at 23-23. Dartmouth responded with the next two points, however, to take set three, 25-23, and grab a 2-1 edge in the match.

 

With victory one set away, Dartmouth came out firing en route to a 9-3 lead in set four. Yale would immediately cut the lead in half at 9-6, but could not break through as the Bulldogs found themselves calling a timeout, trailing 16-12. Yale would take four straight points out of the stoppage to knot the score at 16-16, and the deadlock held to an 18-18 mark. Dartmouth would claim three of the ensuing four rallies, to take a 21-19 edge and force another Yale timeout. The home team maintained its momentum out of the stoppage and closed out the match with a 25-20 win.

 

Madeline Baird had a match-best 19 kills to pace the Big Green offense.  She also led Dartmouth with 23 digs, while Alissa Santa Maria doled out a match-high 48 assists.

 

The Bulldogs are back in action next weekend for the final home matches of 2009. Yale hosts Columbia on Friday afternoon and Cornell on Saturday. Both matches are slated for a 4 p.m. first serve. The contests, which will be featured on Yale All-Access, will be the final home contests in the careers of seniors Alexis Crusey, Cat Dailey, Laurel Johnson, Julia Mailander and Lydia Mailander.

Colonels Women's Volleyball Fall to Islanders in Home Finale

THIBODAUX - The Nicholls State University women's volleyball team (11-17, 5-9 Southland Conference) fell victim to a hot-hitting Texas A&M Corpus Christi squad as the Islanders (9-20, 2-12 Southland) picked up their second straight conference win by handing the Colonels a 3-0 loss by scores of 23-25, 19-25 and 15-25 on Saturday afternoon.

"We were never really able to get our game plan going," head coach Chris Laird said. "It's pretty frustrating after such a great win last night. I'm hoping that we will come out and play with a little more effort on Friday and Saturday on our last road trip. Hopefully, we will still have a chance to get ourselves back into the conference tournament."

The Islanders outhit the Colonels .264 to .104 to drop Nicholls into eighth place in the leauge standings, giving the Colonels control of the final conference tournament berth heading into the final week of the season.

With two matches remaining, Nicholls remains one game ahead of Southeastern Louisiana (4-10 Southland record) and one game behind seventh-place Texas-San Antonio.

Nicholls opened the first set with a 5-1 run, but the Islanders rallied to tie the match at 10-10 before taking the lead for good. Down 23-19, the Colonels rallied to within one at 24-23, but TAMUCC held on for the win in the opening frame.

From there, the Islanders dominated the second and third sets with wins of 25-19 and 25-15.

Nicholls was led offensively by senior outside hitter Manieka Golden's nine kills. Freshman Rachel Yezak added eight more kills and nine digs to finish just short of a double-double, but it wasn't enough to keep pace with the Islanders who saw 18 kills from Emma Ridley and 12 more from Jessica Korda.

The Colonels will return to action by hitting the road for the final road trip of the regular season. Nicholls will head to McNeese State on Friday and Stephen F. Austin on Saturday looking to complete a season-sweep of both programs to help climb the conference standings.

Nicholls claimed a 3-0 win over McNeese on Oct. 10 and picked up a 3-2 victory over Stephen F. Austin on Oct. 9.

First serve for Friday night's contest at McNeese is set for 7 p.m. Live stats will be available online at www.geauxcolonels.com or www.mcneesesports.com.

LMU Volleyball vs. Portland; LMU 3, Portland 0

Post-Match Quotes from Head Coach Steve Stratos:http://secure.stretchinternet.com/lmu/podcasts//lmu-091107-b.mp3

Freshman Alaina Bergsma had 28 kills and hit .522 (28-4/46) to lead LMU (12-13, 3-8) to a sweep of Portland (5-20, 1-9), 25-19, 26-24, 28-26, on Saturday afternoon in Gersten Pavilion.  The Lions hit a blistering .393 on the match, second this season only to a .459 mark against Grambling State to begin the year.

Joining Bergsma, who added 12 digs to record a double-double, offensively were sophomore Ariana Covington and junior Becky Stehling.  Covington contributed 14 kills and three service aces en route to a .306 hitting percentage.  Stehling, who has led the team in hitting percentage throughout the 2009 campaign, collected six kills and committed just one error for a .417 mark.  Sophomore Alesha Young set the potent LMU offense on Saturday, dishing-out 43 assists to help the Lions to the stellar hitting percentage.

Ariel Usher led the Pilot offense with 10 kills and a .360 hitting percentage.  Portland also excelled offensively, hitting .319 as a team over the three sets.  Marissa Plummer set the benchmark in that category, hitting .571 with eight kills and no errors on 14 swings.  Maria Clemens nearly collected a double-double, teaming nine kills with eight digs in the loss.  Kaylyn Jones and Madison Smith split time running the Pilot offense, as Jones finished with 20 assists to Smith’s 18.

The Lions hit the ground running in the first set, as Bergsma posted 10 of her 28 kills in the period.  Despite connecting for just two kills in the first, Covington made her presence felt from the service area, notching all three of her service aces in the frame.  Never out of any of the three sets on Saturday, Portland played LMU even to eight in the opening period.  The Lions began to run a bit from there, posting three straight points and eight of the next nine to take a 16-9 advantage.  Refusing to let the set get away, Portland crawled to within three points at 16-13, forcing a Lion timeout.  The break seemed to serve its purpose as the Lions regained composure en route to a 20-15 lead on kills from Bergsma and Kenna Crouse.  LMU managed to make one more run, a four-point swing, down the final stretch to run the tally to 24-18 before Bergsma found the floor and handed LMU the set.

The second set saw 12 tie scores and seven lead changes before the dust settled and the Lions earned a 26-24 victory.  Once again it was Bergsma leading all players with eight kills and a service ace, but Covington really picked-up her offense in the period, collecting six kills and a block assist to help push LMU to the win.  Even at 18, Portland scored two unanswered points to reach the 20-point plateau first.  The Lions refused to let the Pilots get away with a set, evening the tally once again at 20 to force a Pilot timeout.  The battle continued out of the break as Portland earned a 23-22 advantage on an Usher kill.  After LMU elected to take a timeout, it found some momentum, knotting the score at 23 and advancing the set to its final point at 24-23 on another Bergsma swing.  Usher spoiled the first set-point with one of her three kills in the period on the ensuing play, but LMU responded with back-to-back kills from Bergsma to take the set and the 2-0 lead in the match score.

Smelling its first sweep of an opponent since taking care of Cal State Bakersfield in three sets on September 18, LMU came out hungry in the third.  The Lions recorded their best hitting percentage of the day in the period, hitting a combined .444.  Bergsma and Covington continued their stellar matches, as Bergsma posted 10 kills with no errors on 17 swings to accompany Covington’s six kills on 12 attacks.  Portland, which hit .356 on the other side of the net, was led by Usher with six kills and Jessica Clemens with five.  After Portland earned an early 3-1 lead to start, the two teams continued what seemed like an endless see-saw battle on Saturday afternoon.  This time playing to 15 tie scores with five lead changes, the Lions and Pilots saw themselves knotted at 10 and then 15 before LMU posted a run of four unanswered points to lead 19-15.  Fighting to close the gap, Portland scratched back to even at 21 to make things interesting headed down the final stretch.  LMU earned its first match-point chance on a Bergsma kill at 24-23, but just as it would over the next two, Portland spoiled the opportunity.  Now leading 27-26 on a Covington kill, LMU got the ball to Bergsma, who fittingly put the final attack to the floor to record her 28th kill of the match.

The Lions return to action on Friday as they host cross-town rival Pepperdine at 7 p.m. in Gersten Pavilion.  The winner of that match will receive points for its school in the PCH Cup standings.  To read more about the PCH Cup, please visit http://www.lmulions.com/trads/PCH-Cup.html.

HOLY CROSS VOLLEYBALL TEAM 

SWEEPS NAVY, 3-0

Freshman Megan Lynch records 15 kills

 

 

November 7, 2009

 

ANNAPOLIS, Md. â€“ Freshman Megan Lynch (Mendham, N.J.) recorded 15 kills as the Holy Cross volleyball team defeated Navy, 3-0, on Saturday afternoon at Wesley Brown Field Houseby scores of 25-16, 25-19 and 25-11. With the win, the Crusaders improve to 5-22 overall (3-9 Patriot League), while the Midshipmen fall to 7-20 (2-10 Patriot League). Holy Cross sweeps the season-series, 2-0, as the Crusaders won the first meeting by a score of 3-0 on Oct. 16.

 

Lynch has now recorded double-digit kills 18 times this season and has 349 for the season which ranks fourth on the Holy Cross all-time single-season kills list. Junior setter Chelsey O’Donnell (Pittsburgh, Pa.) had 26 assists. She now has 830 assists on the season which are fifth all-time on the school’s single-season assists chart. Senior Samantha Surface (Fresno, Calif.) also had a strong match with six kills and nine digs. Junior libero Angela Chisholm (Millis, Mass.) tallied eight digs as she now has 345 for the season which is sixth all-time at Holy Cross. Freshman Callie Black (Fallon, Nev.) led the team with four blocks.

 

The Midshipmen were led by Meghan Carpenter and Abbie Merkl who each tallied seven kills, while Jenny Rudewicz posted 22 assists.

 

The Crusaders return to action when they conclude the 2009 season with two matches at the Holy Cross Field House. On Friday, Nov. 13, the Crusaders will play Lehigh at 7:00 p.m., while on Saturday, Nov. 14, Holy Cross will meet Lafayette at 4:00 p.m.   

 

For all the latest updates on the Holy Cross volleyball team or any other of the school's 26 varsity sports, log on towww.GoHolyCross.com.

Panthers Control Play In Win Over First-Place Vikings

UWM dominates stat sheet in winning sixth-straight

MILWAUKEE - Jena Berg and Maddie Sueppel had 14 kills apiece to lead a
balanced attack as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee claimed a 27-25,
23-25, 25-18, 25-18 win over first-place Cleveland State Saturday afternoon
at the Klotsche Center.

The Panthers (11-14, 8-6 Horizon) have now won six-straight matches.

UWM hit a solid .216 in the match while limiting the Vikings (24-7, 12-3) to
a .106 hitting clip. In fact, Milwaukee dominated nearly every statistical
category, winning the battle in kills (64-47), digs (75-55) and blocks
(13-11).

Kerri Schuh added 13 kills and Mary Beth O'Brien pitched-in with 11 for the
Panthers.

Milwaukee also had four players reach double figures in digs, led by 20
apiece from Berg and Lauren Felsing.

Beth Greulich had 14 kills to lead Cleveland State, which has lost two of
its last three contests after a 12-match winning streak.

The two teams split the first two sets, with each side pulling out a tight
win. UWM trailed by as many as six points early on but rallied to claim a
20-16 lead on a kill by Berg. CSU eventually fought off three set-point
chances for the Panthers before Milwaukee finished things off on a kill by
Sueppel.

In the second set, Cleveland State built a 13-9 lead following a UWM error
and then led 19-14 on a kill by Amy Benz. Milwaukee did fight back to within
a point at 21-20 on a CSU error and was still within 24-23 after a kill by
Schuh. But, a kill by Greulich allowed the Vikings to even up the match.

Milwaukee controlled play in winning the third set. The Panthers scored 13
of the first 17 points in the frame, with three kills apiece from Sueppel
and O'Brien highlighting the run. The lead was still 17-10 after another
kill by O'Brien and CSU never got closer than five points after that. A kill
by Berg finished things off for UWM, putting the Panthers back ahead in the
match.

UWM used a late burst to win the fourth set and wrap up the match. The
Panthers trailed 12-11 before running off five-straight for a 16-12 lead.
Milwaukee then extended the edge to 20-15 on a kill by Berg and all the way
out to 23-15 on a solo block by Berg. CSU did fight back to within 24-18 but
a kill by Natalie Schmitting finished things off for the Panthers.

Milwaukee will wrap up the regular season next weekend with a pair of home
matches. The Panthers play Valparaiso Friday night and Butler Saturday
afternoon. UWM has also now clinched a berth in the Horizon League
Tournament, which will be played at the site of the regular season champion
the following weekend.

COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL: Lafayette 3, Bucknell 1

BUCKNELL VOLLEYBALL CONTINUES SLIDE WITH 3-1 LOSS AT LAFAYETTE

Kamp Records Career-High 17 Kills

 

EASTON, Pa. – Heidi Kamp (Eugene, Ore./Henry D. Sheldon) recorded a career-high 17 kills and the Bison took an early one-set lead, but the Bucknell volleyball team could not hold on against Lafayette as it fell 3-1 (23-25, 29-27, 25-20, 25-19) at the Kirby Sports Center on Saturday night. Kaitlin Segal (Pacific Palisades, Calif./Harvard-Westlake) and Ragin Jackson (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson) also finished with double-figure kills.

 

Bucknell (8-16, 4-8) improved its attack game after a tough match last night. Against the Leopards (13-12, 4-8), the Bison hit .240 for the match. Lafayette was just as successful, however, coming in at .331 on the night.

 

The Bison’s lone set victory came in the opening set. Both teams stayed neck-and-neck throughout the start of play. Kamp then recorded back-to-back kills for 13-12, and Bucknell started to put a bit of distance between it and its opponent. That does not mean Lafayette went away, however, as the home team tied the set again at 16 with consecutive kills by Katrina Racibarskas.

 

Bucknell regained the lead on the next point as Lafayette committed back-to-back attack errors. The Leopards failed to recover, and Bucknell won the first 25-23. After one set, Kamp had already amassed nearly a third of her kills with five.

 

Similar to the first set, the second was tight early in the action. Lafayette gave itself some breathing room with a service ace for 14-10. Kamp got Bucknell moving back in the right direction on the next point, recording yet another kill.

 

Eventually the Bison took a 19-18 lead following an ace by Segal, but that did not last long. Both teams continued to pass the advantage back and forth, and the final stretch saw five ties. A service error by the Leopards gave Bucknell set point at 27-26, but the Leopards hung on to claim three straight points and end it at 29-27.

 

The hard loss took some air out of the Bison’s sails. The third set was tied as late as 12-12 with a kill by Allison Gittings (Dayton, Md./Glenelg) before Lafayette’s Kayly Elmer took back the lead for good for her team with a kill. The score put the Leopards up 13-12 and they never looked back, taking the third 25-20.

 

The fourth set got out of hand quickly for Bucknell. After falling behind 15-8, the Bison called a timeout in hopes of reversing their fortune. The strategy did not work as intended, however, and the Leopards’ lead continued to grow.

 

Kamp delayed Lafayette’s fourth league win with a kill for 23-15, and Rachel Rodriguez (Sagamore Hills, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) followed suit with two consecutive aces to bring Bucknell within six points, but the Orange and Blue could not clear the final hurdle. Lafayette closed out the set and the match at 25-19.

 

Joining Kamp in double-digit kills were Segal with 11 and Jackson with 10. Gittings drew the assist on many of those scores, finishing the night with 34. Defensively, Emily Sawanobori (Warren, N.J./Watchung Hills) led with 12 digs, and Kamp and Jackson each had three blocks.

 

Elmer led all players with 14 kills while hitting .520, and Cara Mulholland and Alana Taylor added 13. Taylor was also very efficient at the net, recording a .478 attack percentage. Ashton Rossi finished with 47 assists.

 

Bucknell has one final regular-season weekend on tap, returning to Davis Gym to take on Navy at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13. The Bison will celebrate Senior Night prior to the match. Live statistics on GameTracker will be available at BucknellBison.com.

 

www.BucknellBison.com

Milestones Highlight LU Sweep of Gardner-Webb

 

     LYNCHBURG, Va. – Liberty senior middle blocker Chelaine McCarty notched her 1,000^th career kill Saturday afternoon, helping the Lady Flames claim a 3-0 (25-18, 28-26, 25-12) sweep of Big South rival Gardner-Webb. The victory was No. 100 of Shane Pinder’s collegiate coaching career.

     Lady Flame junior Karyl Bacon (OH, Temecula, Calif.)led all players in both kills (16) and digs (15), as Liberty completed a season sweep of the Bulldogs. The Lady Flames are now 16-11 overall and sit in second place with an 11-3 Big South mark.

     Despite serving up nine aces, the visiting Bulldogs lost their fourth consecutive match. Gardner-Webb is now 11-19 overall and 3-10 in Big South competition.

     The Bulldogs took an early 9-5 lead to start the opening set, when Melissa Richie served up her team’s first ace of the afternoon. Liberty quickly responded, scoring 10 of the next 12 points. McCarty (Houston, Ala.) tallied three aces during the surge, which put Liberty in front, 15-11. The Lady Flames never trailed again in the stanza, and Nicki Scripko’s (Jr., OH, Fayetteville, N.C.) kill closed out a 25-18 victory.

     Liberty hit .233 during the first set, compared to Gardner-Webb’s .107, while both teams notched a trio of service aces. Bacon was the Lady Flames’ most prominent attacker, notching a team-high four kills. Laura Wilcox put down a matching number of kills for Gardner-Webb.

     Gardner-Webb controlled play throughout most of the second stanza, and the Bulldogs were one point away from evening the match when Molly Rhyne’s kill made the score, 24-21. Liberty fought off five set points, before claiming a 28-26 win. Bacon initiated the set-clinching 3-0 burst with a kill and a service ace.

     Bacon starred offensively as Liberty came from behind in set two, hitting .615 with eight kills. Her efforts contributed to the Lady Flames’ .318 team attack percentage. The player wearing Bacon’s uniform number (No. 8) on Gardner-Webb’s roster, Jessica Clayton, recorded six kills during the stanza, as her team hit .214.

     Liberty then jumped out to an 11-1 lead to begin the third and final set. Seniors sparked the extended run, as McCarty’s 1,000th and 1,001^st kills and a trio of Brittany Pacella (RS, Reading, Pa.) aces were included in the surge. A freshman then sealed Liberty’s 3-0 sweep, as Loren Thomas’ (MB, Ocoee, Fla.) kill finished a 25-12 decision.

     The Lady Flames’ serving kept the Bulldogs on their heels throughout set three, as Liberty totaled six aces and held Gardner-Webb to a .062 attack percentage and six total kills. McCarty and Bacon evenly divided eight kills to pace the Lady Flames, while Pacella recorded three aces for the victors.

     Liberty owned the edge in every statistical category on Saturday, including kills (44-28), attack percentage (.291-.137), aces (10-9), digs (55-48) and blocks (5-2). The Lady Flames reached double digits in aces for the third time this season, and the first time since Oct. 16 versus Charleston Southern.

     Bacon hit .389, as she completed her ninth double-double of the season. Thomas was also efficient against Gardner-Webb for the second time this season. After hitting .846 with 11 kills during Liberty’s road win over the Bulldogs on Oct. 9, she hit a match-high .444 with eight kills on Saturday.

     McCarty finished with nine kills, three aces and a match-leading three blocks. She became the second Lady Flame to go over 1,000 career kills this season, joining Scripko.

     Pacella equaled a season high with 10 digs, complementing her five kills and three aces. The Keystone State native has now recorded 20 of her 22 aces versus Big South foes this season.

     Liberty setter Courtney Boggs (So., Marysville, Ohio), celebrating her 20^th birthday on Saturday, led all players with 35 assists. Meanwhile, classmate Kelly Haseman (Three Rivers, Mich.) came up with 14 digs, going over the 400 mark for the campaign.

     Pinder is now 100-88 in his sixth season as Liberty’s head coach. He becomes the fourth coach in program history to eclipse the century mark, joining current Gardner-Webb head coach Chris Phillips (198 wins), Beth Dalton (110) and Sue Kelly (103).

     Clayton paced visiting Gardner-Webb with eight kills on the afternoon, while libero Brett Wilson hustled her way to a team-high 12 digs. Setter Regina Feagin tallied 25 assists and nine digs for the Bulldogs.

     Liberty will now prepare for its final home match of the 2009 season, Tuesday at 7 p.m. versus High Point. The Lady Flames will attempt to avenge a 3-1 setback at the Millis Center on Oct. 13. The contest will serve as Liberty’s Senior Night, and the trio of McCarty, Pacella and Kallie Corbin (S, Beaverton, Ore.) and will be honored prior to the match.

     Meanwhile, Gardner-Webb will play its last road contest of the season Tuesday at Presbyterian. Match time is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Templeton Arena.

PEPPERDINE WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL BEATS GONZAGA IN HOME FINALE

 

MALIBU, Calif. – The Pepperdine women’s volleyball team was victorious in five sets for the first time this season, coming back to knock off Gonzaga 25-7, 23-25, 15-25, 25-20, 15-11 in West Coast Conference play at Firestone Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon.

 

The Waves (14-10, 7-4 WCC), who were playing in their home finale, improved to 23-0 all-time in Malibu against Gonzaga (9-15, 4-6), but overcame a 2-1 deficit to do so. It’s only the second time, and first since 1995, that the matchup at Pepperdine went to five sets.

 

Sophomore middle blocker Kim Hill (Portland, Ore./Portland Christian HS) continued her outstanding run for the Waves, knocking down a career-high and match-high 22 kills to go with a .594 hitting percentage (22-3-32) and five blocks.

 

Playing in Firestone Fieldhouse for the final time, senior outside hitterRachel Grochmal (Brea, Calif./Brea Olinda HS) had 13 kills and 16 digs and senior setter Kiah Fiers (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif./Peninsula HS) recorded 60 assists and 11 digs. Fiers directed the Waves to a .292 team hitting percentage.

 

Sophomore outside hitter Lilla Frederick (Huntington Beach, Calif./Cornelia Connelly HS) had 13 kills and eight digs, freshman middle blocker Victoria Adelhelm (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif./Santa Fe Christian HS) had 12 kills and hit .476 (12-2-21), freshman outside hitter Caitlin Racich (Santa Barbara, Calif./Dos Pueblos HS) had six kills and seven digs and sophomore libero Stevi Robinson (Hermosa Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS) tallied 21 digs.

 

Gonzaga, which hit .194, go 14 kills and six blocks from Layne Brosky, 11 kills from Michelle Boevers, 10 kills from Terran Poindexter and 25 digs from Allyson Powell.

 

The 18-point margin in the first set was Pepperdine’s largest in the two seasons that rally scoring has gone to 25 points. The Waves had kills on nine of their first 11 swings to break out to a 12-3 lead. Up 12-5, the Waves then scored 11 straight points as Frederick had four kills, Hill had two kills and Racich had two service aces. The Waves hit .556 with 17 kills and just two errors, while the Bulldogs were at a negative-.038 (five kills and six errors).

 

There was a reversal of fortunes in the second set, as the Bulldogs lifted their hitting to .344 and the Waves dropped to .237. Gonzaga quickly outdid its first set performance by going ahead 8-4. Pepperdine tied it up at 11-11, but the Bulldogs took the lead again and went up three at 15-12. The Waves eventually tied it at 18-18 on a Gonzaga attack error, and Pepperdine built a two-point lead at 21-19 and a block by Grochmal and Adelhelm and a kill by Frederick. But trailing 22-21, Gonzaga scored three straight points on a Pepperdine error and kills by Boevers and Brosky. Pepperdine got the next point, but Gonzaga’s Kaprina Goodwin ended the set with a kill.

 

After the intermission, the Bulldogs came out hot and didn’t let up. They scored the first seven points of the third set as Boevers had a kill and two service aces. They built a double-digit lead at 18-8 and led by as many as 12. Gonzaga hit .318 to Pepperdine’s .103, led by Brosky’s five kills. The Bulldogs also had five service aces and four blocks in the set.

 

Pepperdine rallied back in the fourth set and never trailed after Grochmal recorded kills on the first two plays. The Waves continually picked up points off their serve and led by as many as eight points at 19-11 after a 4-0 run that saw kills by Hill, Frederick and Fiers and a block by Hill and Frederick. Gonzaga’s hitting cooled to .171 while Pepperdine hit .261.

 

The Waves had lost their four previous five-set matches this season, but this time, they didn’t let the opponent get off to a good start. Gonzaga’s only lead was at 3-2, but a kill by Hill and a service ace by Grochmal put the Waves back in front. It was tied 10-10 when Hill put down another kill, and Grochmal followed with a serve that hit the top of the tape and dropped in for a service ace. After a kill by Boevers, the Waves finished off the match with three straight kills, the first one by Hill and the last two by Frederick. Pepperdine had a .381-.174 hitting edge in the final set.

 

Pepperdine plays its final three regular-season matches of 2009 on the road, beginning next Friday (Nov. 13) at Loyola Marymount at 7 p.m. A point will be up for grabs in the newly created PCH Challenge, a season-long competition between the two local rivals.

 

Read more college volleyball information, quotes, rankings and information on volleyballvoices.com!

Week 11: NCAA College Volleyball Game Results Today Nov. 7

Iona Volleyball Women Hitting Too Much For Manhattan
Lady Jaspers Drop Fifth Straight Match, 3-0

RIVERDALE, N.Y. - The volleyball teams at Manhattan College and Iona entered Saturday
afternoon's match headed in different directions.  The Lady Jaspers came into the contest looking
to snap a four-match skid, while the Gaels came in the winners of three straight.  Unfortunately for
Manhattan (7-20, 3-12 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference), both streaks continued, as the Gaels
(10-15, 7-8 MAAC) posted a 25-15, 25-17, 26-24 victory at Draddy Gymnasium.

Iona quickly jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the first set, prompting a Manhattan timeout.  The Lady
Jaspers pulled back within 10-8, but a 4-1 Iona run pushed the Gaels' lead back to five points at
14-9.  After Manhattan scored three of the next four points to make it 15-11, Iona went on a 9-2 run
to reach set point.  The Lady Jaspers got a block from Maddie Heck (Corte Madera, Calif.) and
Casey Tidwell (Redlands, Calif.), then a kill from Diane Strutner (San Jose, Calif.) to stave off two
set points before the Gaels finished off a 25-15 win.  Iona hit a scorching .405 (19 kills, four errors,
37 attempts) in the first set.

After the sides traded the first six points of the second set, Iona used a 9-2 spurt to turn a 3-3 tie
into a 12-5 advantage.  Manhattan responded with a 5-1 spurt to get back within three at 13-10.
Iona scored three of the next four points to bring its lead back to five at 16-11, but the Lady Jaspers
again responded, going on a 5-2 run to pull within two at 18-16.  That's as close as the Lady
Jaspers would get, however, as Iona scored seven of the last eight points, including the final six, to
wrap up a 25-17 set win.

In the third set, Iona went on an early 4-0 rally to break a 3-3 tie and open up a 7-3 lead.  A block
by Heck and Tidwell brought Manhattan back within one at 9-8 before three straight Iona points
pushed the Gaels' lead back to four at 12-8.  Manhattan again pulled within one at 13-12 and 16-
15, but each time Iona responded.  After Iona pushed its advantage to 21-16, the Lady Jaspers
went on a 5-2 rally to make it 23-21.  The Gaels reached match point on a kill by Sarah Wiener, but
Manhattan fought off three straight match points against to force a 24-24 tie.  Another Wiener kill
gave Iona another match point at 25-24, and this time the Gaels finished it out, 26-24.

Rita Welsh (Collegeville, Pa.) led the Lady Jaspers with 13 kills on .355 hitting, while Jaci Rahey
(West Milford, N.J.) added eight kills.  Strutner had a team-high 13 digs to go along with six kills,
and Julie Bies (Massapequa, N.Y.) and Jayne Timo (Holbrook, N.Y.) each recorded nine digs.
Jamie Collareta (Islip Terrace, N.Y.) distributed 28 assists.  The Lady Jaspers hit .100 (30-18-120)
as a team.


Wiener finished with 16 kills on .368 hitting to lead the Gaels.  She also tallied five service aces
and five digs.  Molly O'Shea hit .556 in the match, pounding 11 kills and committing just one error.
Allison Nieters registered a match-high 17 digs, and Nicole Tamburri posted a double-double with
37 assists and 10 digs.  Colleen Genett notched six blocks for Iona.  The Gaels had 48 kills
compared to Manhattan's 30 and outdug the Lady Jaspers 62-47.  Iona also held a 7-2 advantage
in aces.  As a team, Iona hit .254 (48-18-118) in the match.

Saturday's contest concluded Manhattan's season-long five-match homestand.  On Sunday, the
Lady Jaspers head to Baltimore for a 2 p.m. matchup with Loyola (12-17, 7-7 MAAC).  Manhattan posted a thrilling five-set victory when the teams met at Draddy Gymnasium on Oct. 4.

Due to technical difficulties, the live webcast of the match was not available.  The Manhattan
College Athletic Department apologizes for the inconvenience.

###

Colonials Volleyball Team Records 3-0 Win Over Terriers
Moser leads the team with 10 digs

Moon Township, Pa. - Nov. 7, 2009 - The Robert Morris University Colonials defeated the St. Francis (N.Y.) Terriers, 3-0, on Saturday afternoon at the Sewall Center. Robert Morris hit at a .260 efficiency to the Terriers .118 hitting percentage in route to the victory.

The win improves the Colonials to 12-18 overall and 9-4 league play, while St. Francis drops to 3-20 overall and 2-11 in the NEC.
Although winning set one 25-22, the Terriers put up a solid fight. A kill by freshman Amanda Craig (Houston, Texas / St. Agnes Academy) gave RMU the first point of the set and the Colonials soon captured a 4-1 advantage. Robert Morris continued to lead, but St. Francis slowly chipped away at the Colonial lead until the score was deadlocked at 10-10. Two errors by the Colonials gave the Terriers their first lead of the game at 12-10 and a couple kills by SFNY's Anisa Lila gave them a 16-12 lead. Robert Morris quickly got back into the set with a two kills by Craig and several Terrier errors to tie the score 16-16. The squads battled back and forth, but RMU eventually came away with the win. Craig hit perfect in set one with five kills.

For the majority of the second set the score remained within one or two. Both teams played relatively even with the Colonials hitting a .256 hitting percentage to the Terriers .233 hitting percentage. However, RMU put up 21 digs to the Terriers 13 to give them an advantage and the 25-20 victory. The set ended with a kill by junior Amanda Graham (Melbourne, Fla. / Eau Gallie).

Unlike the first and second set, the Colonials cruised past the Terriers in the third set winning by a score of 25-15. SFNY started the set on a 3-0 run, but RMU quickly recovered and brought the score to 14-10 in their favor off the serve of freshman Nicole Wiechecki (Wilmington, Del. / Urusuline Academy). The Terriers were able to side-out with a kill by Detelina Dimitrova, but RMU got the ball right back with a put down by freshman Lindsey Monger (Rising Sun, Md. / Rising Sun). Junior libero Corinne Moser (Meyersdale, Pa. / Meyersdale) went back to serve and went on a five-point run to give the Colonials a dominating 20-12 lead. The set ended with back-to-back service aces by Monger and an SFNY error.

Craig led the Colonials with 13 kills and added seven digs and two blocks. Wiechecki recorded a match-high three service aces and added eight digs in the win, while Moser recorded a team high 10 digs. Sophomore setter Alyssa Bennett (Ramona, Calif. / Ramona) finished the match with 32 assists and added five kills and two blocks. Graham and Monger each added seven kills in the triumph.

The Colonials return to the Sewall Center tomorrow to take on the Long Island Blackbirds at 1:00 p.m. Prior to the game Robert Morris will honor the squad's lone senior on the team, Jessy Nelko (Aliquippa, Pa. / Hopewell).

Ute Women's Volleyball Drops Four-set Decision at TCU

Silva hits team-high 13 kills.

FORT WORTH, Texas – Senior outside hitter Cinthia Silva hit a team-high 13 kills and Karolina Bartkowiak came up with 10th double-double this season but the University of Utah volleyball team dropped a four-set decision Saturday at TCU (21-25, 26-24, 20-25, 7-25) in a Mountain West Conference match at the University Recreation Center.

 

Utah (15-9, 8-4 MWC) was led by Silva, who posted her third consecutive double-figure-kill match with a team-high 13 kills. The San Paulo, Brazil has led or tied for the team lead in kills four times this year.

 

Bartkowiak came up with her 10th career double, all coming this season. The Aurora, Ill., native had 11 kills and 10 digs.

 

The Utes host Colorado State Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The action from Crimson Court will be televised live on The Mtn.

 

- UU -

 

Panthers fall to Big South leader UNC Asheville on Senior Day

 High Point, N.C. - Despite four Panthers with double-digit kills HPU fell to Big South leader UNC Asheville Saturday 3-0 (16-25, 25-13, 24-26, 21-25) at the Millis Center.

Freshman Courtney Johnk led the HPU offense with 14 kills while Stephanie Wallin and Megan Smith each contributed 12. Anna Lott added 10 kills for the match.

“It was a tough loss but I have to tip my hat to UNC Asheville,” said Jason Oliver. “They made plays when it mattered. It is a positive note for our team that we know we can pay and beat the best teams in our conference. It sets us up well to have a great conference tournament.”

UNC Asheville took the first set 25-16, holding HPU to a .075 attack percentage. However, the Panthers came back to hit .448 in the second set and win the frame 25-13. Wallin had four kills in the set and Holly Fong put up 12 assists.

High Point took a 20-18 lead late in the set on a kill by Wallin and extended the lead to 22-18 on back-to-back attack errors by Asheville. The Bulldogs battled back, knotting the score at 24-24 on an attack error by Smith. It was two more HPU attack errors that gave UNC Asheville the 26-24 set win, and 2-1 match advantage.

HPU outhit UNC Asheville .267 to .214 in the fourth set but the Panthers struggled from the service line, committing four service errors in the 21-25 loss.  The Panthers tied the set at 18-18 on a kill from Wallin but UNCA was able to outscore High Point 8-3 in the final points of the set to win the match 3-1.

Megan Kaminskas finished the day with eight kills and a solo block while Fong had a double-double with 47 assists and 14 digs.  Julie Hershkowitz had 25 digs for the match.

High Point falls to 16-15 (5-9 BSC) while UNC Asheville improves to 23-8 (12-2 BSC). The Panthers are on the road for the final pair of Big South matches at Liberty and Charleston Southern this week.

No. 11 UK Hosts Mississippi State Sunday

Wildcats are 36-1 all-time against the Bulldogs

 

LEXINGTON, Ky.  –  After an impressive 3-1 victory Friday night over Alabama, the 11th ranked Kentucky volleyball team returns to action Sunday as it plays host to Mississippi State at 1:30 p.m. ET. The Wildcats are 36-1 all-time against the Bulldogs, including a 3-0 sweep earlier this season.

 

Kentucky (23-2, 13-1) recorded the 50^th win at Memorial Coliseum in the last four seasons in the win over the Tide Friday. UK holds a notable 50-8 home record in the last four years. Kentucky has had over 1,000 fans attend all of its home matches this season including a crowd of 1,431 to watch the Blue and White defeat Alabama in four sets Friday night.

 

Sophomore Gretchen Giesler posted a career-high 13 kills in the victory over Alabama. Even more impressive, Giesler notched her career-high kill total on a sizzling .667 attack percentage.

 

Senior setter Sarah Rumely continues to spread the ball around among all of UK’s potent attackers. Seven UK players recorded at least one kill in the match. Rumely is now just a mere 110 assists away from claiming the school record for career assists.

 

Not to be overlooked, senior libero BriAnne Sauer continues to have the most remarkable season of her career. Sauer is on pace to shatter a career-high in digs in a season as she already has racked up 406 in her senior campaign. Her career-high currently is 475 which she achieved as a junior in 2008. Sauer has led the Wildcats in scoops in 18 matches this season and has tallied 23 career matches with 20 or more digs.

 

Mississippi State dropped a three-set match to Tennessee on Friday night and are 6-20 overall and 2-13 in the SEC. The Bulldogs earned their second conference win a week ago with a 3-1 victory over South Carolina at home. Mississippi State is led by Ashley Newsome who averages 3.02 kills per set, while Hillary Parker leads the defense with 4.74 digs per set.

 

Earlier this season UK claimed a 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-16) win in Starkville. UK put together a complete effort with 54 kills and 62 digs in the match. Three UK players reached double-figures in kills led by junior Sarah Mendoza’s 14 hammers.

 

For the most up-to-date news, highlights and features about the Kentucky volleyball team please visit UKathletics.com.

 

‑ GO CATS ‑

Kansas Volleyball Women Suffer Road Loss at Oklahoma



LAWRENCE, Kan. - After winning three-straight Big 12 Conference road matches, the Kansas volleyball team suffered a 3-0 setback (25-17, 25-16, 25-13) at Oklahoma Saturday afternoon.



KU dropped to 13-11 overall and 5-9 in the conference, while hitting .097 on offense, its worst attack percentage since recording a .079 clip versus FIU on Sept. 4.



Oklahoma improved to 17-7 on the season and 10-5 in Big 12 action behind a .341 attack.



Kansas sophomore Allison Mayfield was the only player in double digit on offense for both teams collecting 12 kills for her fourth-straight contest of 10-plus kills. Junior Jenna Kaiser was next with five kills for the Jayhawks.



A balanced OU offense featured four players with at least seven kills, led by Francie Ekwerekwu with nine.



Kansas and Oklahoma stayed close in the opening set, which featured many long rallies. At 12-12 though, the Sooners went on a 13-5 run to close the set for a 25-17 win.



Both teams featured a solid defensive effort but KU committed two more hitting errors than OU and struggled from the service line with three serving errors.



Senior Melissa Grieb tallied eight of her team-high 14 digs in set one.



The Jayhawks got off to a slow start in the second set and quickly found themselves trailing 17-8. From there, things started to fall into place for the Jayhawks as Kaiser connected for a pair of kills, and Nicole Tate and Mayfield chipped in one a piece. Kansas also got help from three Oklahoma service errors to out-score the Sooners 6-4 over the next 10 points. Down the stretch, KU could not quiet the OU offense as Oklahoma won set two 25-16 behind a .424 attack percentage.



Kansas recorded just one more hitting error than the Sooners in the second set but only connected on 10 kills, compared to 16 for the Sooners.



In the third set, KU used an early 4-0 run to take a 5-3 lead. A few points later, an OU service error followed by an ace from Mayfield kept the Jayhawks ahead at 7-6. The lead would not hold however as Oklahoma began to pull away and proceeded to score 18 of the final 23 points to earn a 25-13 victory.



The Jayhawks return to the friendly confines of the Horejsi Family Athletics Center in the first of two-straight home matches on Wednesday, Nov. 11 to host in-state rival Kansas State. First serve is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

FAU Women's Volleyball Nipped By Lady Toppers

Owls Will Finish Regular Season on Saturday

 

BOWLING GREEN, KY (November 7, 2009) – The Florida Atlantic University volleyball team (6-19, 4-12 Sun Belt) lost to Western Kentucky in a tough four-set loss on Saturday.      

Western Kentucky was clinging to a one-point lead early in the first set when the Lady Toppers went on a 12-5 run, eventually winning the set 25-17. The Owls had a two-point lead late in the second set, but were unable to hold off WKU, losing the set 25-22.

A Christina Wallinger kill gave FAU a 24-20 lead in set number three and after being unsuccessful on their first three attempts, the Owls converted their fourth set point opportunity, taking the set after another Wallinger kill.

A Brittany Bowen attack error cut the Owls’ deficit to one late in the fourth, but WKU took five of the next six points to win the set and the match.

The Owls will wrap up the regular season on Saturday, November 14 at 7 p.m. when they host rival FIU. It will be Senior Night for FAU and Krystena Castro, Kristyna Dzmuranova and Ivana Stanojevic will be recognized before the match.

- FAU –

Canisius College Volleyball Team Drops Four-Set Match at Siena

The Canisius College volleyball team dropped a four-set match at Siena on Saturday, in the Alumni Recreation Center. The Golden Griffins lost 23-25, 25-16, 25-17, 25-14 to fall to 11-16 overall and 8-8 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference standings.

Junior Renee Lettow led the Griffs with 10 kills and also had 10 digs for her eighth double-double of the season. Senior Michelle Godfrey had nine kills and five block assists to go along with a .375 attack percentage. Freshman Samantha Good also had five blocks (two solo and three block assists) while freshman Allyson Severyn had a team-high 16 digs.

Canisius jumped out to a big lead in the first set, going up 19-10 after a 10-2 run that included two kills from Godfrey. The Saints came right back with six straight points and eventually tied the set at 22-22. Canisius responded with a kill from Good and a block from Godfrey and Good to go up 24-22 and win the set on a Siena attack error.

Siena's Burgandy McCurty had 11 of her career-high 33 kills in the second set. The senior scored the final three points of the set for the Saints (12-12, 10-5 MAAC) to even the match at one set apiece.

Canisius posted its best attack percentage of the day in the third set, but the Saints only committed two attack errors to record a .425 attack percentage. With the score tied at 8-8, Siena won three straight points and slowly pulled away to win the set. In the fourth set, Siena scored six straight points to take a 19-10 lead after three straight kills from McCurty, and comfortably closed out the match.

Canisius wraps up the weekend at Marist on Sunday, with match time set for 2 p.m.

Match Notes: Canisius lost its sixth consecutive match at Siena... The nine kills from Godfrey are the most for the senior since she had nine against Davidson on Sept. 12... Lettow had double-digit kills for the 14th time this season... The five blocks for Good are the most since she had five at Loyola on Oct. 10... Senior Kaela Glenn had a career-high nine assists.

UCA VOLLEYBALL TEAM SWEEPS SFA, CLAIMS SOUTHLAND TITLE

CONWAY, Ark - The University of Central Arkansas volleyball team claimed the Southland Conference overall regular season title by defeating Stephen F. Austin on Saturday afternoon in the Prince Center. The Sugar Bears (25-3, 14-0) remained undefeated in the league with a 25-22, 25-22, 25-19 victory over the the Ladyjacks (19-12, 8-5).

"I am very proud of this team and I'm especially proud of our seniors," said fifth-year head coach Steven McRoberts. "They get to go out as champions. This is a great day for our program."

UCA will try to complete the season with an undefeated conference record. They host Sam Houston State on Thursday night and senior day will be against Lamar next Saturday afternoon. It will be the final matches for seniors Evaree Franklin, Jennifer Hauskey, Robyn Smith and Amicha Williams.

"We want to go undefeated so this next week is still very important to us," McRoberts said. "We need good crowds to send these seniors out. This is the most competitive group I've ever coached. They just hate to lose."

The Sugar Bears had their best offensive performance in a Southland match by hitting .330 with 51 kills. The Ladyjacks manged a .234 hitting percentage with 34 kills.

Junior right side hitter Chloe Smith led UCA with 16 kills 11 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. She also hit .371 and recorded three blocks. Sophomore Jessica Hays came up with 12 kills and hit .409 to go with nine digs. Franklin and Williams had seven kills each and Franklin also had four blocks. Sophomore libero Cristin Curl had 10 digs and Robyn Smith had 45 assists.

SFA was led by sophomore Mary Caitlin Bottles with 11 kills and a .562 hitting percentage. Madison Hanlan and Kelsey Owens recorded nine digs each.

NCAA Women's College Volleyball Game Results Today 11/6

UCR Volleyball Women Completes Come-From-Behind 3-2 Win Against Matadors

Riverside, CA - Three players tallied double-digit kills and digs for the UC Riverside volleyball team on Friday evening as they defeated Cal State Northridge 3-2 in come-from-behind fashion, dropping the first two sets 25-21 and 25-20 before winning the next three 31-29, 25-23, and 15-12.

The Highlanders are now perfect in five-set wins this season and have won the last three of five games while improving their record to 5-17, 3-9. Their three wins in Big West play are tied for the second-most since transitioning to Division I, with the 2005 and 2003 squads each recording four conference wins.

Tonbara Youpele led all players in kills by tying her career-high with 21, followed by Dominique Cowling's 15 kills and Shelby LeDuff's 14 strikes. Cowling also posted a game-high 18 digs while Brittney Murrey added 11 digs and 57 assists, and Youpele recorded 10 digs. Shannon Moyneur led all players with seven blocks while LeDuff had four and Murrey added three.

After dropping the first two sets, UCR went up 24-22 at set point in the third. On the next play, Savannah Thomas' serve was ruled out in a questionable call, and in the ensuing possession Cal State Northridge (7-18, 3-8) tied things up at 24 on a bad set by UCR.

The Highlanders continued to battle, however, and after five tie scores, UCR pulled out the 31-29 win. Youpele had seven kills in the third set, culminated by two straight at the end that sealed the Highlanders win. The 31 points scored by UCR is the most this season and the most since the team began using the 25-point rally format in 2008.

In the fourth set, UCR found themselves down 11-8 but proceeded to rally for a 12-11 advantage. They pushed the lead out to 23-18 down the stretch and were able to withstand a late Matador rally to win 25-23 and force the decisive fifth set.

The Highlanders were down 5-2 in the early moments of the fifth set before rallying for to tie things up at seven apiece. CSUN then ran off three consecutive points to take a 10-7 advantage, prompting a UC Riverside timeout.

UCR came out of the break by scoring four straight to retake the lead 11-10. After a Matador point to tie the set at 11, the Highlanders took the lead for good off a LeDuff kill as they scored the three points needed to complete their comeback with a 15-12 win.

This is their third match of the year in which UCR has won in five sets after dropping the first two.

The Highlanders continue play with a non-conference match against Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday, Nov. 7 at 7:00 pm at the Student Recreation Center.

CONFERENCE USA VOLLEYBALL UPDATE

 

recent results

Fri., Nov. 6

^ Memphis 3, at East Carolina 0 (CBS C)

^ at Marshall 3, UAB 0

^ Tulsa 3, at UCF 1

^ at Southern Miss 3, SMU 1

^ Rice 3, at Tulane 0

^ at UTEP 3, Houston 0

 

UPCOMING MATCHES

Sun., Nov. 8

^ SMU at UCF (BHSN)__________ 12 p.m.

^ UAB at East Carolina___________ 1 p.m.

^ Memphis at Marshall _________ 1 p.m.

^ Tulsa at Southern Miss________ 1 p.m.

^ Houston at Tulane (CBS C)_____ 1 p.m.

^ Rice at UTEP_________________ 1 p.m.

^ C-USA matches.

2009 C-USA VOLLEYBALL

TeamC-USAOverall WLWLSouthern Miss122244Tulsa112225Tulane104158Rice95178SMU85189Marshall85207UAB671315Houston68920UTEP4101116UCF3111116Memphis311722East Carolina212917

CONFERENCE USA VOLLEYBALL FRIDAY NIGHT RECAPS (Fri., Nov. 6)

 

Memphis at East Carolina (CBS C) (20-25, 25-19, 25-16, 24-26)

Altrese Hawkins led all players with 21 kills and a robust .581 attack percentage, while libero Becky Shaffer picked up a match-best 22 digs to lead Memphis past East Carolina, 3-1, in C-USA action Friday night. The win was the second-straight for the Tigers, who improve to 7-22 overall and 3-11 in league play. Lizzy Bruin paced ECU's offense with 12 kills while Bobbie Jo Stall notched a career-best 11. ECU falls to 9-17, 2-12 in C-USA.

 

at Marshall 3, UAB 0  (25-22, 25-23, 25-18)

Elizabeth Herman and Emily Sullivan combine for 32 kills to help Marshall roll past UAB, 3-0, Friday night inside the Cam Henderson Center. Sullivan and Herman each finished the night with 16 kills apiece.  Herman hit at a .448 (16K-3E-29TA) attacking percentage, while Sullivan hit at a .375 (16K-4E-32TA) clip.  Marcum tallied her 10th double-double of the season, with 11 kills and 13 digs. Elizabeth Fleming dished out a match-high 45 assists. It marks the seventh time in eight seasons that a MU (20-7, 8-5 C-USA) volleyball team has recorded 20-or-more wins under head coach Mitch Jacobs.  Jordan McDonald recorded her fifth consecutive double-double with 10 kills and 11 digs for UAB (14-15, 6-7 C-USA).

 

Tulsa 3, at UCF 1 ((25-23, 23-25, 25-21, 25-18)

Four players hit double-digit kills, led by Tyler Henderson’s 25, as Tulsa scored a 3-1 win over  UCF at The Venue at UCF. Henderson, with her 25 kills paired with a .420 attack percentage and three blocks, was also one of three players who hit above .400 in the match. Hannah Stout slammed 15 kills and hit .480, adding four blocks, and Julia Kenealy tallied 13 kills and hit .407 in the match, leading the way with six blocks. Jennifer Eichler recorded her 10th double-double of the season with 11 kills and 14 digs.The Golden Hurricane (22-5, 11-2 C-USA) held its spot in second place in C-USA, one half-game behind Southern Miss, which the Hurricane plays Sunday at 1 p.m. in Hattiesburg, Miss.

 

Rice 3, at Tulane 0 (25-24, 25-23, 25-19)

Tulane dropped a 3-0 decision to Rice at Fogelman Arena. The Owls (17-8, 9-5 C-USA) barely edged the Green Wave (15-8, 10-4) in the first two sets, 26-24 and 25-23, before Rice pulled away in the final stanza for a match-clinching 25-19 decision. The loss was the first straight-sets defeat in league play for Tulane since falling at Houston, 3-0, on Oct. 12, 2007. Rice’s Jenn McCLean and Ashleigh McCord tied for team-high kill honors with 11 each, and Tracey Lam led the Owls’ defensive effort with 11 digs. Meredith Schamun, the reigning C-USA Setter of the Week, led all players with 34 assists. ice led statistically in every category. The Owls had more kills (43-38), more assists (42-35), more aces (4-3), more digs (48-44) and more blocks (7.0-3.0). Rice posted a .274 attack percentage on the night with 14 errors in 106 swings, and the Owl defense held Tulane to a .111 mark as the Green Wave committed 25 miscues in 117 attempts. Sophomore outside hitter Visnja Djurdjevic posted match highs with 14 kills and 14 digs, and chipped in with a solo block to finish the night with 15.0 points.

 

at UTEP 3, Houston 0 (27-25, 25-15, 25-8)

 Freshmen Chandace Tryon and Jasmine Terry led all Cougars with seven kills apiece but it wasn't enough as Houston (9-20, 6-8 C-USA) dropped a 3-0 match to UTEP. Freshman Tara Roenicke added 24 assists, while senior Alik Cardoso de Sa had a team-high eight digs. Catherine Chavez and Amy Sanders finished the night with 15 and 10 kills, respectively, for the Miners (11-16, 4-10 C-USA). The senior tandem also combined for 20 digs. Patty Jarmoc tallied 33 assists, five digs and seven total blocks.

 

 

CHAMPIONSHIP INFORMATION:  Rice will serve as host to the 2009 Conference USA Volleyball Championship starting Nov. 20. The three-day event will be hosted inside Tudor Fieldhouse and will feature the league's top eight teams. An All-Session pass, which includes seven matches, is $15 for adults and $10 for youth. Single session ticket prices are $8 for adults and $4 for youth and groups. FREE admission to all C-USA members with a valid university ID. Sunday's championship match (Nov. 22) will be televised live on CBS College Sports at 1 p.m.

 

 

Red Wolves Volleyball Team Tops UALR 3-1 in Final SBC Road Match

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (11/6/09) – The Arkansas State Red Wolves (20-10,
10-6) topped in-state Sun Belt Conference rival UALR (14-13, 8-8) for
the second time this season, winning in four sets (25-13, 25-17,
23-25, 25-20) Friday night in Little Rock.

“I thought we came out on fire,” said ASU head coach Justin Ingram.
“We were hitting .424 and .417 in the first couple of sets, and that
is pretty hard to do offensively.  (Laura) Bennett had 62 assists and
did a great job distributing our offense tonight.  We knew UALR was
going to fight hard, but we had to sustain that high level of play
throughout the match.  We did just that, and overall our offense was
tremendous tonight.”

ASU rolled past UALR 25-13 in the first set and took set two 25-17.
The Trojans fired back to win the third set 25-23 on three consecutive
kills.

The Red Wolves bounced back in set four, jumping out to an early 8-3
lead before UALR rallied to tie the set 18-18.  ASU scored four
consecutive points on two kills from sophomore Cayla Fielder and two
Trojan attacking errors, and the Red Wolves went on to take the match
with a 25-20 win.

Freshman Brittany Hoag led the team with a career-high 23 kills, while
Fielder added 17 and a .519 hitting percentage on the night.  Junior
setter Laura Bennett notched a career-high 62 assists in the match,
averaging 15.5 assists per set.

Senior libero Heather Bowman led the defensive effort with 26 digs,
while sophomore Charlyn Ursell and freshman Kelsie Hodges each put up
two blocks.

ASU will wrap up the regular season Nov. 13 and 14 when they host
Denver and North Texas.  Both matches will begin at 7:00 p.m. and will
be held at Jonesboro High School.

Houston Volleyball Women Swept at UTEP, 3-0

Cougars Now Prepare for Sunday Match at Tulane

 

El Paso, Texas – The University of Houston volleyball team lost a three set match, 3-0 (27-25, 25-15, 25-8) Friday night in the second of two matches against the Miners this season.

 

Freshmen Chandace Tryon and Jasmine Terry led all Cougars with seven kills apiece. Freshman Tara Roenicke added 24 assists, while senior Alik Cardoso de Sa had a team-high eight digs.

 

With the loss, Houston falls to 9-20 on the season and 6-8 in Conference USA action. They also fall to 9-4 in the all-time series with the Miners. Earlier this year the Cougars swept UTEP at the Athletics/Alumni Center.

 

Houston came up short in the first set, 27-25. They led by as many as five points with the scoreboard reading 21-16 but the Miners battled back knotting the score 24-24 before eventually securing the win. UTEP went on the use the momentum from the first set comeback to top the Cougars 25-15 in the second set.

 

In their final attempt to continue the match, UH would be held to just eight points, their lowest point total of the season en route to a 25-8 loss.

 

Houston will then travel to Tulane on Nov. 8 for a 1 p.m. match against the Green Wave. The match will be taped to air on CBS College Sports on Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. Jason Knapp and Anne Marie Anderson will be calling the action.

 

NCAA Women's College Volleyball Game Results Today 11/6

Cats Take It To Ducks

 

No. 18 Arizona passes No. 14 Oregon in the conference standings with the W in Eugene.

 

EUGENE, Ore. – Winning the first set has been a common theme for the No. 18 Arizona volleyball team this season.  On Friday night in Eugene, Ore. against the No. 14 Ducks, things were no different as the Wildcats jumped out early and never let up, beating Oregon on its home-court, 3-1.

 

Tiffany Owens recorded her fourth straight double-double and 12^th on the season with 17 total kills and 15 digs. Setter Paige Weber had perhaps her most complete match of the season, compiling 50 assists and 11 digs for her third consecutive double-double and fifth on the season. Opposite hitter Whitney Dosty also doubled up Friday night with 11 kills and 11 digs.

 

With the win, Arizona moved a half game ahead of Oregon in the conference standings, improving to 17-6 overall and 6-6 in Pac-10 play while the Ducks fell to 15-6, 5-6 in conference.

 

Over the first set, UA used an 8-3 run to grab an early 14-8 advantage. Owens posted four kills in the set as the Cats would keep the Ducks at bay and never trail after their initial run, winning the set 25-20.  Courtney Karst also got in on the action with four kills in the first set. 

 

Up 1-0, Arizona looked to keep things rolling in the second set.  A Jacy Norton kill followed by an Oregon attack error made things 6-2 Wildcats and forced the Oregon bench to signal time.  The Ducks would cut UA’s lead to 9-8 before the Cats rallied off a 10-5 run.  Leading 20-16, Dosty and Stephanie Snow had consecutive kills as Arizona would go on to win the set, 25-21, and take a commanding two set lead.

 

Opening the third set, Arizona established an early 11-5 lead aided by several attack and service errors by Oregon.  The Ducks would come back though and eventually tie the score at 21 all.  The Cats would falter down the stretch of the set and lose 25-23.  Oregon used an 8-3 run in the middle of set three to stage its impressive comeback.

 

In set four, both teams would trade jabs as the score would find itself notched at 8-8. From there, the Cats rattled off a 9-2 run to make things 17-10 Arizona.  On the heels of two straight attack errors by Heather Meyers, Arizona grabbed the set, 25-17, and the match, 3-1.

 

The Cats had an overall hitting percentage of .317 against the Ducks, its highest average against a conference foe this year.

 

When winning the first set, Arizona has a record of 16-2. Arizona surpassed its 2008 overall win total with the victory tonight.  The team also recorded its fourth win over a ranked opponent this season.

 

Tomorrow Arizona attempts the weekend sweep as it heads to Corvallis to face Oregon State.  Tonight the Beavers lost to Arizona State, 3-1.

Buckeyes Win, 3-1, at Iowa

Courtesy: OhioStateBuckeyes.com           Release: 11/06/2009

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio State (19-7 overall, 7-6 Big Ten) women's volleyball team, behind a match-high 22.5 points from Katie Dull and 12.5 fromKristen Dozier, won, 3-1 (20-25, 25-19, 25-20, 25-17) at Iowa Friday night. Dull recorded a match-high 18 kills (.308), three ace serves, one solo block and one assist blocks for her 22.5 points. Dozier collected 11 kills and three assist blocks. Iowa's Aimee Huffman had a team-high 13.0 points with 12 kills and two assist blocks. Megan Schipper added 12.0 points with seven kills, one ace serve, two solo blocks and four assist blocks. Set one opened with a kill by Dozier and a Sarah Mignin ace serve for a 2-0 Buckeye lead. At 5-3, a Huffman kill and an OSU error tied the set at five. Tied at eight, two Ohio State errors gave Iowa a 10-8 lead. The Buckeyes would cut the lead to one, five times, the last at 16-15. A Mara Hilgenberg kill and a Becky Walters-Tiffany Nilges block gave Iowa an 18-15 lead. At 23-20, a Nilges kill made it set point for the Hawkeyes at 24-20. Iowa won the set, 25-20, with a Walters-Hilgenberg block to have a 1-0 lead in the match. The Hawkeyes hit .310 for the set to .108 for Ohio State. Set two opened with a Dull kill. The teams shared 10 ties and four lead changes before a Schipper kill tied the set at 15 for the last time. Two Buckeye kills from Anna Szerszen and two Hawkeye errors opened a 19-15 Ohio State lead. A Nilges kill made it 19-16. Another Szerszen kill and an Iowa error gave OSU a 21-16 lead as the Hawkeyes called time out. Nilges, with a kill, cut the lead to four at 21-17. A Dull kill and an Iowa error made the Buckeyes lead 23-17. A kill from Walters and a Hawkeye error made it set point at 24-18. A Buckeye error stopped the set point at 24-19. Ohio State won the set, 25-19, with a Betsy Hone kill to tie the match at one set each. Ohio State hit .333 for the set to .206 for Iowa. After five early ties in set three, a Szerszen kill and a Dozier-Hone block gave Ohio State a 7-5 lead. A kill by Hilgenberg cut the lead to one at 7-6. Kills from Dozier and Susan Halverson with an Iowa error opened a 10-6 Ohio State lead. At 13-9, a kill from Emily Danks and a Dull ace serve made the lead five at 15-10. Trailing, 17-13, a kill from Schipper and an OSU error cut the margin to two at 17-15 as Ohio State called time out. A Dozier-Hone block made it 18-15. Two OSU errors cut the Buckeye lead to one at 18-17. A Hone kill and a Kelli Barhorst-Dull block gave the Buckeyes a 20-17 lead. Kills from Schipper and Aimee Huffman and a Buckeye error made it 21-19 as OSU called time out. A kill from Dull and an OSU error moved the score to 22-20. Kills from Danks and Szerszen made it set point at 24-20. An Iowa error ended the set to give the Buckeyes a 25-20 win and take a 2-1 lead in the match. Ohio State hit .184 for the set to .000 for Iowa. The Buckeyes opened set four with kills from Dozier and Barhorst and with an Iowa error held a 3-0 lead. A Huffman kill and a Schipper solo block made it 3-2. Kills from Hone and Huffman made it 4-3. A Dull kill and a Barhorst solo block gave Ohio State a 6-3 lead. A solo block from Schipper and a kill from Dull made it 7-4. Kills from Schipper and Szerszen made it 8-5. Two Hawkeye errors and a kill from Dull gave OSU a six point lead at 11-5. At 13-7, an Iowa error took the lead to seven at 14-7. The Hawkeyes, with a kill from Walters, an OSU error and a block from Walters and Huffman cut the lead to four at 14-10. The Buckeyes made the lead six at 16-10 with a Barhorst-Hone block and a kill from Dull. A Schipper kill followed by a kill and ace serve from Dull made it 18-11. At 21-14, a Katie Kennedy kill and two from Emma Krieger Kittle made it 21-17 as Ohio State called time out. Buckeye kills from Dozier and Dull made it 23-17. Ohio State reached match point at 24-17 off an Iowa error. The set ended, 25-17, with a Sarah Mignin ace serve to give OSU a 3-1 victory in the match. For the set, Ohio State hit .242 to .079 for the Hawkeyes. Ohio State hit .210 for the match to .140 for Iowa. The Buckeyes had a 56-43 margin in kills and a seven-to-two advantage in ace serves. OSU's Dull recorded a match-high three aces with Mignin adding two. The Hawkeyes gave up six service errors to five for Ohio State. Defensively, OSU enjoyed a 59-47 margin in digs. OSU's Chelsea Noble posted a match-high 16 digs in the contest. At the net, Iowa had an 11 to eight margin in team blocks. Schipper had a match-high six total blocks with two solos and four assist blocks. At setter, Iowa's Hilgenberg recorded a match-high 36 assists. OSU's Hone posted 35 assists off the bench with Ashley Hughes having 13. Katie Dull, with her fourth kill of the match, became the 17th Buckeye to reach 1,000 career kills. Her 18 kills against the Hawkeyes gives her 1,014 career kills. Ohio State completes with weekend road trip at 7 p.m. CT Saturday at Wisconsin (11-11, 6-7). ### OhioStateBuckeyes.com Eastern staves off set point nine separate times, but fall to first-place Vikings Box Score The Eastern Washington University volleyball team dropped a 26-24, 25-21, 25-22 decision to Portland State on Friday evening (Nov. 6). The loss dropped the Eagles to 9-4 in Big Sky Conference play and into third place, behind Portland State (17-7, 11-2 BSC) and Northern Colorado (17-9, 10-2 BSC). Ashley Hamilton recorded 30 assists tonight and hit .778 (7-0-9). Leading the Eagles in kills was Hayley Hills with 12, while Jacque Brown hit at a .375 clip (6-0-16). JaNae Mortensen set the team pace in digs with 16, while Chenoa Coviare recorded five blocks against the Vikings. The Eagles (15-9) fell behind in the first set 24-20, but battled off four straight set points to tie the stanza 24-24. Unfortunately for EWU, the Vikings then secured the next two tallies to take a 26-24 win. In set two, Portland State went up 21-17 and held on for a 25-21 win. In the third set, Eastern Washington fell behind 24-17 but the Eagles fought off five consecutive match points to cut their deficit to just two at 24-22 before the Vikings put the contest away, 25-22. The Eagles now return to the EWU campus for its final two regular-season home matches of the 2009 season. First up is Northern Colorado, as the Bears will take on Eastern at 7 p.m. on Friday (Nov. 13). That match is pivotal to Eastern's goals of finishing towards the top of the standings. ____________________ Southern Illinois Volleyball Women swept at home by Wichita State Alicia Johnson led the Salukis with a 10-kill, 18-dig double-double. Nov. 6, 2009 By Shalae Patrick www.SIUSalukis.com Box Score CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois volleyball team fell in Missouri Valley Conference play at home to Wichita State, 29-27, 25-16, 25-20, Friday night in Davies Gym. The third-place Shockers (19-4, 10-3 MVC) hit an even .250, out-digging the Salukis (17-8, 6-8 MVC) 71-to-58 in the three-set match. The Salukis put up their biggest fight in the first set, hitting .383 with zero errors. After tying the match at 20-all, SIU traded points with WSU before the Shockers got the 29-27 win on an Emily Stockman kill. The reigning MVC Player of the Week finished with a match-high 12 kills and 19 digs. "We had zero hitting errors in the first set, but they had a few more kills to edge us," Saluki head coach Brenda Winkeler said. "I thought overall in the match we needed to serve more aggressive. They are a good team if they can pass the first ball in a position where they can use all three attackers." The Shockers hit .310 in the second set with just three attack errors for the 25-16 victory, before taking the third and final set, 25-20. The Salukis recorded 11 of their 17 attack errors in the final set, hitting -.019. Right side Alicia Johnson led the Salukis with 10 kills and 18 digs, adding two block assists, while middle blocker Chandra Roberson hit a team-best .409 with 10 kills and just one error in 22 attempts. Setter Rachael Brown, the reigning MVC Freshman of the Week, recorded 28 assists and nine digs. For the Shockers, Kim Wadsworth came off the bench for 12 kills. WSU libero Melissa Granville pitched in 17 digs and setter Mary Elizabeth Hooper added 42 assists.  "(Saturday) night we have a big match," Winkeler said. "I really think if we play well, we can do good things. I thought tonight the difference was our serving to theirs. Their ability to always pick up a ball and make it hittable. We picked up some balls, but we didn't make them hittable." The Salukis wrap up home play Saturday night when they host second-place Missouri State at 7 p.m. Seniors Caitlin Dugger,Kelsie Laughlin, Marina Medic and Roberson will be honored prior to their final home match of the regular season. Southern Miss Volleyball Team Fights Off SMU For 3-1 Victory   HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss women's volleyball team used a balanced scoring attack in knocking off SMU Friday night with a 3-1 (17-25, 25-19, 25-11, 25-12) victory.   The Golden Eagles ran their record to 24-4 and a league-leading 12-2 after winning their fourth straight match. The 12 conference wins are the most for a Southern Miss team in a regular season, topping the 2003 team that posted 11 conference wins.   The Golden Eagles had four players with double-digit kills. Sophomore Ashley Mell (Yorba Linda, Calif.) led the squad with 15, while sophomore Caitlin Clarke (New Orleans, La.) and senior Angela Hlavaty (Lincoln, Neb.) posted 13 and 11, respectively. Sophomore Sarah Jane Bowden (Sioux City, Iowa) chipped in 10 kills. Sophomore setter Kelsea Seymour (Long Beach, Calif.) dished out 46 assists to go with 12 digs for her 16th double-double of the season. Senior Maia Ivanova (Sofie, Bulgaria) led USM with a match-high 18 digs followed by Mell with 16 digs for her 11th double-double and Lisa Knecht (Metairie, La.) added 11 digs.   Southern Miss totaled 62 kills while attacking at a .277 clip. The squad also posted 63 digs and 8.0 total team blocks. The Mustangs finished the night with 36 kills, 54 digs and 9.0 team blocks.   “I thought we came out in the first set and play maybe one of our worst sets of the season,” Coach Ricci Luyties said. “We didn’t sideout well and we were making some mistakes. The second set we started playing a little better. There was a turning point at 13-11 when they were up and we started playing after that and never looked back.”   Both teams came out pounded the volleyball, scoring nine of the first 10 of the set from all kills. The Mustangs went from a 5-5 tie to 9-5 lead on four straight points, sparked by a Kahanek kill and ended with a Kahanek ace. Seymour ended the run with a kill, but SMU came right back with a kill from Powell to keep their lead at 10-6. The Mustangs pushed their lead to 13-9, forcing Southern Miss to call a timeout. The Eagles were able to capitalize on a Bowden kill, but SMU put up a wall at the net, scoring two points off two straight blocks. Following another Kahanek kill and USM attack error, SMU led 18-12. From there, the Mustangs outscored Southern Miss, 7-5, down the stretch for a 25-19 first set win.   The second set started with the teams traded points and finally battling to a 10-10 tie. SMU took advantage of three USM errors and a Wilkerson kill to take a 15-12 lead, forcing Southern Miss to take a timeout. Freshman Brianna Arvin (Omaha, Neb.) jump-started the Golden Eagles offense, promptly putting down back-to-back kills with Hlavaty and Mell adding a kill apiece to give USM a slim lead, 16-15. Following a timeout by SMU, USM got a big block from Mell, giving Southern Miss a 17-15 lead. The Mustangs battled back to tie the set at 18-18, but Bowden then put down a monster kill to give the lead to Southern Miss for good as the Golden Eagles ended the set on a 7-1 run for a 25-19 win.   “It was another good effort by the team, again, to come back when we were down and ended up with four players in double figures in kills,” Luyties said. “We were able to out dig SMU. We started out the first set with no blocks and ended up with eight which I thought was a big key to the match.”   Southern Miss got off to a fast start in the third set, running out to a 7-0 lead behind four kills by Clarke and three SMU errors. The Golden Eagles built a double digit lead and SMU could not recover as Southern Miss took a 2-set-to-1 lead with a 25-11 win. USM pounded out 15 kills with only one error in 25 attempts for a .560 attack percentage.   SMU scored the first point to start the fourth set, but Hlavaty came right back with a kill to put the Eagles on the board. USM recorded three more points, but SMU managed to get within one, 4-3, on a USM error and Kahanek kill. The Eagles eventually pushed their lead to 11-4 with four different players posting kills. SMU cut the lead to 13-9, but Arvin got a kill and Seymour recorded an ace to force a second SMU timeout. Southern Miss closed out the set, 25-12, for a 3-1 match win.   Southern Miss is back in action on Sunday, Nov. 8, hosting Tulsa in what could be the battle for the title at 1 p.m.   Redhawks Volleyball Team Extend Winning Streak With 3-2 Win Over Eagles   Sarah Barth comes up a kill short of third career triple-double   CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (Friday, November 6, 2009) – The Redhawks volleyball team is on a roll and third-place Morehead State got to see first-hand on Friday evening at Houck Field House. Finally healthy and playing with confidence, the Redhawks played their best match of the season as they defended their homecourt with a 3-2 (25-18, 21-25, 18-25, 25-18, 15-11).   The Redhawks (12-15, 7-8 OVC) were clicking in all phases of the game and extended their winning streak to a season-high three matches.   The Redhawks beat the Eagles (18-9, 10-5 OVC) in their own game, using a balanced offense and a tough, frontline defense. The Eagles looked frustrated and it showed as they handed the Redhawks 50 points on their own errors. 35 of those errors were on attack and another 10 were service errors.   Meanwhile the Redhawks played nearly perfect. They committed just 14 attack errors on 140 swings for a season-high .286 attack percentage. It was the third-straight match the Redhawks have finished with an attack percentage over .200 and the fourth in the last five matches.   The Redhawks came out determined in the opening set jumping ahead 2-1, but the Eagles grabbed the lead quickly and led 10-5. The Redhawks used a 9-1 run to go ahead 14-11. The Eagles would later grab a two-point lead, 18-16 but that would be the last time they would serve as the Redhawks closed the set with an amazing 9-0 run.   The Eagles were held to a .000 attack percentage (10 kills, 10 attack errors) while the Redhawks hit .241, committing just five attack errors.   The Eagles answered in the second set as the only lead the Redhawks held was winning the opening point. The lead was 17-11 for the Eagles as the Redhawks attempted a comeback. They would only get to within three points, 20-17 before the Eagles closed out the set with an Emma Keough kill.   The set was all offense as the Eagles finished with a .389 attack percentage and the Redhawks a .387 percentage.   In the third set the Eagles overcame a early 12-10 Redhawks lead thanks to a 7-0 run that opened up a 22-14 lead of their own and held off the Redhawks to take a 2-1 lead in the match.   The Redhawks lost the set despite just committing just two attack errors. However the Eagles recorded a .343 attack percentage with 17 of their 25 points coming by kill.   The crucial fourth set was all Redhawks as the led from the opening point and jumped ahead 14-4. The Eagles managed to cut the lead to three, 18-15 but the Redhawks closed with a 7-3 run to force a fifth and deciding set.   As with the previous four set the Redhawks won the opening serve of the fifth set and jumped ahead 4-0 and later 6-1. A Karleigh DeLong (Santiago/Corona, Calif.) kill gave the Redhawks an 8-5 lead and prompting the switching of sides. A 3-0 run after the switch gave the Redhawks a 11-5 lead. The Eagles managed to cut the lead to two, 11-9 but the Redhawks answered 4-1 run to close the set and match.   The Redhawks improved to 5-2 in five-set matches and snapped a two-match losing streak to the Eagles at Houck Field House.   The Eagles came into the match ranked 19th nationally in blocks at 2.68 per set with freshman Annie Gruenschlaeger ranked tenth nationally in blocks per set at 1.44 per set. The Eagles finished with just six blocks and Gruenschlaeger one for the whole match. The Redhawks however recorded eight blocks with freshman Emily Maher (Marcus/Flower Mound, Texas.) recording a career-best six block assists.   Emily Hughes (St. Benedict/Memphis, Tenn.) led the Redhawks with 16 kills (six coming in the second set). She committed just three attack errors on 33 swings for a .394 attack percentage.   Hughes was the only Redhawk in double figures in kills as they featured a balanced offense. Four players recorded eight or more kills.   DeLong had nine and a team-best 14 digs. She also handed out a season-best five assists and had a season-best six block assists.   Claire Keaton (Incarnate Word Academy/St. Louis, Mo.) had nine kills and eight digs while hitting .263. Maher finished with eight kills and one attack error for a .368 attack percentage.   Sarah Barth (Central Community/Germantown, Ill.) looked fully recovered from her early season wrist fracture as she came up one kill short of her third career triple-double. She recorded nine kills, a team-high 39 assists and ten digs. It was her fourth double-double of the season. She finished with a match and season-high .533 attack percentage as she committed just one error on 15 swings.   Senior Molly Davis (Burris/Muncie, Ind.) led the team with 11 digs followed by Amanda Rickhoff (Southwestern Illinois College/Bartelso, Ill.) who chipped in ten digs.   The Eagles had three players in double-figures in kills with All-OVC selection Kaitlin Craven and freshman Ellie Roberson leading all players with 18 kills apiece. Kirstie Brangers led all players with 58 kills and added 13 digs for a double-double. Kristina Schoo had a match-high 19 digs.   The Redhawks look to extend their winning streak and can come closer to securing an OVC Tournament berth with a win over Eastern Kentucky tomorrow at Houck. The “Senior Day” match will start at 6:00 p.m. against the seventh-place Colonels who trail the Redhawks for the sixth and final OVC Tournament spot.   INDIANA STATE VOLLEYBALL WOMEN RALLY TO PICK UP FIRST ROAD VALLEY WIN IN 44 TRIES Sycamores complete rally from 0-2 deficit to defeat Bradley 3-2 in five set marathon   PEORIA, ILL.  – Sycamore junior Ana Maira Charun’s kill off a set from sophomore Shelbi Fouty sealed the deal as the Indiana State Sycamores picked up perhaps their best win of the season, turning back the Bradley Braves 3-2 (22-25, 18-25, 25-22, 25-19, 18-16) in front of 271 fans at the Markin Center Friday. It was the first time in five years that Indiana State has won a game in Peoria.   The win marked the first time that Indiana State has won a road game in the Missouri Valley Conference since a 3-1 win over Southern Illinois during the 2004 season (a streak of 43 straight Valley road setbacks).   The win also marked the first time that the Sycamores have swept a conference opponent in five years. (ISU swept Bradley, Drake and Southern Illinois during the 2004 season). The Sycamores swept the Braves 3-0 on the ISU Court on Oct. 10.   The win also snapped a pair of other streaks. The Sycamores had lost seven straight games since beating Bradley on Oct. 10 and had lost 18 straight road games dating back to a 3-0 win over Chicago State last year.   The win also gives Indiana State three conference victories, the most for the Sycamores since 2004, as ISU improved to 7-21 on the season and 3-11 in the Missouri Valley Conference.   Another mark could fall on Saturday when the Sycamores continue their road trip and visit league leading Northern Iowa as ISU has never won a game in Cedar Falls, Iowa, since the two schools began playing each other in 1982. First serve is set for 8 p.m. (ET). The 25th ranked UNI Panthers swept Illinois State Friday 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-11) as they improved to 23-2 overall and 13-0 in the Valley.   Sycamore sophomore Kiya James moved into fifth place in the all-time single season dig list for Indiana State with a season and career high 30 digs against the Braves. James now has 456 digs this season, just one behind Cheryl Berg who had 457 digs during the 1999 season. The 30 digs was also the 10th best single game performance by a Sycamore in school history.   Sycamore senior Whitney Fromm had a double-double with a season high 55 assists and a season high 16 digs. Senior Jodilynne Stoker also had a double-double with 13 kills and 11 digs while Charun and freshman Morgan Dall had 13 kills each.   Indiana State did not get off to a very good start as they dropped the first two sets of the game. The opening set was tied five times but the Sycamores were never able to get in front. The last tie came at 14-all after ISU had rallied from down two on a kill by sophomore Stacy Qualizza and a Bradley error. The Braves came back to score three straight points and fought off a pair of Sycamore rallies down the stretch to win the opener 25-22.   The second set started off just as tight as the first set with four ties and three lead changes early on. The last tie came after ISU had taken a 5-4 lead on a service ace by Stephanie Volden. The Braves scored the next point to tie the set and then scored nine of the next 10 points to take a commanding 13-6 lead. Bradley held onto the lead and took a 2-0 lead in the game with a 25-18 victory in the third set.   The momentum began to change in the third set but it took a determined effort by the Sycamores to keep the game going. The Braves were able to build an 18-15 lead ahead of an Indiana State timeout but Bradley was unable to hold onto the advantage as play resumed.   A Qualizza kill and four Bradley errors put ISU in front 20-18 and the Sycamores would not give up the advantage the rest of the set. Bradley fought back to tie the set at 20 but a kill by freshman Auriel Armstrong followed by a block by Charun and Armstrong put ISU back up by two. Bradley came back to tie the set at 22 but two kills by Stoker and a set winning service ace by Charun gave ISU a 25-22 victory.   Bradley had hopes of closing out the game in the fourth set and took a 12-10 lead off an Indiana State error. The Sycamores fought back and took the lead for good at 15-14 on a Stoker kill. A Stoker service ace along with kills by Qualizza and Charun gave ISU a 19-14 lead and the Sycamores cruised to a 25-19 set win and even the game at two-sets each.   The decisive fifth set was a heart stopper from the first serve. The Sycamores took the early advantage on a Charun kill but Indiana State could not hold onto the lead. Bradley rallied and led twice, at 4-3 and again at 5-4, but the Sycamores were able to come back and had a 12-8 lead off a block by Dall and Armstrong.   The Sycamores extended their lead to 14-9 on a Bradley error but could not close the deal. The Braves held off set and game point five straight times to even the set at 14-all. Indiana State kept the advantage on a Stoker kill but the Braves held off ISU for the sixth time, tying the set at 15. Stoker put ISU back in front with a kill with Bradley coming back a seventh time to tie the set at 16. A Bradley error gave Indiana State their eighth chance at the win and this time they cashed in on a kill by Charun.   Both teams had 28 attack errors in the game with ISU knocking down 64 of 183 attacks (0.197 hitting percentage) and the Braves 61 of 203 attacks (0.163 hitting percentage).   UTEP Volleyball Overpowers Houston, 3-0 Miners Overpower Houston, 3-0   EL PASO – The UTEP Volleyball team started its final two-game homestand with a 3-0 (27-25, 25-15, 25-8) victory over the Houston Cougars on Friday night at Memorial Gym.   “The team played with a lot of heart tonight,” head coach Ken Murphy. “I think that tonight we saw what kind of team we can be when our mind is in the right place. Everything just went our way tonight, we dug right, we attacked right, we set right and blocked all night.”    Houston presented a challenge in the first set as the team would take the set down to the wire, but the Miners would still come on top 27-25. Senior outside hitter Catherine Chavez led UTEP with 8 kills, and junior setter Patty Jarmoc contributed 14 assists.   The Miners would keep the momentum going in the second set taking a quick 4-2 followed by 3 straight service aces by senior libero KeAnne Langford. The Miners would not give up the lead and took the second set by a dominant score of 25-15. Senior outside hitter Amy Sanders registered 5 kills in the set.   UTEP came out of the locker room prepared to seal the game in the third period. Showing powerful play and great teamwork, the Miners would take strong 20-5 lead against a struggling Houston squad. The Miners completely dominated the Cougars and took the final set 25-8 score.   Chavez and Sanders finished the night with 15 and 10 kills, respectively. The senior tandem also combined for 20 digs. Jarmoc tallied 33 assists, five digs and seven total blocks.   The Miners broke a three-match losing streak with a strong performance improving to 11-16 overall record, and 4-10 in conference play.    Five seniors will play their final match at home when the Miners face Rice (16-8. 8-4 C-USA) on Sunday at noon at Memorial Gym.   Colonels' Senior Night Rally Puts Nicholls Back in Volleyball Tournament Hunt THIBODAUX - The Nicholls State University women's volleyball team (11-16, 5-8 Southland Conference) dropped the opening set of Friday's Senior Night match to Texas-San Antonio (10-17, 5-8 Southland), but the Colonels' rallied to win the next three straight for a 3-1 win that put Nicholls back into the Southland Conference Tournament picture. The Colonels entered the contest one game behind UTSA for the seventh spot in the eight-team tournament field and tied with Southeastern Louisiana for eighth. However, the Lions owned the head-to-head tiebreaker over Nicholls after winning both matchups between the two squads this season. Friday night's win, coupled with Southeastern's loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, gives the Colonels the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Roadrunners for the seventh seed in the league tournament. The Colonels were led by stellar performances from their senior class on Friday night as outside hitters Manieka Golden (team-high 10 kills) and Rachel Spreen (match-high three aces), setter Amy Whitehead (match-high 33 assists) were major factors in the Nicholls' victory. "Tonight was a big night," head coach Chris Laird said. "What a great win on Senior Night. The girls played great. We lost that first set, but we kind of played inspired in the second, third and fourth sets and took care of what we needed to do. We talked about what we needed to take care of, and our girls did a great job of listening and adjusting. These seniors mean the world to me, and we're going to miss them, but we still have them for three more matches. So, we'll try to get the most out of them, but they did a great job tonight." The Colonels got themselves in an early hole as UTSA came out and hit .346 (12-3-26) in the opening frame while limiting Nicholls to a .027 team hitting percentage (9-8-37) en route to a 25-17 win. However, Nicholls rebounded in the second with a momentum-changing 25-16 victory to even the match at 1-1. The Colonels got three kills and an ace from Spreen to spark the offense, and the Nicholls defense posted 3.0 total blocks and took advantage of 16 Roadrunner errors as the Colonels never trailed en route to the win. The Colonels continued to pick up steam in the second as Spreen once again led the team with three kills in the set. The Colonels posted a .290 team hitting percentage (10-1-31) with just one attack error while sophomore Rachel Yezak and freshman Jasmine Harris combined on 4.0 blocks to keep UTSA in check before taking a 2-1 advantage in the match with a 25-17 win. Nicholls came out in the fourth set looking to dash any hopes UTSA may have had for a comeback. The Colonels never trailed in the fourth frame after opening up with an 8-3 run. Golden led the way with four kills and no errors on eight attempts for a .500 hitting percentage. As a team, the Colonels hit at a .440 clip (12-1-25) while limiting the Roadrunners to a .139 (15-10-36) percentage en route to the 25-17 win and a 3-1 victory. Friday's win also marks the first time Nicholls has surpassed the ten-won mark since a 19-14 season in 2002. Nicholls will look to help solidify their standing in the conference tournament field when they return to action by hosting TAMUCC at 4 p.m. at Stopher Gym to conclude the home portion of their 2009 schedule. The Islanders head into the match after claiming their first conference win of the season by virtue of a 3-0 win over Southeastern on Friday.

 

NCAA Women's College Volleyball Game Results Today 11/6

No. 13 California Volleyball Women Defeats No. 24 Washington State 3-1

 

PULLMAN, Wash. -- The No. 24-ranked Washington State volleyball team dropped a four-set match to No. 13 California Friday night before 2,134 fans at Bohler Gym.

 

California (14-8, 7-5) defeated WSU (16-7, 5-7) with set scores of 25-16, 25-23, 23-25, and 25-16. Cal All-American Hana Cutura led the match with 19 kills and 10 digs while Tarah Murrey and Mindi Wiley combined for 23 kills and 10 blocks. Kristen Kathan added 15 digs and Carli Lloyd had 47 assists. Kat Brown and Correy Johnson each contributed four blocks. Cal hit .336 for the match.

 

WSU’s Meagan Ganzer and Jackie Albright combined for 27 kills while Ocean Bush and Kelly Hyder combined or 28 digs. Brittany Tillman had 11 kills, hit .471 and four blocks. Renee Bordelon tallied 50 assists and Cassie Robbins added eight kills and five blocks.

 

“I thought Cal came in on our home court and did a really good job keeping the intensity and the pressure on us early on,” WSU Head Coach Andrew Palileo said. “Some of the differences in the match were they out-hustled us on the outside ball and when they needed an outside swing they were able to get that. They executed a lot of things that they wanted to do. They are a team that knows how to win and they are working toward the end of the season. They are experienced and know what their goals are they are going to do everything they can to achieve it. While we are still trying to figure out where that place is that we want to go because we can see it but it is still a long way away. We have to be able to come back and fight tomorrow.”

 

Cal took control of the opening set with a five uncontested points early and a run of four points late to take the 25-16 win. The Golden Bears hit an outstanding .560 in the set and held WSU to .133. Cutura had five kills and Murrey had three kills and three blocks in the opener.

 

The Cougars came back from being down 14-11 in the second set to tie. The teams traded scores and tied three more times until Tillman landed a kill and had a huge block against Cutura to put WSU ahead 19-17. Cal scored four consecutive points to take a 21-19 lead. Attacks from Ganzer and Albright knotted the set at 21-all. The Bears landed a pair of attacks and the teams traded scores to place Cal serving for set, up 24-22. Robbins’ kill stopped the first set point but Hyder’s dig went past the end line and Cal claimed the 25-23 win.

 

WSU came out of the break and played more aggressively in the third set, taking a 14-12 lead. On the 11th tie of the set at 18-all, WSU out-scored the Bears five to three for a 23-21 lead. Ganzer two successful attacks and two unsuccessful attacks with a Cutura kill in-between. Albright and Cutura each had five kills in this set, but WSU won 25-23, and held Cal to a .133 hitting percentage.

 

The fourth set was anticlimactic for the Cougars. Cal jumped to the lead and did not look back. Behind Cutura’s five kills and the Bears’ .419 hitting percentage, Cal won 25-16.

 

WSU takes on No. 5 Stanford (15-7, 8-4) Saturday night at 7 p.m. in Bohler Gym. No. 4 Washington swept the Cardinal Friday night in Seattle.

 

www.wsucougars.com

 

No. 19 LSU Volleyball Team Sweeps Ole Miss to Clinch SEC West

OXFORD, Miss. – Sam Dabbs circulated 39 assists and sparked the No. 19 LSU volleyball team to a season-best .416 hitting percentage as the Tigers claimed their fifth straight SEC Western Division crown with a 3-0 victory over Ole Miss [25-16, 25-18, 29-27] Friday at the Gillom Sports Center.

LSU (19-5, 13-2 SEC) has won 12 of its last 13 matches highlighted by nine sweeps. The Tigers also pushed their winning streak to 27 straight victories over SEC Western Division opponents. 

“There’s not one player on this roster that hasn’t contributed to the division title at some point during the season,” head coach Fran Flory said. “We’re proud of our players and staff to earn this ultimate team accomplishment.”

“Our first goal was to win the west this season,” Dabbs said. “It’s a great accomplishment to have, but we know that we have other goals that we want to reach.”

Marina Skender cranked 17 kills on a season-high .556 hitting percentage and added 11 digs for her 10th double-double of the season. Brittnee Cooper powered home 12 kills and tacked on four blocks.

Michele Williams belted seven kills to go along with five blocks, while Lauren DeGirolamo chipped in a complete effort with four kills, seven digs and five blocks.

Lauren Waclawczyk corralled eight digs and passed out three assists to anchor the back row as LSU compiled a 71 sideout percentage for the match.   

“Ole Miss is traditionally a tough place to play,” Flory said. “We were really happy with the way we managed our offense. Sam did an excellent job of setting and creating opportunities. Marina also worked extremely hard to adjust some things in her approach. She hit the right shot in the right situation and I don’t think she can be much better than she was tonight.”

LSU raced out to a 6-0 lead in the opening set behind a pair of Cooper-DeGirolamo blocks and two Cooper spikes. The Tigers never looked back as Dabbs set LSU to a season-best .609 hitting clip en route to a 25-16 romp. Skender and Cooper combined to crank 11 kills on 15 swings without an attack error.

Ole Miss grabbed a 5-2 advantage to start set two before LSU reeled off 13 of the next 18 points to build a 15-10 edge. The run was fueled by two kills apiece from Dabbs, Skender and Williams. LSU continued its strong play and claimed a 25-18 win.

The Rebels used a trio of spikes from Whitney Craven and Caitlin Weiss to go up 19-14 in the third set. LSU fired back with a 7-2 spurt to even the tally at 21-21 capped by a Skender-Williams stuff. After six ties and two lead changes, the Tigers picked up a block on Weiss along with Meghan Mannari’s first career service ace to secure the sweep with a 29-27 triumph.  

“Meghan has progressed very well from her knee injury at the beginning of the season,” Flory said. “She has done a great job serving and had a couple of great weeks in practice. It wasn’t anything that Sam [Delahoussaye] wasn’t doing. We wanted to get Meghan some match experience passing.” 

LSU continues its four-match road swing Sunday at Arkansas. First serve against the Razorbacks is set for 1 p.m. and the match will be televised live on CST. Live stats also are available in the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net and fans can follow in-match updates of the five-time SEC Western Division champions via www.twitter.com/lsuvolleyball.

Seventh-Ranked Bruins Women's Volleyball Team Take Down #17 USC in Five

Nov. 6, 2009 

LOS ANGELES - Sophomore Amanda Gil had a team-high 16 kills, including five in the deciding fifth set, as the seventh-ranked Bruins defeated #17 USC at Galen Center on Friday. Set scores were 25-17, 14-25, 25-16, 17-25, 15-12. 

The Bruins win their sixth straight to improve to 19-6 overall and 9-3 in Pac-10 play, as the Trojans fall to 15-9 and 4-8 in league action. 

Gil hit at a .560 percentage with only two errors in 25 swings, adding seven blocks. Senior Kaitlin Sather posted her team-best 13th double-double and the 50th of her career with 11 kills and 13 digs, while junior Dicey McGraw had her sixth double-double with 15 kills and 11 digs. Freshman Lauren Cook had 46 assists and sophomore Lainey Gera (23) and freshman Bojana Todorovic (15) each had double figures in digs. The Bruins hit .189 as a team and had no service errors. 

The start of the match featured seven ties and four lead changes. UCLA trailed 8-7, but a 5-0 run by the visiting team gave them the lead for good at 12-8. The run began with a kill from Sather and ended with a spike from McGraw, with three USC attack errors sandwiched between. Still on top by two at 13-11, UCLA went on a 6-1 run to take a seven-point advantage at 19-12. Gil started the run with a solo block, which was followed by a McGraw kill and a Trojan attack error. After a USC sideout, a kill by McGraw and successive spikes by Sather made it a seven-point lead. 

Following another USC sideout, the Bruins scored another 3-0 run thanks to a Trojan ball handling error and back-to-back kills by Sather and sophomore Sara Sage to make it a set-high lead of nine at 22-13. USC scored four of the next five to cut its deficit to six at 23-17, but a kill by Sather and a Trojan attack error gave the Bruins a 25-17 victory in the opener. Sather had seven of the Bruins’ 16 kills, adding six digs, while McGraw had four kills. Gera posted eight digs and Todorovic had seven. The Bruins out-hit the Trojans .283 to .122. 

The Bruins held a brief lead at the start of the second, but USC turned the set into a rout to go into the locker room all square. Trailing 5-3, the Bruins scored four straight on back-to-back errors by the Trojans, a kill by Sather and a Sage/Sather combo block to make it 7-5. But it was all USC after that, as the home squad responded with a 4-0 run of their own to take a 9-7 advantage. UCLA was unable to string together consecutive points for the rest of the set, as USC won it 25-14. The Bruins were out-hit .364 to .029. Gil led UCLA with four kills. 

UCLA never trailed in the third set to take a 2-1 match lead. Tied at three, the Bruins scored five of six on kills by sophomore Katie Camp and Todorovic, a Cook ace and two USC errors to go ahead 8-4. The Trojans cut their deficit to a pair at 9-7, but UCLA netted the next seven to take a 16-7 advantage. After a USC attack error, a kill by Gil and back-to-back combo roofs by Gil and Sather made it 13-7. The run wasn’t done though, as a USC attack error and consecutive spikes by Sather and McGraw made it a nine-point difference. 

The Trojans got no closer than seven the rest of the way. The Bruins’ biggest lead was 11 at 22-11 following three straight USC attack errors. Back-to-back kills by Camp and Sather to close the set gave the Bruins a 25-16 victory. Gil had five kills and three blocks in the third, while Camp added three kills. The Bruins won the hitting battle .357 to .053. 

The Bruins’ biggest lead in the fourth was one on a pair of occasions, as the Trojans forced a fifth set. Down 7-5, the Bruins scored four of the next five thanks to a kill from Todorovic and three USC errors to make it 9-8 UCLA. The Bruins also led 10-9, but the Trojans rallied with the next three and never looked back. USC went on to win the set 25-17 thanks to a .324 hitting percentage. McGraw had four kills in the fourth, while Todorovic had three, as the Bruins hit only .088. 

In the fifth, UCLA scored three of the first four on a pair of kills by Gil and a combo block by Gil and McGraw. USC rallied back with a 5-1 run to take a 6-4 advantage, but a 3-0 Bruin run on a kill by McGraw, a triple roof by Sather, Camp and McGraw and another spike by McGraw put UCLA up 7-6. The Bruins would not trail for the rest of the set. Tied at seven, a USC ball handling error, a kill by Sather and a Camp/Sather combo block gave the Bruins a 10-7 advantage. 

USC got to within one at 10-9, but another 3-0 spurt put UCLA ahead 13-9. A USC service error got the run started, followed by an attack error and a Gil kill. The Trojans sided out the next point, but another kill by Gil gave the Bruins match point at 14-10. USC staved off the first two points, but Gil tallied her fifth kill of the deciding set to give the Bruins their first victory at Galen Center. Sather added three kills in the fifth, as the Bruins out-hit the Trojans .182 to .125. 

Alex Jupiter had a match-high 22 kills, with Jessica Gysin (13) and Audrey Eichler (10) also achieving double figures in kills. The Trojans hit .193 as a team. 

The Bruins return to Pauley Pavilion for a big Pac-10 homestand against the Washington schools next weekend. UCLA faces #24 Washington State on Friday and fourth-ranked and first-place Washington on Saturday. Both matches start at 7 p.m. Gametracker and free audio and video will be available for both matches on UCLABruins.com, while Saturday’s contest against the Huskies will be broadcast on tape delay on Fox Sports Net. 

--- UCLABRUINS.COM --- 

Jason Watson Collects 100th Career Coaching Win As ASU Volleyball Women TopOregon State 3-1

TEMPE, Ariz. – Twenty kills from Sarah Reaves combined with 10 block assists from Paige Mittelstaedt was enough to lead the Sun Devils over the Oregon State Beavers Friday night with a 25-16, 23-25, 25-20 and 25-13 four-set win to push their record to 13-11 overall and 3-9 in conference play. The win also set a milestone for Head Coach Jason Watson as it was his 100th career victory as a head coach.

Set one saw Sarah Reaves drop five kills to lead the offense while Cat Highmark  tossed the rock for 13 assists as ASU hit .433 attack mark while five team blocks, with Paige Mittelstaedt leading the defense with four block assists while Sarah Reaves and Ashley Kastl posted two block assists apiece.

Set two saw Reaves light up the boards again with seven kills for a .357 attack percentage, but OSU stepped up to snap out of their slow start as they posted a .260 attack percentage with Rachel Rourke posting nine kills to for a .538 attack percentage to snake a 25-23 win to tie it at one apiece headed into the break.

The third set saw ASU put it back together in with Reaves killing six in the set while ASU took advantage of OSU’s 11 unforced errors in the set as ASU took the lead again with a 25-20 win. The fourth set was all ASU though as Ashley Kastl killed four while the defense posted 4.5 blocks with Paige Mittelstaedt collecting three block assists as ASU ran off with a decisive 25-13 win to seal the match. Mittelstaedt’s 10 block assists on the night also ties her for second in ASU single-match history a mark, she’s made once before in her career as well as teammate Sonja Markanovich who share the record.

After the match, Jason Watson commented on the match stating, “The team played well tonight with both our offense and defense coming out for a solid match overall. We played well throughout nearly the entire match, which has been a goal we’ve been working toward all year.”

Up next the Sun Devils travel to Eugene as they set to take on the No. 14 Oregon Ducks tomorrow night at 7 p.m.

No. 4 Huskies Volleyball Women Roll To Sweep Of No. 5 Cardinal

Washington earns its first win over Stanford since 2007 and maintains Pac-10 lead.

SEATTLE – Revenge was sweet tonight for the fourth-ranked Washington volleyball team as the Huskies swept No. 5 Stanford 25-21, 25-23, 25-19 tonight at Bank of America Arena in front of 4,557 fans. Washington (20-2, 10-2 Pac-10) avenged one of its two setbacks this year and emphatically snapped a four-match skid against the Cardinal (15-7, 8-4 Pac-10).

 

Senior Jill Collymore and junior Kindra Carlson both posted 12 kills and Collymore fired four aces to put the pressure on the Cardinal. Junior All-American Jenna Hagglund had a double-double with 37 assists and 13 digs, and directed the Huskies to a .262 hitting percentage while Stanford hit .226. Senior All-American Tamari Miyashiro’s 15 digs anchored the defense.

 

“For the most part we put the pressure on them, kept in on them, and finished the thing,” said head coach Jim McLaughlin. “When you have a good plan and good execution you can beat a really good team in three, and we were good tonight. The women played intelligent ball tonight. Jill had a good week of practice and her game reflected that, so it’s always good to see a return on hard work.”

 

The Huskies took a few minutes to rev up in the first set, losing the first four points. But from 1-5 down, Washington ran off 13 of the next 16 points and forced two Cardinal timeouts to take command of the set. Collymore had UW’s first two kills of the set and two service aces to get UW going. Three consecutive Stanford errors were followed by a Hagglund ace and the Huskies had a 14-8 edge. Carlson stuffed a solo block, and redshirt freshman Kelcey Dunaway responded with a finish for a 16-10 lead. Collymore continued to roll with three kills down the stretch. She brought UW to set point with her fifth kill of the set, and ended it with her sixth, as UW owned the first frame, 25-21. The Huskies outhit the Cardinal, .303 to .194 led by Collymore’s .600 percentage (6-0-10).

 

Washington got off to a better start in set two, earning four-straight points on Carlson’s serve for an early 4-1 lead. Collymore connected again and Salvo earned the kill on the next point as UW went up 7-2 and the Cardinal needed a break. Stanford had a 4-1 run out of the timeout to force UW to take time. The teams went back and forth for the middle portion of the set, with Carlson doing the lion’s share of the damage on offense with five kills in an 11 point stretch. A dual block from Dunaway and Hagglund made it 19-15, but after a Stanford timeout, they pulled back within one at 20-19 and UW took time. The Cardinal got even at 22 apiece, but sophomore Bianca Rowland put the Huskies right back ahead with a finish. Salvo flew in and cranked an attack crosscourt for a kill to bring up set point. A bad set saved one for Stanford, but Collymore crushed the next set from Hagglund down to the floor and the crowd erupted, cheering the 25-23 win and the 2-0 lead.

 

Down 4-5 to start set three, Collymore sent two serves in a row careening off the Stanford ‘D’ and into the seats for aces to give UW the lead for the first time. A long rally on the next point was capped off with a Rowland dagger, and Stanford needed time with UW up 7-5. Stanford evened things up, but powerful put-aways from Salvo kept UW ahead. Carlson went high off the block for her 10th kill, and an error by Stanford’s Alix Klineman made it 12-9 Dawgs. Miyashiro gently coaxed a serve just over the net, and it dropped in front of Stanford in its confusion for an ace. Salvo painted the line crosscourt on the next point and it was 15-10 UW with Stanford calling time once again. A few points later, Stanford juggled one at net and Hagglund stepped in to earn her first kill to make it 17-12. A lengthy exchange was ended at the net as Klineman’s attempt was short and UW held a 19-13 lead. Hagglund found another gift and Salvo pounded her fourth kill of the set for make it 21-14. Stanford crept to within 23-18, but Collymore wound up for two more bombs for UW’s final two points and Washington closed out the match, 25-19. The Huskies hit .308 in the final frame compared to .211 for the Cardinal, with Salvo and Collymore combining for eight kills and just one error on 20 swings.

 

Collymore was especially satisfied earning the win in her last home meeting with the rival Cardinal.

 

“When we play our game and play Washington volleyball, we really can do this. We have a shot to go all the way, but we have to play our game and we can’t let up at all,” Collymore said.

 

Washington can’t afford any letdown, however, as 13th-ranked California comes calling on Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Bank of America Arena.

 

 

Oregon State Volleyball Women Fall in Four to Arizona State

 

Corvallis, Ore. – The Oregon State volleyball team battled but fell in four to Arizona State (16-25, 25-23, 20-25, 13-25) on Friday evening in legendary Gill Coliseum.

 

“This was a tough loss because this was supposed to be a team that we should have beat,” head coach Taras Liskevych said. “Out of all the teams that we are playing they are only going to get stronger. We just need to keep clawing away, and it’s going to get tougher mathematically. The girls just need to play some volleyball.”

 

Senior Rachel Rourke (Queensland, Australia) had a team-high 17 kills, while junior Jill Sawatzky (St. Andrews, Manitoba) posted her eighth double-double of the season with 12 kills and 12 digs.

 

Defensively, freshman Alyssa O’Neil (West Linn, Ore.) dug a career-high tying 18 balls. And freshman Ashley Eneliko (Seattle, Wash.) had a team-high six blocks.

 

After falling in the first set, the Beavers took the early lead in the second set, able to effectively hit around the block with 14 team kills and capitalizing on seven Sun Devil unforced errors. Arizona State threatened late, coming back to within one at 24-23, but a hitting error by Sofie Schlagintweit finished the set, tying things at one each.

 

Arizona State’s Sarah Reaves had a match-high 20 kills, adding 20 digs. Libero Sarah Johnson dug a match-high 21 balls.

 

Oregon State is now 11-12, 2-9 Pac-10, while Arizona State improves to 13-11, 3-9 Pac-10.

 

The Beavers host No. 18 Arizona next on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. in legendary Gill Coliseum.

 

Oregon State Notes – Junior Jill Sawatzky recorded her eighth double-double of the season with 12 kills and 12 digs … Senior Rachel Rourke has 1,790 career kills.

 

Support Oregon State University Athletics by making your tax deductible donation to the Beaver Athletic Student Fund.  For more information follow this link or call 541-737-2370. You can make an “everyday champion.”  Follow Beaver Athletics on twitter.

 

Navy Volleyball Beats Army

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Clutch plays down the stretch allowed the Navy volleyball team to record a four-set victory over Army Friday night at the Wesley A. Brown Field House in Annapolis.  The Midshipmen topped the Black Knights, who entered the match with a 10-0 record in the Patriot League, by scores of 26-24, 25-20, 21-25, 25-20 before an overflow crowd of nearly 600 fans.

“First and foremost, I am both excited for and proud of our players,” said Navy head coach Mike Schwob.  “We’ve talked all year to them about never quitting or giving up and sooner or later that hard work was going to pay off for them.  No matter who we were playing they have gone into every match thinking they were going to win, and that continued right up until the last point of every match.  Tonight, that effort was rewarded against a tremendous Army team.

“Secondly, I want to thank all of the fans who were there tonight, especially all of the Cadets from West Point and all of our Midshipmen.  It was an electric atmosphere for our sport tonight and the players and coaches from both programs appreciate everyone who was there to support their team.  I looked into the crowd and I saw our women’s basketball players and coaches, members of our swimming teams and coaches, many other of our student-athletes and non-athletes alike.  Seeing that support from their fellow Mids provided a great boost to our players.”

“This was a great win for our program,” said Navy team captain Abbie Merkl (Sr., Upper Marlboro, Md.).  “Our record doesn’t indicate how hard this team has worked all season.  Tonight was a great building block for our younger players who will be back next year.”

The opening set saw the score tied seven times and the lead change hands on four occasions.  Army (22-4, 10-1 Patriot League) held a 19-15 advantage before Navy (7-19, 2-9) rallied to take a 22-20 lead.  After back-to-back kills by the Black Knights tied the score, the two teams traded the ensuing two points to make it 23-23.  Meghan Carpenter (So., Frederick, Md.) knocked down a kill to give Navy the chance to serve for the set, but that opportunity was erased on a kill by Army’s Amanda Rowell.  Francine Vasquez stepped to the service line for Army but committed an error to give Navy the serve with a 25-24 lead.  The Mids were able to convert their second set-point opportunity when Krista Eschelman (Sr., Germantown, Md.) knocked down a kill.

“We trailed in the middle part of the set and that has been a weakness for us this year,” said Schwob.  “Army had that four-point lead on us, but we didn’t fold this time.”

Navy carried that momentum into the start of the second set by scoring five of the first six points of the frame.  Army quickly answered and pulled to within one point of the Mids at 7-6.  The Navy lead was still at one point at 15-14 when an attack error by Army’s Amanda Mankus and a kill by Carpenter gave the Mids a 17-14 advantage.  The Navy was two points at 18-16 when Eschelman posted a kill and then teamed with Abbie Merkl (Sr., Upper Marlboro, Md.) on a block of Mankus to make the score 20-16.  The two teams pretty much traded points over the rest of the set until a Maida Kalic’ (So., Vernon, N.Y.) kill ended the set and allowed Navy to take a 2-0 lead in sets.

“One of the keys to the second set was the strong start and then not giving up the lead,” said Schwob.  “in a close set there is a big difference serving with the chance to extend a lead as opposed to needing the point to close a gap.”

When the teams came out of the extended break after the second set, Army quickly built a 10-3 lead.  Navy was able to answer, however, and tied the score at 12-12.  It would be tied again at 14-14 when the Black Knights went on a 4-0 run to take an 18-14 lead.  They were able to hold that advantage over the rest of the set to force a fourth set.

“Army is a great team and that third set was a great example of that,” said Schwob.  “We were able to dig ourselves out of a hole, but to their credit Army picked up their game after that.”

An early 4-0 run gave Navy a 6-2 lead and the margin for the Mids would reach as many as five points at 10-5.  Army climbed right back into the set and pulled to within one point at 11-10 before tying the score at 12-12.  Navy was able to take two-point leads at 15-13, 16-14 and 17-15.  At that point Ndidi Ibe (Fr., North Richland Hills, Texas) knocked down a kill to give the Mids a three-point advantage.  The teams played sideout volleyball until Navy took a 22-19 lead.  Consecutive attack errors by Army’s Rachel Willis allowed Navy to take a 23-19 lead, then another kill by Ibe gave Navy a 24-19 advantage and the opportunity to serve for the match.  Army’s Fabiola Castro posted a kill to make the score 24-20, but Ibe knocked down another kill to close out the match for the Mids.

“The fourth set was a lot like the second,” said Schwob.  “Having that little one, two or three-point lead is huge in the latter stages of a set.  Again, we were able to maintain the lead no matter how small it was and that was the difference.”

Navy’s offense posted 60 kills and hit .230 on the night, while its defense held Army to 47 kills and a .165 attack percentage.  The Mids held a 49-44 advantage in digs, which helped offset the 10-8 lead the Black Knights had in blocks.

A trio of Mids recorded double figure kills in the match.  Leading all players in the contest was Eschelman with a career-high tying 17 kills to go along with a .412 attack percentage.  Joining her in double digits was Carpenter with 14 kills and Kalic’ with 10.  Also playing a huge role in the match was Merkl, who posted a line of seven kills, a .357 hitting percentage, 10 digs and four blocks.

Army’s offense was led by Rowell with 15 kills and a .520 hitting percentage.

Navy will close out the home portion of its season Saturday when the Mids play host to Holy Cross in a 2 p.m. game in the Wesley A. Brown Field House.

Read more college volleyball team news, quotes, ranking and information on volleyballvoices.com

NCAA Women's College Volleyball Game Results Today 11/6

MADISON, Wis. - The Wisconsin volleyball team (11-11, 6-7) was overmatched by No. 1 Penn State on Friday, losing in three sets 25-15, 25-13, 25-21. Despite the loss, the Badgers still maintain a .500 overall record.

“Penn State showed why they are the No. 1 team in the country (and) the No. 1 team in the Big Ten,” said head coach Pete Waite. “They’re an excellent, athletic team, but I’m disappointed we didn’t come out stronger to start with. I think we gave them some points just because they had Penn State on their uniform, rather than us really making them earn the points. We gave them some unforced errors.”

Penn State (25-0, 13-0) was able to restrict the Badgers’ offense to a hitting percentage of .000 with 12 team blocks and 41 digs. Arielle Wilson led all players with eight stuffs for the Nittany Lions, while Alyssa D’Errico had a match-high 12 digs.

“Yes, they blocked some balls but we also hit a lot of balls out of bounds and that’s just something you can’t do against a team like this,” said Waite. “You can’t give them any freebies. At times, their block will make you think about swinging elsewhere, but you still have to attack them and we didn’t do that tonight. We have to have that mindset going into tomorrow night against Ohio State where we are attacking that opponent, attacking that block.”

Alexis Mitchell led the UW offense with eight kills, while Janelle Gabrielsen tallied 21 assists. Gabrielsen also chipped in five kills and led the Badgers with a .667 hitting percentage.

The Badgers held Penn State to a .287 hitting percentage, which is in stark contrast to its season average of .412 percent. Mitchell helped to slow the Nittany Lions’ offense, stuffing a team-high four shots. Wisconsin had just six team blocks and 25 digs. Kim Kuzma led the UW with six digs.

PSU was led by Megan Hodge with 12 kills, while Blair Brown and Darcy Dorton added eight apiece.

Penn State recorded its 89^th consecutive victory and is now tied for third on the NCAA’s list of all-time winning streaks across sports alongside the 2003-07 Stanford women’s tennis team.

Penn State opened the first set scoring six consecutive points, three of which came off blocks. The Badgers narrowed the deficit to four several times, but the Nittany Lions soon ran away with the set, winning 25-15.

The Badgers competed with the Nittany Lions early on in the second set with a tie score of three. However, Penn State then went on a 9-2 run to take a convincing 12-5 lead. Wisconsin showed flashes of resiliency in the second set, scoring three straight points to trail 23-13. However, Penn State would prove to be too much to handle as it closed out the set, 25-13.

Wisconsin carried this momentum into the third set, where it forced five ties. Down 4-0, the Badgers battled back to even the set at four all. UW would repeatedly answer Penn State’s attacks, tying the score an additional four times. With the score notched up at 11, Penn State broke open a 4-0 run to take a 15-11 advantage. The Badgers continued to exchange points with the Nittany Lions, but ultimately lost the match 25-21. Wisconsin held Penn State to a .182 hitting percentage in the third set, well under its hitting percentages in the first two sets of .345 and .360 percent, respectively.

“They really put on a clinic tonight,” Waite said. “I thought we woke up in the third set and realized we could play with them but it was just too little too late.”

After the match, Waite spoke about the difficulties Penn State presents in a match.

“They’ve got size, athletic ability, a wide variety of shots,” Waite said. “It’s very difficult to set up your block at a certain spot and then your defense around it because they’re hitting at height and angles that most teams in the Big Ten, most teams in the country, can’t physically do. It’s hard to prepare yourself for that when they’re on. To beat that, you really have to serve tough and I don’t think we did that well tonight.”

Although sweeps can be difficult to handle, Waite says that the team needs to come out ready to play on Saturday.

“We didn’t leave everything on the floor here because we just made so many errors and it made for a quick match,” Waite said. “I think we should be extremely motivated and pretty ticked off that we played like that against a team we had a shot at in our home gym. We had a great crowd and the fans were fantastic. We have to come out pretty pumped up tomorrow night against Ohio State because they’re a very, very good team.”

 

Wisconsin drew a season-high attendance of 5,365 in the UW Field House.

The Badgers continue their homestand on Saturday at 6 p.m. with a match against Ohio State. Wisconsin is set for a battle as Ohio State now owns sole possession of fifth place in the Big Ten.

 

Ball State Women's Volleyball Team Loses Tough Battle Against EMU

 

MUNCIE, Ind. - - In a hard-fought contest that went the distance, the Ball State women's volleyball team fell short Friday evening versus Mid-American Conference rival Eastern Michigan, suffering a 3-2 (25-13, 20-25, 21-25, 27-25, 17-19) setback at Worthen Arena.

 

   With the loss, the Cardinals fall to 11-15 (4-9 MAC) on the year and are 0-5 versus teams from the state of Michigan. The Eagles improve to 5-24 (4-9 MAC) with their second win over the Cardinals this season.

 

   The Cardinals suffered the loss despite a balanced offensive attack that saw double-digit kills from senior Julie Breivogel (Boonville, Ind./Boonville), junior Hannah Sullivan (New Albany, Ind./University of Houston) and sophomore Kelsey Brandl (Lakeville, Minn./University of Cincinnati).

 

   Sullivan threw down a match-leading and season-high 20 kills, while Brandl and Breivogel registered 15 and 12, respectively.

 

   Overall, BSU sophomore setter Brittany McGinnis (Fraser, Mich./Fraser H.S.) helped the Cardinals post a .196 (65-30-179) to .142 (59-32-190) hitting edge in the contest, while collecting her fourth double-double of the season with 50 assists and 14 digs. She also added a match-high five service aces.

 

  On the defensive end, BSU junior Alyssa Rio (Wayne, Ill./St. Francis H.S.) claimed a match-high 34 digs, which was her highest dig total since a 30-dig night versus Siena Sept. 1, 2007. Joining Rio and McGinnis with double-figure digs for BSU were Sullivan and sophomore Kaylee Schembra (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli H.S.) with 15 and 10, respectively.

 

  On the EMU side of the net, Jennifer Swartz was one of three Eagles with double-figure kills, collecting 17 in the contest. Joining Swartz were Rachel Iaquaniello with 15 and Kristen Baker with 12. Haley Stein added a team-best 23 digs, including a pivotal play late in the fifth set to keep EMU alive.

 

  In set one, the two squads remained close early, battling to a 5-5 tie. After a BSU service error gave the guests a brief 6-5 advantage, McGinnis powered the Cardinals on a 7-0 run starting with a kill and adding three service aces.

 

  BSU continued its tear leading 19-7 after ending a 14-2 streak that featured contributions from the entire team. During the run, Sullivan notched a pair of kills, while McGinnis, Breivogel and senior Elaina Kakatolis (Arcanum, Ohio/Franklin Monroe H.S.) all threw down a kill a piece. Sullivan blasted two more kills to help BSU close out set one, 25-13.

 

  Set two saw the teams jump out to another 6-6 tie as Sullivan continued her stellar play, registering five kills in the early going. Despite kills from five different Cardinals, EMU pulled out to a 19-15 advantage, thanks in part to three kills from Swartz and two from Iaquaniello.

 

 Consecutive kills from Breivogel and sophomore Jennifer Boyd (Evans City, Pa./Seneca Valley H.S.) brought BSU within two, but following a kill by Brandl later in the set, the Cardinals were stalled at 20 and the Eagles tied the match behind a set-winning service ace from Iaquaniello at 25-20.

 

  In the third stanza, BSU got off to a hot start and a 5-2 lead by forcing the Eagles into three early errors. The Eagles stormed back, taking an 8-7 lead off a pair of BSU miscues, before a Breivogel kill knotted the score.

 

   The set remained close and BSU was able to regain the lead at 13-11 thanks in part to three kills from Brandl. A pair of kills from Breivogel and a service ace helped the Cardinals hold a lead at 18-17. However, with the score knotted at 20, EMU scored kills on four of the next six play to win the set 25-21. Ianquaniello posted the Eagles' final two markers.

 

  With the guests from Ypsilanti, Mich., holding a 12-7 lead early in the fourth set, two straight kills from Breivogel and Sullivan helped the Cardinals battle back into the set. Later, a pair of kills from Brandl assisted BSU in a 5-1 run that allowed the home team to get within one at 16-15.

 

  Trailing 21-18 after back-to-back kills from EMU's Swartz, Ball State utilized consecutive kills from Breivogel and Sullivan once again to help tie things up at 21 and force an EMU timeout.

 

  The Eagles scored three of the next four points to set themselves up at match-point with a 24-22 lead. However, a Sullivan smash and an EMU error kept the Cardinals alive and tied the set at 24.

 

   A BSU serving error gave Eastern Michigan its third change to close out the match at 25-24, but the Cardinals closed set four with three straight points to force a fifth and match-deciding frame. Brandl helped provide two of the final BSU points, coming up with a kill and teaming with McGinnis for a set-winning block.

 

  In the match's final set, the Eagles used two kills from Baker and two BSU attack errors to pull out to an early 4-1 lead, prompting a BSU timeout. The Cardinals retaliated and tied the set at 5-5 after a pair of kills from Sullivan and a kill from Brandl.

 

  Despite a service ace from Brandl and a kill from senior Alisha Green (Country Club Hills, Ill./University of Tampa), BSU trailed 8-7 as the teams switched sides.

 

  Assisted by a pair of kills from Breivogel and a service ace from McGinnis, BSU tallied off four straight after the court switch to lead 11-8. The Eagles responded with three points of their own to tie things up at 11, but a kill from Green thwarted the EMU run.

 

  Moments later the Eagles would reach their fourth match-point as a Ball State attack error pushed the score to 14-13. However, a Brandl kill tied up the set at 14 to set up the exciting finish.

 

   Trailing at match-point for the fifth time at 15-14 after a kill from EMU's Cassie Sowers, BSU rallied with two consecutive points and an opportunity of its own to win the contest.

 

  Following an Eagles timeout, the guests responded with a block from Baker and Jill Bates and a kill from Victoria Randolph for their sixth chance at victory at 17-16. However, Ball State's Green smashed her fifth kill of the night to push the score to 17-17.

 

 Swartz's 17th marker of the night gave the Eagles their seventh match-point, and they would not be denied this time as an errant BSU attack ended the frame at 19-17 and the match at 3-2 in favor of Eastern Michigan.

 

  The Cardinals continue their three-match homestand Sunday for a 1 p.m. showdown with MAC foe Central Michigan. The match will serve as senior day for BSU's three seniors: Julie Breivogel, Alisha Green and Elaina Kakatolis.

UCF Volleyball Women Falter in Four-Set Match against Tulsa  

Erin Campbell and Kristin Fisher both posted double-doubles for the Knights in the defeat.

               

ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) – Both Erin Campbell (Kansas City, Mo.) and Kristin Fisher (Clearwater, Fla.) posted double-doubles Friday night, but it was not enough as the UCF volleyball team suffered a 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 21-25, 18-25) defeat at the hands of Tulsa in Conference USA action at The Venue at UCF.

 

“I don’t think there is any doubt in my mind that this was the best team that we have played all year,” head coach Todd Dagenais said. “That team is just an offensive juggernaut. We did everything we could to slow them down. We were able to slow them down enough, but not enough to win.”

 

Campbell paced the Knights with 15 kills and added 10 digs and three blocks, with Fisher accounting for 12 kills, 13 digs and four blocks.

 

“I thought our coaches put together an outstanding game plan of how we were going to defend and attack them. For the most part we were able to execute that game plan very well. This was the best that we have played all year. I think the balance in our offense was something we have been striving for all year and we achieved it. Not only could I not be more proud of our effort, but I couldn’t be more proud of our execution for the better part of this match.”

 

Middle blocker Tory McCutcheon (Milton, Ontario) and outside hitter Evija Vilde (Riga, Latvia) also registered double-digit kills for the home team, with 10 and 11 kills, respectively. McCutcheon hit a team-best .400 and tallied three blocks, while Vilde recorded two additional blocks on the night.

 

“The timing work with the middles and the setters is starting to pay off,” Dagenais said. “All the work that Michelle (Chatman) has done in training the middles is starting to pay off. This is about the right time for a freshman middle to shine and Tory has been for the past two weeks. We are expecting big things out of her.”

 

Contributing big numbers on both sides of the net, fellow middle blocker Lauren Williams(Lake Mary, Fla.) hit .312 with nine kills and a team-high seven blocks, while setter Andee Youngblood (Castle Rock, Colo.) guided the Black and Gold offense with a match-high 52 assists and added three blocks.

 

“Andee’s setting decisions tonight were the best that they have been all year,” Dagenais added. “She was really, really in charge of the offense. She knew exactly what we wanted to do and how we had to do it. She had a complete grasp of the game plan and it showed. She set just an amazing match tonight.”

 

Libero Meredith Murphy (Austin, Texas) continued her streak of double-digit digs to six matches after totaling a team-best 19 digs.

 

After falling in the opening set, the Knights bounced back to take the second set, 25-23. In that contest, UCF outhit the Golden Hurricane .390 to .318, out-blocked the visiting squad, 4-1 and only committed two attack errors. UCF and Tulsa evened the score eight different times in set No. 2, which included a 23-23 deadlock late in the game. Back-to-back kills from Fisher, who totaled four kills in the set, gave the Black and Gold the victory and evened the match, 1-1.

 

UCF carried its momentum into the third set, taking an early 11-4 lead on the Golden Hurricane, behind three kills from Vilde and two each from McCutcheon and Campbell. But, Tulsa fought its way back into the contest and tied the score, 16-16, following a 12-5 run. The Knights managed to hang on through the next four points, but after an 18-18 tie, a 7-3 run from the visiting squad put the set away and put the Knights behind, 1-2.

 

The fourth and final set proved to almost mirror the third, with UCF taking an early 14-8 lead, before allowing Tulsa to creep its way back into the game and eventually secure the win.

 

The Knights host their final home match of the season Sunday against SMU at 1 p.m. on Bright House Sports Network. The match also serves as Senior Day for Campbell, Youngblood and Williams and will be aired on tape delay beginning at 7 p.m.  

 

For the latest news on the Knights, log on to www.UCFAthletics.com – the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF’s new online apparel store. Also visit www.UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.

TULANE VOLLEYBALL Women DROP 3-0 DECISION TO CONFERENCE USA FOE RICE

Sophomore outside hitter Visnja Djurdjevic posts 14 kills and 14 digs in the loss

 

NEW ORLEANS – The Green Wave scored the first point of each set, but as the old saying goes – it’s not how you start; it’s how you finish.

 

The adage haunted the home team for the majority of the ballgame as the Tulane University volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision to Rice Friday evening at Fogelman Arena. The Owls (17-8, 9-5 C-USA) barely edged the Green Wave (15-8, 10-4) in the first two sets, 26-24 and 25-23, before Rice pulled away in the final stanza for a match-clinching 25-19 decision.

 

The loss was the first straight-sets defeat in league play for Tulane since falling at Houston, 3-0, on Oct. 12, 2007. Friday’s loss, coupled with last Sunday’s 3-1 loss at Tulsa, marked the first time the Green Wave dropped back-to-back conference matches since falling to UAB and Memphis in 2006 on Oct. 27 and 29, respectively. The loss also snapped a nine-match winning streak against Rice dating back to the 2005 season.

 

“Rice was steady, they were fighting the whole match through, and didn’t have ups and downs,” first-year Tulane head volleyball coach Sinisa Momic said. “Starting in game one, we opened with 10 hitting errors in one set. You can’t beat anyone like that. They saw that they could beat us and stayed in it. At the same time, we didn’t have any leadership or discipline in our game to beat a team like Rice, who played well today.

 

“All those things combined give you a 3-0 loss. Not being determined and a lack of effort factored into it. We have to rebound from this. The season is not over yet. We have to get ready for Houston and finish the season as the highest seed possible going into the tournament.”

 

Sophomore outside hitter Visnja Djurdjevic posted match highs with 14 kills and 14 digs, and chipped in with a solo block to finish the night with 15.0 points. Senior outside Ksenija Vlaskovic was next on the team with 11 kills while senior libero Jenn Miller finished second to Djurdjevic with 12 digs. Senior setter Rachel Lindelow led the Green Wave with 30 assists and junior middle blocker Lindsey Shepard paced the front-line defensive effort with one solo block and one block assist.

 

Rice, meanwhile, led statistically in every category. The Owls had more kills (43-38), more assists (42-35), more aces (4-3), more digs (48-44) and more blocks (7.0-3.0). Rice posted a .274 attack percentage on the night with 14 errors in 106 swings, and the Owl defense held Tulane to a .111 mark as the Green Wave committed 25 miscues in 117 attempts.

 

“It was a lack of discipline, not following the game plan or following it on and off,” Momic said. “We had an overall lack of effort, thinking that we could just beat teams because they’re going to give it to you. We lacked energy and leadership. This was our worst performance of the year.”

 

A Djurdjevic kills accounted for the match’s first point before Rice scored the next three and rarely trailed the rest of the night. The two teams battled back and forth for most of the opening stanza in a set that featured 10 ties and three lead changes. Rice led by as many as four at 14-10, and Tulane actually led late, 20-18. Following an Owl timeout, the two-point lead held at 21-19 before Rice outscored the Wave 6-4 the rest of the way to earn a hard-fought two-point win.

 

It was a similar story in the second set as Tulane scored the stanza’s first three points before Rice answered with a 5-0 rally to take a lead the Owls would lose only once. The Green Wave took an 11-10 lead 13 serves later and the two teams traded the next nine points. A Tulane service error broke a 15-all tie to spark a 3-0 Rice rally and the Owls held set point at 24-21. Tulane cut the deficit to one, but Jennifer McClean powered one home at the end to give Rice another two-point victory.

 

Just as they had done a set earlier, the Green Wave opened what proved to be the final frame with a 3-0 rally only to see the Owls storm right back. Tulane led 12-10 midway through the set, but Rice used a 6-1 rally to the Owls a16-13 lead they would not relinquish. The Owls’ advantaged swelled to as many as eight at 23-15 and Rice went on to win by six.

 

Rice’s McCLean and Ashleigh McCord tied for team-high kill honors with 11 each, and Tracey Lam led the Owls’ defensive effort with 11 digs. Meredith Schamun, the reigning C-USA Setter of the Week, led all players with 34 assists, while Nancy Cole and Jessie Boulavsky shared match-high blocking honors with four assists apiece.

 

The Green Wave return to action on Sunday, Nov. 8, when they play host to Houston at 1 p.m. in Fogelman Arena. The match will be televised live on the CBS College Sports Network. For ticket information, contact the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office at 504-861-WAVE.

 

--www.TulaneGreenWave.com--

 

UNC Asheville Women's College Volleyball Win Battle of BSC Co-Leaders

 

     LYNCHBURG, Va. – UNC Asheville junior outside hitter Kelsey Benorden racked up 25 kills, Friday evening at the Vines Center, leading her team to a 3-1 (25-18, 21-25, 25-21, 25-20) victory over Liberty. The Bulldogs’ hard-fought victory gave them sole possession of first place in the Big South Conference standings.

     Homestanding Liberty had three players finish with double-digit kills, paced by Nicki Scripko’s (Jr., OH, Fayetteville, N.C.) 17. However, the Lady Flames saw their five-match home winning streak halted, as Liberty falls to 15-11 overall and 10-3 in Big South play.

     The Bulldogs boost their overall record to 22-8 and their conference mark to 11-2, after completing their first regular-season sweep of Liberty since 2005.

     White-clad UNC Asheville broke a 7-7 deadlock in the opening stanza with a 6-0 burst. Lauren Ficker and Cindi Miller tallied two kills apiece, as the Bulldogs took the lead for good. UNC Asheville went on to take the first set, 25-18, hitting an impressive .343 for the stanza.

     Benorden asserted herself offensively from the get-go, hitting .500 with six kills in the first set. Teammate Ficker added four kills on a .444 attack percentage. Chelaine McCarty (Sr., MB, Houston, Ala.) hit a team-best .429 with four kills for the Lady Flames, but Liberty was limited to a .154 team attack percentage.

     The second set was the most competitive of the evening, featuring a dozen ties and three lead changes. Benorden’s sixth kill of the session produced the final tie, 20-20. Liberty then wrapped up a 25-21 decision with a 5-1 set-closing surge. Scripko and freshman Loren Thomas (Fr., MB, Ocoee, Fla.) put down two kills apiece during the run, which excited the season-high crowd of 1,214 and evened the match at 1-1.

     Liberty produced its highest team attack percentage of the evening during set two, .250. Leading the way was Thomas, who hit .667 with six kills. Scripko chipped in with five kills and a .444 attack percentage. Benorden once again sparked the UNC Asheville attack, with half of the Bulldogs’ 14 kills.

     The Lady Flames recorded the first point of set three, but it was their only lead of the stanza. UNC Asheville quickly countered with a 6-1 run, highlighted by Benorden’s kill and service ace. Liberty tied the score on four occasions, but could never take the lead. A kill by Miller finished off UNC Asheville’s 25-21 victory, as the Bulldogs took a 2-1 advantage in the match.

     Benorden hit .462 with a set-high six kills in set three. Meanwhile, Bulldog libero Raquel Miotto spearheaded her team’s impressive defensive effort, coming up with 11 of the visitors’ 30 digs. McCarty and Scripko totaled five kills apiece for the Lady Flames, while libero Kelly Haseman (So., Three Rivers, Mich.) had eight digs.

     The Lady Flames got off to a strong start in the fourth and final set, and they owned a 14-12 lead after Karyl Bacon’s (Jr., OH, Temecula, Calif.) kill. UNC Asheville then seized control of the set, taking a 19-14 advantage after seven consecutive Liberty errors. The Lady Flames made a furious rally attempt, as McCarty’s quartet of kills sparked a 6-2 surge which narrowed her team’s deficit to 21-20. Benorden then recorded a kill and a block assist on the ensuing two rallies, sending the Bulldogs on their way to a match-clinching 25-20 win.

     Benorden fashioned six more kills during the fourth and final set, leading all players. On the Liberty side of the net, McCarty had five kills in the stanza.

     For the evening, UNC Asheville owned the advantage across the scoresheet. The Bulldogs enjoyed the upper hand in attack percentage (.245-.159), aces (4-1), digs (85-78) and blocks (8-4).

     Scripko’s 10^th double-double of the season included 17 kills and 16 digs, while she also served up the Lady Flames’ lone ace. McCarty hit a team-high .282 with 16 kills, boosting her career total to 994.

     Bacon and Lady Flame setter Courtney Boggs (So., Marysville, Ohio) also recorded double-doubles. Bacon’s featured 10 kills and 15 digs, while Boggs contributed a match-high 48 assists and a season-best 16 digs.

     Defensively, Haseman totaled 15 digs, while Kirstyn Sanders (R-Jr., RS/MB, Bear, Del.) had a hand in three of Liberty’s four rejections.

     UNC Asheville’s Benorden, who owns the Vines Center record for aces in a match (34), added 15 digs to her offensive numbers. Teammate Miller also reached double figures with 10 kills.

     Miotto, one of the NCAA’s all-time leader in digs, added a match-best 24 to her career total on Friday, while Bridget Holliday chipped in with 19. Bulldog setter Rachel Guinane put up 43 assists.

     Liberty will continue its four-match homestand Saturday at 2 p.m., when Gardner-Webb visits the Vines Center.

     Meanwhile, the Bulldogs will make their final stop on a four-match road swing at High Point on Saturday. Match time is set for 2 p.m. at the Millis Center.

 

NCAA Women's College Volleyball Game Results Today 11/6

SOLID ALL-AROUND EFFORT HELPS LADY VOLS 

DISMANTLE MISSISSIPPI STATE

Fowler Tallies Eighth Consecutive Double-Double with 10 Kills, 16 Digs

 

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee volleyball team (18-6, 11-3 Southeastern Conference) wasted little time sweeping Mississippi State (6-20, 2-13) in front of 805 Lady Volunteer faithful Friday evening, dominating virtually every aspect of the game and trailing for a total of just two points in a 25-13, 25-14, 25-19, victory at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville.

 

“We’ve been playing a lot of tight matches lately, so it was nice to have one with a little breathing room,” UT Head Coach Rob Patrick said. “I thought we controlled the ball pretty well which allowed us to score some real points in transition and our serving took them out of their offense a little bit. We also did a nice job setting up our block and making some adjustments during the match to stop what Mississippi State was trying to do to get kills.”

 

For the eighth consecutive contest, junior Nikki Fowler registered a double-double with match-high totals of 10 kills and 16 digs. The Dallas, Texas, product hit at a .364 clip with just two errors in 22 swings as she moved into 13th all-time on UT’s all-time career kills chart, increasing her career total to 1,109 to surpass Sarah Blum’s mark of 1,101 which she set from 2003-06.

 

Junior Leah Hinkey also tallied 10 putaways in the contest, doing so on .600 hitting as she had only a single error in 15 attacks. Fellow middle blocker senior Farren Powe added a match-best seven blocks, as well as six kills and three digs. Pacing the attack were sophomore Kelsey Mahoney and freshman Natalie Guerra with assist totals of 21 and 19, respectively. With her effort, Mahoney moved into 10thh on the Tennessee career assists list with 1,202 in her two years at Rocky Top.

 

“We always want to get our middles involved in our offense and we hadn’t been too effective with that in the last couple of matches so we wanted to establish them early,” Patrick said. “We were able to pass the ball and dig the ball in transition well enough to get it to Farren and Leah in positions where they could get some kills. They also did a nice job of hitting the ball past the block and putting it in spots on the court that weren’t being defended.”

 

Also moving up a Lady Vol career chart was senior Kylie Marshall, who had nine digs in the win over the Bulldogs to move two scoops past Julie Knytych’s dig total of 1,265 for fifth all-time in Tennessee history. The Puyallup, Wash., native also hit a season-best .455 (6-1-11) and had four blocks and an assist. Fellow classmate Chloe Goldman, meanwhile, tallied three aces.

 

As a team, Tennessee recorded its second-best offensive output of the season, hitting at a .374 clip, while holding Mississippi State to a miniscule .065 attack average. The Lady Vols doubled-up the Bulldogs in the kill category with 48 to their 24, and forced over half of MSU’s attack errors, as 10 of their 18 miscues were due to a Big Orange block.

 

It was all Orange and White from the get-go, as it cruised to a 25-13 victory in the initial frame, holding Mississippi State to a -.034 hitting percentage and just five kills, while smashing out 15 of its own on .294 hitting. Hinkey led the way with five kills on six swings to give her a remarkable .833 attack average in the set.

 

After allowing the Bulldogs to score the first two points of the match, Tennessee rattled off six straight scores to take a lead it would not relinquish the rest of the evening. Hinkey got things started with a pair of kills, sandwiched around two MSU attack errors. The Glenwood Springs, Colo., product then served her first aced of the season before Powe finished off the spree with a blast to the back-left corner of the court.

 

Although Mississippi State would cut its deficit to just one at 8-7, that would be as close as it would get, as the Orange and White went on an 8-0 tear to take full control of the frame. Following another kill by Powe, Goldman tallied back-to-back aces to prompt State Head Coach Jenny Hazelwood to burn her first timeout of the match. The tactic did little to steady her team, however, as UT got consecutive putaways by Hinkey, a kill by Jeter, another ace from Goldman and a block by Marshall and Hinkey to go ahead 16-7.

 

With the scoreboard reading 21-13 in its favor just moments later, Tennessee closed out the set by scoring the final four points. Freshman Leslie Cikra got in on the action with a kill from the outside which was followed by a Bulldog attack error. Jeter and Marshall then gave their team the early advantage with consecutive hammers.

 

The second set was more of the same for the Big Orange, as it continued to keep the Mississippi State offense in check in a nearly identical, 25-14, triumph. UT held State to a .000 hitting percentage, while blasting away to the tune of a .406 average on its end of the court. While the Bulldogs had as many errors as kills (eight), the Lady Vols registered 15 putaways with just two miscues.

 

This time it was Tennessee that claimed the initial two points, getting a blast by Cikra down the left-side line and a kill from Hinkey. The Orange and White proceeded to slowly inch its way out to a 10-8 lead before striking the knockout blow with a 5-0 run, sparked by back-to-back smashes by Fowler.

 

The Bulldogs refused to go away that easily though, scoring three of the next four points before UT really put things out of reach with seven consecutive scores. Cikra and Jeter opened the spree with kills before Hazelwood tried to stop the momentum with a timeout. Once again, the short break did little to slow down the Big Orange, which finished off the run with a pair of blocks by Jeter and Powe, an MSU ball-handling error and kills from both Powe and Jeter. Just seconds later, redshirt freshman DeeDee Harrison sent Tennessee to the locker room with a 2-0 lead after taking a set from Guerra and slamming it home.

 

Fowler simply took over in the third and final frame, notching seven kills on nine swings, an ace, four digs and a block to lead the Orange and White to a 25-19 win. Although the Bulldog offense started to find its rhythm a little bit, Tennessee continued to roll with 18 kills and just four errors on 33 attacks for a .424 hitting percentage.

 

Although UT held the lead the entire frame, it was a back-and-forth battle between the two squads all the way to the finish. A 5-1 run put the Big Orange up 12-7 nearly halfway through the set. The two teams traded the next five scores before a State attack error and two Marshall kills ran the tally on the scoreboard to 17-10 in favor of Tennessee.

 

The Bulldogs came racing back within three, however, riding the right arm of Caitlin Rance during a four-point skein. Consecutive blasts by Marshall and Hinkey kept the attackers at bay though. Following another Rance kill, Fowler tallied consecutive putaways to move the score to 21-15 and force Hazelwood to call her final timeout of the match.

 

This time, the tactic netted her squad a pair of points on a Kellye Jordan kill and Ioana Demian ace, but it was not enough as Mahoney smartly dumped the ball to the middle of the court for a kill and Fowler and Powe joined up to block a Jordan kill on the next two plays. The squads then traded the final four points to account for the final score of the set.

 

The Lady Vols will next be in action Sunday afternoon when Alabama makes the trip to Knoxville for a 1:30 p.m. showdown. Following that contest, Tennessee will close out the road portion of its schedule with contests at Auburn and Georgia. The Orange and White will first take on the Tigers at 4 p.m. CT on Friday, Nov. 13 in Auburn, Ala., before making the trek to Athens, Ga., for a 2 p.m. showdown against the Bulldogs on Sunday, Nov. 15.

 

“Alabama is going to be a really tough match,” Patrick said. “Anytime you have a team that can get kills on the pins like they do, that’s going to be a hard team to play against. Even when they are out of system or there are two blocks up, they can still get kills, so we are going to have to be very disciplined and take advantage of any opportunities we have when we do get a dig on one of their outside hitters. They’ve been playing some really good volleyball lately and it sets up to be a very entertaining match on Sunday.”

 

##LADY VOL VOLLEYBALL##

 

VCU HALTS JMU VOLLEYBALL WOMEN'S WINNING STREAK WITH 3-1 CAA WIN

 

RICHMOND, Va., Nov. 6, 2009 – VCU used 13 blocks, including a record-setting performance by senior Ivana Rich, to record a 3-1 victory over James Madison on Friday evening in a Colonial Athletic Association volleyball match in the Siegel Center.

 

VCU improved to 21-8 overall and 9-2 in the CAA after winning by set scores of 25-14, 25-13, 23-25, and 27-25.  JMU dropped to 11-17 overall and 4-8 in the CAA after having its four-match winning streak snapped.  The streak was the team’s longest since October of 2007.

 

Sophomore Kelly Turner (Ontario, N.Y./Wayne Central) posted a double-double for the Dukes with 11 kills, 12 digs, and two aces.  Junior Lindsay Callahan (Virginia Beach, Va./Landstown) added 11 kills and five digs. Freshman Megan Wiechmann (Sunland, Calif./Village Christian) tallied 32 assists, two aces, and six digs, while sophomore Holly Wall (Kaukauna, Wisc./Kaukauna) led in digs with 18.

 

JMU played without a pair of significant freshmen starters in outside hitterDanielle Erb (Tampa, Fla./Plant) and libero Natalie Abel (Washington, Pa./Trinity).  Erb ranks in the top six in the CAA in points and kills while Abel sits in the top 10 in digs.

 

JMU head coach Disa Garner commented on the loss, “We just had so many injuries and sicknesses that for us to play how we played and did what we did tonight said a lot.  I’m really proud of their effort and dealing with adversity. These kids are fighting hard and working through things.  They’re having to deal with a lot as a young team.”

 

Garner added, “We made some lineup switches between set two and three and moved Holly to libero, inserted Kelly Johnson (Charlotte, N.C./Providence) at right side, and moved Cal to left side and the team really responded to that. Once everyone was in the right place, the team fought hard tonight.  Holly and Cal really settled things down significantly to allow others to do their job.  We had a chance in the last set, and I think if we could have pulled it out, we would have won in set five. “

 

VCU’s 13 blocks were the second-most this season against the Dukes.  Rich had eight assisted blocks to become the career record holder for the Rams with 357 total stops at the net.   She also hit .318 with 10 kills, two aces, and four digs in the match. 

 

Rich was supported by Kelsie Clegg, who hit .348 with 11 kills and four blocks, and Mariel Frey, who led all players with 14 kills and added 10 digs for a double-double to go with two aces.  Lenka Melicharkova hit .583 with seven kills, 41 assists, two aces, six digs, and three blocks.  Maria Low added 23 digs.

 

After a pair of lopsided decisions in the first two sets, JMU’s lineup changes paid dividends in set three.  VCU led 10-6 in the early going, but the Dukes rallied with a 5-0 run with Wiechmann at serve to take an 11-10 lead.  JMU appeared to finally grab an advantage later by turning a 16-15 edge into a 20-16 cushion, but the Rams responded with a 4-0 run.  VCU then held the advantage at 23-22 before the Dukes tied on a kill by Turner and clinched the win on a pair of VCU attack errors.

 

The Dukes carried the momentum into set four and continued battling the second-place Rams.  VCU held a slim lead for much of the first half of the set until a 4-0 JMU run tied at 15-15.  The Rams appeared to then put the match away with a 7-2 swing, but a 5-0 run with Wiechmann at serve kept the Dukes alive.  VCU held match-point serves at 24-23 and 25-24, only to be thwarted both times by Turner kills.  With the score tied 25-25, the Rams finally put the match away with a kill by Frey and block by Rich and Frey.  Turner and Callahan had six and five kills respectively in the set while Wall tallied 10 of her 18 digs.

 

JMU will be on the road again Saturday night at 7 p.m. at William and Mary.

 

 

Fornah and Thornberry Have Career Nights But Wake Forest Volleyball Team Falls To Miami 3-1

 

Deacons are now 7-7 in the ACC

 

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Despite career nights from Wake Forest’s Kadija Fornah and Megan Thornberry, Miami used a big run in the second set to seize the momentum and take a 3-1 victory over the Demon Deacons Friday night in Coral Gables, Fla.

 

Miami improves to 15-9 on the year and 8-6 in the ACC while the Deacons fall to 9-16 and 7-7 in the conference.

 

Wake hit a season-best .517 in the first set and took a 1-0 lead after a 25-15 victory. The Deacs then looked to be in control of set two as they had a set-point up 24-20 but the Hurricanes scored the final six points of the set to steal a 26-24 victory. The hosts then held the momentum and finished off the match with victories of 25-23 and 25-17.

 

Both teams hit extremely well as Miami finished the match with a .295 hitting percentage and the Deacons were not far behind at .291.

 

Wake Forest sophomore Kadija Fornah had eight kills in the first set and finished the night with a career-high 22 while hitting a stellar .400. Fornah eclipsed her previous career-best of 17 kills, which she set earlier this season against Furman. The West Palm Beach, Fla., native also recorded a career-high two block solos on the night.

 

Defensively, junior libero Megan Thornberry collected a career-high and match-high 32 digs to lead the Deacs. Her previous career-best was 30 digs against Georgia Tech almost one year ago to the day.

 

Miami had four different players recorded double-digit kills, led by Lane Carico’s 18. Carico also completed the double-double, notching 21 digs. Ali Becker finished the night with 15 kills and just one error while Christine Williamson also added 15 kills and Lici McGee added 10. Nrithya Sundararaman dished-out 57 assists and collected seven digs for the ‘Canes while libero Cassie Loessberg recorded 21 digs and two service aces.

 

In addition to Fornah, freshman Andrea Beck finished the evening with 10 kills and no errors for a .400 hitting percentage. She also notched a team-high four blocks. Over the last three matches, Beck has recorded 36 kills and just four errors for a dazzling .500 hitting percentage.

 

Setter Kelsey Jones recorded her 10^th double-double of the season on Friday, dishing out 50 assists to go along with 11 digs, four kills and three blocks. Senior Abby Miller also recorded 11 digs while junior Kristen White chipped in with 10.

 

Junior Lauren McIntyre and sophomore Carlin Salmon each had nine kills in the match for the Deacons while Salmon also added two blocks.

 

Wake out-blocked Miami 8-6 and also had more digs, 77-72, but the hosts held the edge in kills 68-61.

 

The Deacons could not have gotten off to a better start as Fornah’s five kills led Wake to an early 13-2 lead. Beck also had a pair of blocks in the run. Miami got as close as seven at 17-10 but another kill and a block by Fornah pushed the lead right back to nine at 20-11.

 

Fornah’s eighth kill of the opening set gave the Deacs a 21-12 lead and after kills from Beck, McIntyre and Salmon, Wake would win the set 25-15. Fornah hit a remarkable .667 with no errors on 12 attacks while the Deacons hit a season-best .517 with 16 kills and just one error. Thornberry also finished with seven digs for the Deacs in the opening frame, helping to hold the hosts to a .071 hitting percentage.

 

Salmon opened the second set with back-to-back kills and after three-straight kills from Fornah, the Deacons had taken an early 6-4 lead. Wake then kept the peddle to the metal with a pair of kills each from Jones and Beck mixed in with a service ace by Thornberry and yet another kill from Fornah to push the lead to 12-4.

 

Miami made a bit of a surge but a kill from Beck and an ace from Cambrey Oehler halted the ‘Canes momentum and forced the hosts to call their second timeout trailing 16-7. The break was what Miami needed as kills from McGee and Mayhew cut the deficit to six at 16-10 and after McGee collected her second kill of the set, the ‘Canes had pulled to within five at 18-13.

 

The run continued as kills from Becker and Maria Anderson gave Miami a 9-3 run which saw the Wake led trimmed to just three at 19-16. But like they had early on, the Deacs turned to Fornah, who responded with two-straight kills to halt the run. With Wake Forest up 21-16, the teams would trade sideouts up until the Deacs took a set-point at 24-20. But Miami then took total control, scoring the final six points to pull-off the comeback and win the set 26-24.

 

After it was all said and done, the Hurricanes finished the set on a 19-8 run and would even the match at 1-1 heading into the break. Carico, McGee and Williamson all had four kills in the set for Miami while Beck and Fornah each had six kills for Wake.

 

Miami kept the momentum coming out of the locker room as it took an early 7-4 lead in the third but thanks to a pair of kills from Salmon along with a block assist from Salmon and White, the Deacs would even the score at 12-12. The teams then traded points until a service ace from Miller and another kill from Salmon broke a 15-15 tie and gave Wake a 17-15 lead.

 

The Hurricanes then responded with 3-0 run thanks to kills from McGee, Williamson and Carico to retake an 18-17 lead. Wake then got a kill by Salmon followed by a pair of kills from Fornah to snatch the lead right back at 21-20. The see-saw battle continued as a kill from Miami’s Becker and an error by the Deacs gave the hosts a 23-22 advantage, forcing a Wake Forest timeout.

 

A kill by Anderson gave the ‘Canes a set-point at 24-22 and despite a kill from Beck, the Deacons couldn’t complete the comeback as a kill from McGee ended the set 25-23 in favor of Miami. Carico had six kills in the frame while Fornah’s five kills gave her 19 for the match, which was already a career-best. Wake hit a solid .357 in the set as Thornberry collected a total of eight digs.

 

The momentum seemed to stay with the ‘Canes as they raced out to a 5-1 lead in the fourth. Wake climbed back to within two thanks to a kill from McIntyre and a service ace from Beck but Miami pushed the lead right back to four at 12-8. The margin stayed close until a 4-0 Hurricane run gave the hosts a commanding 20-13 lead. The ‘Canes would then salt away the rest of the set and win the match 25-17.

 

The win for Miami sweeps the season series between the two teams as the Hurricanes also won 3-1 in Winston-Salem on Oct. 8. That was a turn around from last season as the Deacons had swept the season series.

 

The road trip does not get any easier as the Deacons head to Tallahassee, Fla., on Sunday for a 1 pm match against 16^th-ranked Florida State. The Seminoles took a two-match lead in the conference with a thrilling five-set victory over Duke on Friday night.

Owls Fall to Middle Tennessee in Three

Team Will Wrap Up Road Trip on Saturday

 

MURFREESBORO, TN (November 6, 2009) – The Florida Atlantic University volleyball team (6-18, 4-11 Sun Belt) lost to Middle Tennessee in three sets on Friday.     

Christina Wallinger led the Owls with eight kills, while Kristyna Dzmuranova added seven. Cintia Nightingale had 10 digs for FAU. The Owls will travel to Western Kentucky on Saturday. The match is scheduled to start at 2 p.m.

- FAU –

Marshall Volleyball Women Sweep UAB, 3-0
Herd Notches 20th Win

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Elizabeth Herman and Emily Sullivan combine for 32 kills to help the Marshall University volleyball team roll past UAB, 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-18) in a Conference USA match on Friday night inside the Cam Henderson Center. 

The victory puts the Herd at 20-7 overall, 8-5 in C-USA action.  It marks the seventh time in eight seasons that a MU volleyball team has recorded 20-or-more wins under head coach Mitch Jacobs.

The loss drops the Blazers to 14-15 on the year and 6-7 in C-USA.

MU hit at a .321 (50K-15E-109TA) attacking percentage on the night, while three players reached double-digits in kills for the Herd. 

“We played at a very high offensive level and we kept going after them,” Jacobs said. “ The whole key to the night was to make them stop us.”

The first set of the night featured 21 ties, as both teams struggled to hold serve.  Trailing 21-20, Herman tallied her sixth kill of the frame to tie the score.  Kelly Bugler connected for a pair of kills, sandwiched around a MU service error, to put the Herd up one, 23-22. Ryanne Milligan nailed a service ace, followed by an attacking error by the Blazers to give the Herd a 25-22 first set victory.

Kristin Marcum recorded eight of her 11 kills on the night in the second set, to lead the Herd in a 25-23 second-set win.  After back-to-back kills from Sullivan and Marcum put MU up 22-18, UAB tallied three-straight points to put the set within one, 22-21, and force a timeout by Jacobs. With the scored knotted at 23-all, Marcum tallied her seventh and eighth kills of the frame to take the second set, 25-23.

In the third and final set of the evening, Herman tallied six kills, while Sullivan chipped in with five, as the Herd used 10-2 run to take the third set, 25-18, and win the match.

“Liz Fleming did a great job tonight making sure that those big three (Herman, Marcum and Sullivan) kept going after it offensively,” Jacobs said.  “The four upperclassman led us to victory tonight.”

Sullivan and Herman each finished the night with 16 kills apiece.  Herman hit at a .448 (16K-3E-29TA) attacking percentage, while Sullivan hit at a .375 (16K-4E-32TA) clip.  Marcum tallied her 10^th double-double of the season, with 11 kills and 13 digs.

Elizabeth Fleming dished out a match-high 45 assists and added six digs, while Milligan was the match-medalist with 14 digs for the Herd.

UAB’s Jordan McDonald paced the team with 10 kills and 11 digs for a double-double.

The Herd returns to the court on Sunday at 1 p.m. against the Memphis Tigers.  The match is the final home contest of the year and seniors Marcum and Sullivan will be recognized prior to first serve.

“These two players (Marcum and Sullivan) have won a championship, busted their butts and they have brilliantly represented the Herd both academically and athletically as daughters of Marshall,” Jacobs said.  “Please come out and support them on senior day.

www.HerdZone.com

Tulsa Volleyball Women's Team Net 3-1 Win at UCF

Golden Hurricane (22-5, 11-2 C-USA) plays at first-place Southern Miss Sunday at 1 p.m.

 

TULSA, Okla. – Four players hit double-digit kills, led by Tyler Henderson’s 25, as The University of Tulsa volleyball team scored a 3-1 win (25-23, 23-25, 25-21, 25-18) over Conference USA foe UCF at The Venue at UCF.

 

The Golden Hurricane (22-5, 11-2 C-USA) won the first set and lost the second, then had to come from behind in each of the final two sets after falling behind early to take the match. TU held its spot in second place in C-USA, one half-game behind Southern Miss, which the Hurricane plays Sunday at 1 p.m. in Hattiesburg, Miss.

 

Henderson, with her 25 kills paired with a .420 attack percentage and three blocks, was also one of three players who hit above .400 in the match. Hannah Stout slammed 15 kills and hit .480, adding four blocks, and Julia Kenealy tallied 13 kills and hit .407 in the match, leading the way with six blocks. Jennifer Eichler recorded her 10^th double-double of the season with 11 kills and 14 digs.

 

Tulsa hit .294 as a team (70-22-163) with 70 kills, 63 assists, 66 digs and 11.0 blocks. UCF, which fell to 11-16 overall and 3-11 in C-USA, hit .247 in the match (58-20-154) with 58 kills, 56 assists, 65 digs and 11.5 blocks.

 

Jessica Adams led the Golden Hurricane with 20 digs, while Shelbi Pitcher added 12 digs and Kelsey Hancock had 11 digs and four blocks. Rachel Vukson tallied 37 assists, and Jordan Clampitt recorded 22 assists.

 

Admission to all TU home volleyball matches is free. For all Tulsa volleyball news and information, visit www.TulsaHurricane.com. Follow Tulsa Athletics on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TulsaHurricane. Become a fan of the Tulsa Golden Hurricane page on Facebook – search “Tulsa Golden Hurricane.”

 

-TulsaHurricane.com-

WILLIAMSBURG - The William and Mary volleyball team fell at home Friday night to George Mason, losing the conference match-up by a score of 3-1. The Tribe moves to 15-10, 7-4 in the CAA, while the Patriots improve to 20-7, 9-3 CAA. 

Box Score 

"Tonight was our poorest execution of the year," said coach Melissa Aldrich Shelton '91afterwards. "I believe our nerves got the best of us and we weren't able to recover. I have confidence that we can turn it around for tomorrow night - our bid to the CAA Tournament depends on it." 

Sophomore Lindsay Kresch (Moon Township, Pa.) recorded her seventh double-double of the year with 16 kills on a .233 attack and 13 digs, and also added three blocks. Junior setter Cassie Crumal (Castle Rock, Colo.) also had a double-double, 39 assists and 10 digs to go with two blocks. 

Junior Erin Skipper (Yorktown, Va.) was the second Tribe player to reach double-digit kills with 15, and senior Katie McCarney (Dallas, Texas) hit .353 with seven kills and a pair of blocks. Classmate Lindsey Pflugner (Sarasota, Fla.) had 21 digs to improve on her conference-leading 5.10 digs per set average, and Lauren Powell (Tulsa, Okla.) continued her strong defensive play of late with 15 digs. Junior Ginny Bray (Cary, N.C.) rounded out the notables with a match-high six blocks, three of them solo, and six kills. 

The Tribe showed incredible resilience early, climbing out a 14-7 hole in the first set and tying the match at 21-all on surprise strike by Crumal. The teams re-tied themselves six more times and battled through four set points before GMU was able to eke out a 28-26 win. Kresch hit an astonishing .600 in the set with nine kills and no errors as the College totaled 19 kills, and Pflugner had seven of the team's 23 digs. 

Roles were reversed in the second set as it was W&M that went up big early, 11-2, and GMU providing the chase to knot the stanza at 17-17. The Tribe never relinquished the lead, however, continually coming up with big point after big point to hold off the Patriots and win 25-23. McCarney was the hero at the end, scoring the 24th point and providing the assist to Skipper for the clincher. She hit .750 in the set with three kills, and Skipper had her own massive effort, eight kills and no errors on a .471 attack. 

Coming out of the break, it looked as if the third set would be another tough grind for both teams as the score reached 13-13. George Mason was able to turn on the jets, however, and ride out to a 19-14 lead and then win 25-16. The story remained the same in the fourth set, as the Patriots came out swarming and won 25-15 to end the match. 

William and Mary closes the home portion of its schedule tomorrow night at 7 p.m., hosting James Madison (11-17, 4-8 CAA) in Kaplan Arena. Before the match, the Tribe will honor its five seniors - Pflugner, Powell, McCarney, Bryana Carey (Balboa Island, Calif.), and manager Brian Block - for their four years of dedication and service to the team.

North Texas Volleyball Women Rock ULM In Friday Night Sweep

, Texas (11/06/09) – The North Texas volleyball team took a determined step toward a Sun Belt Conference Tournament berth with a sweep of ULM on Friday (25-26, 25-11, 25-22).

Roxana Casvean slammed home a match-high 16 kills for the Mean Green (11-17, 7-7 Sun Belt) on .652 hitting. That attack percentage is easily a career-high for Casvean, and the highest by a North Texas player since Amy Huddleston’s .692 performance last year that ranks 10^th in program history.

With four regular season matches remaining, the Mean Green needs to win just one of them to essentially secure a spot in the SBC championships. NT closes their final home stand against New Orleans at 1 p.m. on Saturday, and Louisiana-Lafayette on Monday at 7 p.m.  

North Texas forced ULM (3-26, 0-14 Sun Belt) to a .000 attack percentage as a team, the lowest by a Mean Green opponent in 57 matches. The Warhawks landed just nine kills in the first two sets combined, compared to 26 for the Mean Green.

NT’s serve kept the Warhawks off balance all night. Led by Sarah Willey’s four, the Mean Green out-aced the Warhawks 8-1. Willey also led the Mean Green on the back line with 12 digs for her 17^th double-digit outing of the season.

Kati Dillard moved into 10^th place in school history in single season total blocks with her performance against ULM. The sophomore’s four send-backs on Friday gave her 112 on the season. She can jump all the way into fifth place with seven more blocks.

BUCKNELL VOLLEYBALL TEAM TURNED AWAY 3-0 AT LEHIGH

Bison Out-block Mountain Hawks 15-4

 

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Bucknell volleyball out-blocked Lehigh 15-4, but a sluggish offense hurt the Bison (8-15, 4-7) as they fell to the Mountain Hawks (13-13, 6-5) in straight sets in Bethlehem, Pa., on Friday night. Ragin Jackson (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson) led the defensive effort with seven total blocks.

 

Bucknell’s 15 total blocks tied a season high. The Bison also posted 15 in the second game of the season against St. Francis (N.Y.). The team’s eight blocks solos, however, was a new best this fall. Jackson contributed to that high in a major way. Her three block solos were a personal best.

 

The Bison’s attack game was what hurt them in the long run. Both teams hit well in the first set with Lehigh recording a .359 attack percentage and Bucknell coming in at .323. Bucknell fell off after that, hitting just .061 with eight kills in the second set and .000 with seven kills in the third.

 

Despite the low attack percentage, Bucknell was never really out of contention during the match. The Bison led as late as 18-17 in the first set. It was Lehigh that was able to close out the frame, however, as the home team took nine of the final 12 points. That stretch included a trio of kills from the Mountain Hawks’ Chelsea Sheridan and two more from Angelika Kopacz.

 

Kaitlin Segal (Pacific Palisades, Calif./Harvard-Westlake) played a role in all of Bucknell’s points down the final stretch. The junior recorded two kills and teamed with Jackson for a block. In the end, however, it was Lehigh with the 25-21 win.

 

Bucknell fell behind in a hurry in the second set. The Orange and Blue held a 5-4 lead after a kill by Jackie Landes (Pacific Palisades, Calif./Wildwood School), but Lehigh jumped out to 10-5 with the help of four consecutive points from Taylor Poole.

 

Jackson earned one of her block solos to slow the Mountain Hawks’ run and, although the Bison went down by six points at 12-6, they clawed their way back to tie the set at 14 on an ace from Heidi Kamp (Eugene, Ore./Henry D. Sheldon). Segal also tied the set at 16 apiece, but the momentum would not stay with Bucknell. The Bison committed three straight errors, and Lehigh was able to stay just out of reach until the end at 25-21.

 

The third set started much the same way as the second with Bucknell falling behind by a sizeable margin early before mounting a comeback. Jackson opened play with a kill before Lehigh went ahead 5-1. That eventually improved to 9-2, but it did not last. Again, Kamp tied the set at 14 all with a kill. The Bison then took their first lead of the set on the next point as Kamp and Kebah Edoho (Arundel, Md./Odenton) earned the block assist.

 

Serving was key in the next few points as Bucknell gave Lehigh another look by serving an error. The Mountain Hawks gave it right back with their own service error, however, and Rachel Rodriguez (Sagamore Hills, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) recorded an ace for 17-15.

 

The remainder of the set went back and forth with a little bit of everything. Both teams peppered play with kills, service and attack errors and bad sets, keeping the score tight. Allison Gittings (Dayton, Md./Glenelg) recorded her first career block solo to knot it up at 21. The Bison could get no closer as Lehigh recorded three kills on the final four points, giving it the 25-21 victory for the third straight set.

 

Segal and Kamp tied for the team high in kills with seven apiece to lead the offense. Kamp also joined Jackson with a strong blocking performance, collecting five total blocks, including two block solos. Gittings led all players with 21 assists.

 

Three Mountain Hawks shared the match high in kills. Mo McReynolds, Poole and Kopacz each finished with 10. Emma Melendez registered 22 digs, making her the only player in double figures in the category.

 

Bucknell will be back in action tomorrow. The team will try to put an end to its four-match losing streak at Lafayette. The match in Easton, Pa., is slated for a 4 p.m. start. Live statistics on GameTracker will be available at goleopards.com.

 

BucknellBison.com

NCAA Women's College Volleyball Game Results Today 11/6

Duke Volleyball Women Fall 3-2 At No. 16 Florida State

November 6, 2009

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Fatma Yildirim logged a double-double with 15 kills and 21 digs to lead No. 16 Florida State to a 3-2 (22-25, 25-19, 25-13, 21-25, 15-11) win over Duke Friday evening in Tully Gym.

In a match that featured the top two teams in the ACC, Florida State (22-2, 13-1 ACC) came out on top after posting a .306 team hitting percentage and 16 blocks. Yildirim was one of three Seminoles to hit over .380, making just one attack error to finish with a team-high .542 hitting percentage.

Duke (21-5, 11-3 ACC) dropped two straight sets to fall behind 2-1, but rallied with a 25-21 game four win to force a fifth set. The Blue Devils battled to an 11-11 tie in the final game, but had their comeback bid spoiled when Florida State middle blocker Jordana Price came through with consecutive blocks as part of a 4-0 run that clinched the win for the Seminoles. Price finished with eight blocks and 11 kills.

"When our team was communicating well and serving tough, they made great things happen tonight," head coach Jolene Nagel said. "But we just needed to sustain that for a longer period of time to get past such a good Florida State team. We'll continue to work on the mental aspect of our game as we go into our match against Miami on Sunday."

Florida State's setting duo of Duygu Duzceler and Nikki Baker combined for 52 assists in the five-game affair and helped Florida State become just the third team all season to hit over .300 against the Blue Devils. Duke entered the match holding opponents to an ACC-low .150 hitting percentage, but allowed Florida State - which ranked sixth nationally with a .303 team hitting percentage - to post a .300 clip for the second time this season . ACC hitting percentage leader Brianna Barry also posted a .421 clip on the night.

Duke setter Kellie Catanach made use of Duke's outside hitters, sending a combined 101 attacks to Rachael Moss and Sophia Dunworth. Moss made the most of her opportunities and connected on 20 kills for her ninth double-double of the season, while Dunworth also reached double figures with 15 kills.

Junior middle blocker Becci Burling provided six blocks for Duke, including two solo stops, but could do little else to stop the Florida State offense. Catanach also worked her way in on four stops, but Florida State had plenty of options and had four players finish with at least 10 kills.

Duke took the first set 25-22 and fought off a late Florida State rally that saw the Seminoles tie the match at 21-21. Duke led 20-18 until the Seminoles scored three straight points, but then got a boost when senior Brittany Staffeil placed a well-time kill on Florida State's side of the court to reclaim the Duke lead. Libero Claire Smalzer, who entered the match as Duke's leader in service aces, then put the game away with her 34th ace of the season.

Dropping the first game sparked Florida State's offense, however, as the Seminoles hit .462 in game two on the way to a 25-19 victory. The Seminoles totaled 15 kills in the set while making just three attack errors. Despite a 7-for-10 performance from Moss, Florida State broke the game open with a 10-4 run that ran the lead to 18-10. Duke rallied to cut the deficit to five points after a late rally, but could not make up the difference that was created by the performance of Price, Barry and Mira Djuric, who combined to go a perfect 9-for-9.

Florida State's offense was even more efficient in the third game, hitting .533 in a 25-18 victory that put the Seminoles ahead 2-1. Led by 15 assists in 25 sets by Baker and Duzceler, Florida State committed just one attack error on 30 attacks. Duke, meanwhile, was held to a .081 clip after the Seminoles posted three blocks and forced Duke into six attack errors.

Down, but not out, the Blue Devils staved off elimination with a 25-21 fourth-set victory that tied the match at 2-2 and sent it into a deciding game five. The Blue Devils hit just .170, but hammered 18 kills while surrendering just 11 to the Seminoles. Moss came up big once again for Duke, totaling six kills while Dunworth and freshman Megan Hendrickson provided the rest of the offense with a combined nine kills.

With the match on the line, Florida State came out firing and took a 5-0 lead in the final game. Duke rallied, however, and tied the match at 9-9 and again at 11-11. Florida State fought off Duke's final shot at an upset though, and scored four straight points, beginning with Stephanie Neville's eighth kill of the night. From there, Price blocked two straight attacks to run the score to 14-11, setting up a match point that the Seminoles got on a Duke attack error.

Duke will now travel to Coral Gables, Fla., to face off against Miami on Sunday, Nov. 8. Duke swept the Hurricanes 3-0 in their last meeting this season.

-d-u-k-e-

Stony Brook Volleyball Women Move Into A Tie For Second With Sweep of Binghamton 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Craig Schroeder (631) 632-7293, craig.schroeder@stonybrook.edu 

Stony Brook, N.Y. (Nov. 6, 2009) – Behind a season-high .371 team hitting percentage, Stony Brook University’s volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-13) sweep of Binghamton on Friday night in Pritchard Gymnasium. In the team’s lone Friday night home match of the season, seniors Harmonie Calinda (Huntington, N.Y.), Lisa Doremus(Glendale, Ariz.) and Lindsey Gordon (N. Patchogue, N.Y.) all recorded double-digit kills. Gordon was errorless in her 14 attacks for a match-high .714 attack percentage. With the win, Stony Brook moves to 13-11 (5-3 America East) and into a tie for second place with UMBC, while Binghamton drops to 11-14 (3-5). 

Stony Brook came out aggressive in the first set, jumping in front 5-1 behind two kills from Calinda and an ace by junior Jeanette Gibbs (Port Jefferson, N.Y.). The Bearcats crawled their way back into it, however, eventually using a 4-0 run to move in front by two at 10-8. A kill by Anna Lejina, her fourth of the set, put Binghamton up 13-9 before the Seawolves bounced back, scoring nine of the next 11 points to regain the lead at 18-15. Junior Ashley Headen (Alexandria, Va.) notched three kills during SBU’s run. A Binghamton timeout could not slow the Seawolves as they went on to take the first set 25-17, allowing the Bearcats to record just one kill the rest of the way. 

While Stony Brook’s offense did record a .390 hitting percentage in the second set, it was the defense that led the way to its second set win. SBU recorded 19 digs in the frame, including four each from Gibbs and sophomore Bianca Hernandez (East Moriches, N.Y.). Despite not recording a block, Stony Brook’s frontline continuously denied Binghamton’s attack. Leading 7-4, Headen and freshman Sally Downs (Coppell, Texas) returned three-consecutive attacks by the Bearcats, with Downs eventually recording an unassisted kill. The Seawolves would record six unassisted kills in the set as Binghamton struggled handling serves. 

Despite a back-and-forth start to the third set, Stony Brook saved its best for last, committing just one error while racking up five blocks and holding the Bearcats to a .094 attack percentage. Ahead by just two at 10-8, back-to-back aces by Doremus kicked off a 10-4 run by the Seawolves which helped secure the win. 

Stony Brook wraps up its 2009 home schedule with a match against Albany on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Prior to the start, Stony Brook’s Department of Athletics and the Seawolves volleyball team will honor this year’s senior class of Michelle Burrola (Glendale, Ariz.)Harmonie Calinda, Lisa Doremus, Lindsey Gordon, Justine Hoffmann (Wading River, N.Y.) and Jamie Watson (New City, N.Y.). 

RICH BLOCKS VCU PAST JAMES MADISON, INTO RECORD BOOKS 

RICHMOND, Va. – Senior Ivana Rich (Cumberland, Va.) recorded eight blocks to become Virginia Commonwealth University’s all-time leader and spark the Rams past James Madison, 3-1 (25-14, 25-13, 23-25, 27-25), Friday night at the Verizon Wireless Arena. 

VCU has won a season-high six straight and improves to 21-8 overall and 9-2 in the Colonial Athletic Association. The Rams remain half a game behind first-place Delaware, which defeated Towson Friday night. JMU saw its four-match winning streak come to an end and dropped to 11-17 overall and 4-8 in CAA action. 

Rich, who needed just two blocks to pass Jonnie Stone on the Rams’ all-time list, picked up the record-breaker early in the first set. When the mark was recognized during a subsequent timeout, Rich received a warm ovation. She now has 357 career blocks. 

In addition to her work at the net, Rich added 10 kills and hit .318. Also for the Rams, juniorMariel Frey  (Lititz, Pa.) smashed a match-high 14 kills, while junior setter Lenka Melicharkova (Zlin, Czech Republic)  handed out 41 assists and registered seven kills. Defensively, freshman Marisa Low (Carlsbad, Calif.) produced 23 digs. 

Lindsay Callahan and Kelly Turner registered 11 kills apiece for the Dukes, but JMU hit just .037 on the night without its top hitter, freshman Danielle Erb. 

VCU hit .207 and cruised to 25-14 and 25-13 wins in the first and second sets, respectively. However, the Dukes battled back for a 25-23 win in the third set as the Rams hit .070 with 11 errors. VCU never trailed in the fourth set, although the James Madison did push the Rams in a 27-25 win. 

The Black and Gold return to the floor on Saturday, Nov. 7 when it hosts George Mason at 7 p.m. at the Verizon Wireless Arena. The Rams will be looking to avenge a 3-2 loss to the Patriots on Oct. 2 in Fairfax, Va. With Delaware idle, VCU can move into a first-place tie with the Blue Hens with a victory. 

No. 12 Minnesota Down The Hoosier Volleyball Women

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.- The Indiana University volleyball team (14-14, 3-11) dropped a match in Minneapolis Friday night, defeated by the No. 12 Minnesota Golden Gophers (18-7, 9-4), 25-15, 25-13, 25-15. Kelsey Hall was Indiana’s top performer with eight kills, a .304 hitting percentage and seven digs. Caitlin Cox paced IU with 10 digs.

 
Hall brought her ‘A’ game in the opening set, finishing off five of 10 errorless swings for a smooth .500 hitting efficiency. She also dug two balls and successfully passed a pair of Minnesota serves. The Hoosiers other California native, Whitney Granado, was also locked-in early on. Granado tallied four digs, all of which were spectacular defensive efforts by the Riverside, Calif., product. The rest of the Hoosiers struggled, however, as the Golden Gophers recorded a 25-15 set winner.
 
Samantha Thrower was inserted into the line-up at middle blocker for set number two, and she instantly produced with kills on her first two swings. An ace by Laura Matula completed an 8-2 run for IU, putting the Cream and Crimson ahead 8-4. Indiana’s edge remained at two points moments later, leading 12-10 before the wheels came off. Minnesota grabbed 15 of the next 16 points for a 25-13 triumph.
 
Freshman Shawn Hindman entered the match in the final frame, ripping three aggressive attacks. Her third attempt found pay dirt as she hit .333 in the set. The final score leaned in favor of Minnesota though, 25-15.
            
The Hoosiers are on the road next weekend, heading to the state of Michigan for matches against the Spartans and Wolverines. Follow along all the action with live audio feeds provided by <i>IUHoosiers.com</i>, free of charge.
 
 

Blazer Volleyball Women Fall Friday at Marshall, 3-0

Jordan McDonald continues strong play in UAB loss

HUNTINGTON, W. Va. -- Despite Jordan McDonald's fifth consecutive double-double, the UAB volleyball team lost, 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-18), Friday night to Marshall in Conference USA action at the Cam Henderson Center.

McDonald, a product of the Birmingham area's Vestavia Hills High School, posted 10 kills and 11 digs, but she finished as the only Blazer in double-digit kills compared to three for the Thundering Herd. Michelle Uzoh had nine kills for UAB, and Andrea Lalic finished with eight.

With the loss, UAB dropped to 14-15 overall (6-7 C-USA), while Marshall improved to 20-7 (8-5 C-USA). Both teams have already locked up spots in the C-USA tournament. The Blazers continue their weekend road trip Sunday with a 1 p.m. ET (Noon CT) match at East Carolina.

Marshall's Elizabeth Herman and Emily Sullivan led all players in Friday's match with 16 kills, and teammate Kristin Marcum added 11 as the trio combined for 43 of Marshall's 50 kills. Setter Elizabeth Fleming ran the Thundering Herd attack with 45 assists in the three-set match.

UAB turned in its second-best hitting performance as a team this season with a .297 attack percentage for the night, but Marshall was slightly better at .321.

The first two sets couldn't get much closer, but Marshall managed to score the big points when it need them. The opening frame was tied at 22-22 before the Thundering Herd notched the final three points on a Kelley Bugler kill, a Ryanne Milligan service ace and a UAB attack error. The second set was tied at 23-23 before a pair of Marcum kills gave Marshall a two-set lead.

In the third set, UAB struggled down the stretch as Marshall put the match away. After playing to a 16-16 tie, the Thundering Herd tallied nine of the set's final 11 points.

One positive for UAB was its blocking performance, which has been a strength throughout the season. The Blazers out-blocked Marshall, 7-0, for the match. Setter Alison Woods, who had 30 assists in the contest, led UAB with four total blocks, and Uzoh added three.

Marshall's win evened the all-time series between the teams at 5-5 as the Thundering Herd snapped a three-match UAB winning streak in the series. The teams are scheduled to meet again in six days when they match up in Birmingham on Nov. 12.


-- CALL US UAB --

Fairleigh Dickinson Outlasts Quinnipiac Volleyball Women, 3-2

Freshman Chelsey Pachoud Tallies Season-High 19 Kills

 

HACKENSACK, N.J. – Freshman Chelsey Pachoud (Riverview, Fla.) tallied a career-high 19 kills, but the Quinnipiac University volleyball team was outlasted by Fairleigh Dickinson, 3-2, Friday night at Stratis Arena. With the loss, the Bobcats fall to 3-24 (2-12 NEC), while the Knights improve to 6-22 (3-9 NEC).

 

Logan Riker (Bowling Green, Ohio) contributed 22 digs, while Kayla Lawler (Richmond, Ind.) added 38 assists. Kelby Carey (Surfside, Calif.) added her 11th double-double of the season with 10 kills and 18 digs. Alyssa Naylor (San Diego, Calif.) also contributed 11 kills, while Taylor Payne (Warwick, N.Y.) had a team-high two blocks. Erin Overdevest (Bridgeton, N.J.) also tallied 11 digs. Carey, Lawler and Riker all had three service aces for the Bobcats.

 

The Bobcats took the first two sets, 25-21 and 25-17, respectively, before the Knights stormed back with a 25-21 decision in the third set and a 25-20 win in the fourth. FDU clinched the match with a 15-13 victory in the fifth set.

 

Quinnipiac returns to the court Sunday, when it plays host to Sacred Heart. First serve from the Burt Kahn Court is scheduled for 2 p.m.

 

Box Score

Season Stats

Quinnipiac Volleyball Homepage

Northeast Conference Volleyball Homepage

 

Mastodons Swept by Jaguars

 

IPFW drops to fourth in the Summit League standings

 

Indianapolis, IN – The IPFW Mastodons were swept 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-20) on Friday night by the Jaguars of IUPUI, dropping the squad to fourth in the Summit League.

 

IPFW was held without an attacker in double-figure kills for just the third time this season, as the team was led by Maya Schlindwein’s nine kills. Rebekah Roehm and Stephanie Lamberti each added six kills in the losing effort. Megan Steenhuysen picked up a double-double with 24 assists and a team-high 13 digs, as senior Jamie Schwartz added 10 digs. Schlindwein’s four blocks were best on the team, as Alli Hook, Taryn Parker, and Steenhuysen each added three.

 

The Mastodons led early in the first set, including by as many as four at 11-7, until the host Jaguars clawed their way back, using a 9-1 run to jump ahead 16-12, and didn’t look back in the 25-19 opening frame.

 

IUPU scored the first two points of the middle set, and never trailed, although IPFW fought to within two points at 15-13, until the hosts scored six straight points take their lead to eight, cruising in the 25-17 second set Jaguar win.

 

The third set was one of runs, as there were very few first-serve sideouts by either team, as IPFW jumped ahead after a 2-0 run to open the frame, before IUPUI scored four of the next five to lead 4-3. IPFW ran off three straight to lead 6-4, until six straight IUPUI points gave the hosts the advantage once again, at 10-6.

 

Trailing by four, the ‘Dons rattled off four consecutive points to tie the score at 10, before another Jaguar run, this one 5-0 gave the hosts a lead that they would not give up for the remainder of the match. IPFW got to within two at 18-16, until the Jaguars scored six of the next seven points to set up a match-point scenario at 24-17. The Mastodons valiantly fought back, scoring three straight to close to within four at 24-20, but a kill by IUPUI’s Kalyse Reimbold, her 16^th of the match, sent the hosts ahead of the Mastodons in the league standings with the sweep.

 

Reimbold’s 16 kills were tops in the match, as Lindsey Weber added nine. IUPUI’s setter Danielle Goodnight became the school’s all-time leader in assists, as her 35 assists in the match took her four-year total to 3,816. Shari Bernhardt led the team with 16 digs, as Ashley Johnson had a match-high six blocks.

 

The Mastodons turn around and will play against Western IllinoisUniversity on Saturday evening at 8:00 PM Eastern Time. Tonight the Leathernecks fell in five sets to the Golden Grizzlies of Oakland University, who currently sit in second place in the league.

 

~Dons~

 

FIU Women's Volleyball Team Makes It 

18 Straight With 3-1 Win Over WKU

The Panthers improve to 15-0 in conference play and 25-2 overall

BOWLING GREEN, Ky.  – The FIU volleyball team defeated Sun Belt Conference rival, 3-1, on Friday night at E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, Ky., as the Panthers won their 18^th straight victory to improve to 25-2 (15-0 SBC) on the season.

The first set saw both teams come out ready to play as the squads battled back and forth to begin the match. WKU took a 16-10 lead to force an FIU timeout, but freshman Jovana Bjelica came through with a kill to make it 16-11 out of the break. A WKU kill and a Panther violation put the score at 18-11, but a Hilltopper service error brought FIU within six at 18-12.

 

A WKU kill made the score 19-12 before a Hilltopper error and a kill from senior Yarimar Rosa put the score at 19-14. WKU tallied three of next five points and with the score at 22-16, a Hilltopper hitting error and a kill from Rosa put the Panthers within four at 22-18.

 

Following a timeout, WKU recorded a kill but senior Olga Vergun retaliated with a kill of her own to make it 23-19. A Hilltopper kill put WKU in set-point position and a WKU service error put the score at 24-20, but a Panther hitting error gave the Hilltoppers a 25-20 set-win to go ahead 1-0 for the match.

 

Down 1-0 for the match for just the fourth time this season, FIU came out strong in the second set, tallying the first four points and later taking a 15-9 lead. The Panthers increased their lead to seven at 19-12 but the Hilltoppers would not go away, getting within three at 20-17.

 

A pair of kills from Rosa put the score at 22-17 but WKU recorded three straight points to make it 22-20. A Hilltopper hitting error gave the Panthers a three-point advantage before WKU answered with a kill to make it a two-point match at 23-21, but FIU closed out the set with two consecutive points to tie the match at 1-1 with a 25-21 second-set victory.

 

Through two sets of action, FIU hit at a clip of .269 while WKU notched a hitting percentage of .329. Rosa led all scorers with 11 kills while junior Natalia Valentin recorded 23 assists and freshman Chanel Araujo was credited with six digs.

 

Set three saw the Panthers jump out to a quick 9-1 lead but once again the Hilltoppers battled back. With FIU holding an 18-14 advantage, a Hilltopper hitting error put the score at 19-14 but WKU recorded two points to come within three at 19-16. The squads then traded service errors before the Hilltoppers tallied a point to make it a two-point game at 20-18.

 

Following an FIU timeout, WKU tallied a point to make it 20-19 before Rosa slammed home a kill to make it 21-19. The Hilltoppers retaliated with a kill but Rosa struck again from the left side to give FIU a 22-20 advantage. The teams then traded errors and with the score at 23-21, a WKU service error put FIU in set-point position. Bjelica came through with a kill to give FIU a 25-21 set win to go ahead 2-1 for the match.

 

The fourth set saw numerous ties before FIU took a 15-12 lead. WKU fought back to within one at 18-17 and then tied the match again at 18-18. The Panthers then recorded four straight points to go ahead, 22-18, but the Hilltoppers would not go away, tallying two points out of a timeout to put the score at 22-20.

 

A block by Valentin and Lakovic put FIU on top, 23-20, but once again WKU came back with a point to make it 23-21 and a Panther attack error put the score at 23-22. Rosa then came through with a kill from the right side to put FIU in match-point position at 24-22 before the Hilltoppers answered with a kill to make it 24-23. Bjelica then slammed home a kill from the right side to give the Panthers a 25-23 set win and a 3-1 match victory.

 

Rosa recorded a double-double with 20 kills and 14 digs, both team-best marks, while Bjelica tallied 19 kills against just two errors for an attack percentage of .486. Sophomore Andrea Lakovic had a stellar outing on both sides of the net, notching seven kills against a single error for a hitting percentage of .429 and recorded three solo blocks and three block assists. Bjelica added a team-high four blocks.

 

Valentin recorded 35 assists and FIU’s lone service aces of the evening while freshman Chanel Araujo added 10 digs.

 

FIU returns to action tomorrow night, Saturday, Nov. 7, as the Panthers battle SBC rival Middle Tennessee in Murfreesboro, Tenn., at 8 p.m. EST.

 

-FIU-

Yale Volleyball Women: Bulldogs Outlast Harvard, 3-2

Crusey and Dailey Both Top 20 Kills and Digs

 

 

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — In recent years, the Yale and Harvard volleyball teams have made it a habit of playing at least one five-set match per season. Friday night’s showdown in Cambridge was yet another encounter for the record books, as the Bulldogs outlasted their historic rival in five frames by set scores of 20-25, 25-21, 25-17, 16-25, 19-17. Senior Alexis Crusey had a pair of match highs with 22 kills and 26 digs, and senior Cat Dailey added 21 kills and 20 digs to lead Yale to its 12th straight victory over the Crimson.

 

With the win, the Bulldogs improve to 18-3 overall and 8-2 in the Ivy League. The Crimson falls to 10-12 overall and 6-5 in the Ancient Eight.

 

“This was a tremendous team effort”, said Yale Head Coach Erin Appleman. “The Yale-Harvard rivalry is always competitive, and tonight was another extremely tough match.”

 

Sophomore Bridget Hearst joined Crusey and Dailey in double figures with 15 kills. Freshman Haley Wessels had six finishers, sophomore Taylor Cramm added four and the trio of Laurel Johnson, Julia Mailander and Kerry Clavadetscher each notched a kill. Clavadetscher doled out a career best 63 assists from the setter position. Junior libero Kelly Ozurovich had 20 digs for the Bulldogs, and Mailander reached double figures with 10.

 

Set one raced out to a 7-7 deadlock, before Yale made the first run with a 3-0 spurt to grab a 10-7 advantage.  The Crimson chiseled away at the lead before knotting the score once again at 12-12. The stalemate held up until 18-18, when Harvard strung together consecutive points to take a 20-18 lead.  The Crimson would extend its lead to three points, 22-19, to force a Yale timeout. Harvard took three of the next four rallies out of the stoppage to claim set one, 25-20.

 

Yale would play from behind at the beginning of the second set, as the Crimson jumped out to a 2-0 lead and maintained leads of one and two points, until the Bulldogs pulled even at 7-7 and kept the deadlock intact up to 11-11. At that point, a kill and ace by Dailey and a Harvard attack error accounted for a three-point Yale spurt that forced a Crimson timeout. In total, the run would go to 6-0 to give Yale a six-point cushion at 17-11. Harvard would then string together a 6-2 spurt of its own to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to two points at 19-17 and cause Coach Appleman to burn a timeout. Yale hung tough with its two-point advantage up to 23-21, and a Harvard attack error ran the score to set point at 24-21. The Bulldogs cashed in on the opportunity as Wessels and Crusey teamed up for the block to win the set and knot the match at 1-1.

 

Both teams came out firing in the pivotal third set to a 4-4 tally, when the Bulldogs ran off three straight points to take a 7-4 lead. The advantage grew to five points at 11-6, punctuated by a Wessels kill, to force an early Harvard timeout. The Crimson would get no closer than four points, and the lead soon grew to eight at 18-10, at which point the Cantabs took their second timeout of the frame. The Bulldogs led by as many as nine points the rest of the way en route to claiming set three, 25-17, to take a 2-1 edge in the match.

 

With its back against the wall, the Crimson took four of the first five rallies in set four to take a 4-1 lead, and soon led by a 9-4 mark to force a Yale timeout. The Bulldogs never recovered from the early deficit, as Harvard ran away with set four, 25-15, to force a deciding fifth frame.

 

Set five was a battle from the get-go, as the two squads traded points to a 7-7 tie, and a Hearst kill gave the Bulldogs an 8-7 edge as the teams switched sides. Yale finally took the first multiple-point lead for either side at 11-9. That lead was short-lived, however, as the Crimson won the next two rallies to knot the score at 11-11 and force a Yale timeout. The stalemate held to 12-12, when Clavadetscher dumped in a kill to give the Bulldogs a 13-12 lead. The Bulldogs took the next point on a Harvard attack error to push the score to match point at 14-12, but Harvard broke two straight match-point chances to knot the score yet again at 14-14. A Harvard kill gave the Cantabs a match-point opportunity, but Crusey hammered home a kill to keep the match alive at 15-15. Harvard won another point to grab another chance at winning the match, but a Crusey kill thwarted that opportunity as well. A Dailey kill gave Yale a match-point chance, but the Crimson defense held up to tie the score at 17-17. Dailey slammed  another kill to give Yale its third match-point opportunity, and  this time the Bulldogs cashed in as another Dailey attack landed on the Crimson side of the net to give Yale the match with a 19-17 victory.

 

Mikaelle Comrie led four Harvard players in double figures with 19 kills. Lily Durwood had 56 assists for the Crimson, and libero Christine Wu registered 25 digs,

 

The Bulldogs are back in action tomorrow as they travel to Dartmouth, who defeated Brown in five sets tonight, for a 4 p.m. contest.

 

Billiken Volleyball Women Eke Out A Win at Charlotte

Fonke posts 18 kills, Behrens tallies 18 digs

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Charlotte hit better overall than No. 21 Saint Louis and held a 10-2 advantage in blocks, but the Billikens came through in the clutch to pull out a 25-23, 26-24, 25-20 Atlantic 10 Conference victory on the road Friday evening. SLU, which remains tied atop the A-10 standings with Dayton, improves to 18-6 overall, 11-1 in league play. The 49ers, who dropped their sixth straight match in the series vs. the Bills, fall to 15-13 overall, 6-6 in conference matches.  

Bridget Fonke collected a match-high 18 kills to go with seven digs, while Alyssa Deno contributed nine kills. Whitney Roth tallied 37 assists, six digs and two service aces, and Whitney Behrens registered a team-best 18 digs.   

The Billikens were slow getting out of the gate in the opening set, falling behind by as many as five points after Charlotte scored four straight points to earn a 7-2 lead. The teams swapped points before SLU cut the deficit to 8-7 on a pair of 49er miscues and kills from Deno and Fonke. But two Billikens hitting errors bookended a pair of Charlotte kills that allowed the 49ers to go up 12-7. Three kills from Fonke spurred a 5-0 Saint Louis run that knotted the score at 12-12. After four ties brought the set to 18-18, Fonke recorded back-to-back kills and Sammi McCloud served an ace to put SLU on top 21-18. SLU was clinging to a 21-20 lead when McCloud left the match due to an injury after diving for a loose ball. Fonke terminated to make it a two-point game at 22-20 but the 49ers took advantage of consecutive hitting errors by the Billikens to tie things up at 22-22. After a timeout Fonke tallied a kill and a kill from Megan Boken gave Saint Louis its first shot at set point. Charlotte’s Bianca Rouse posted a kill to draw her team within one at 24-23, but a 49er service error ended the set in SLU’s favor. Fonke led all players with nine kills and sizzling .529 hitting percentage, though Charlotte had a better set overall offensively. The 49ers hit at a .355 rate with just one error compared to SLU’s .268 hitting percentage that included eight hitting errors.

Casey Chernin scored on a pair of kills and Deno added one to help Saint Louis stake its way to a 3-1 lead in the second set. Charlotte responded with five straight points as its blocking front came to life. After a pair of Billiken hitting errors, the 49ers blocked SLU’s next three attempts to claim a 6-3 advantage. Boken’s kill finally halted the spurt before Kat Hicks posted a solo block to make it 7-4. The Billikens slowly worked their way back eventually recording consecutive points on a 49er serving error and kill from Sally Warning to bring the set to an 11-11 stalemate. SLU led 13-12 when Charlotte exploded for six straight points powered by two kills and block by Kara Raker. Trailing 18-13, the Bills were not about to go away quietly as they mounted a 5-0 charge of their own that retied the score at 18-18. A kill from Deno ignited the rally and was followed by three 49er mistakes before Boken ended the spurt with a kill. Charlotte Jenna Litoborski connected for a kill to put her team up by one, but Fonke and Roth gave the lead right back to SLU at 20-19 with consecutive kills. A Billiken service error briefly halted the scoring before Fonke sandwiched a pair of kills around a 49er hitting error to make it 23-20. Charlotte scored four of the next five points to forge a 24-24 tie. But a kill from Fonke and a combo block from Warning and Chernin helped Saint Louis claim a two-set lead. Both teams struggled offensively, committing eight errors apiece. Fonke again led all players in kills with six.

Saint Louis took on the role of the aggressor in the final set unlike in the first two sets. The Billikens managed to build a 9-6 lead due in large part to the play of Warning. She helped SLU score its first three points on two kills and a combo block with Boken. The 49ers’ Sheri Davis notched a kill to spark a 4-0 run that helped her team seize the lead at 10-9. The teams traded points from there before the Bills went up 16-13 courtesy of a four-point charge that included a pair of kills from Chernin and a Behrens service ace. Four of the next six points went to Saint Louis as it raced out to a 20-15 lead. Consecutive terminations from Davis and Jennifer Webb preceded a 3-0 spurt by the Billikens that gave SLU a 23-17 advantage. Webb and Warning traded kills to give SLU its first shot at set point. Rouse scored back-to-back kills to trim the margin to four but another 49er serving error gave Saint Louis the win. Both teams collected 13 kills and four errors in the final set but with fewer attempts the Bills out-hit Charlotte .265 to .243.

NCAA Women's College Volleyball Game Results Today 11/6

Clemson Volleyball Women Down Maryland in Three Sets on Friday

Tigers hit .326 for the match while holding Maryland below .100

COLLEGE PARK, MD – Clemson volleyball won its fourth consecutive match on Friday night, taking out Maryland, 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-15). Sandra Adeleye led the Tigers (19-7, 9-5 ACC)in kills with 13, while senior Lia Proctor had 12. The Tigers hit .326 in the match, while using 11.0 blocks to hold the Terrapins (11-16, 3-11 ACC) to a .083 mark.

The Tigers will return to action on Sunday in Chestnut Hill, MA to take on the BC Eagles at noon.

Kelsey Murphy led the way for the Tigers offensively, recording 30 assists and six kills, her second-best output of the season. Adeleye hit .524 (13-2-21) for the match in leading Clemosnin kills for the fourth consecutive match, all Tiger victories. Didem Ege had 17 digs, bringing her career digs mark to 2,183, only 18 shy of second place in ACC history.

Adeleye and Rand were big for the Tigers up front, with Adeleye registering six blocks and Rand five. The Tigers recorded six service aces on the evening, led by two from freshman Serenat Yaz, who is tied for the team lead with 23 on the season.

Clemson controlled the first set from the outset, jumping out to a 6-2 edge behind three Adeleye kills and a block from Proctor and Adeleye. Clemson extended the lead to 10-4 on two consecutive Maryland errors. The Terrapins fought to within three at 17-14, but a timeout by Hoover sent Clemosn on a 6-2 run behind three consecutive blocks from Alexa Rand. Cansu Ozdemir found the floor for the 25-18 set win. The Tigers hit .345 for the set, while holding Maryland to a .000 mark.

In the second set, the two teams traded points in the early going. With the score knotted at seven, Clemson embarked on an 18-7 run to close out the set in a one-sided manner. The Tigers had five blocks during the run, and all six Tigers had kills during the spurt. Clemson hit .444 with 15 kills and only three errors to take a 2-0 lead into intermission.

The Tigers again used a quick run out of the gate to take a firm 8-2 lead after a block from Adeleye and Proctor. They stretched the lead to nine at 20-11 after consecutive kills from Adeleye. Maryland scored three in a row, prompting another Hoover timeout, but it quickly spawned a 5-1 run to close out the match 25-15. Didem Ege pulled out a nice dig and laid out a perfect pass to Murphy, who found Proctor, who then hammered the ball into the right side of the floor for the match-clinching point.

The win was the 449^th in Jolene Jordan Hoover’s career, and her 356^th at Clemson. The Tigers will go for their fourth consecutive 20-win season on Sunday against Boston College. If they were to turn the feat, it would be the first time Hoover led a team to four consecutive 20-win seasons in her 17 years at Clemson. She has led the team to three consecutive 20-win seasons three separate times.

Niners Volleyball Women Fall in Three to Visiting No. 21 Saint Louis

 

CHARLOTTE -- The Charlotte 49ers put together a brilliant game plan, but could not quite finish sets in a 3-0 loss (25-23, 26-24, 25-20) to No. 21 Saint Louis Friday night at Halton Arena in Atlantic 10 Conference volleyball action. Charlotte falls to 15-13 on the season, and an even 6-6 in league play. Saint Louis remains tied for the league lead at 11-1, with an 18-6 overall record.

 

The Niners made adjustments to the first meeting, where they could not score more than 14 points in a set, but despite leads in all three sets, including an 18-14 margin in the third, the Billikens pulled out the victory.

 

There was just one lead change in the first set, four in the second frame and six in the third set. Saint Louis spent the last two sets without star senior Sammi McCloud, who went down near the end of the first set with a leg injury after diving for a ball with the score 21-20 SLU in the opening frame.

 

For the first time this season, Charlotte had a better attack percentage than their opponent in a loss. The Niners outhit the Billikens .241 to .229 and had only 13 attack errors to Saint Louis’ 20. Charlotte also dominated at the net, with 10 blocks to just two for the visitor.

 

“First and foremost, we feel we are back to playing our brand of volleyball,” said Charlotte head coach Chris Redding. “We were playing both sides of the ball and setting the defensive intensity, which you could see with our blocks and digs tonight.”

 

Bridget Fonke dominated the match for the Billikens, with 18 kills in 43 attempts, both season highs for a Charlotte opponent in a three-set match. Saint Louis has won 16 matches in three sets this season.

 

“I was very pleased with our performance, but Saint Louis showed why they are a Top 25 team by closing out all three sets,” added Redding. “Our expectation is now that we’re back to playing our style is to play at that level or slightly higher in our match Sunday at George Washington.”

 

Freshman Bianca Rouse (Columbia, S.C. / Keenan HS) led Charlotte with 10 kills, with a .333 attack percentage. Junior Kara Raker (Woodstock, Ga. / Etowah HS) had six blocks for the Niners, with freshman Jenna Litoborski (Lemont, Ill.) adding five. Litoborski also had eight kills for the Niners. Charlotte leads the Atlantic 10 in blocking this season. Senior co-captain Kaitlin Knight led all players with 20 digs.

 

Charlotte will face GW on the road Sunday at 1 p.m. Charlotte defeated the Colonials 3-1 in their previous meeting this season in Halton Arena. A win would put the Niners and Colonials in a tie for fifth in the league standings.

 

  --charlotte49ers.com--

 

FLYERS SWEEP RHODE ISLAND AT FRERICKS ON FRIDAY

DAYTON, Ohio –  The University of Dayton Flyers beat the Rhode Island Rams 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-11) on Friday to improve to 23-3 and 12-1 in the Atlantic 10. The Flyers remain in first place with the win over URI.

Dayton hit .257 in the match to Rhode Island’s .049. The Flyers had seven service aces against Rhody in the match. The Flyers got off to a slow start but bounced back as the match progressed, closing out the Rams in three sets.

“The start of the match had a lot to do with what they were doing,” head coach Kelly Sheffield said. “They had great defense and we had some difficulty with their serve. I thought we came out jittery, but once we settled down we played well.”

Junior outside hitter Tiffany Gaerke hit .667 in the match, while going 13-of-18 with one attack error. Gaerke’s kill count nearly tied her season-high of 14 set against Western Michigan on Sept. 5.  She also had two service aces in the match.

“Tiff was great tonight,” Sheffield said. “When she is feeling it, she is really, really good. I think she’s becoming a more consistent player, and when she’s on top of her game we are pretty good. She’s more comfortable on the right side. There’s a big adjustment and you can just tell that she is starting to settle.”

Amanda Cowdrey had 11 kills and a team-leading 14 digs against URI. For Cowdrey, it was her 12th double-double of the year. She also led the team with three service aces.

“Amanda started out a little bit shaky,” Sheffield said. “To her credit, she got better as the match went on. It takes a lot of mental toughness when things don’t start out the way you want to. When her and Paige started to settle down, you could see the offense change.”

All-American middle blocker Lindsay Fletemier hit .312 in the match and chimed in for five (1 solo, 4 assist) of Dayton’s seven total blocks. Anna Eytchison tallied six kills for a .385 hitting percentage. She also had one solo block and one block assist.

“We didn’t go to Lindsay as much tonight,” Sheffield said. “They were trying to shut her down. We didn’t try to force the ball to her too much since we had other hitters that were hot. I think that’s a sign of a pretty good team when we can go to our other options.”

Rookie libero Paige Vargas had 12 digs in the match. She also had one ace. Setters Kacie Hausfeld and Hannah Clancy traded sets for 18 and 16 assists respectively.

The Flyers return to action on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET to face the Duquesne Dukes. Gametracker is available at www.DaytonFlyers.com.

-UD-

Alabama Women's Volleyball Team Drops Match to No. 11 Kentucky 3-1

 

Freshman Kelsey Anderson registers 20 digs

 

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Junior Alyssa Meuth and senior Brooks Webster combined for 25 kills, but it wasn’t enough as the Alabama volleyball team dropped a 3-1 (25-11, 22-25, 25-12, 25-15) decision Friday to 11^th-ranked Kentucky at Memorial Coliseum. The loss drops the Crimson Tide to 7-18 overall and 5-10 against Southeastern Conference opponents, while the win moved the Wildcats to 23-2 on the season and 13-1 in league matches.

 

“Kentucky is definitely one of the top teams in the country, and they played like it tonight,” said head coach Judy Green. “I’m proud of the way our team bounced back effort-wise after getting out to a slow start. I’m also proud of the fact that we won every long rally in the match. We just really had difficulty tonight with our first contact on the ball.”

 

Meuth led Alabama with 14 kills followed closely by Webster with 11. Junior Kayla Schmidt tallied 36 assists in the match, while freshman Kelsey Anderson registered her second 20-plus dig performance of the season with 20 on the night.

 

For the match, Alabama had 11 service errors and allowed Kentucky to collect seven service aces. In addition, the Wildcats racked up nine total blocks compared to the Tide’s two rejections.

 

The early stages of the first set were near even until Kentucky scored eight unanswered points for the 13-4 advantage. At that point, the Tide and Wildcats traded points, but Kentucky’s lead was too much to overcome for Alabama. The Wildcats would close out the frame with four consecutive points, including a pair of blocks, to take the set 25-11.

 

After a brief Kentucky edge in the second, the Tide grabbed hold of the lead at 4-3 off a kill from senior Brooks Webster and held on throughout despite a late scare from the home team. Alabama built up a five-point buffer before the Wildcats clawed their way back, thanks to a 5-0 run, tying the set at 20-20. Alabama then recorded a trio of kills to pull within two points of the win and would eventually take the frame 25-22.

 

The Tide collected a pair of quick points for the 2-0 lead before Kentucky put together a 9-1 run to jump on top. The Wildcats continued to distance themselves from Alabama pulling ahead by double digits for the first time at 15-5. Kentucky’s largest lead of 13 came on set point as Wildcat senior Sarah Rumely blocked an attack attempt by Tide junior Calli Johnson to give Kentucky the 25-12 win in the third.

 

The Wildcats delivered the initial blow in the fourth with a kill from junior Sarah Mendoza, but back-to-back kills from Meuth gave Alabama the early edge. The Tide remained in front for the next few series until a kill from Lauren Rapp put Kentucky on top 7-6. Alabama kept close at first, but the Wildcats would again string together a lethal run to pull ahead by double figures. Kentucky senior BriAnne Sauer sealed the win for the Wildcats with a service ace on set point for the 25-15 win in the fourth.

 

The Tide continues its road trip at Tennessee on Sunday, Nov. 8 taking on the Lady Volunteers at 12:30 p.m. (CST). Live scoring and video will be available by visiting Rolltide.com

 

--UA--

Giesler Powers No. 11 Kentucky Volleyball to Win Over Alabama

Sophomore sets career-high with 13 kills, adds four blocks

 

LEXINGTON, Ky.  –  Behind the inspired play of sophomore middle blocker Gretchen Giesler, the 11^th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats earned a 3-1 (25-11, 22-25, 25-12, 25-15) victory over visiting Alabama on Friday evening in Memorial Coliseum. Giesler posted a career-high 13 kills on a sizzling .619 attack percentage while adding four blocks from her middle blocker position.

 

Kentucky (23-2, 13-1) combined for 57 kills on the night on a remarkable.336 attack percentage. Giesler was the spark to the UK attack, but several Wildcats scored top performances. Junior Sarah Mendoza led the squad with 16 kills while adding 10 digs for her 21^st career double-double effort. Senior setter Sarah Rumely also notched a double-double with 47 assists and 12 scoops. It is the 37^th double-double of her career.

 

From the back-line senior libero BriAnne Sauer earned a match-high 25 digs to record the 23^rd match of her career with 20 or more scoops. Junior Laura Stokowski contributed 10 digs to put four UK players in double figures in the digs column.

 

Junior Lauren Rapp struck for eight kills, while junior Blaire Hiler and sophomore Becky Pavan each added seven hammers. Giesler led the blocking defense with four blocks, but five Wildcats recorded at least one rejection.

 

“It was another good Friday at home for us,” Kentucky coach Craig Skinner said. “I thought our team executed very well for three quarters of that match. Game two was a unique situation, but Alabama is capable of doing a lot of things and they showed that in spurts tonight. I thought our middle attack was great tonight with Gretchen (Giesler), (Lauren) Rapp and Becky (Pavan) with all three of them getting kills in transition. Our defense was exceptional as well.

 

“We’re really excited about the crowd tonight. It shows that they (the fans) fully support this team and are really focused on each individual match.”

 

A notable crowd of 1,431 enthusiastic fans watched the Blue and White steam roll to a 25-11 opening set victory. UK posted a .393 attacking percentage behind 14 kills. With Alabama trailing by one at 5-4, the Wildcats put together an 8-0 run to pull away for a 13-4 advantage. It was a lead they would never relinquish as Kentucky finished off the set with a block from the combination of Mendoza and Giesler for the opening frame victory.

 

After the Crimson Tide evened the match into the intermission with a 25-22 set two victory, Kentucky would cap off the match with 25-12 and 25-15 set wins to clinch the match.

 

In the third set, Alabama opened the stanza by capturing the first two points. However, the Blue and White would quickly find its rhythm powering its way to a 13-5 advantage behind nine opening kills. The Wildcats would log another imposing run by stringing together a 7-3 dash. Once again the set was capped off by a block as Rumely stuffed an Alabama attack.

 

For the third set the Wildcats posted 17 kills on a scorching .471 hitting percentage. Six different UK players scored on a kill in the stanza with Mendoza earning six kills on .545 hitting and Giesler tallying four with a .667 clip.

 

UK matched its kill output of the third set with 17 more hammers in the fourth frame. The fourth stanza was a back and forth battle with Alabama holding an early 6-4 advantage before the UK offensive explosion began. Rapp scored on four consecutive possessions to give the home squad a 9-6 lead. Alabama would never again come within four points of Kentucky’s high octane offense.

 

Serving proved to be a huge difference maker in the match with the Wildcats matching a season-high with seven aces on the night. Sauer led the way with three points on a first serve, while Mendoza and Giesler each struck for a pair of aces. Alabama committed 11 service errors for the match.

 

The Wildcats return to action on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET when UK hosts Mississippi State at Memorial Coliseum.

 

For the most up-to-date news, highlights and features about the Kentucky volleyball team please visit UKathletics.com.

 

‑ GO CATS ‑

Volleyball Downs Fordham in Straight Sets, 3-0

Ruth Notches Double-Double, Leads All Players with 11 Kills


Nov. 6, 2009


CINCINNATI - With its fourth win in a row, the Xavier volleyball team swept visiting Fordham, 3-0 (25-14, 26-24, 25-19), Friday night at Cintas Center. Senior Kelly Ruth tallied a match-high 11 kills to go with a match-high tying 13 digs for her fifth double-double of the season.

Also for the Musketeers, junior Claire Paszkiewicz set 31 assists and freshman Stephanie Vorherr got under 12 digs. Freshman Alex Smith had five blocks on the night while Ruth added four.

Xavier (17-10, 9-3 A-10) got ahead of Fordham, 3-1, in the early going of the first set. The Rams pulled to within one, 6-5, but the Musketeers went on a 3-1 run to push the advantage to three, 9-6. Ahead by four, 12-8, XU used a 7-1 run to take a 10-point advantage, 19-9, and never looked back. Ruth capped off the set with a kill as Xavier won 25-14.

Fordham (13-17, 3-9 A-10) made the second set much more interesting as there were 10 tied scores and three lead changes in the frame. The Rams held the 4-2 advantage but back-to-back Fordham attack errors even the score at four apiece. Xavier held a three-point lead, 16-13, when FOR rallied, scoring four straight to retake the advantage at 17-16. The two squads traded points until they found themselves knotted at 24 but XU was able to take the set off kills from senior Lauren Kaminsky and Ruth.

After intermission, the Musketeers fell behind as the Rams jumped out to the 6-3 lead. Behind three, 8-5, XU used a four-point swing to take over the lead, 9-8. FOR pulled to within one several times, the last one being at 19-18, but Xavier scored five consecutive to hold match-point, 24-18. After a Ram kill, the Musketeers took the set, 25-19, with a kill from Smith, and the match, 3-0.

The Rams were led by Katie Wells with nine kills and Michele Keathley with a match-high tying 13 digs. Jenna Hart tallied five blocks for the Rams and Katherine Burrell set 22 assists.

The Musketeers return to action Sunday as they travel to St. Louis, Mo., to take on No. 21 Saint Louis. First serve is set for 2 p.m. at Chaifetz Pavilion.

ATHENS, OH – The University at Buffalo volleyball team hit the road for the first of three straight matches, but fell on Friday night to MAC East-leading Ohio, 3-0, at the Convocation Center. The loss drops UB to 15-12 on the season and 5-8 in the MAC.

The Bobcats took the match 25-18, 25-15, 25-20 as they hit .444 for the match, opposed to just .179 for the Bulls. UB showed fight throughout the match, keeping the first set tight early and in the third set, UB came back from a 20-12 deficit to make things closer in the 25-20 final margin.

“I thought we played well and brought a lot of energy, but we just ran into a buzz saw in Ohio tonight,” said head coach Todd Kress. “I was extremely impressed with the way they played and they look poised to make another run this year. We need to execute a little better and regroup quickly as we have a very important match tomorrow night at Kent.”

Bulls Fall At Ohio, 3-0

Dani Silvers   led the way with 10 kills for the Bulls, while junior Kristin Bignell   added nine kills. Kelsey Lueders and Marisa Hornbaker  each added five kills on the night. Lindsey Schlegel  had 26 assists, while freshman Tori Beckman   led the team with 14 digs, while recording a service ace.

Ohio was led by 18 kills from Ellen Herman and 11 kills from Sue Jacobi. Michelle Jantsch added 37 assists and 11 digs on the night.

The Bulls remain on the road tomorrow night as they head to Kent State for a key matchup in the MAC East with the Golden Flashes. The match begins at 7:00 pm.

UMBC Volleyball Women Fall to Albany, 3-1, Friday Night

BALTIMORE—The UMBC volleyball team fell to America East foe Albany, 3-1, Friday night at the RAC Arena. With the loss, the Retrievers drop to 13-10 on the season and 5-3 in America East play, while the Great Danes improve to 18-8 and 8-0 in conference action.

In a match much more competitive than Albany’s 3-0 win on Oct. 18 in Albany, N.Y., the Retrievers hit .278 to win the second set, but the Great Danes took the match, 25-18, 22-25, 25-20 and 25-21.

“I thought we put forth a strong effort and definitely made some strides,” head coach Ian Blanchard said, “but we need to be more consistent in putting the ball away.”

Freshman Naomi Bush (Fruitport, Mich./Fruitport) led the Retrievers, hitting .273 with 13 kills, while sophomore Alyssa Lang (Richmond, Va./Deep Run) had a team-high 14 kills and earned 11 digs for her sixth double-double of the season.

Senior Pam Jarrett (Lincloln, Neb./Lincoln Pius X) had a game-high 23 digs, while fellow senior Kira Giles (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada/Glenlawn) tallied her sixth double-double of the season with 23 assists and 14 digs.

After only hitting .088 in the first set and seeing Albany jump out to a 10-2 lead in the second, the Retrievers went on a 23-12 run to tie the match at one. The third set was much like the first, with UMBC only hitting .091 and the fourth set was tied at 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21, but the Great Danes won the final four points to win the match.

The Retrievers return to action tomorrow night for Senior Night when they take on Binghamton at 6 p.m. at the RAC.

Panthers Cruise To Three-Set Win Over Raiders

 Panthers Cruise To Three-Set Win Over Raiders

UWM hits .271 in solid victory

Postmatch audio with Susie Johnson -
https://pantherfile.uwm.edu/kjoc/public/wsupostgame.mp3

MILWAUKEE - Jena Berg had 14 kills to lead three players in double figures
as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee captured a 25-17, 25-22, 25-21 win
over Wright State Friday night at the Klotsche Center.

The Panthers (10-14, 7-6) have now won five-straight matches.

UWM hit a solid .271 in the match, as Kerri Schuh added 12 kills and Mary
Beth O'Brien pitched-in with 11.

Meanwhile, Milwaukee's defense limited Wright State to a .093 hitting clip,
as the Panthers collected 11 blocks.

Jessica Woods led Wright State (10-19, 2-12) with 10 kills.

"Finshing in three is always great and we had some really great moments in
that match - some really great offense and that is what we've been looking
for all season," UWM head coach Susie Johnson said. "Mary Beth, Kerri Schuh
and Jena - they all had a great day offensively and we were able to play our
game, which is really exciting."

The Panthers cruised to the win in the first set. UWM built an early 10-4
advantage and still led 13-9 on a kill by Berg. Wright State did close to
within two points at 16-14 but would get no closer. A four-point burst,
capped by another kill from Berg, pushed Milwaukee's edge to 22-15, and UWM
wound up closing out the frame on a WSU service error.

Milwaukee had a tougher time in the second set. In fact, after Wright State
fell down 10-4, the Raiders fought back to take a 15-12 lead with a run of
seven-straight points. But, UWM scored the next four points to regain the
lead and the Panthers never trailed again. WSU did tie the frame at 20 but a
kill by Maddie Sueppel and a block by O'Brien and Sueppel pushed Milwaukee
back ahead. UWM eventually wrapped things up on kills by Berg and Natalie
Schmitting.

UWM then hung on in the third set to wrap things up. The Panthers bolted to
an 11-4 lead and had the lead all the way out to 17-8 on a solo block by
Schmitting. Wright State countered by scoring 11 of the next 13 points,
tying the frame at 19. But, UWM scored three in a row to regain control and
then closed out the match on a kill by O'Brien.

The Panthers return to action Saturday afternoon, hosting Horizon League
leader Cleveland State in a 4 p.m. contest.

Auburn Volleyball Women Fall At South Carolina In Three Sets

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Auburn volleyball squad dropped a 3-0 (25-22,
25-23, 25-21) match at South Carolina on Friday evening. The Tigers fell
to 14-11 overall and 6-8 in conference play, while the Gamecocks
improved to 13-11 and 5-10 in the SEC.

“It is a disappointing loss for us and it’s hard to win when only a
couple of people are playing up to par,” Wade Benson, head volleyball
coach, said. “Not having everyone in the game really hurt us and this
loss is going to hurt for awhile.”

Junior Jonelle Wallace had a season-best nine kills on the night, while
classmate Morgan Johns finished with eight kills. Libero Liz Crouch had
a match-high 19 digs and freshman Sarah Bullock tallied 12 digs for
Auburn.

Megan Laughlin and Brandi Byers led South Carolina with 10 kills each.
Libero Sarah Cline had 16 digs and Ivana Kujundzic added 10 digs.

The two squads battled through the set one and with the set tied at
five, the Gamecocks used a two-point run to take the 7-5 advantage. Down
two at 11-9, Auburn pushed a 4-0 rally to take its first lead at 13-11.
The Tigers grabbed their largest lead at 19-14, but the Gamecocks fought
back, going on an 11-3 run to win the set 25-22.

South Carolina jumped out to a quick 5-2 lead and held the slim
advantage through the first parts of the second set. A 6-2 Auburn run
tied the set at 12 apiece and the squads exchanged points up to the
16-16 mark. The Gamecocks put together a three-point run to go up 19-16,
but the Tigers fought back with a run of their own to take the 20-19
lead. The teams battled until the end, seeing South Carolina come out on
top with a 25-23 win.

Set three saw the Gamecocks grab an early 8-4 advantage and push to take
the 11-6 lead. A pair of Wallace kills cut the lead to two at 12-10 and
a kill from Katherine Culwell brought Auburn within one at 15-14. South
Carolina rallied to take another big lead at 20-16 and went on to win
match 25-21.

The Tigers continue their SEC road swing, traveling to Gainesville,
Fla., to take of the No. 9/11 Gators. The match is set for 1:30 p.m. CT
and will be televised by SportsSouth.

NCAA Women's College Volleyball Game Results Today 11/6

Virginia Volleyball Falls to UNC in Four Sets

Tar Heel Volleyball Women Defeat Cavaliers in Four Sets

Virginia to face NC State on Sunday at 1 p.m.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Virginia volleyball team dropped a four-set match to North Carolina Friday evening at the Dean E. Smith Center by scores of 17-25, 14-25, 25-19 and 16-25.

Sophomore Simone Asque led the way with 12 kills and 12 digs for her fifth double-double this season. Senior Tara Hester collected a season-best 21 digs, while senior Brittani Rendina led the backline with 24.

Freshman Jess O’Shoney hit .300 for the match, contributing eight kills and blocking four attacks. Classmate Rachel Gray dished out 30 assists and had six kills.

For North Carolina (13-12, 9-5 ACC), three Tar Heels reached double-figure kills, led by Ingrid Hanson-Tuntland, who knocked down 17. Kaylie Gibson led the defense with a match-high 30 digs and Cora Harms dished out 49 assists to go with 22 digs and four blocks.

Carolina used a 13-7 run midway through the first frame to break open an even 8-8 score and take a 21-15 lead, forcing the Cavaliers to call a timeout. Virginia was unable to recover from the deficit though, as the Tar Heels went on to score four of the final six points for a 25-17 win.

UNC jumped out to a seven-point advantage in the second set, at 11-4, and kept the pressure on before scoring the final four points of the stanza to take a commanding 25-14 victory.

The third set looked to be the same before the Cavaliers rallied for three-straight points to knot the score at seven all. Virginia continued to battle, but fell behind 14-17 before a kill from sophomore Tess Udall sparked a 3-0 run that knotted the score at 17 all. Another kill from Udall put the Cavaliers up 18-17 and Virginia never looked back, with Asque landing three kills in the final six points to earn a 25-19 win.

Another run in favor of Carolina put the Tar Heels up 6-1 at the beginning of the fourth set. Virginia worked to cut into UNC’s advantage, and came within one at 6-7, but Carolina kept the Cavaliers from taking the lead. Virginia continued to fight, but back-to-back kills from Suzanne Haydel broke open the one-point set and sent the Tar Heels on a 3-0 run that eventually resulted in a 13-5 streak for a 25-16 win.

Virginia (10-15, 5-9 ACC) will look to rebound on Sunday as it faces NC State in Reynolds Gymnasium at 1 p.m.

Zhang Leads Volleyball to Home Win Against La Salle 
Owls improve to 7-5 in A-10 play; will travel to Fordham on Sunday

PHILADELPHIA – Yun Yi Zhang knocked down a match-high 21 kills and hit .439 in leading the Temple volleyball team to a 3-1 win vs. La Salle by scores of 25-16, 25-12, 20-25 and 25-14. The win was the Owls’ third against La Salle in the 2009 season.

Temple improves to 11-10 overall and 7-5 in Atlantic 10 play, while La Salle drops to 3-28 overall and 0-13 in the conference.

The Owls' Jackie Morrison recorded a double-double, her 12th of the season, with 36 assists and a team-high 14digs. Cayleigh Ashman recorded 11 kills for Temple, while Jess Antosz tallied nine kills and a team-high hitting percentage of .500.

The teams traded points early in the first set which saw nine ties, the last coming at 10-10 before Temple used a 10-1 run to pull out of reach. In the second set the Owls trailed 2-0 before taking over, out-hitting the Explorers .357 to -.086.

La Salle led all the way through the third set, drastically improving its hitting with 13 kills and only three errors to prevent the sweep by Temple.

The Owls picked up the pace early in the fourth set, and Zhang recorded nine kills to lead Temple to victory.

With three regular season matches remaining, the race is tight for the fourth, fifth and sixth spots in the A-10 Tournament. The Owls will travel to Fordham for a 2:00 p.m. match on Sunday, Nov. 8, looking to further solidify their place in the standings.

-Temple Owls-

Binghamton Volleyball Player Michelle McDonough reaches 1,000 kills, BU loses to Stony Brook

Binghamton volleyball's Michelle McDonough becomes the fastest Bearcat to reach the 1,000 kill mark.

However, Bearcats fall to Stony Brook 3-0

McDonough head shot attached

link to story: http://www.bubearcats.com/sports/voll/stony09-2.html

Lafayette Volleyball Women Fall to Colgate

Leopards open final homestand of the season with 3-1 loss

 

EASTON, Pa.  —  The Lafayette volleyball squad opened its match against Colgate with a first-set victory but could not hold off the Raiders, who captured the next three sets en route to a 3-1 win on Friday night in Easton.

 

Lafayette won the first set 25-22 before dropping 25-17, 25-18 and 25-20 decisions.

 

Senior Cara Mulholland was the lone player in the match to finish with a double-double, tallying 10 kills and 14 digs. Junior Katrina Racibarskas added 13 kills while Ashton Rossi had a match-high 36 assists. Sophomore Alana Taylor contributed four blocks (2 solo, 2 assisted) for the Leopards (12-12, 3-8).

 

Lafayette looked strong in its first set, leading by as many as four points (24-21) before clinching the win on an attacking error.

 

The Raiders (13-11, 9-2) rebounded to take the second set by eight points. It was a close score early on, but Colgate broke a four-all tie and never looked back.

 

The third set was won by the Raiders in similar fashion. The Leopards were never able to get ahead at any point and a Logan Keala kill put Lafayette is a 2-1 hole through three sets.

 

The Leopards battled in the fourth and ultimately final set. Colgate was not able to put the Leopards securely away, as it remained tied 14-all on a Kayly Elmer kill. From that point on, however, the Leopards only managed six more points while the Raiders closed out the match on a block from Blaire Safir and Shannon Pearson.

 

Lafayette closes out its final homestand of the regular season tomorrow with a 4 p.m. match against Bucknell. The Leopards will honor the three members of its senior class – Kari Horn, Mulholland and Rossi – prior to the start of the match.

 

 

High Point, N.C. - Senior Megan Kaminskas (Flagstaff, Ariz., Flagstaff) totaled 10 kills and three blocks as the High Point University volleyball team beat Gardner-Webb 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-22) Friday at the Millis Center. The Panthers improve to 16-14 (5-8 Big South Conference) while the Running Bulldogs fall to 11-18 (3-9 Big South Conference).

“It was great to see Megan Kaminskas and Megan Smith (Bellbrook, Ohio, Bellbrook) play as well as they did,” said head coach Jason Oliver. “Megan Kaminskas was terminal for us tonight. We need to get everyone on the same page tomorrow and have five attackers with a great match. “

Kaminskas has 10 kills in HPU's sweep of Gardner-Webb

Smith had 12 kills and 11 digs for her ninth double-double of the season.

High Point jumped out to a 16-9 lead in the first set on a block by Kaminskas and Smith but the Running Bulldogs would battle back to within two points at 23-21. Smith had a kill to put HPU up 24-21 and Megan Kaminskas had a service error to allow GWU to head back to the service line. GWU’s Evan Moffitt followed with a service error of her own to give HPU the first set 25-22.

High Point led by as many as 10 points (19-9) in the second set but Gardner-Webb would cut the lead to three at 23-20 on a kill by Regina Feagin. Smith and GWU’s Molly Rhyne traded points late in the set but Courtney Johnk (Larkspur, Calif., Redwood) had one of her seven kills to give HPU the 25-23 set win and 2-0 match advantage.

In the third set Kaminskas hit .667 with four kills to lead HPU to a 25-22 set win. The Panthers took a 22-20 lead on a service ace from Smith. HPU rallied off two more points with kills from Smith and Anna Lott (Lincoln, Neb., Lincoln Northeast) before the Bulldogs put down two points of their own. High Point took the frame 25-22 on a kill by Holly Fong (Sebastopol, Calif., El Molino).

Fong finished the night with 32 assists, three kills and four digs. Julie Hershkowitz (Scottsdale, Ariz., Seton Catholic)came up with 16 digs in the match.

The Panthers host UNC Asheville Saturday at 2 p.m. for Senior Day. Megan Kaminskas, Tara Dyer, Caroline Miler and Lyndsay Rowley will be honored before the game.

Maryland Volleyball Women Lose to Clemson

Rosario records 15 digs.

 

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Freshman Sam Rosario recorded a team-best 15 digs and added to her league lead in service aces Friday evening against Clemson, but the visiting Tigers defeated the University of Maryland volleyball team, 3-0, in an Atlantic Coast Conference match at Comcast Pavilion.

 

Clemson (19-7, 9-5 ACC) hit .326 in the match to knock off the Terrapins in straight sets, 25-18, 25-14 and 25-15.

 

Sophomore Maddi Lee led the Terps (11-16, 3-11 ACC) with eight kills and Katie Usher, Brittney Grove and Kara Bates added five each. However, Maryland couldn’t find an offensive rhythm, hitting .083 for the match.

 

Sandra Adeleye led Clemson with 13 kills on .524 hitting with six blocks and Lia Proctor added 12 kills.

 

Maryland returns to Comcast Pavilion at 1 p.m. Sunday against Georgia Tech.

Hartford Volleyball Women Fall to New Hampshire in Three

West Hartford, CT – The University of Hartford volleyball team dropped a three set (14-25, 22-25, 32-34) to the New Hampshire Wildcats on Senior Night at the Reich Family Pavilion. Prior to the match, the Hawks honored their four senior; Sarah Boss, Hallie Fullagar, Erin Macro and Maddison Molyneux. 

Macro was one of two players to lead the Hawks (7-19 overall, 0-8 AE) hitters, both finishing with six kills. Joining her was junior setter Lindsay Ford who finished with just one error for a .357hitting percentage leading all players. All but one of the Hawks players finished with at least three kills for the Hawks. 

Ford also led the Hawks defensively, finishing with nine digs, while Molyneux finished second for Hartford with seven. Ford also finished the match with 20 assists.

 

Hartford finished the match hitting .089 as a team. They put down a total of 33 kills and had 23 errors in 112 total attacks. Boss, a defensive specialist, finished the match with four kills and no errors in five total attempts. 

The Wildcats (11-14 overall, 3-5 AE) finished the match hitting .198 with 46 kills and 23 errors in 116 total attempts. Leading all players in the match was Lindsay Fogarty who finished with 17 kills. She also led UNH with a .343 hitting percentage with five errors in 35 total attempts. 

The Hawks will close out the 2009 season with a pair of road conference matches next weekend. They begin with a 7:00 p.m. match against Binghamton on Friday and then take on the Albany Great Danes in the season finale on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.

 

 

 

Virginia Tech Volleyball Team Dominates in Sweep of Wolfpack
Hokies complete season sweep of NC State

RALEIGH, N.C. - The Virginia Tech volleyball squad snapped a three-match losing streak with an impressive 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-16) sweep of NC State at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, N.C., on Friday night.

Tech (17-8, 7-7 ACC) captured its third win on the road in ACC play and its 12th-consecutive victory over the Wolfpack (7-22, 0-14 ACC). The Hokies completed their sixth season sweep of NC State in a row with Saturday's win. In the match, Tech hit .289 and held NC State to a .120 clip. Tech also blocked nine attacks, while the Wolfpack could only muster five stuffs.

The Hokies got off to a good start with a 25-18 win in set one. Tech had previously lost the first set in four of their last five matches, a stretch in which the Hokies went 2-3. Tech dominated the entire period from the start, jumping out to a 7-2 lead. Holding a 13-10 advantage, the Hokies embarked on a 6-1 run, and NC State could never respond. A kill by freshman Jennifer Wiker sealed the frame for the Hokies.

The two squads battled back and forth in the second set, with the Hokies owning a slim lead, until a 7-1 barrage opened up a 22-14 cushion for Tech. After the Wolfpack won one more point, the Hokies closed with three straight kills to capture set two, 25-15.

Tech left no doubt in the third set, racing out to a 10-4 advantage. The Wolfpack would get no closer than three points the rest of the way, and up 14-10, Tech went on a 5-1 spurt to all but extinguish NC State's hopes. Freshman Morgan O'Neill's kill earned the Hokies a 25-16 victory in set three, and a 3-0 win in the match.

Sophomore Justine Record again led the Hokies in kills, the 11th time in 12 matches she has done so, with 11 on a .300 hitting percentage. Record also matched a career high with 15 digs to earn her team-leading seventh double-double of the year. Junior Felicia Willoughby added 10 kills and eight blocks, including four of the solo variety, in the contest.

Along with Record's 15 digs, four other Hokies put together double-digit dig performances. Sophomore Erin Leaser tallied 10 digs and dished out 36 assists for her sixth double-double of 2009. Senior Jill Gergen and junior Amy Wengrenovich each totaled 11 digs, while O'Neill recorded 10 in the effort.

The Hokies will travel to Chapel Hill, N.C., on Sunday for a bout with the North Carolina Tar Heels at 1 p.m. Tech defeated UNC, 3-2, in Cassell Coliseum earlier this season. Results will be available at hokiesports.com.

-vt-