Saturday, October 29
Texas State extends win streak on Senior Night
SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State volleyball team defeated ULM 3-1 (25-12, 23-25, 25-21, 25-22) Saturday night in a Sun Belt Conference match inside Strahan Coliseum.
The Bobcats (18-9, 11-1 SBC) were playing their final home match of the season, and they honored their seven seniors (Ali Hubicsak, Lauren Kirch, Morgan Lewis, Emily Shelton, Alex Silver, Shelby Vas Matt, and Kelsey Weynand) prior to the contest as part of the Senior Day festivities.
TXST also ran its win streak to nine-straight victories, and the maroon and gold closed out the month of October with a perfect 9-0 mark.
All seven seniors comprised the starting lineup in Saturday's triumph. Kirch finished with a match-high 15 kills on just 30 swings for a .367 attack percentage, while Weynand posted 14 kills and nine digs. Shelton distributed a career-high 40 assists and registered her third career double-double after adding 11 digs. Freshman Micah Dinwiddie played just two sets but tallied a match-high 20 digs.
The first set was all Texas State, as the Bobcats cruised to a comfortable 25-12 triumph. ULM was undeterred and came out strong in the second set. The visiting side was able to stay even at 14-14, but TXST built a 21-16 lead. All looked well for the Bobcats as they pushed their lead to 23-19, but the Warhawks rattled off six-straight points to earn the 25-23 set win.
Texas State got its rhythm back in the third and surged to a 17-11 advantage before ascending to a 25-21 victory.
The home team clinched the match in four sets after taking the final frame 25-22. ULM fought to a 17-15 lead, but Texas State tied proceedings at 18-18 and scored five of the final seven points to secure the win.
No member of the visiting side was able to reach the double-digit kill plateau. Kaitlyn Shearer got closest with nine, while Tara Jenkins tallied 22 assists and 11 digs. Hope Pawlik contributed 20 digs and Albany Schaffer added 11.
The Bobcats led the way in hitting percentage (.195-.040), total kills (56-33), aces (6-4) and assists (53-26). The maroon and gold also improved to 39-2 all-time against the Warhawks, who dropped to 8-21 overall and 2-9 in SBC play.
Texas State will be on the road for its final four matches of the season, beginning with a 6:30 p.m. battle Nov. 4 against Little Rock in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Chants Power Past Troy in Straight Sets
TROY, Ala. - The Coastal Carolina volleyball team won its ninth straight match -- including its fourth in straight sets -- Saturday night as the Chanticleers totaled 42 kills and hit .372 to blank Troy 25-15, 25-13, 25-15 at Trojan Arena.
The 19-4, 10-1 Chants were led by the 14 and 10 kills of Leah Hardeman and Tahleia Bishop, respectively, with the former hitting .429 and the latter .389.
Dora Lulic and Natasa Savovic also tallied hitting percentages over .400, and Lulic added a career-high seven blocks with one solo and six assists. Hardeman and Annayka Legros were also active at the net with four blocks apiece, all assists. As a team the Chants out-blocked the Trojans (8-21, 2-10) 10-5 at the net.
Sara Boothe dished out a match-leading 30 assists while Carla Cahill led all players with eight digs.
Coastal led for the entirety of the first set, taking a quick 6-1 lead and forcing Troy into an early timeout. Coming out of the break the Chants extended their lead to 15-10 before closing the set on a 10-5 run to take a 1-0 match lead.
The second set also featured a start-to-finish lead for Coastal. Hardeman led the way with four kills while Savovic and Bishop each put down a trio of shots. The set also featured several blocks for the Chants with Hardeman recording a pair and Lulic and Legros tallying one each.
The Trojans managed to even the third set twice, but a match-best .484 hitting percentage powered the Chants to a 10-point set win. An 11-3 CCU run allowed Coastal to take a commanding 14-6 lead, while 11 digs and four team blocks from the defense helped the Chants finish the sweep.
Coastal plays its final regular season away match at Georgia Southern on Wednesday at 6 p.m. The match was originally slated for Oct. 8, but was postponed and eventually rescheduled due to Hurricane Matthew.
Little Rock Earns Comeback Win at Georgia Southern
STATESBORO, Ga. – Down 2-1 for the match, Little Rock volleyball (11-15, 7-6 Sun Belt) earned a 3-2 (25-17, 24-26, 23-25, 25-23, 19-17) comeback win over Georgia Southern (12-14, 4-6) on Saturday night at Hanner Fieldhouse.
Edina Selimovic earned a double-double with a team-high 17 kills and a match-high 10 blocks. Veronica Marin and Miona Milovanovic each tallied 12 kills and five blocks while Milovanovic hit a match-high .435. Carolee Dillard earned 11 kills and had eight blocks. Taylor Lindberg earned the double-double as she put together 52 assists and 11 digs. Kelsey Leech had a team-high 15 digs, and Hope Larmour scooped up a career-high 14 digs.
Blocks ended up putting the Trojans over the top as they tallied 19 compared to the Eagles' three. Little Rock's 19 blocks were the second-most in a five-set match in the rally-scoring era.
The Trojans trailed 9-6 in the fifth set, but they put together four consecutive points to take a 10-9 lead. The Eagles then went on a 5-2 run to take match point at 14-12. Little Rock tallied three straight points to take match point at 15-14. The two traded final blows until tying for a final time at 17. A block by Dillard and Marin gave Little Rock match point at 18-17, and a final block by Dillard and Lindberg gave Little Rock the match.
Down 2-1 for the match entering the fourth set, Little Rock knotted the match at 2-2 with a 25-23 win. Close throughout the set, Milovanovic finally put the set away with a kill. Selimovic notched six kills with three blocks while Lindberg tallied 10 assists. The Trojans won the set despite being outhit .300-.250.
Down 16-9 in the third set, Little Rock finally brought the deficit down to one at 24-23 with a Selimovic ace. However, the Trojans' comeback fell short as the Eagles put down a final kill to take the frame and a 2-1 lead of the match. The Eagles outhit the Trojans for the first time with a .316-.294 advantage. Milovanovic led Little Rock with five kills while Lindberg added another 13 assists to her total. Leech tied the set high with four digs.
Unlike the first frame, the second set came down to the wire. With Little Rock down 22-20, the Trojans went on a 4-0 run to take set point. The Eagles battled back with four consecutive points of their own to take the set and even the match at 1-1. Selimovic led the Trojans with four kills and had a set-high three blocks. Lindberg had 13 assists while Larmour and Leech scooped up five digs each.
The Trojans got the match started on a solid note as they took an eight-point win with a .394 hitting percentage, 16 kills and four blocks. Selimovic led the set with five kills while putting up two blocks. Lindberg had a set-high 12 assists and led the Trojans with four digs.
Sydnee Martin scooped up eight digs, and Kassidy Hopkins had one. Daisha Gillard had one solo block.
Dillard's eight blocks for the night put her at 563 for her career — one shy of tying the program record held by Ivanka Davidova (2004-07).
The Trojans' 36 block assists tied for the second-most in a match in program history. Little Rock now has 469 block assists for the season — third-most in a single season in program history.
With its road schedule done for the regular season, Little Rock will return home for its final three home matches beginning on Friday against Texas State.
@stAteVolleyball Wins Eighth Straight
ATLANTA, Ga. (10/29/16) – The Arkansas State volleyball team recorded its eighth straight sweep, tying for the most since the 1992 season, with a 3-0 (25-11, 25-20, 25-13) victory versus Georgia State Saturday night at the GSU Sports Arena in Atlanta.
The eight sweeps in conference play extends A-State’s record in SBC play and ties for the most since eight straight sweeps of American South Conference foes in 1990. The win over the Panthers (9-14, 5-7 SBC) also clinches the third straight 20-win season for the Red Wolves (20-7, 12-1 SBC).
A-State was led offensively by Carlisa May’s nine kills on a .400 hitting percentage while Kelsey Reis added eight on a .800 attacking mark. Drew Jones tallied seven kills as the junior saw her most action since playing multiple sets at Texas State Oct. 7. Mallory Warrington recorded her team-best 11th double-double with 31 assists and 10 digs, while Markie Schaedig had a great night defensively with 23 digs. Shelby Holmes tied a career high with six blocks, while Jessica Uke added four.
“This was a total team match,” A-State head volleyball coach David Rehr said. “Everyone contributed to the win. We’re ready to get home for our final home weekend against UTA and Texas State and hope everyone comes out to watch us.”
A-State faced little resistance in set one by jumping out to a 12-6 lead on a kill by Kenzie Fields. The team went on to outscore the Panthers 13-5 the rest of the set and ended it with a kill by Holmes for a 25-11 win.
The second set was close most of the way with Georgia State holding an 18-16 advantage after a service error by the Red Wolves. However, the visitors responded with a 6-0 run, including three kills by Jones, to go ahead 22-18. Georgia State got back within two, but no closer as the Red Wolves closed out a 25-20 set win on a kill by Fields.
The Red Wolves never trailed in set three with the team earning a 15-6 edge on a May kill that forced a timeout by the Panthers. A-State took a 14-point lead at 24-10 on a kill by Uke. Georgia State scored three straight points, but a ball-handling error by the home team set the final score at 25-13 and clinched a 3-0 win for the Red Wolves.
Arkansas State returns home for its final two home matches of the season next weekend with UT Arlington slated to come to the Convocation Center on Friday, Nov. 4 at 6 p.m. A-State will hold Senior Day activities the following night on Nov. 5 against Texas State with first serve set for 6:30 p.m. against the Bobcats. Both matches will be broadcast on ESPN3.
Mavs sweep Cajuns, conclude perfect senior weekend
ARLINGTON, Texas -- A dominant offensive performance for UT Arlington volleyball claimed a 3-0 victory over Louisiana to close its home portion of the regular season in sweeping fashion Saturday on senior night at College Park Center.
UTA (13-14, 7-5 Sun Belt Conference) notched its second sweep of the weekend and recharged its batteries for a four-match road trip. UL (8-18, 4-7) will travel home from its tour of Texas winless after being on the wrong side of a 3-2 decision at Texas State.
Seniors Cassidy Wheeler and Kaitlyn Granger were honored for their careers in a Maverick uniform prior to the match. Both players received framed jerseys and a bouquet of blue flowers.
The Mavs and Ragin' Cajuns traded leads through an explosive first set until three consecutive Louisiana attack errors paved way for a 24-20 advantage for UTA at set-point.
The Mavericks were slow to start in Set 2 and found its first lead, 7-6 on four straight points, including a pair of kills from Qiana Canete. UTA fueled a fire with efficient hitting and a 17-16 dog fight escalated quickly with UTA's 8-1 closing run. The Mavs would earn the set 25-17 and a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Ragin' Cajuns couldn't match UTA's intensity in the final frame with more costly offensive errors that fed multiple runs for the Mavs. Louisiana gave UTA a scare at match-point with a 5-0 run and three consecutive kills from Chloe Cordell, but a final kill from Madison McConnell would silence the comeback.
Players of the Match
Qiana Canete had a double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs. Murata also turned in 11 digs on the night. Wheeler turned in 29 assists, 10 digs and five kills, hitting .667. Granger tacked on three kills with six digs on her honorary night.
Key Stats
It was an offensive night for both teams, though the Mavericks kept its hitting at a cleaner pace. UTA hit .265 to Louisiana's .152 and had just three more kills than the Ragin' Cajuns. Louisiana did out-block UTA 3-2.
Milestone Watch
Canete now sits three digs away from 17th on UTA's career digs list, while Murata is two away from fourth in freshman digs.