SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State swept Appalachian State Friday night for the team’s third consecutive sweep at home. The Bobcats moved past the Mountaineers, 25-21, 25-23, 25-22, to improve to 12-8 on the season and 7-1 in Sun Belt Conference play behind the setting of Jordan Moore and the offense of Kelsey Weynand.

Moore gave out 37 assists, averaging 12.33 assists per set, to orchestrate the Bobcat offense in a 5-1 rotation Friday. She was also sneaky enough to put down four kills. With Moore setting, Weynand achieved a career high in kills with 18 on the night to lead all players. Her previous career high was 17 set against UTSA and UT Arlington this season.

In addition to Weynand, freshman middle blocker Lauren Kirch put down 13 kills while Shelby Vas Matt finished with seven and nine digs. Sierra Smith led all players in digs with 13 and Brenna Lyles added 12. The Bobcats put down seven blocks with five from middle blocker Amanda Watkins.

Appalachian State started strong with four consecutive points to start the match and gain a 4-0 lead until Weynand put down the first Texas State kill of the match. After that, the Bobcats answered with a 7-1 run to claim a 9-7 lead. They extended the run to make it a 10-2 streak for the Bobcats and push the lead to 12-8. From there, the Bobcats were able to close out the first set for the early 1-0 lead.

Weynand was unstoppable in the opening set, scoring 10 kills with just two errors on 18 attempts for a .444 hitting percentage to open the match. Meanwhile, Moore gave out 18 assists to help Texas State hit .319 as a team with 21 kills in a dominating opening frame for the Bobcats

Texas State opened the second set with a 3-1 lead. After the Mountaineers fought back to regain a lead, 6-4, the Bobcats answered with a three-point run thanks to a kill by Kirch and consecutive double contact calls on Paige Brown, Appalachian State’s four-time Sun Belt Conference Setter of the Week.

The Bobcats were able to take advantage of another three-point run to gain an 11-8 advantage with kills from Moore and Weynand in the run. Later, with a 16-14 lead in the second set, the Bobcats scored on an App State service error. Then Texas State scored three more points with Lyles in service for a 20-14 lead.

The Mountaineers were able to tie the set late, 23-23, but Moore surprised Appalachian State with a kill and Vas Matt put one down for the final point on an impressive, scrappy play from Texas State. Moore had to run to the other side of the net to put the ball back in play and Vas Matt finished it.

In the final set, Texas State hit .270 as a team with 16 kills. In the middle of the set, the Bobcats got hot for five consecutive points to take it from tied at 9-9 to a 14-9 Texas State advantage. Weynand and freshman Jordan Kohl each had a kill in the run.

Weynand was able to hit her personal best 18th kill to give Texas State match point at 24-22, then she set up Vas Matt for the final point of the match to clinch it.

Texas State currently sits second in the Sun Belt Conference behind undefeated UALR. Sunday, the Bobcats return to action when they host UL Monroe for a 12 p.m. match at Strahan Coliseum.

Mountaineers Fall at Texas State

BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University volleyball lost their third conference match on Friday night, falling to Texas State in three sets with scores of 25-21, 25-23 and 25-22.

The Mountaineers (15-3, 5-3 Sun Belt) lost only their third match of the season against the the Bobcats (12-8, 7-1 SBC), who currently have second-place standing in the Sun Belt.

The Mountaineers jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the first set, finding three kills from Emily Corrigan. The Bobcats were able to gain momentum, tying the score at seven, before taking an 12-8 lead.

The Apps began to fall behind as Texas State found several kills to lead 17-11, but Appalachian pulled within three to make the score 21-18. It would not be enough as Texas State took the first set 25-21.

The Mountaineers quickly fell behind in the second set, 13-9. The Mountaineers were able to stay within three points until the Bobcats found a kill to go up 20-14.

The Mountaineers tied the match 23-23 after three attack errors from Texas State, but the Bobcats pulled it out, taking the second 25-23 and going up 2-0.

The Bobcats went up 2-0 in the third, but Appalachian quickly tied the score at three. Texas State began to pull ahead again after a couple tied scores, leading 14-10. The Apps found a kill from Gray to propel to them to a 7-3 run to tie the score 17-17.

Texas State scored three-straight points but Appalachian did the same, tying the score again at 20. With the Apps trailing 23-22, the Bobcats would pull out the third set, 25-22 and take the match 3-0.

Corrigan led the team with 12 kills, while Paige Brown assisted 23 kills in the match.

Kati Stammen led the Mountaineers on defense with 12 digs, followed by Meghan Mahoney with 10 of her own.

Kelsey Weynand led Texas State with 18 kills in their win.

The Apps hit just .160 on the match while the Bobcats posted a hitting percentage of .215. Each team tallied seven blocks.

The Apps play UT Arlington on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Trojans Win Eighth Consecutive Match

LAFAYETTE, La. – UALR volleyball extended its winning streak to eight games and is now 7-0 in the Sun Belt after a 3-1 victory against Louisiana on Friday night (25-23, 17-25, 25-12, 25-21).

Senior Edina Begic led the Trojans’ offense with 18 kills and 12 digs to earn her 52nd career double-double and seventh of the season. Begic also hit a stellar.395 on 38 attempts.

Junior Sonja Milanovic earned her sixth double-double of the season with 16 kills and 12 digs of her own.

The fourth set started out with UALR trading the lead a few times with Louisiana until tying the frame at 7-7. The Trojans then scored four consecutive points to extend their lead to 11-7. The Ragin’ Cajuns fought back and tied the set again at 21-21. UALR then again scored four consecutive points to close out the set and match. UALR hit .259 in the final set compared to Louisiana’s .129.

After losing the second set by eight points, UALR dominated the third set with a 13-point win. Louisiana’s eight errors outnumbered its seven kills to give the Cajuns a -.033 hitting percentage. UALR took advantage of Louisiana’s miscues by hitting .346. Sophomore Edina Selimovic helped out on defense with four block assists.

UALR’s only struggle of the night came in the second set as they were simply outhit by a strong Louisiana attack, resulting in a .542-.214 difference in hitting. The Cajuns led the set from the wire as they would get out to a 10-3 lead before the Trojans came back to decrease the deficit to two at 12-10. The close call wouldn’t last long as Louisiana scored six-straight points to give them an 18-10 lead. The Trojans would get within seven before Louisiana sealed the set.

The tightest set of the night came in the first frame as both teams led by no more than two points at a time until tying the match at 21. UALR then got help in the form of three Louisiana errors to push the lead to 24-21. A kill by Louisiana and an error by the Trojans gave the Cajuns one last chance to get back in the set, but it was not meant to be as a kill by Milanovic finalized the frame. Both squads went on to hit .333 in the opening set.

Selimovic led the Trojans’ defense with 7 block assists and also managed to get a season-high of nine kills. She ended the night hitting .375 on 16 attempts.

Sophomore Megan Mathis ended the match with 39 assists, marking her seventh consecutive match with at least 30 and 11th overall. Mathis also contributed four block assists.

Senior Adisa Hodzic had the second most blocks with five assisted as well as adding four kills.

As a team, UALR came ready to block as they outmatched Louisiana 13.5-3.5.

UALR will go for its ninth consecutive victory and look to remain undefeated in the Sun Belt when it returns to the Jack Stephens Center to face Georgia State on Sunday (Oct. 12) at noon.

UALR Fights Off Cajuns

LAFAYETTE, La. – Stacey Reilly put home 20 kills and the Ragin’ Cajuns found themselves tied at the half before league-leader UALR stormed back to pick up a 3-1 (25-23, 17-25, 25-12, 25-21) win on Friday at Earl K. Long Gym.

Louisiana (14-5, 4-5 SBC) hit .409 in the first two sets, but was held to just .049 hitting in the final two sets in falling for the second time this season to the Trojans (13-4, 7-0 SBC), who stayed unbeaten in Sun Belt Conference play.

Reilly had 12 kills in the first two sets and finished with 20 for the match, hitting .432 with just four misfires in 37 attacks. The 20 kills are the most by any Cajun this season, and the most by a Cajun freshman since Kim Rodgers had 27 against Alcorn State in August of 2003.

In all, the Ragin’ Cajuns out-killed the Trojans 52-49 on the night, but were out-blocked 13.5 to 3.5 and hindered themselves with 10 service errors and a season-high six ball-handling errors.

Chanelle Gardner joined Reilly in double figures with 12 kills, 10 coming in the first two sets. Andrea Hole picked up her 13th double-double of the season with 41 assists and 14 digs, while Caitlyn Auxilien had a match-high 21 digs, just two shy of her season high of 23.

The Trojans, meanwhile, were led by the duo of Edina Begic and Sonja Milanovic who combined for 34 of UALR’s 49 kills for the match.

UL hit .333 and had 18 kills in the first set, getting five kills apiece from Reilly and Gardner, and led as late as 21-20 after Hole’s third kill of the set. But the Trojans responded with four straight points to get to a set-point try. The Cajuns fought off two set-point tries before Milanovic finally finished it off with a score.

One set later the Cajuns put together one of its best sets of the season, hitting .542 with just 16 kills and just three errors on 24 swings. Once again it was Reilly leading the way, putting home seven kills on eight attacks, and Gardner made good on five of her six swings as well. Reilly and Sara Mossakowski had two kills apiece as the Cajuns raced out to a quick 10-3 lead and never looked back. UALR got to within two at 12-10, but the Cajuns answered with six straight points behind Auxilien’s serve to give itself plenty of cushion, eventually finishing the set off when Hole found Gardner in the middle of the net to tie the match 1-1.

Unfortunately, halftime was not kind to the Cajuns and the Trojans came out on fire in Set 3. UALR staked itself to a 10-6 lead and never trailed after taking the lead at 4-3 on a Cajun service error. A kill from Begic stretched it out to 17-10 and UALR finished off the set on an 8-1 run, holding UL to just -.033 hitting in the set.

The Cajuns had to play catch-up in most of the final set, despite five more kills from Reilly keeping things close. UL trailed by as much as four points at 19-15, but put together a 6-2 run, sparked by kills from Reilly and Abby Filce, to knot things at 21-21. But that was as close as the Cajuns would get as the Trojans responded with four straight points to finish off the match.

UL will have a quick turnaround before its next match, hosting Troy on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. at Earl K. Long Gym.

A-State Volleyball Sweeps Georgia State 3-0

  JONESBORO, Ark. (10/10/14) – The Arkansas State volleyball squad extended its winning streak to six matches with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-20) victory over Georgia State Friday night at the Convocation Center in Jonesboro.

  A-State (11-5, 6-1) jumped out to a 5-0 lead over the Panthers (5-13, 2-6), powered by two Mallory Warrington service aces, in the first set and forced GSU to use a timeout.  The Red Wolves extended their lead to 18-8 later in the set, but Georgia State used a 9-5 run to cut the deficit to six points at 23-17.  A-State got the final two points it needed on kills from Drew Jones and won the set by a score of 25-19.

  The second set was close early on with A-State holding a narrow two-point lead at 10-8 before a 10-2 run extended the Red Wolves’ advantage to 20-10.  The Panthers battled back within eight points on several occasions with the last time coming at 24-16, but a Sarah Kemp kill gave Arkansas State a 25-16 set victory and 2-0 lead in the match.

  After intermission, the Red Wolves and Panthers battled to an early 8-8 tie, but A-State extended its edge to three points at 15-12 on a Jones kill.  A quick 3-0 run by GSU erased the A-State lead and tied the set again at 15-15.  A-State used a 3-0 run of its own to gain a three-point advantage again at 18-15, but Georgia State cut the deficit to one point at 20-19.  However, A-State closed the set on a 5-1 run and won the set 25-20 for a 3-0 match win over the Panthers.

  “I want to give a lot of credit to Georgia State, their game plan was pretty good and it frustrated us most of the night,” A-State volleyball coach David Rehr said.  “We didn’t play our best, but I love the fact that we’re at a place right now that we can be upset with a win.”

  Jones and Kemp led the Red Wolves with 12 kills each with Jones earning hers on a season-high .571 hitting percentage to lead the team.  Jessica Uke finished with nine kills on a .538 hitting percentage.  Warrington handed out 36 assists to lead the team and also registered four service aces.  Defensively, Markie Schaedig had 18 digs, while Kelsey Reis recorded two blocks.  The Red Wolves registered a .292 hitting percentage as a team and had seven service aces compared to GSU’s two.

  “I really didn’t pay attention to how many kills I had,” Jones said.  “I just hit the ball and tipped the ball where (assistant coach) Tristan Johnson had coached me to.  I was just trying to help the team and do my best for them tonight.”

  Arkansas State returns to action Tuesday, Oct. 14 on the road versus in-state rival UALR.  First serve from the Jack Stephens Center is set for 7 p.m., and fans can keep up with the entire match’s action by following @AStateGameday on Twitter.  For the latest on the A-State volleyball team follow the squad on Twitter (@stAteVolleyball).

Errors Doom Panthers in 3-0 Loss

JONESBORO, Ark. – Georgia State’s volleyball team lost 3-0 (19-25, 16-25, 20-25) Friday night to the third-place team in the conference, Arkansas State. The Panthers struggled to overcome 26 errors and a .147 hitting percentage in the loss.

Sophomore Kristina Stinson had an efficient night for the Panthers. The outside hitter hit a career-high .429 with seven kills. Junior Deidra Bohannon led the team with eight kills and 13 digs and junior Eliza Zachary added seven kills with two blocks. Senior Andrea Book also had a nice match for GSU with four kills on .378 hitting.

“Simply put, we got outplayed by a high-IQ Arkansas State team,” head coach Sally Polhamus said. “It’s our job to control our side of the net. The team is looking forward to Sunday so we can rebound and continue to grow and get better.”

NOTING THE PANTHERS

·Deidra Bohannon finished just shy of a fourth straight double-double. The junior recorded eight kills and 13 digs.

·Kristina Stinson’s .429 attack percentage was a new career-high for the sophomore. Stinson got a few good lucks from setters Natalia Nieto and Annie Ellis and was able to take advantage and find holes in the Red Wolves’ defense.

Arkansas State saw great performances from a pair of freshman. Drew Jones finished with 12 kills on .571 hitting and Jessica Uke had nine kills while hitting .538. The Red Wolves held a team hitting percentage of .292 and had just 12 attack errors.

Georgia State got off to a slow start in Set 1. The Red Wolves won the first five points to open the match and never trailed. The Panthers began to settle in and went on a four-point run to make it 18-12, and pulled within five at 22-17, but would eventually fall 25-19.

The Panthers opened up Set 2 with a 3-1 advantage after an ace from sophomore Molly Shonk. Arkansas State made some adjustments on offense and came back with three-straight points to take an 11-8 lead. Arkansas State would run away with the second set, winning 25-16 and taking a 2-0 lead in the match.

Georgia State battled in Set 3, but the Red Wolves once again never trailed and won the set 25-20 to complete the 3-0 sweep. The Panthers tied the set at 15 on junior Deidra Bohannon’s 6th kill and trailed by one at 21-20. That would be as close as GSU would get, however, as A-State closed things out on a 4-1 run.

GSU (4-13, 2-6 SBC) stays on the road for a Sunday meeting with conference-leader UALR. The Trojans (12-4, 6-0 SBC) host the Panthers at 1 p.m. ET in Little Rock, Ark.

UTA Picks up First Conference Road Win Over USA

ARLINGTON, Texas - Heading into Friday night's matchup with South Alabama, UT Arlington was 0-3 in conference play on the road, but the Mavericks ended any doubt of their ability to win on the road as they earned their first road conference win against the Jaguars in a three-set sweep (25-19, 26-24, 25-20).

The win pushes UTA to a 15-5 record this season and 5-3 in the Sun Belt while South Alabama falls to 9-9 overall and 4-4 in the conference.

Taylor Gross led the charge for UTA as she recorded a team-high nine kills and hitting percentage of .316 in the match. Gross was joined by Qiana Canete and Briana Sharratt who each recorded eight kills in the match. Canete chipped in 11 digs to help out defensively while Sharratt also got in on the action with a team-high five blocks.

As a team the Mavs hit .259 while allowing USA to hit just .191 in the match. UTA also outblocked the Jaguars 7-4 in the match.

The Mavericks will return to action this Sunday when they host Appalachian State at noon at College Park Center as a part of the UTA Volleyball Alumni Weekend.

Daniel Records Her Seventh Double-Double, but Jags Fall 3-0 to UT Arlington

MOBILE, Ala. – Mechell Daniel recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 13 kills and 11 digs, but it wasn't enough as the University of South Alabama volleyball team fell 3-0 (19-25, 24-26, 20-25) to Texas-Arlington on Friday night at Jag Gym.

The Jags (9-9, 4-4 SBC)) will now take on first-year Sun Belt member Georgia Southern on Saturday night at Jag Gym at 6 p.m.  Live stats and web streaming for the match versus the Eagles will be available at www.USAJaguars.com and can be accessed on the Jaguar volleyball schedule page.

Along with her double-double, Daniel also hit .400 in the match and had two block assists.  Jessica Lewis was the only other Jag to end the night in double digits as she had 10 kills.  Symone Stephenson just missed double figures with her second-straight match of nine kills.  Nikki Gittens also chipped in with eight kills of her own.  The middle blocking duo for South Alabama also had two block assists apiece. Abby Baker had 12 digs.

One key stat in the match was in the serving column.  USA had just one ace and committed eight serving errors.  The Jags also committed 20 attack errors and hit .191 compared to UTA's .259 percentage.

"I think we played a little tight (tonight) and made some unforced errors that cost us in all three sets," South Alabama head coach Amy Hendrichovsky said.  "Kudos to (Texas-Arlington).  I thought they played really well.  They were difficult to defend tonight.  Tonight was a high-level volleyball match.  Both sides executed pretty well.  Both sides passed pretty well.  It wasn't like it was an ugly match.  We're right there.  We just have to get our team to believe and make those plays at the end.  We could play (UTA) tomorrow night and it could be a different outcome."

The Mavericks improved to 15-5 on the year and 5-2 in the league.  Taylor Gross paced the offense with nine kills, while Qiana Canete and Briana Sharratt each had eight kills.  Sharatt also hit .467 in the match and posted five of Texas-Arlington's 14 block assists.

Caitlyn Cooney led all players on the night with 18 digs, while Canete also registered 11 digs of her own.

SET ONE: TEXAS-ARLINGTON 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 19

With UTA holding a one-point advantage (10-9), the Mavericks used a 4-1 scoring spurt to gain some breathing room.  Taylor Story capped off the mini run and gave Texas-Arlington a 14-10 lead with a kill. USA aided the Maverick run by committing three of their eight first set attack errors during that stretch.

UTA held control for the remainder of the set, eventually leading by as much as seven before picking up the 25-19 win on Canete's third kill of the frame.

Stephenson led USA with four kills and hit .571 in the first frame, while Daniel and Gittens each had three kills.  Gross led the Mavericks with four kills and hit .500.  Sharatt had three of Texas-Arlington's six block assists in the opening set.

SET TWO: TEXAS-ARLINGTON 26, SOUTH ALABAMA 24

The Mavericks used another brief run early on in the second set to gain control.  Tied at 3-3, Texas-Arlington rattled off six of the next seven points and took a 9-4 lead after a kill by Ashley Bennett.

The Jaguars momentarily regained momentum after kills from Daniel and Gittens, but UTA answered back by picking up four of the next five points to extend its lead back out to seven (14-7).

Texas-Arlington remained in control over the next several points, but coming out of a time out trailing 21-15, USA began to fight back and reeled off a 9-1 run.  Emily Hundt capped off the Jaguar run and gave USA a 24-22 lead when the junior setter's serve was unable to be controlled by UTA.  The Mavericks – who had committed just six attack errors up until that point – committed five during the South Alabama run.

Holding set-point over the next two points though, South Alabama committed a serving and an attack error to tie the match back up at 24-24.  Sharratt then recorded her fourth kill of the frame and USA then posted another attack error to end the set and give Texas-Arlington the 26-24 win.

SET THREE: TEXAS-ARLINGTON 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 20

In the third and final set, Texas-Arlington got off to a quick start, jumping out to a 7-2 early lead.  Cooney gave the Mavericks the five-point advantage with an ace.

UTA led comfortably for much of the remainder of the set, but led by Daniel – who had six kills in the final frame – South Alabama attempted to make a late rally.  Daniel cut the deficit to 17-14 on her fifth kill of the set.  USA then narrowed the UTA lead to two on two occasions, the last coming at 20-18 following a Stephenson put away.

That would be as close as UTA would let the Jags get though as the Mavericks closed out the set by picking up five of the final seven points.  Canete clinched the match and the 25-20 third-set victory with a kill.

NOTES:  Prior to the match, South Alabama's Mechell Daniel honored as the Outstanding Female International Student-Athlete of the Year by the Office of International Student Services and Admissions. The award is given to an international student for having a positive impact on the university's international community.  Friday night's match was just the fifth in the all-time series between South Alabama and Texas-Arlington.  UTA now holds a 4-1 advantage in the series and is 1-1 in matches played in Mobile.  Daniel posted her seventh double-double of the season against the Mavericks with 13 kills and 11 digs.  The eight serving errors by USA tied for second-most this season.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

Troy Volleyball Falls in Five Sets at ULM

MONROE, Louisiana – The Troy volleyball team held couldn’t hold on to a 2-1 lead on the road as ULM beat the Trojans in five sets, 3-2 (21-25, 25-23, 18-25, 25-15, 15-10), at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.

Troy (9-12, 1-8) has now lost eight straight, with five of the eight coming in five sets.  The Trojans won the first and third sets, but Troy hit .000 in the fourth set before falling, 25-15.

ULM (7-15, 1-7) won nine of the first 12 points in the fifth set to take control, 9-3.  The Warhawks held Troy to another sub .100 attack percentage in the fifth set as Troy hit just .056 and ULM took a 15-10 win.

Blair Winston and Marija Zelenovic each posted 15 kills for the Trojans, but neither hit over .200 on the match.  Kiah Cheatham posted a team-high .350 attack percentage with nine kills and two errors on 20 swings.

Tineille Waggoner had 42 assists as the Trojans hit .158.  Troy posted 10.0 total team blocks as ULM hit .170 as a team. Symone Shaw and Darby Griff each posted six total blocks to lead the way.

Ali Dowdall led the way on the back line for Troy with 18 digs.  Waggoner and Zelenovic posted double-doubles with 10 and 12 digs, respectively.

The Warhawks were led by Hope Pawlik’s 17 kills and Marcel Araya’s 20 digs.  The win snapped a seven-match losing streak for the Warhawks as it moved Troy’s skid to eight matches.

The Trojans will have to rebound quick as they travel south to take on UL Lafayette on Saturday.  First serve at Earl K. Long Gym is set for 7 p.m.  The Ragin’ Cajuns lost on Friday night at home to Sun Belt leader UALR.

For more information on Troy Athletics, visit TroyTrojans.com.  Fans can also find Troy on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube by searching for Troy Athletics.