Sunday, October 12, 2014
Trojans Win Ninth Consecutive in Sweep of Georgia State
LITTLE ROCK –UALR swept Georgia State in three sets (25-18, 25-17, 25-15) on Sunday to earn its ninth consecutive win and improve its Sun Belt record to 8-0, the second-best start to conference play in school history.
After winning its first two sets, UALR had some difficulty in the third. After UALR started the frame with a 6-2 lead, Georgia State went on an 8-1 scoring run to take a 10-7 lead, and forcing the Trojans to take their first timeout of the match. After the timeout, UALR went on an 8-2 run of its own to take a 15-12 lead before Georgia State took its first timeout of the set. Afterwards, the match was completely in Trojan hands as UALR closed the match on 10-2 run, with six of the 10 points coming off Georgia State errors. Overall, the Trojans hit .406 for the set compared to the Panthers’ .103.
UALR led the second set from the wire, scoring in spurts for the majority of the frame. The Trojans’ best scoring run of the set came as UALR led 19-11 after an 8-1 run. Georgia State would only get within six points before UALR finished off the set with a kill by junior Sonja Milanovic. The Trojans hit a match-high .438 for the set.
After a slight struggle by UALR to begin the match, Georgia State held a 9-6 lead. The Panthers’ lead wouldn’t last long as the Trojans came fighting back to tie the set at 9 and then take the lead with a Georgia State attack error. After a Trojan service error that tied the set at 10, UALR went on a 7-1 run and pushed its lead to 16-11. Georgia State would only get within three points for the rest of the set before UALR went on to win the first frame. Senior Edina Begic racked up six of her team-high 12 kills during the set.
Begic finished the match hitting .440 on 25 attacks.
Kills were spread out among the Trojan players with senior Adisa Hodzic and Milanovic with eight, sophomore Edina Selimovic with seven, and sophomores Megan Mathis and Carolee Dillard with six. Hodzic’s eight kills was her highest total of the season.
Selimovic led the Trojans with six block assists.
Mathis recorded her 8th consecutive match with at least 30 assists and 12th overall by racking up 34 for the day. She also had the second-most block assists with five.
Senior Capri Rino led the Trojans in digs by scooping up 16, her highest total of the season for a three-set match.
Georgia State’s 20 errors for the match played a large part in its .133 hitting percentage, while the Trojans hit their second-highest percentage of the season with .408.
UALR has only one day off before welcoming rival Arkansas State to the Jack Stephens Center on Tuesday night (Oct. 14) at 7 p.m.
Georgia State Downed By First Place UALR
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Facing conference-leader UALR on Sunday, Georgia State’s volleyball team fell 3-0 (18-25, 17-25, 15-25) in Little Rock, Ark. The Trojans used a .408 hitting percentage and 10 blocks to defeat the Panthers.
“This was a hard-fought match,” head coach Sally Polhamus said. “I thought we came out ready to play and we made the other team work hard. We have some more steps to take, especially on our side of the net, but I thought we came out aggressive.”
Georgia State’s Kitan Ajanaku had a good performance on Sunday, recording 11 kills on .526 hitting. Sophomore Kristina Stinson also played well as she and Eliza Zachary each finished with eight kills. Gabby Serafin led the Panthers’ defense with 13 digs to bring her season total to 199 which is first on the team. The Trojans were led by Edina Begic who posted 12 kills on .440 hitting. UALR used a balanced attack as six players finished the match with six or more kills.
The Panthers went on the offensive in the first set and led 9-7 before UALR would make a push to tie the set at 11. The Trojans went on top 16-11 leading to a Panther timeout. GSU would pull within three, but eventually lose Set 1 25-18. Zachary finished the first frame with five kills on seven attempts.
UALR jumped out to a 5-2 lead in Set 2 and never trailed. The Panthers stayed close for most of the set, but faded late to lose 25-17 and fall behind 2-0 in the match.
Georgia State lead 10-7 in Set 3, but UALR rallied to tie the set at 12. Polhamus called a timout after her team fell behind 15-12. The break wouldn’t pay off for the Panthers, however, as the Trojans pulled away to finish the sweep with a 25-15 win.
The Panthers are back in action on Friday for a home match against Texas State. The match is set to begin at 6 p.m. at the GSU Sports Arena.
Bobcats Pick Up Fourth Consecutive Home Sweep
SAN MARCOS, Texas – For the fourth consecutive home match, Texas State left the court after sweeping the opponent. Sunday, it was the UL Monroe Warhawks that the Bobcats made short work of, winning 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-18) to improve to 13-8 on the season and 8-1 in the Sun Belt Conference.
Shelby Vas Matt, the team leader in kills, led the squad with an impressive performance Sunday. She tallied a match-high 14 kills with just one error for an outstanding hitting percentage of .481 to lead the Bobcats. She added nine digs in the match. Kelsey Weynand finished with 10 kills in support while Lauren Kirch added eight more.
Jordan Moore continued to orchestrate the offense and finished the match with 34 assists, 11.33 per set. She added eight digs, a kill and was in on three blocks.
Amanda Watkins led the Bobcats in blocks at the net with four block assists. Vas Matt, Kirch and Moore each had three each to help Texas State outblock the Warhawks, 9-7.
The Bobcats started strong in the first set with 15 kills and just three errors on 33 attempts for a team hitting percentage of .364. Meanwhile, the Texas State defense held ULM to a -.061 percentage in the opening frame.
For the match, Texas State held the Warhawks to a -.019 hitting percentage. In fact, the highest hitting percentage any Warhawk finished with was Kalena Caruthers .067.
Brenna Lyles led the defense with 13 digs while libero Sierra Smith added nine. Moore and Vas Matt combined for 17 to give Texas State 48 digs to ULM’s 41.
The Bobcats will take to the road for their next match, a meeting with Georgia State on Friday at 5 p.m. Central Standard Time, 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
ULM Topped by Texas State, 3-0
SAN MARCOS, Texas -- Following a comeback victory over Troy on Friday, the ULM volleyball team was unable to ride that momentum into its second straight win as Texas State topped the Warhawks, 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-18) Sunday afternoon at the Strahan Coliseum in San Marcos, Texas.
Sophomore Taylor Zaeske led the ULM (7-15, 1-8 Sun Belt) attack with seven kills on 23 swings and eight digs. Junior Kimberlie Alvarado tallied six kills on 20 swings and two blocks.
In a back-and-forth first set that included 11 tie scores and five lead changes, ULM fell off late in the first stanza to go down one set early.
Over the next set, the Warhawks and Bobcats (13-8, 8-1 Sun Belt) would trade points as the two teams combined for nine tie scores and six lead changes. Tied at 20-20, Texas State capitalized on some clutch hitting to overcome ULM and go up two sets before putting the match away.
Freshman Bayleigh Hoffman finished just shy of her seventh career double-double with 14 assists and nine digs. Marcela Araya chipped in for nine digs and three assists, marking only the second time this season the senior failed to reach double-digit digs.
Second year starter Hope Pawlik registered four kills, seven digs and three blocks, while freshman Kalena Caruthers totaled five kills and two digs. Sophomore Kaitlyn Shearer paced the squad with five blocks on the defensive end.
The Warhawks will continue their three-match road stand next weekend as ULM is set to take on Georgia Southern (3-15, 3-6 Sun Belt) Friday before facing off with Appalachian State (15-2, 5-2 Sun Belt) on Sunday.
UT Arlington Claims Sweep of Appalachian State
ARLINGTON, Texas - UT Arlington capped off a strong week of play on Sunday as they swept Appalachian State (25-23, 25-15, 21-25) to wrap up a 3-0 week of action. The result marked the eighth straight victory at College Park Center, the third sweep in a row for the Mavs and served as UTA's alumni match where members of the 1989 Final Four volleyball team was honored at the intermission.
The win improves UTA's record to 16-5 this season and 6-3 in the Sun Belt while App State falls to 15-4 on the year with a 5-4 mark in conference play.
Qiana Canete helped pace the Mavericks as she recorded her 13th double-double of the season with 22 digs and a team-high ten kills. Brianna Sharratt also made her presence known as the sophomore MB put up eight blocks and eight kills to go along with a .333 hitting percentage. Caitlyn Cooney chipped in defensively with a match-high 25 digs in the three-set match.
As a team the Mavericks hit .177 while holding the Mountaineers to just .068 hitting. UTA also out blocked the Apps 10-5 in the match.
The Mavs will return to action on Friday, Oct. 17 against Arkansas State with the match set to begin at 6:30 p.m. at College Park Center.
Appalachian State Drops Three-Set Match to UT Arlington
ARLINGTON, Texas - Appalachian State University lost their second-straight match on Sunday afternoon, falling to UT Arlington in three sets with scores of 25-23, 25-15 and 25-21.
The Mountaineers (15-4, 5-4 Sun Belt) were swept for the second time this weekend as UT Arlington (16-5, 6-3 SBC) handed Appalachian their fourth conference loss.
The first set proved to be a close one as Appalachian and UT Arlington tied the score seven different times. With the set tied a six the Mavericks began to pull away, scoring five straight points to lead 11-6.
The Mountaineers rallied, pulling within one point off a kill from Emily Corrigan, but the Mavericks responded with a 5-1 run, leading the first set, 17-12.
It would not be until close to the end of the set that Appalachian would catch up, pulling with two points off two UT Arlington attack errors to trail, 19-17. A kill from Corrigan helped the Apps to pull within one point to make the score 21-20.
Jess Keller found a kill to tie the match 22-22, but UT Arlington would get the last two points of the set, taking the first 25-23.
Appalachian found a lead at the beginning of the second set with a kill from Keller, but the Mavericks stepped up, scoring five straight points to lead the set 10-6.
UT Arlington kept their distance for the rest of the set, never letting the Mountaineers within more than four points of them. The Mavs took the second set, 25-15 to lead the match 2-0.
The Mountaineers looked to be more competitive in the third set, quickly taking an 11-6 lead, but UT Arlington began to dominate, scoring the next eight points of the set off six different Appalachian errors.
Leading 14-11, the Mavericks started to run away with the set, taking a 22-15 lead. The Mountaineers would not give up yet, scoring six-straight points to trail by one one point with a score of 22-21. UT Arlington would close out the third with three-straight points to take the set 25-21 and win the match 3-0.
Corrigan had 12 kills in the loss with Lauren Gray and Keller notching six each.
Paige Brown ended the match with 25 assists, while Meghan Mahoney recorded 20 digs. Olivia Loeffler followed with 18 digs.
Qiana Canete led the Mavericks in kills with 10 on the match, while also posting 22 digs.
The Mountaineers hit just .068 on the match, while UT Arlington hit .177. The Mavericks had ten blocks to Appalachian's five.
The Apps return to action when they host UL Lafayette and UL Monroe on Oct. 17 and Oct. 19.