Sunday, November 16, 2014
UALR Wins 20th Consecutive in Sweep of South Alabama
LITTLE ROCK – The UALR volleyball team’s seniors said goodbye to the Jack Stephens Center in style, sweeping South Alabama 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-18) on Sunday afternoon.
On Senior Day in front of a very supportive crowd, the Trojans (25-4, 19-0 Sun Belt Conference) completed their perfect home schedule and stretched their overall winning streak to 20 matches. UALR can close out a perfect conference schedule with a win at Arkansas State on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Senior Edina Begic netted 11 kills and added six digs and three total blocks. Senior Adisa Hodzic had nine kills in her final home game as well, and senior Capri Rino totaled eight digs.
Junior Sonja Milanovic led the team with 13 kills and 11 digs for her 14th double-double of the season.
The first set saw UALR dominate from the start. The Trojans took a 16-7 lead before the Jaguars were forced to use their first timeout, and the lead only grew from there. UALR was up by 10 points at 17-7, 18-8, 19-9 and 20-11 before the Jaguars made a late push. But by then it was too late, and Carolee Dillard hammered home the final spike of the set as the Trojans took it 25-17. Setter Megan Mathis had a season-high 15 assists in the first frame.
The second frame was more of the same. The Trojans went ahead 11-4 when South Alabama used its first timeout, but UALR would eventually stretch its lead to nine as the team continued to block Jaguar attacks and spike down attacks of its own. Milanovic had nine kills by the time the set was over, and Begic had eight.
The third set was the tightest of the afternoon. The teams traded blows for much of the set, and they were tied as late as 16-16. But UALR took over from there, going on a 7-0 scoring run thanks to the serving of Rino. A South Alabama service error sealed the victory.
Milanovic’s .370 attack percentage was her third-highest this season while her 13 kills were her third-most in a three-set match this season.
Sophomore setter Megan Mathis tallied her most assists in a three-set match this season with 38.
Senior Adisa Hodzic racked up her highest kill total of the season with nine, as well as her highest attack percentage of the year with .750.
Sophomore Edina Selimovic put up her fourth-highest hitting percentage of the season with .667.
Senior Edina Begic’s 11 kills give her 2,075 kills for her career. At 5,135 attack attempts, she has almost 1,000 more than second place in UALR history.
As a team, UALR recorded its third-highest attack percentage of the season with .416
UALR will look to finish the conference schedule undefeated when it returns to action on Saturday night when it travels to rival Arkansas State for a 7 p.m. first serve.
JAGUAR VOLLEYBALL FALLS IN STRAIGHT SETS TO SBC REGULAR SEASON CHAMP UALR
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team fell in straight sets 3-0 (17-25, 17-25, 18-25) at Sun Belt Conference regular season champion Arkansas-Little Rock on Sunday at the Jack Stephens Center. The win was the 20th-straight for the Trojans.
The Jags (11-17, 6-12 SBC) will now return home to close out the regular season with matches versus Louisiana Monroe on Friday (Nov. 21) and Troy on Saturday (Nov. 22). First serve for both matches is set for 6 p.m. at Jag Gym.
Sophomore outside hitters Mechell Daniel and Jessica Lewis led South Alabama offensively in the loss. Daniel had 11 kills in the defeat, while Lewis finished the match with nine. True freshman Kolby Meeks turned in a solid performance in her first collegiate start with seven kills on 12 attacks and one error for a .500 hitting percentage. Senior libero Jenna Hassell posted a match-high 13 digs.
UALR improved to 25-4 overall and remained perfect in league play with a 19-0 mark.
The all-conference duo of preseason player of the year Edina Begic and Sonja Milanovic led the way for the Trojans, each finishing with 13 kills and a .370 hitting percentage. Adisa Hodzic chipped in with nine kills of her own and did not commit an attack error in her 12 attempts to end the day with a .750 percentage.
Edina Selimovic was outstanding at the net as she had seven total blocks – one solo and six assists. Hodzic was close behind her with five block assists of her own. As a team, UALR finished with 12 total blocks – three solo and 18 block assists.
Arkansas-Little Rock ended the match with 42 kills on 89 attacks with five error for a .416 percentage. The .416 hitting percentage by the Trojans was a new season best by a Jag opponent, eclipsing the previous mark of .333 by Texas State (9/25).
SET ONE: ARKANSAS-LITTLE ROCK 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 17
UALR broke a 3-3 tie early on in the first set and took the lead for good as the Trojans pushed across four-straight points. South Alabama trimmed the deficit to 10-6 following a kill by Lewis, but Arkansas-Little Rock used a 9-2 run over the next 11 points to break the match open. Selimovic and Megan Mathis got the scoring started as the duo teamed up for a block. Selimovic also added another block assist and an ace during the run, while Begic had two kills and a block of her own. Hodzic capped off the scoring and put UALR up 19-8 with her second kill of the set.
Kelly Little dropped in back-to-back aces for the Jags to narrow the margin to eight (20-12), but Arkansas-Little Rock would eventually go on to take the set 25-17.
The Trojans were outstanding in the first set, posting a .486 hitting percentage with 17 kills on 35 attacks and no errors. Begic and Milanovic each had six kills apiece in the set for UALR.
SET TWO: ARKANSAS-LITTLE ROCK 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 17
In the second set, Arkansas-Little Rock used its frontline defense to pull away from the Jags. With the set tied at two, the Trojans rattled off 10 of the next 12 points to extend its lead out to 12-4. During the run, UALR – which entered the weekend leading the Sun Belt and ranked eighth in the NCAA in blocks with 3.02 blocks per set – registered eight block assists and a solo block by Carolee Dillard. Hodzic and Selimovic gave the Trojans the eight-point lead with blocks of their own.
South Alabama got as close as five on a couple of occasions, both following kills by Lewis, but that was as close as the Jags would get the rest of the way as Arkansas-Little Rock went on to take a 2-0 lead in the match with the 25-17 second-set victory.
The Trojan frontline helped force 10 South Alabama attack errors in the frame and hold USA to a .111 hitting percentage.
SET THREE: ARKANSAS-LITTLE ROCK 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 18
Tied 16-16 in the third set, UALR took the lead for good and control of the set as the Trojans reeled off seven unanswered points. Milanovic and Hodzic each had two kills each during the scoring run, while Selimovic had two block assist and a solo block. Hodzic also had a pair of block assists.
UALR later completed the three-set sweep with a 25-18 victory.
NOTES: With the loss, South Alabama falls to 3-27 in the all-time series versus Arkansas-Little Rock. UALR has now won six straight in the series. The Jags are 0-12 all-time in the series in matches played in Little Rock. The .416 hitting percentage by the Trojans was a new season best by a Jag opponent, eclipsing the previous mark of .333 by Texas State (9/25). True freshman Kolby Meeks turned in a solid performance in her first collegiate start with seven kills on 12 attacks and one error for a .500 hitting percentage.
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).
Mavs claim Senior Day sweep of Georgia State
ARLINGTON, Texas - UT Arlington relied on a complete team effort on Senior Day at College Park Center on Sunday afternoon as it picked up a three-set sweep (25-20, 25-19, 25-12) over Georgia State in front of 603 fans.
The win pushes the Mavericks to 23-8 on the season with a 14-5 mark in the Sun Belt while Georgia State drops to 9-18 this year with a 7-11 record in the conference.
"To see us get back to who we have been all year is very refreshing because it's been a couple of weeks here that we have been pretty rocky," UT Arlington coach Diane Seymour said. "I told them after the match on Friday that over the course of five matches we really hadn't plead our style and thankfully we were 2-3 because we could have been 0-5 in that stretch."
Briana Sharratt led the way offensively as the sophomore MB recorded a team high nine kills to go along with a hitting percentage of .600 and six blocks.
"I just knew that this was the last game for our seniors at home and we talked about playing for them," Sharratt said. "We do a lot better when we have someone to play for and we were playing for those four seniors and that definitely made me step up my game."
Amanda Welsh and Cassidy Wheeler did their part to guide the Mavericks offense as the duo registered 14 and ten assists respectively.
Defensively UTA relied heavily on Caitlyn Cooney as she notched a match-high 22 digs.
Senior OH Taylor Gross made her mark in the match as she recorded four kills and four blocks in her final match at College Park Center.
"It being your last game, you're already pumped up coming into it and we were just excited and everyone came together to play for the seniors and individually I just needed to go out there and do my thing and go out with a bang at home," Gross said. "We all just focused on playing for each other today."
The Mavericks controlled the net in the win as they out blocked the Panthers 13-3 while also out hitting Georgia State .194 to .061.
UTA honored four seniors prior to the match as Ashley Bennett, Taylor Gross, Taylor Story and Amanda Welsheach played their final match at College Park Center.
The Mavericks will return to the court for their regular season finale when they travel to Statesboro, Ga. to take on Georgia Southern on Nov. 21 with the match slated to begin at 5 p.m.
PANTHERS FALL IN THREE TO UT ARLINGTON
ARLINGTON, Texas – In the final road match of the season, Georgia State’s volleyball team was defeated by third-place UT Arlington on its Senior Day in Arlington, Texas. The Mavericks took care of the Panthers in three sets, winning 25-20, 25-19, and 25-12.
Junior Deidra Bohannon finished with a double-double on 14 kills and 10 digs. Junior Natalia Nieto had 11 digs and sophomore Molly Shonk led the team with 12. Sophomore Kristina Stinson finished with 6 kills and juniors Eliza Zachary and Kitan Ajanaku each recorded 5 kills.
“Limiting our unforced errors was the difference in this match. We love this conference because you have to play your best every night,” head coach Sally Polhamus said. “We look forward to returning home to close out the regular season in front of our fans.”
Georgia State started off hot on offense and defense, but it was the serving game that kept the Panthers from pulling away. Set 1 was tied at 10 and Georgia State had already amounted five service errors, allowing the Mavericks to stay close. UTA would use a 9-2 run to take control of the set and never turn back. Georgia State battled back at the end, but UTA would claim Set 1 25-20.
The Mavericks used their blocking to jump in front in Set 2. UTA finished the match with 13 total team blocks. Georgia State once again fought hard to pull within five at the end, but fell 25-19 to UTA.
Georgia State and UT Arlington traded points in Set 3 and were tied at 6. UT Arlington put a 5-2 run together to go up 11-8. The Mavericks kept the pressure on and the Panthers took a timeout, trailing 15-9. Unlike the first two sets, UT Arlington did not allow the Panthers to creep back in. The Mavericks closed out the set and the match on an impressive 9-2 run to complete the 3-0 sweep with a 25-12 Set 3 win.
The Panthers (9-18, 7-11 SBC) have two matches remaining on the regular-season schedule. GSU hosts Troy on Friday, Nov. 21 at 6 p.m. and Appalachian State on Saturday, Nov. 22 at 6 p.m. Georgia State is one of four schools fighting for three spots in the Sun Belt tournament, set to begin on Nov. 27 in San Marcos, Texas. GSU is currently in seventh with the top eight schools going to the tournament.
A-State Volleyball Tops Georgia Southern for Eighth Straight Win
JONESBORO, Ark. (11/16/14) – The Arkansas State volleyball squad, powered by a career-high and team season-high 10 blocks from Kelsey Reis, picked up its eighth straight win with a 3-1 (25-16, 25-20, 23-25, 25-17) victory versus Sun Belt Conference foe Georgia Southern Sunday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
The barrage of blocks by Reis began in the first set when she registered five of her blocks, including a block solo. She went on to add a block solo in every set to end the day with another career high and team season high of four block solos. The Red Wolves recorded 12 total blocks as a team, their fourth highest total of the season.
“Our huge focus today was defensive intensity,” Reis said. “I just really wanted to focus on doing my job and helping out with that by doing my part with the blocking.”
A-State (19-8, 14-4) was able to capitalize on Reis’s blocks early in the first set as she registered a block solo on the second point of the match to give Arkansas State an early 2-0 lead. The Eagles (7-21, 6-12) responded to tie the set at 7-7, but a Jessica Uke kill on the next point gave the Red Wolves a lead they wouldn’t relinquish as A-State went on to win the set by a score of 25-16.
The second set proved to be tougher for Arkansas State as Georgia Southern gained an early 10-7 edge after a service error. The Red Wolves rallied with a 4-0 run to take an 11-10 lead after a Markie Schaedig service ace and eventually found themselves ahead 22-18 after a block from Kariana Castanon-Hill and Uke. The Eagles got within three at 23-20, but a Castanon-Hill kill and ensuing Georgia Southern attack error gave the Red Wolves a 25-20 win in the second set.
Arkansas State and Georgia Southern battled through 15 ties and four lead changes in the third set. A-State began the set with a 10-6 lead, but the Eagles held a 20-18 edge later in the set. A 3-0 run by the Red Wolves put the team on top 21-20 and forced Georgia Southern to use a timeout. Both teams were knotted up at 23-23, but the Eagles won the next two points to force game four.
Georgia Southern started the fourth set with a 6-4 advantage, but A-State went on an 8-0 run, capped by a Castanon-Hill kill, to earn a 12-6 lead. The Red Wolves wouldn’t look back after that and stretched their advantage to eight points on several occasions, including the last point of the set when a Uke kill gave Arkansas State a 25-17 set victory and 3-1 match win.
“This was a must win for us because we’re to the stage where every game is important to us for seeding purposes in the conference tournament,” A-State volleyball coach David Rehr said. “We’ll definitely take this win over a good Georgia Southern team, especially after having to keep our focus with the delay at the beginning.”
The A-State offense recorded its third highest attacking percentage of the season by hitting at a .331 clip and hit over .300 in all four sets of the match. Sarah Kemp led the way with 16 kills, while Drew Jones (11) and Uke (10) also tallied double-digit numbers. Uke led the team with a .600 hitting percentage while no A-State player hit below a .233 mark. Mallory Warrington dished out 45 assists and recorded 15 digs to earn her team-leading 21st double-double of the year.
Defensively, Schaedig led the Red Wolves with 17 digs and Kemp added 10 of her own to give her a double-double, her 10th of the season. In addition to Reis’s numbers blocking, A-State had five other players tally at least one block with Castanon-Hill registering the second most on the squad with four, all block assists. Kemp had two block assists, while Jones, Uke, and Warrington each added one.
The Arkansas State volleyball team returns to action Friday, Nov. 21 at the Convocation Center against Louisiana-Lafayette with first serve set for 7 p.m. Fans can keep up with the entire match’s action by viewing live stats at AStateStats.com and by following @AStateGameday on Twitter. For the latest on the A-State volleyball team follow the squad on Twitter (@stAteVolleyball).
Arkansas State Bests Georgia Southern 3-1
JONESBORO, Ark. – Sarah Kemp registered 16 kills, 10 digs and two blocks, and the Red Wolves had 12 blocks as a team to earn a 3-1 (25-16, 25-20, 23-25, 25-17) Sun Belt Conference volleyball victory over Georgia Southern Sunday afternoon in the Convocation Center.
Cathrine Murray led Georgia Southern (7-21, 6-12) with 17 kills and 10 digs, while Jamie DeRatt collected 14 kills and 13 digs. Kym Coley finished with 12 kills, and Kat Minnerly had 45 assists and 14 digs.
Drew Jones tallied 11 kills for Arkansas State (19-8, 14-4), and Kelsey Reis posted six kills and six blocks. Jessica Uke had 10 kills, and Mallory Warrington finished with 45 assists and 15 digs.
Georgia Southern trailed the match 2-0, and the score was tied 23-23 in the third set, when the Red Wolves committed a hitting error and DeRatt put down a kill to give the set to the Eagles.
Arkansas State trailed 4-2 early in the fourth set but with the score tied 6-6, ran off six straight points, including two kills by Uke, to open a 12-6 cushion. Georgia Southern cut the margin to three points, but another 7-2 run made the score 20-12 in favor of the Red Wolves.
Arkansas State hit .331 in the match while allowing the Eagles a .160 hitting percentage.
“I was very disappointed with our performance today after playing so well Friday night,” said Georgia Southern coach Dustin Wood. “We came out flat today and got burned on simple plays. We have to learn how to play consistently well each match.”
Georgia Southern caps the regular season with a pair of Sun Belt matches at home next weekend. The Eagles play host to UT Arlington Friday at 6 p.m. and Texas State Saturday at 1 p.m. on Senior Day.
Georgia Southern is tied with South Alabama for the eighth and final Sun Belt Tournament spot, and the Eagles hold the tiebreaker because they swept the Jags. Georgia Southern needs either two wins this weekend, a combination of a win and a South Alabama loss or two Jaguar losses in order to clinch the spot.
Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. Fans can purchase tickets to Georgia Southern Athletics events by calling 1-800-GSU-WINS or by visiting GSEagles.com.
Warhawks Reign Superior on Senior Day
MONROE, La. – Propelled by an outstanding performance by senior Marcela Araya in the final home match of her career, the ULM volleyball team rallied through in the clutch to push the Warhawks past Appalachian State, 3-2 (21-25, 25-22, 25-19, 21-25, 15-13), on Senior Sunday at the Fant Ewing Coliseum.
“The girls weren’t going to lose,” head coach Patrick Hiltz said. “There was just a feeling about this week in general where I knew today was going to be one of those days and we were going to play as hard as we could. We had an emotional day but we controlled our emotions throughout the match.”
Trailing 5-9 to the Mountaineers (19-9, 9-9 Sun Belt) at the break of a decisive fifth set, ULM (9-22, 3-15) showed its poise by rallying to score 10 of the next 14 points on an impressive .375 hitting and capture the Warhawks third conference victory of the season.
The ULM offense controlled the tempo against a playoff bound Appalachian State squad throughout the match. The Warhawks hit .226 as a team with 10 blocks compared to the Mountaineers’ .190 attack percentage and seven blocks.
Numerous players had career afternoons in the ULM triumph, starting with setter Bayleigh Hoffman who picked up her 10th double-double of the season. Not only did the freshman from York, Pa. outduel the Sun Belt’s top setter, but Hoffman totaled a career-best 61 assists and four service aces to go along with 12 digs.
“Our freshmen have really grown up over the past two weeks,” Hiltz added. “We had Bayleigh outduel the best setter in the country today in terms of assists per set. She’s still learning and the ceiling is unlimited for this group if they stick together. They’re starting to understand this is a process and we’re just getting started.”
Hope Pawlik dominated the attack all afternoon, making sure the Warhawks offense never stalled throughout the match. The sophomore outside hitter registered a season-best 20 kills, while adding five digs and four blocks.
Hadley Swartz set a new career-high with 21 digs on the afternoon. The sophomore from York, Pa. collected 14 kills and tied her season-high with three blocks.
Araya proved to be a hassle for the Mountaineers attack all match, amassing 40-digs for the second time this season. With her parents making the trip all the way from Costa Rica, Araya did not disappoint. Over the weekend, the libero racked up an impressive 66 digs to raise her average to 5.60 digs per set on the year.
In her last home match, senior Alannah Cullum recorded two kills on five swings (.400).
“Marcela and Alannah have been leading us for four years,” Hiltz said. “They’ve been giving the examples to everyone else on how to do things. They’ve set the way for our young group and they are the foundation. Everything we do from here on out is because of those two and what they’ve helped us establish. I couldn’t be happier that we could get a win for them in their final home game.”
Taylor Zaeske excelled on both the offensive and defensive side of the net, accumulating 14 kills, six digs and one block to aid the Warhawks.
Jennifer McClendon played arguably the best-match of her young career in a ULM uniform. The freshman totaled 10 kills on a career-high .562 hitting and garnered three digs, two service aces and two blocks.
Once again Kaitlyn Shearer attested to be dominant on the block, earning five blocks and six kills for the Warhawks.
Despite dropping a tight first set, 21-25, ULM showed they were not going away easily in a back-and-forth second stanza. Down 19-21 late in the second set, the Warhawks strung together six of the next seven points to tie the match moving into intermission.
Knotted at 6-6 early in the third set, ULM took advantage of a Mountaineer attack error to go up 7-6. That proved to be a difference maker as the Warhawks never relinquished that lead en route to a 25-19 third set triumph.
Appalachian State retaliated with the equalizer to force a decisive fifth set. However, ULM demonstrated experience in the final stanza to come back and win late in the fifth set, which was clinched by a powerful kill from Pawlik.
The Warhawks will close out the season next weekend on the road when they travel to play South Alabama on Friday (6 p.m.) and UL-Lafayette on Sunday (12 p.m.).
Mountaineers Drop Another Five-Set Match
MONROE, La. - Appalachian State University volleyball fell to UL Monroe on Sunday afternoon, dropping the match in the fifth set which featured scores of 25-21, 22-25, 19-25, 25-21 and 13-15.
The Mountaineers (19-9, 9-9 Sun Belt) have lost four of their six five-set matches this season, falling to the tenth-place Warhawks (9-22, 3-15) and giving them just their third conference win of year.
The Mountaineers got the early lead in the first set, making the score 6-2 but the Warhawks began to work their way back, tying the score a 12. The Mountaineers would go on a 7-2 run, finding kills from Emily Corrigan and Jess Keller to lead, 19-14.
The Apps would close out the first, scoring the last three points of the set to win 25-21.
The second set would begin the same but this time UL Monroe would have the early 6-2 lead. From there, Appalachian took control, tying the match at 11. The Warhawks would score four-straight points, but the Mountaineers responded with four-straight points of their own, not allowing UL Monroe to get too far ahead.
Appalachian went on a 5-1 run but still only led the Warhawks by two points as UL Monroe went on a 7-2 run of their own to win the set 25-22 and tie the match 1-1.
The third set was another close one as each team took the lead several times. UL Monroe would finally take a steady lead with a score of 10-7 but they would not be able to shake Appalachian, who continued to trail by no more than three points.
It would not be until a kill from Lauren Gray put the Apps down just 16-14 that the Warhawks came alive, scoring three-straight points for a 19-14 lead. The Warhawks scored five of the last six points of the set to take it 25-19.
Appalachian immediately dominated the fourth set, jumping out to a 6-1 lead. The Warhawks would score four-straight points but it did not deter the Mountaineers, who went on a 6-3 run to lead 12-8.
The Mountaineers continued to find points, never letting UL Monroe within less than three points to take a comfortable 25-21 victory in the fourth set and tie the match, 2-2.
Things would look good for the Apps in the fifth st as they took the first lead and maintained it, for a 10-7 lead on UL Monroe. With just five points left until victory, the Mountaineers fell apart as the Warhawks went on a 7-1 run to lead 14-11.
The Mountaineers attempted to come back, finding a kill from Jacqui Spurgeon to put them down by just one point, but the Warhawks got the last kill, taking the set 15-13 and winning the match 3-2.
Keller and Gray led the Mountaineers on offense with 22 and 20 kills, respectively. Paige Brown had 59 assists and 17 digs in the loss, while Meghan Mahoney recorded 20 digs to lead the Apps on defense, Kati Stammen followed with 19 digs.
The Warhawks were led by Hope Pawlik's 20 kills and Bayleigh Hoffman's match-high 61 assists.
The Mountaineers hit .190 on the day while UL Monroe recorded a .226 hitting percentage.
The Apps return to action when they take on Texas State at home on Thursday, Nov. 20.