Friday, August 29

Troy Volleyball Opens Season with Pair of Sweeps

CLEMSON, South Carolina – The Troy volleyball team opened its 2014 season a pair of 3-0 wins at the Big Orange Bash hosted by Clemson at Jervey Gym. The Trojans defeated Austin Peay, 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 29-27), then knocked off UNC Asheville, 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-12).

Troy posted .427 and .432 attack percentages in the two matches, respectively, both the most by a Troy team since 2002 when the Trojans posted a .524 attack percentage against Morris Brown.

“I couldn’t be more proud of this team,” head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick said. “We had two total team wins today. We’ve got some things to clean up for tomorrow, but I really liked our focus and intensity today.”

The Trojans return to the court on Saturday when they take on USC Upstate at 10 a.m. (CST) and Clemson at 4 p.m. (CST).

TROY 3, AUSTIN PEAY 0

The Trojans open their season with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 29-27) win over Austin Peay. Troy posted a .427 attack percentage in the match with 45 kills and just seven errors.

Marija Zelenovic led the way with 16 kills, three errors and 27 attempts for a .481 attack percentage. Symone Shaw posted the highest attack percentage on the team at .571 thanks to nine kills and one error on just 14 attempts.

Tineille Waggoner, a junior college transfer, made her first start at setter for the Trojans, and posted 34 assists. Ali Dowdall was the Trojans libero and recorded a team-high seven digs.

Friday’s win over the Lady Governors snapped a streak of four straight season-opening losses for the Trojans, who last won an opener in 2009 when they defeated Stetson.

TROY 3, UNC ASHEVILLE 0

Troy continued its great offensive output with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-12) win over UNC Asheville in the Trojans second match of the season. Troy posted a .432 attack percentage against the Bulldogs with 44 kills and just six errors.

Blair Winston led the Trojans with 10 kills and one error on 19 attempts for a .474 attack percentage. Kiah Cheatham recorded nine kills and two errors, while Zelenovic posted eight kills and one error.

Waggoner recorded 32 assists against the Bulldogs while Dowdall led the way again with eight digs. The Trojans also posted eight service aces against UNC Asheville with Cheatham and Zelenovic each posted three.

Ragin’ Cajuns Take 3-1 Win In Season Opener

HOUSTON, Texas – The Ragin’ Cajuns volleyball team fought off a stubborn Fresno State squad to pick up a 3-1 (25—18, 25-20, 18-25, 25-??) win in the season opener at the Adidas Rice Invitational at Tudor Fieldhouse.

Kaylee Nemeth led all players with 13 kills on the day, committing just one error on 29 swings (.414), while Andrea Hole and Stacey Reilly each picked up double-doubles in the opener. Reilly, a true freshman making her first career start, hit .286 on the day with a dozen kills and 17 digs while Hole dished out 47 assists and had 10 digs while leading the team to a .201 attack percentage for the match.

“The girls came out and stuck to our game plan and executed it pretty well,” head coach Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot said. “It’s always a good feeling to go out there and get the first win under our belt and play as well as we did for the majority of the match.”

Junior Sara Mossakowski just missed a double-double of her own with nine kills and 14 digs, while Chanelle Gardner added 11 kills and a pair of blocks.

The Cajuns jumped out to a 2-0 lead, hitting at a .260 clip in the first two sets behind nine kills from Nemeth and 26 assists from Hole; however, after trailing 20-10 in the second set, the Bulldogs found their spark. Fresno cut the lead down to 23-20 before the Ragin’ Cajuns were able to close out the frame.

FSU carried that momentum over into the third set, racing out to a 7-2 lead. The Bulldogs held Louisiana to just .030 hitting in the set and forced the Ragin’ Cajuns into eight attack errors, never trailing and cutting the Louisiana lead in half with a 25-18 win.

But the Ragin’ Cajuns closed out the third set strong, scoring five of seven of the set’s final points before and quickly took commanding 14-6 lead in the fourth set behind three kills from Reilly. Fresno State managed to trim the lead to as little as three on two occasions, including a 4-1 late run to get to 24-21 before Hole found Reilly once again for the match-clinching kill.

“Fresno got up pretty big in the third set, but our girls did not quit,” Mazeitis-Fontenot said. “We were able to get some momentum going late in the third set and it carried us into the fourth set.”

The Ragin’ Cajuns will continue the Adidas Rice Invitational with a pair of matches on Saturday, beginning with an 11:00 a.m. match versus Rice before a 5:30 p.m. match versus UC Davis closes out the weekend.

Mavs cruise past UIW in 2014 opener

ARLINGTON, Texas - UT Arlington opened the 2014 volleyball season with a convincing 25-8, 25-17, 25-18 victory Friday night over Incarnate Word in the College Park Maverick Classic at College Park Center.

The Mavericks (1-0) upped their winning streak in home openers to five in row by beating the Cardinals in the first ever meeting between the programs. UTA has two matches Saturday - Jackson State at 1:30 p.m. and Denver at 7 p.m. - to conclude the Maverick Classic.

"We looked very good," said UT Arlington coach Diane Seymour, who improved to 8-3 in home openers. "It's one of the better opening nights that we've had in a while. We just felt really confident, our play was fast and I think we recovered from any mistake very quickly. I think it's a good sign of things to come."

Senior outside hitter Taylor Gross led the UTA attack with 10 kills while hitting .500. Freshman outside hitter Qiana Canete contributed seven kills and senior middle blocker Ashley Bennett added six kills. Senior setter Amanda Welshled the Mavs with 19 assists and sophomore setter Cassidy Wheeler had 11.

"We've been here since July all together, so we've been playing each other for a real long time," Bennett said. "We were just excited to see how everyone responded."

The Mavericks dominated as a team, finishing the sweep with an attack percentage of .309 compared to -.009 for UIW. UTA had a 41-25 edge in kills and 11-3 advantage in team blocks.

The Mavericks started fast, jumping out to a 9-4 lead after sophomore middle blocker Briana Sharratt and Canete combined on a block. UIW called timeout after falling behind 12-6, but the stoppage did little to slow UTA's momentum.

The Mavs were up 19-7 when Cardinals coach Jennifer Montoya signaled for another timeout. UTA closed out the set with six consecutive points, the final five coming on senior setter Amanda Welsh's serve.

The Mavericks outhit UIW in the opening set .364 to -.303 and led 10-4 in kills. Senior middle blocker Ashley Bennett and senior outside hitter Taylor Gross each had three kills, with Welsh tallying five assists and sophomore setter Cassidy Wheeler adding four.

The Mavericks didn't trail in the second set, getting out to a 7-2 lead. UTA went up double digits (21-11) on a Baptiste kill that forced another Cardinals' timeout. The Mavs outhit UIW .220 to .071 and led 14-10 in kills.

UTA was down 6-4 in the third set before turning it around. The Mavericks went on a 10-3 run that included two kills by Gross. Junior opposite side Stacey Koch had four kills in the last set to match Gross' total, as the Mavericks hit .382 to UIW's .154.

Mountaineers Sweep Vikings in Season Opener

BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University volleyball started the 2014 campaign with a victory, sweeping Cleveland State in three sets with scores of 25-22, 25-12 and 29-27.

The first set started close as Appalachian struggled to maintain a lead, but a kill from Emily Corrigan set the tone for the rest of the game as the Mountaineers pulled ahead 5-4. The Apps would keep the lead for the rest of the set, letting the Vikings come within three points on several occasions.

With the score at 23-19, Corrigan took control, slamming down two kills to help App State take the set 25-22.

Appalachian immediately took a 2-0 lead in the second set and would not give up the lead for the rest of the game as Cleveland State trailed by as much as 11 points. The Mountaineers held the commanding lead, defeating the Vikings in the second with a score of 25-12.

The Vikings came back for revenge in the third set, scoring the first two points of the game. The Mountaineers were able to tie the score at three, but from there the lead would flip back-and-forth for the rest of the set.

The third game featured 12 tied scores as the teams battled to reach 25 points. With Appalachian leading 19-15 it looked like they had control of the set, but the Vikings would not go down easy, tying the score at 20.

The set continued with six more tied scores before Appalachian finally pulled ahead for good, winning the set 29-27 and taking the match 3-0.

Corrigan led the team on offense, tallying 15 kills on the night and .433 hitting percentage. She added eight digs, for the second-most on the team. Jess Keller recorded 11 kills in the win, while added Lauren Gray eight with .312 hitting percentage.

Paige Brown assists 39 kills, while Meghan Mahoney led the team on defense with 15 digs.

Grace Kauth led the Vikings with 10 kills and Ally Beck recorded a team-high nine digs.

Appalachian hit .312 on the night, while Cleveland State hit just .118 percent. The teams each tallied six blocks in the match.

The Mountaineers return to action at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow to take on Tennessee Tech, before playing Tennesse at 7 p.m.

Texas State Volleyball Splits First Day

HOUSTON – Texas State split the team’s two matches on opening day, winning a five-set thriller against Lamar (25-27, 30-28, 23-25, 25-23, 15-9) but dropping to Wake Forest in four, 3-1 (25-16, 24-26, 25-20, 25-22).

In Texas State’s first action of the season, the Bobcats tinkered with their lineup a bit through two matches, but saw major contributions from freshman Lauren Kirch, sophomores Shelby Vas Matt and Keeley Davis and senior Alexandra Simms among others.

In the first match of the season, the Bobcats survived a hotly contested five-set match against Lamar that saw two sets go to extra points and two more end in 25-23 scores. Texas State ended up on top though, 3-2 (25-27, 30-28, 23-25, 25-23, 15-9) to start the season 1-0.

The Bobcats used a balanced attack that saw five players reach double-digit kills led by Kirch. She finished with 14 kills and put together a well-rounded performance in her first collegiate match. She led the team in service with three and added eight digs and three blocks. Her effective service helped the team tally 11 aces in the match to just five for Lamar. Vas Matt and Sierra Smith were the other Bobcats with multiple aces, each finishing with two.

Simms was second on the team in kills with 12 while Vas Matt, Brooke Smith and Davis each finished with 10. Vas Matt made it a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs to go with her two aces. Libero Sierra Smith led the team in digs with 17. Freshman Alex Silver added seven digs in her first collegiate action.

The Bobcats used two setters in the match with Ali Gonzales tallying 29 assists and Jordan Moore finishing with 25. Texas State also put down seven blocks with Amanda Watkins notching four and three each for Kirch and Brooke Smith.

Both teams played a back-and-forth match through much of four sets, but Vas Matt and Davis came alive late. The sophomore duo combined for three kills in the first two sets and eight in the first three. In the final two sets, however, Davis and Vas Matt put down 12 combined kills to finish with a combined 20 to spur the Bobcats past the Cardinals in the season opener.

The Bobcats fell to Wake Forest in the second match of the day, 3-1 (25-16, 24-26, 25-20, 25-22). Texas State stuck with a balanced attack as four Bobcats combined for 42 kills. Both Vas Matt and Davis improved on their first match performance with 12 kills each while Simms finished with 10.

Vas Matt made it two double-doubles in two matches with 10 digs in addition to her 12 kills and added three blocks. Moore set the entire second match for Texas State, giving out 43 assists with a team-high 15 digs. Libero Sierra Smith added 11 digs.

At the net, Watkins again led Texas State in blocks with four while Kirch and Simms matched Vas Matt’s three blocks.

Texas State will look to move above .500 against host Houston at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Georgia State Splits Friday Matches at UAB/Samford Challenge

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Georgia State volleyball kicked off the 2014 regular season at the UAB/Samford Challenge on Friday at the Pete Hanna Center on Samford’s campus. The Panthers defeated Jacksonville State 3-1 after dropping their first match 3-0 to Samford.

Head coach Sally Polhamus picked up her first win at Georgia State (1-1) as junior Deidra Bohannon led the Panthers in scoring against Jacksonville State (0-1) with 22 kills. Junior Eliza Zachary added 8 kills on .429 hitting.

“It was a good test for us. They kept battling and we kept fighting back. In the end, we dug deep and found a way to win,” junior Natalia Nieto said who ended up with 27 assists.

Jacksonville State and Georgia State battled back and forth for the majority of the match. In the first set, the Panthers scored four straight points to go on top 19-16 and never turned back, winning the set 25-21.

The Gamecocks raced out to a 6-1 lead to start the second set. Georgia State dug in their heels and rallied back to tie it at six. After trading points, the Panthers put together a five-point run to clinch the second set 25-19 and go up 2-0 in the match.

The third set was once again a tight battle and both squads traded blows. Jacksonville State was able to hold off all the Panther attempts at a rally and took the set 25-20.

Georgia State led for much of the fourth set. The Gamecocks pulled within one, but back-to-back kills by sophomore Kristina Stinson put the Panthers up 13-8. Georgia State extended their lead to six before JSU once again cut the lead to one.

GSU VS. SAMFORD…

Georgia State faced host Samford in the first match of the day. The Bulldogs were picked to finish first in the Southern Conference and feature two preseason all-conference first-teamers in OH Michaela Reesor and LIB Chelsi Carter. The Panthers scored the first three points of the season, but fell behind when the Bulldogs scored six straight points. The Panthers would retake the lead 7-6, but the Bulldogs proved to be too much and won the first set 25-13.

The Panthers struggled to get anything going and fell behind 2-0 in the match after losing the second set 25-12. After the intermission, Georgia State came out with high energy and made a strong run at the Bulldogs. Georgia State led 20-19 before the Bulldogs put away the set and the match, 3-0.

“Samford is a well-coached team with veteran experience. It was good to finally see someone else across the net that tested us from all aspects of the game. The positive from our opening match was the resiliency we showed in the last set working to take that momentum forward,” Polhamus said.

NOTING THE PANTHERS…

• Two Panthers made their debuts as junior Brianna Jones, who transferred from Pfeiffer, and freshman Sydney Mauer both saw action on the court on Friday.

• It was the debut for Sally Polhamus at Georgia State as well. The former Florida assistant coach and Winthrop head coach returned to Atlanta take over the Panther volleyball program in Dec. 2013. Polhamus coached at Georgia Tech from 2002-06 in an assistant position.

• Georgia State used a variety of weapons on offense against JSU. Ajanaku, Zachary, Patterson, Stinson and Bohannon all had five or more kills.

UP NEXT…

Georgia State will play its third and final game in the tournament on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET against UAB at the Pete Hanna Center on Samford’s campus. UAB is coming off of a 21-14 season and is 1-0 on the season. UAB hosts Michigan State Friday night at 8 ET.

Shutout Victory Over UTPA Catapults ULM to First Win of the Season

Huntsville, Texas -- The ULM Volleyball team dominated UTPA 3-0 to capture its first victory of the season, which secured a split for the Warhawks (1-1) during Friday’s doubleheader to open the 2014 season at the SHSU Invitational from the Bernard Johnson Coliseum in Huntsville, Texas.

“Fantastic win,” head coach Patrick Hiltz said with a smile on his face. “We lost to UTPA twice last year in 3-0 fashion and it stung both times. The girls wanted to prove that they are a better team and I feel we did just that. Exercising that demon is very nice as we move forward to achieving new goals for this season.”

SHSU 3, ULM 0 - Game 1

Despite out-blocking Sam Houston State 6-2, the Bearkats (1-0) were able to outlast ULM for the first time since 2005 after capturing the first three sets (16-25, 25-22, 25-21) on its home court as the host school.

"I knew coming into the match that Sam Houston was going to be a serve-receive challenge for us since they are traditionally a tough serving team,” Hiltz added. “That's exactly what we got. We had a little trouble remembering our systems both offensively and defensively. We talked about trusting what we have learned thus far and then putting it out on the court with confidence.”

During the second set, senior captain Marcela Araya registered her ninth dig of the match to surpass Christy Tribble for second place all-time on the ULM career digs list. The libero finished with 12 digs to complete her 50th double-digit dig match total since the start of her sophomore campaign.

The dynamic duo of Hadley Swartz and Hope Pawlik led the way with eight kills apiece. Pawlik was the match’s most efficient player with a .533 hit percentage on 15 swings, while Swartz added five digs to the cause.

In her intercollegiate debut, setter Bayleigh Hoffman took control of the court by assisting on 22 kills and digging out 12 balls for her first career double-double.

“Even though we played poorly, the scores were close every game and we had control of set two but gave it away in the middle of the set,” Hiltz inserted. “That was a big learning moment for us and hopefully we can learn from it and move on.”

ULM 3, UTPA 0 - Game 2

With the first set tied at 24-24, a young ULM team displayed the poise of a veteran squad by capitalizing on an error and utilizing a Pawlik block to give
the Warhawks an advantage they never relinquished en route to a 26-24, 26-24, 25-20 shutout victory over the Broncs.

“Our systems were back in place and we did a much better job of doing the things we identified as keys to success for us,” Hiltz added. Our middles played well. Our block was a key part of the match as was our defense and our overall calm in the face of a pressure attitude. We still can see areas that we can improve on but we are happy to be 1-1 after day one of the season.”

Pawlik led all scorers, accounting for 18 points following 12 kills and five blocks. In only her second intercollegiate match, freshman Kalena Caruthers asserted her impact early with 11 kills on 25 attacks for an efficient .320 attack percentage.

Hoffman captured her second double-double in as many matches after finishing with 33 assists and 13 digs to go with five kills. Senior Alannah Cullum chipped in five blocks and six kills of her own.

Preseason defensive player of the year, Araya continued her excellent play from the libero position. The Costa Rica native amassed 17 digs to improve her career total to 1,290, five digs shy of breaking Cathy Trsar’s program record.

The second set consisted of another back-and-forth battle that the Warhawks swung their way when Caruthers laid down a powerful kill to break a 24-24 stalemate. Pawlik and Cullum rose to the nets for a tag team block over UTPA’s Kasey Sanchez and give their team a commanding two sets to none lead.

Using that momentum, ULM cruised to victory with a 25-20 third set triumph for a bounce back win that moves its record to 1-1 on the season.

Moving forward, the Warhawks return to the Bernard Johnson Coliseum tomorrow morning for another doubleheader against Cal State Bakersfield (9 a.m.) and Mississippi State (4 p.m.) to close out the tournament.

“I expect a strong challenge from both opponents. Cal Bakersfield is a great defensive and ball control team. They run a fast offense. We will have to be ready,” Hiltz continued. “Mississippi State is big and poses some problems for us at the net. We will have to be smart hitters against them. Both matches will require our best efforts in order to get a win but both matches are winnable for us. We just need to keep learning and improving.”

Be sure to follow the team socially on Twitter, Instagram (@ULM_VB) and Facebook to stay up to date with the latest news, scores and highlights from the Warhawks throughout the season.

Pepperdine defeats South Alabama in 2014 Opener

MALIBU, Calif. – Pepperdine used a balanced offensive attack while committing just nine hitting errors to earn a 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-17) volleyball victory over the University of South Alabama in the season opener for both schools Friday at the Pepperdine Asics Classic.

Jillian Bergeson and Becca Strehlow each posted seven kills, and Katie Messing and Gaby Palmeri collected six apiece as the Waves recorded a .227 attack percentage to claim the first meeting between the two teams. Bergeson added a team-high 12 digs, with Messing and Strehlow finishing with seven more, while Strehlow had 14 assists and Chanel Brown chipped in with 11.

Mechell Daniel paced the Jaguars with 11 kills, with Nikki Gittens supplying six to go along with five more from both Jessica Lewis and Symone Stephenson. Emily Hundt collected a double-double with 16 assists — a match-best total — and 12 digs, Jenna Hassell was credited with a match-high 15 digs and Emma Anderson posted 14 assists for USA as well.

While the Jags held a 48-36 advantage in digs, Pepperdine recorded nearly twice as many service aces (11-6) and limited USA to a .107 hitting percentage.

Pepperdine led 7-6 in the first set when the Jaguars scored six straight points behind kills from Stephenson and Lewis around a Wave attack error, with Hundt following with back-to-back service aces before another Stephenson kill. Stephenson added two more kills in helping USA extend its advantage to 17-10, with the Jags still leading 19-13 when Pepperdine scored six in a row to get back into the set. With the score tied at 22, Bergeson's kill led to three straight Wave points to give Pepperdine a 1-0 lead.

The Waves opened the second set by scoring six of the first seven points — Samantha Cash accounted for half of those with aces, finishing the night with a match-high four — maintaining a three- or four-point advantage before pushing the edge to 16-10. USA responded with four consecutive kills from Hundt, Daniel — who had two in a row — and Mallory Moore, closing to within two points at 18-16 on another Daniel kill. With Messing serving Pepperdine build the lead back to 21-17, but trailing 24-19 the Jaguars stayed alive as Moore and Daniel each posted back-to-back kills before a kill from Palmeri gave the Waves a 2-0 advantage.

Hassell recorded an ace, with Daniel and Moore supplying kills, to help the Jags jump out to a 4-2 advantage in the final set, however Palmeri and Strehlow answered with kills for Pepperdine's first lead at 5-4. The Waves would increase their edge to three twice —12-9 and 13-10 — but a pair of errors and a Stewart kill evened the set once again at 13 all; after exchanging points Pepperdine took advantage of three errors and a kill from Olivia Okoro to go up by four. Katie Lespier extended the edge to 22-15 with three Wave points coming on her serve, and after two straight kills from Bergeson and another by Messing Pepperdine closed out the match.

The Jaguars will finish the tournament with two matches on Saturday, first facing Oral Roberts at noon (CDT) before returning to take on Nevada at 7 p.m.

UALR Volleyball Drops Season Opener at Pacific

STOCKTON, Calif. – The UALR volleyball team got a balanced offensive attack as three players had at least five kills and one reached a new career high, but Pacific proved too much to handle and earned a 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-11) in both teams’ season opener on Friday night.

The match, which began at 9 p.m. central time, was part of the Pacific Bankers Classic. UALR resumes action in the two-day, three-match tournament on Saturday at noon.
The Trojans got a match- and career-high 10 kills from redshirt sophomore Carolee Dillard, who also led the way with five blocks. Sophomore Megan Mathis had a career-best 18 assists in the most significant action of her UALR career.

Sonja Milanovic chipped in six kills and a team-high seven digs while Edina Selimovic had five. Edina Begic had four kills and four blocks. Capri Rino and Kelsey Leech had five and four digs, respectively.

Newcomers got on the stat sheet as well, with Katarina Bursac scoring two assists and Marina Avram picking up three digs.

The first set saw the Trojans go down early, and the team was unable to mount a comeback. A Dillard kill tied the set at 1-1, but Pacific ran off nine of the next 12 points to take a 10-4 lead. The Trojans stormed back with four consecutive points on a service run by Selimovic that included back-to-back block assists by Begic and Dillard. UALR was again within two points at 12-10, but Pacific was in control from there. The Tigers went on a 8-2 run to take a 20-12 lead in the set, and the deficit was too much to make up as the Trojans fell 25-15.

UALR fell behind early in the second set as the Tigers jumped out to a 6-2 advantage. The Pacific lead only grew from that point, and the Tigers led by as many as eight in the set. Still, UALR did not go down quietly, scoring points late in the set to give Pacific some trouble. UALR had 13 kills in the set, its highest total of any set on the night. Dillard had four of those kills while Selimovic got three and Begic and Milanovic chipped in two each.

In the night’s final set, UALR again went down quickly despite two of the Trojans’ first three points coming on Dillard kills. Pacific was ahead 15-5 after the first 20 points, and the Tigers closed out the match from there.

UALR returns to the court in just over 12 hours, taking on No. 5 USC in both teams’ second games of the Bankers Classic. USC knocked off Rider 3-0 in earlier Friday action. UALR will meet Rider at 7 p.m. on Saturday to finish the tournament for all sides.

A-State Volleyball Drops Two Matches at GW Invitational

WASHINGTON, D.C. (8/29/14) – The Arkansas State volleyball team opened the 2014 season with a 3-0 (22-25, 25-27, 23-25) setback to George Washington before dropping a 3-2 (25-23, 25-20, 23-25, 18-25, 9-15) heartbreaker to North Dakota Friday during the first day of the George Washington Invitational in Washington, D.C.

A-State (0-2 ) opened the match vs. the Colonials with the first point on a service error and both teams traded points until the Red Wolves took a 5-4 lead on a kill by Jessica Uke. The Colonials responded back with a 6-0 run to make the score 10-5, but allowed the Red Wolves to claw their way back to within a single point at 17-16 on a kill by Drew Jones. George Washington was able to claim the next two points after a timeout to extend the lead to 19-16 and went on to win the first set 25-22.

The Red Wolves jumped out in front 13-8 in the second set and held the advantage until the Colonials tied the set up 20-20 to force an A-State timeout. With the set tied 24-24, a kill from Shelby Holmes gave A-State a 25-24 edge and a chance to take the set, but George Washington scored the next three points to earn a hard-fought 27-25 set victory for a 2-0 lead. In the third set, neither team pulled away and A-State took a 23-22 lead on a kill from Sarah Kemp, but the Colonials won the next three points for a 25-23 set win and a 3-0 season-opening match victory over A-State.

Arkansas State was led in kills by Kemp (13) and Holmes (10), while Uke registered nine kills on a .818 hitting percentage. Mallory Warrington recorded a double-double as she had a team-high 37 assists and 12 digs. Defensively, Markie Schaedig led the way with 23 digs, while Kelsey Reis registered three blocks.

“Our inexperience showed in this match against George Washington,” A-State head volleyball coach David Rehr said. “We could have easily won the second and third sets, but we couldn’t finish them like we needed to. GW is a good team though and they deserve credit for being able to come back and win those sets.”

In the afternoon match against North Dakota (1-1), the Red Wolves fell behind early 8-5 in the first set, but responded with a 5-2 run, capped by a Jones kill, to tie the set at 10-10. Arkansas State eventually took the lead 17-16 on a Holmes kill and took the lead for good at 21-20 on another Jones kill in route to a 25-23 set victory.

Leading 1-0, the Red Wolves gained the advantage in the second set 7-6 on a Kelsey Reis kill, but UND fought its way back to a 20-20 tie later in the set. A-State responded by reeling off five straight points, capped by a Warrington service ace, to win the set 25-20 and take a 2-0 lead into the third game.

The Red Wolves began the third set with an 8-4 run, but a 6-0 UND run gave North Dakota a 10-8 lead. A-State tied the set several times, the last being at 20-20 on a Kemp kill, but couldn’t get over the hump as UND won the set 25-23 to trim the A-State advantage in the match to 2-1. Both teams traded punches in the fourth set until North Dakota took the lead at 14-13 and didn’t look back. A-State got within one point at 18-17 on a Holmes kill, but North Dakota ended the set on a 7-1 run to win the game 25-18 and tie the match at 2-2.

UND raced out to a 4-2 lead in the fifth and final set before a 3-0 A-State run gave the Red Wolves a 5-4 lead. However, the lead would be short-lived as North Dakota used a 4-0 run to take an 8-5 advantage. A UND service error got the Red Wolves within two points at 8-6, but A-State never threatened again as North Dakota concluded the set on a 7-3 run to earn a 15-9 set victory and 3-2 match win over Arkansas State.

Holmes led the Red Wolves with 21 kills during the match vs. UND, while Jones added 18 kills on a .372 hitting percentage. Warrington led A-State with 59 assists and recorded her second double-double of the day by adding 20 digs. Additionally, Warrington led the team with three service aces, while Reis and Jessica Heuertz each recorded one. Kemp earned a double-double by recording 14 digs and 12 kills, while Schaedig led the team for the second consecutive match with 25 digs.

“In this match, much like the one earlier in the day against George Washington, our youth showed,” Rehr added. “The only difference was that we actually won a couple of sets this time, but we just couldn’t close out the match and get the victory. We’ve got some work to do, but we’ll get better.” Arkansas State returns to action Saturday against Auburn in the second day of the George Washington Invitational. First serve from the Charles E. Smith Center in Washington, D.C., is set for noon.

Georgia Southern Loses Two on Opening Day

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Georgia Southern volleyball team lost two matches against two of the top teams in the country on the opening day of the 2014 season in the Active Ankle Challenge at the University of Florida Friday.

The Eagles fell 3-0 to the No. 10 Gators this afternoon and lost a 3-1 decision to Oklahoma, which is receiving votes in the top-25 poll, this evening.

Junior Katie Bange posted a career-high 17 kills to lead the Eagles in the nightcap, while senior Kym Coley notched 16 kills in the two matches combined, including nine against the Sooners.

“We learned a lot about ourselves today, and we know what we have to work on for tomorrow and going forward to win at the highest level,” said Georgia Southern coach Dustin Wood.

The Eagles play their final match of the weekend when they take on Idaho Saturday at noon in the O’Connell Center.

Oklahoma 3, Georgia Southern 1 (20-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-18)

Freshman Megan Chevalier tallied nine kills, three aces and three blocks and junior Crysten Curry finished with six kills and three blocks.

The turning point came late in the third set with the match tied 1-1. Bange and Coley tied the score 22-22 with a block, but Kimmy Gardiner answered with a kill and then served an ace to make it set point. Chevalier got a kill for the Eagles, but Micaela Spann closed the set with a kill for Oklahoma.

“We played at a top-25 caliber most of the match against Oklahoma, but they made some runs on us at crucial times,” said Wood.

The Eagles were much better in their second outing of the day, hitting .381 for the match. Down 17-16 in the first set, senior Jamie DeRatt notched two kills and Curry added a third as the Eagles ran off four straight points. Oklahoma called timeout and scored three in a row to make the margin 20-19, but Bange and Curry answered with consecutive kills to hold off the Sooners.

Gardiner finished with 16 kills for Oklahoma, and Madison Ward added a match-high 18 kills.

Florida 3, Georgia Southern 0 (25-19, 25-11, 25-15)

Florida posted nine team blocks and held the Eagles to a -.128 hitting percentage for the match as Georgia Southern had 31 errors and 20 kills. DeRatt and Coley led the Eagles with seven kills each, while Avery Stephens collected 10 digs.

“We came out strong against Florida, but they were able to put a lot of pressure on us that made us make way too many unforced errors,” said Wood.

The Eagles fought back from an early 4-1 deficit in the first set and took two leads late. A DeRatt kill gave the Eagles a 17-16 lead and following an Eagle service error, Coley put GSU back on top 18-17 with a kill. Florida ran off five straight points, as Georgia Southern committed four hitting errors, to pull away.

The Gators scored the first seven points of the second set and used a 7-1 run in the third set to blow open a slim two-point lead. Noami Santos-Lamb tallied seven kills to lead the Gators, and Rhamat Alhassan notched eight kills and four blocks.

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