September 28, 2014
UALR Wins in Four Sets Against Appalachian State
BOONE, N.C. -- After getting its third conference win of the season against Georgia State on Friday night, UALR continued its winning ways by knocking off Appalachian State in four sets (16-25, 25-15, 25-22, 25-11) Sunday to remain to improve to 4-0 in the Sun Belt Conference and 10-4 overall. The Trojans’ winning streak is now at five games.
Senior Edina Begic recorded her 50th career double-double with 17 kills and 11 digs, while junior Sonja Milanovic racked up one of her own with 15 kills and 15 digs. Milanovic also added six assisted blocks, her highest total of the season.
With Sunday afternoon’s win, head coach Van Compton now has 200 Sun Belt victories.
UALR’s most dominant performance of the night came in the fourth set as the Trojans would lead from the wire. UALR scored seven straight points to push the lead to 20-7 with four of the seven points coming off Appalachian State attack errors. The Trojans hit a stellar .394 during the frame.
The closest set of the night was the third. The Trojans and Mountaineers traded blows until both teams tied the match at 22. UALR would then get a kill by junior Edina Selimovic and two attack errors by Appalachian State to steal the set.
UALR started to take over the contest in the second set as it started the frame on a 10-5 run before Appalachian State took its first timeout. The Trojans got out to their largest lead of the frame at 23-13 before taking the set. Milanovic led the Trojans with five kills and four digs. UALR hit .440 for its best hitting performance of the night.
The first set started out close with the set tied at 7-7, but the Trojans would see some difficulties as Appalachian State went on a 12-5 run before UALR took its final timeout of the frame. The Mountaineers would go on to win their only set of the afternoon.
Sophomore Megan Mathis recorded her second-highest assist total of the season with 42 and recorded her eighth game of the season with at least 30 assists.
Selimovic would add eight kills and lead the team with 10 assisted blocks, her highest of the season and career in both categories.
Senior libero Capri Rino added 12 digs and continues to lead the team with 150 this season.
The Mountaineers helped out the Trojans by giving up 32 points on attack errors. UALR hit .278 to Appalachian State’s .106.
As a team, UALR out-blocked Appalachian State by a margin of 14-2. The Trojans totaled 26 assisted blocks to the Mountaineers' four.
UALR returns home to face UT Arlington on Friday (Oct. 3) at 7 p.m. inside the Jack Stephens Center.
Appalachian State Falls to Trojans on Sunday
BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State University volleyball lost its second-straight match of the 2014 season Sunday afternoon, falling to UALR in four sets.
Despite taking the first set 25-16, the Mountaineers (13-2, 3-2 Sun Belt) lost three straight sets, allowing the Trojans (10-4, 4-0 Sun Belt) to remain undefeated in conference play.
Appalachian and UALR battled closely to start the first set, but the Mountaineers created some distance by scoring five-straight points to take the set 25-16.
The Trojans responded in the second set, jumping out to a 10-5 lead over App State. UALR kept the momentum and took the set 25-15 with a .440 attack percentage.
The Mountaineers started the third set strong, but failed to pull away as the lead never surpassed two points. UALR’s 14 blocks on the day were especially problematic for Appalachian late in the third, allowing the Trojans to regain the lead, 22-21, before finally taking the set 25-22.
Appalachian attempted to force a fifth set, but the Trojans continued the assault, forcing the Mountaineers into a zero attack percentage in the fourth and final set en route to a convincing 25-11 twin.
Jess Keller (Swarthmore, Pa./Strath Haven) led Appalachian with 19 kills, followed by Emily Corrigan (Johns Creek, Ga./Chattahoochee) and Lauren Gray (Round Rock, Texas/Round Rock) with 14 and eight, respectively.
Paige Brown (Overland Park, Kan./St. James Academy) recorded 43 assists in the loss, but tallied only seven digs. Meghan Mahoney (Leawood, Kan./Blue Valley) led the team with 14 digs, but only had three assists.
The Trojans were led by Edina Begic and Sonja Milanovic with 17 and 15 kills, respectively. Megan Mathis led the team with 42 assists.
Appalachian hit .106 on the match while UALR hit .278 and committed just 18 errors to the Mountaineers’ 32.
The Mountaineers continue their three-match homestand as they face off against South Alabama on Friday at 6 p.m. before squaring off against Troy at noon on Sunday.
Mavericks post 3-0 sweep of Warhawks
ARLINGTON, Texas – UT Arlington used a strong defensive showing to post a 3-0 sweep (25-22, 25-17, 25-19) over Louisiana-Monroe on Sunday afternoon at College Park Center. The Mavericks defensive performance was a complete team effort as six players recorded blocks to help UTA out block ULM 11-4 in the match.
With the win, the Mavericks improve to 13-3 on the season and 3-1 in the Sun Belt while ULM falls to 6-12 this year and remains winless in conference play.
Taylor Gross led UT Arlington offensively as she recorded a match-high 12 kills and a hitting percentage of .524. The Allen native also helped chip in defensively, recording three blocks and two digs.
Caitlyn Cooney's play defensively helped hold the Warhawks to a .088 hitting percentage as the junior Libero recorded 21 digs and five assists in the match. Cooney also hit a career milestone early in the match as she became the 19th player in UTA history to join the 1,000-dig club. Cooney currently sits at 1,018 career digs.
The blocking charge for the Mavericks was led by Ashley Bennett and Briana Sharratt who recorded five and four kills respectively in the match. Freshman Qiana Canete also did her part in the win as she came one kill short of a double-double with 18 digs and nine kills.
UT Arlington will take to the road next as they take on UALR and Arkansas State on Friday, Oct. 3 and Sunday Oct. 17. The matches are set to begin at 7 p.m. and 1 p.m. respectively.