Friday, Octobe 28
Little Rock Earns Dominant Sweep Over Georgia State
ATLANTA – In dominant fashion, Little Rock volleyball (10-15, 6-6 Sun Belt) earned a 3-0 sweep (25-12, 25-20, 25-19) on the road over Georgia State (9-13, 5-6) on Friday night at the GSU Sports Arena.
Edina Selimovic led the match with 10 kills and seven blocks while tallying two aces. Marina Avram hit a team-high .400 with eight kills on 20 attempts and no errors. Carolee Dillard and Veronica Marin each put down seven kills while Dillard had four blocks and Marin had two. Taylor Lindberg had 25 assists with four kills and three blocks. Kelsey Leech led the Trojans with 10 digs.
The Trojans and Panthers duked it out for the majority of the third set as a tie still existed at 17-17. Little Rock finally took control of the frame as it jumped out to a 24-18 lead with a 7-1 run. After a Trojan service error with set point, Dillard put down the final kill to give Little Rock the sweep of Georgia State. The Trojans had their best offensive set of the match as they hit .312.
Little Rock began the second frame with a 10-6 lead before Georgia State fought back to make it a one-point set at 10-9. The Panthers took a timeout at 11-9 with an attack error. Georgia State then went on a 4-1 run to take a 13-12 lead, forcing Little Rock's first timeout of the match. With Georgia State ahead 18-16, Little Rock went on a four-point run to force a Panther timeout at 20-18. From there, Little Rock finished the set on a 5-2 run as Marin sealed the deal with a kill. Little Rock put up four blocks in the set to increase its total to nine for the match.
The match started out on a close with a 5-5 tie, but Little Rock put together a run to take a 9-5 lead as Georgia State called timeout. The Trojans continued their run and forced the Panthers to take their final timeout at 15-7. Georgia State didn't get any closer as Little Rock won the set by 13 points. The Trojans recorded five blocks alone in the set while hitting .304. Little Rock had just one attack error compared to Georgia State's 13 as the Panthers hit -.103 for the set.
Miona Milovanovic had three blocks to go along with two kills and five digs. Hope Larmour and Sydnee Martin scooped up six digs each.
Little Rock outhit Georgia State .271-0.37 and outblocked the Panthers 11-5. The Trojans also had the advantage in digs (43-40) and assists (31-30).
Dillard's four block assists gave her 447 for her career at Little Rock — setting a new program record. With 555 total blocks for her career, she is just 10 total blocks shy of breaking the program record.
The Trojans now have 280.5 blocks for the season — the seventh-most in a season in program history.
Little Rock is also 6-0 against Georgia State since the Panthers joined the Sun Belt in 2013.
The Trojans will return to action at Georgia Southern tomorrow night in Statesboro, Georgia.
@stAteVolleyball Blanks Eagles 3-0
STATESBORO, Ga. (10/28/16) – The Arkansas State volleyball team registered its seventh straight sweep, tying for the most since the 1996 season, with a 3-0 (25-14, 25-22, 25-22) victory over Georgia Southern Friday night at Hanner Fieldhouse in Statesboro.
The seven sweeps in conference play are the most for A-State (19-7, 11-1 SBC) ever in the Sun Belt Conference and the most since eight straight sweeps of American South Conference foes in 1990.
Kelsey Reis and Shelby Holmes led the Red Wolves with 11 kills apiece on hitting percentages of .588 and .368, respectively. Kenzie Fields added 10 kills while Mallory Warrington handed out 32 assists. Markie Schaedig, celebrating her 22nd birthday, led the defensive effort with 21 digs, while Reis and Jessica Uke had four blocks each with Holmes adding a season-high three rejections. Arkansas State hit .197 as a team for its lowest percentage in a win this season.
“This was a tough match as the scores in the last two sets showed,” A-State head volleyball coach David Rehr said. “They are a bad matchup for us with the size they have so they gave us some fits at times and it was a reason a couple of our main players struggled. However, you have to give credit to Reis and Holmes, especially, for stepping up offensively and defensively along with Schaedig and Uke on the defensive side.”
The match began with a 6-6 tie that A-State quickly turned into a 9-6 edge with a 3-0 run, capped by an ace by Schaedig that forced a Georgia Southern (12-13, 4-5 SBC) timeout. A-State ran the run to 6-0 on a kill by Holmes and saw the Eagles use their second timeout down 12-6. The stoppages didn’t slow the Red Wolves down as the run went to 9-0 before Georgia Southern scored to make the score 15-7. The visitors ran their lead to 11 on several occasions, the last being at 25-14 on a Fields kill to clinch a set one win.
A-State raced out to a 6-1 edge in set two on a Carlisa May kill and saw the Eagles use a timeout. The home team used a 5-0 run to tie the set and it remained much more competitive throughout with Georgia Southern taking an 18-17 advantage on a kill by Katie Bange. However, the Red Wolves went on a 6-0 run to go in front 23-18 on a kill by Holmes. The Eagles battled back to within 23-22 after a block, but kills by Holmes and Fields gave the Red Wolves a 25-22 set victory.
Georgia Southern jumped out to a 5-1 lead in set three before a 9-3 run by the Red Wolves gave the visitors a 10-8 edge and forced a timeout by the Eagles. Arkansas State took an 18-15 edge on a kill by Schaedig, but could never pull away, but earned match point at 24-21 on a kill by Uke. Georgia Southern won the next point, but a kill by Reis ended the set at 25-22 and the match 3-0.
Arkansas State faces Georgia State Saturday, Oct. 29 to complete its Georgia road swing. First serve from the GSU Sports Arena in Atlanta, Ga., is set for 5 p.m. (CT).
Troy Volleyball Takes Match From Appalachian State in Five
TROY, Alabama - The Troy volleyball team won its second match in a row, and first ever against Appalachian State, on Friday night as the Trojans defeated the Mountaineers in five sets (20-25, 25-21, 25-23, 22-25, 15-13).
The fifth set had nine ties and three lead changes, but the Trojans (8-20, 2-9 Sun Belt) went on a 3-0 run with the match tied at nine and a Logan Page kill gave Troy the 15-13 win.
The first two sets were a game of runs as Appalachian State (3-20, 1-9 Sun Belt) ended the first set with seven straight points and won 25-20. The Trojans ended the second set on an 8-2 run and won 25-21.
Troy took an early 9-4 lead and didn't look back en route to a 25-23 third set victory and Appalachian State took an early 10-7 lead and the Trojans never regained the lead as the Mountaineers won 25-22.
TURNING POINT
Appalachian State took a 19-17 lead in the second set, but the Trojans went on a 7-2 run and clinched the set. Two kills by Sara Landis and one by Symone Shaw headed the run, but five Mountaineer errors was the real difference.
STAT OF THE MATCH
In the second set, Landis led all players with five kills and had a .308 hitting percentage. The senior also had one block and accounted for 1/5 of the Trojans points in the set.
Bobcats come from 2 sets down to avoid upset bid
SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State volleyball team came from behind to defeat Louisiana 3-2 (23-25, 23-25, 25-20, 25-13, 15-8) Friday night in Sun Belt Conference action inside Strahan Coliseum.
The Bobcats (17-9, 10-1 SBC) lost the first two sets but rallied for the five-set victory to improve to 12-0 all-time against the Ragin' Cajuns (8-19, 4-6 SBC). The triumph was also the eighth in a row for the maroon and gold.
Senior Kelsey Weynand finished with 14 digs and 11 kills to notch the 15th double-double of her career. Junior Jaliyah Bolden had a match-high 17 kills, while senior Lauren Kirch hit .560 and finished with 15 kills, five digs and five blocks. Junior Erin Hoppe captained the offense with 48 assists and nine digs, and freshman Micah Dinwiddie registered 26 digs to pace the defense.
The visitors came out the aggressor in the early going and were able to build a 15-11 advantage midway through the opening set. Texas State battled back to an 18-18 draw, but Louisiana toughed out the 25-23 win to take the 1-0 lead.
The second set virtually mimicked the first, but this time the Ragin' Cajuns took a 19-14 lead before TXST was able to fight to a 23-23 standstill. UL captured the final two points to enter intermission with a sizable 2-0 advantage.
Texas State turned it up a notch in the third frame and initially held a 5-2 lead. Louisiana tied proceedings at 11-11 and was looking for the sweep, but the home side would have nothing of the sort as they pushed to a 19-13 advantage. The Ragin' Cajuns would not go down quietly, but they did fall 25-20 as the Bobcats got on the board.
The fourth set was all Texas State. The Bobcats lit up the scoreboard and used the raucous homecourt advantage to take an early 15-5 lead that ballooned to the final margin of 25-13.
TXST had all the momentum at that point and easily cruised to the 15-8 fifth-set triumph.
Nia Antoine led Louisiana with 13 kills, while Stacey Reilly added 15 digs and 11 kills of her own. Chloe Cordell (18) and Hannah Henry (10) picked up double-digit digs, and Jessica Bartczyszyn distributed 38 assists in the losing effort.
Texas State led the night in kills (60-50), hitting percentage (.255-.116), aces (7-6) and blocks (9-4).
TXST is now 4-0 when matches go the distance during conference play this season. The Bobcats have had to rally in three of those four victories.
Next up for Texas State will be Senior Day for the Bobcats. The maroon and gold will play their final home game of the season at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 29 against UL Monroe. TXST will honor its seven seniors prior to the contest.
Chants Win Eighth Straight at South Alabama
MOBILE, Ala. - The Coastal Carolina volleyball team extended its season-long winning streak to eight matches Friday evening as the Chanticleers downed South Alabama in three sets (25-8, 25-18, 29-27) at the Jag Gym.
The Chants improve their Sun Belt East Division-leading record to 18-4, 9-1 with the win, while South Alabama falls to 13-11, 4-7 to retain on a hold on fourth place in the division.
Junior outside hitter Leah Hardeman once again paced the Chanticleer attack, putting down 12 kills at a .348 pace and tallying two aces to lead the team with 14 points. Annayka Legros also registered double-digit kills with 10 while adding a pair of blocks.
Sara Boothe served as the Chants' lone setter in the match and dished out a match-leading 32 assists, while defensive specialist Carla Cahill also recorded a match high with 15 digs.
Overall the Chants hit .250 for the match while the defense held the Jaguars to .096 to mark the second straight match in which the Coastal defense held the opposition to hitting below .100.
The opening set was dominated by Coastal as the Chants hit .500 to the Jaguars' -.174. Hardeman put down five kills in the set and helped Coastal jump out to a quick 14-6 lead to force USA into its first timeout. From there, the Chants allowed just two more points in the set as Tahleia Bishop, Natasa Savovic and Carla Cahill served Coastal to a 1-0 match lead.
South Alabama played the Chants closer in the second set, but a 15-6 CCU advantage to open the game proved to be too large of a lead for the Jaguars to overcome. Legros provided five kills in the set, while Bishop and Dora Lulic each put down three.
The final set was the only of the match in which the Chants did not lead the entire game. South Alabama held set point after a service error gave the Jaguars a 24-23 lead, but a Hardeman kill and USA attack error gave the Chants the advantage at 25-24. South Alabama managed the tie the game three more times before a USA ball handling error gave the Chants a 29-27 set win and the match.
Coastal takes on Troy at 6 p.m. CT on Saturday before closing out its regular season road schedule at Georgia Southern on Wednesday.
Mavs dominate ULM at home
ARLINGTON, Texas -- UT Arlington volleyball made quick work of ULM and swept the Warhawks in Sun Belt competition Friday night at College Park Center.
UTA improved to 12-14 overall and rose above .500 in Sun Belt play (6-5) to snap a two-match losing skid in Arlington. ULM (8-20, 2-8) fell victim to its fourth-straight sweep this season.
The Mavericks allowed three straight ULM points to start the night, but slammed the door shut with a 25-10 Set 1 victory. UTA didn't let its foot off the gas in the second frame with a 6-0 opening run, hitting .452 to the Warhawks' -.031 to complete the 25-9 win.
ULM didn't go quietly in the final set and held the Mavs within three until late. A bad set and trio of kills from Qiana Cantete fueled an 11-1 run that ultimately acquired the set 25-15.
Players of the Match
Canete powered a match-high 12 kills to pair with a .357 hitting percentage and seven digs. Zhanelle Geathers added four blocks and six kills. Cassidy Wheeler registered 25 assists and Taylor Murata turned in 11 digs.
Key Stats
UTA dominated early, hitting .391 while holding ULM to -.080 with just six kills. The Mavericks more than doubled the Warhawks' kill production, as they wouldn't hit over .100 on the night. ULM also racked up 24 attacking errors. The Mavs inked three service aces.
Milestone Watch
Canete passed Tara Frantz (2008-11) for 16th on UTA's career kills list. The junior sits 13 digs away from a tie for 17th on the school's career rankings. Murata is also 13 shy for fourth on the freshmen digs list.