@stAteVolleyball Clinches Top Seed at SBC Tournament
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (11/11/16) – The Arkansas State volleyball team clinched the top seed in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament with a 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-11, 25-21) victory over Little Rock Friday afternoon at the Jack Stephens Center.
The Red Wolves clinch the top seed in the Sun Belt Conference Volleyball Tournament with a 15-1 mark. Coastal Carolina, the East Division champion can also get to 15-1, but A-State holds the tiebreaker over the Chanticleers because of the 3-2 win in Conway, S.C., back on Sept. 25.
Mallory Warrington handed out 50 assists to lead the Red Wolves and registered her team-best 14th double-double with a career-high 23 digs. Kenzie Fields led the team with 15 kills, while Kelsey Reis (14) and Carlisa May (12) also recorded double-digit kills with Reis accomplishing hers on a team-high .571 hitting percentage. Markie Schaedig tied for the team lead in digs with 23 and Fields tallied four blocks defensively.
“I’m glad we finished the regular season on a high note and have accomplished one of our goals,” A-State head volleyball coach David Rehr said. “However, we can’t celebrate this one too long because we have to get ready for the next portion of our season.”
The two teams battled to a 9-9 tie in set one, but A-State used a 6-1 run, capped by a kill from May to create some distance. The Red Wolves went in front 22-15 on a Reis kill and forced a timeout by the Trojans. Little Rock got as close as 24-20, but a service error by the home team gave A-State a 25-20 set win.
Set two was close throughout with the teams battling to an 18-18 tie before a 3-0 run by Little Rock put the score at 21-18. However, A-State used a 3-0 run of its own, capped by a Fields kill, to tie the set at 21-21. However, the Trojans won four of the next six points to take game two 25-23 and send the match to intermission tied 1-1.
A-State came out firing on all cylinders in set three by racing out to a 12-3 advantage on a kill by May. The Red Wolves extended the lead to 19-8 on a service ace by Lindsay Cline and saw the Trojans take their final timeout of the set. The stoppage didn’t slow A-State down as the visitors went on a 6-3 run, capped by a kill from Fields, to clinch the set by a score of 25-11.
The fourth set began well for the Red Wolves also as Jessica Heuertz gave the team a 5-2 edge on a service ace that forced a timeout by Little Rock. Drew Jones gave A-State a 12-5 lead later in the set and the Trojans used their final timeout. The home team was able to battle back within two points on a couple of occasions, but a kill by Shelby Holmes put A-State in front 22-16 late. Little Rock clawed within three at 24-21, but another kill by Holmes dashed any dreams of a Trojans’ comeback to seal the game win for A-State 25-21 and the match 3-1.
The Red Wolves will play next on Nov. 18 in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. The finalized bracket will be sent out Sunday afternoon.
JAGS DEFEAT APP STATE IN FIVE SETS
BOONE, N.C. – Mechell Daniel turned in her fifth double-double of the season to lead the University of South Alabama volleyball team to a 3-2 win (20-25, 25-19, 25-18, 22-25, 15-11) over Appalachian State Friday at Holmes Convocation Center.
Daniel recorded a game-high 18 kills along with 18 digs, two assists and two service aces to lead the Jaguar attack. Nikki Gittens tied a season-high with 12 kills and also recorded three digs, while Iva Durdanovic posted 12 kills, two service aces, two digs and two total blocks. Kristina Alabastro added 10 kills and a .450 hitting percentage along with three total blocks. Arissa Chappell finished with a career-high 27 digs, along with five assists, one service ace and one kill. Kellyn Reeves recorded her fourth double-double of the season with a team-high 31 assists and 12 digs, and Ashlyn Roberts posted her fifth career double-double with 24 assists and 12 digs along with one kill.
"Tonight we had a balanced offensive attack and had multiple attackers finding success," USA head coach Amy Hendrichovsky said. "It was key to get Iva (Durdanovic) and Nikki (Gittens) back in the offense. Katelyn (Lochner) came off the bench tonight and did a great job. Defensively we had great effort that was led by Arissa (Chappell) and Ashlyn (Roberts)."
Appalachian State (4-24, 2-13 SBC) took the opening set 25-20. Ashton Gregory recorded five kills in the set to lead the Mountaineers, while Alabastro, Daniel and Gittens turned in three kills apiece in the opening set. But South Alabama (16-12, 7-8 SBC) responded with a 25-19 win in set two to even the match at one set apiece.
Gittens recorded five kills in the second set to lead USA. A Jaguar ball-handling error cut the Mountaineer deficit to one, 20-19, late in the set. But South Alabama answered to score the final five points of the set, highlighted by a pair of kills by Gittens and a kill by Kelley Hartman, to clinch the set.
USA took a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-18 win in set three. Daniel posted five kills to lead a Jaguar attack that hit .343 as a team in the set. South Alabama scored five consecutive points early in the set, which featured a pair of kills by Durdanovic and one kill each by Alabastro and Daniel, to take a 10-4 lead. A kill by Katelyn Lochner late in the set gave USA set point at 24-15. App State scored three straight points on Jaguar errors before a kill by Daniel sealed the set.
The Mountaineers forced a fifth set with a 25-22 win in set four. But the Jaguars responded with a 15-11 win in the fifth set to earn their 16th win of the season. Durdanovic led USA with four kills in the final set while Daniel added three.
South Alabama will conclude its regular season Sunday when it faces Coastal Carolina at noon (CT) in Conway, S.C.
Jedlicka Spurs Sweep at UL Lafayette
LAFAYETTE, La. -- Freshman outside hitter Kylie Jedlicka had a team-high 14 kills to lead UT Arlington volleyball to a three-set sweep at Louisiana, 29-27, 25-20, 25-21, on Friday night at the Earl K. Long Gymnasium.
UT Arlington (15-15, 9-6 Sun Belt Conference) won its fourth match in the last five tries, with the lone loss coming at league-leader Arkansas State. UT Arlington has won 13 of its last 16 sets.
Louisiana (9-20, 5-9 SBC) was led by 12-kill performances from Nia Antonie and Chanelle Gardner.
KEY STATS
Jedlicka, a 6-foot freshman from League City, Texas, didn't commit an error, while leading the club with 14 kills. UTA also got 10 kills and 11 digs from junior Qiana Canete. Senior setter Cassidy Wheeler had 30 assists and eight digs and senior outside hitter Kaitlyn Granger finished with six kills and seven digs. Sophomore defensive specialist Libbie Vickers had eight digs, with freshman libero Taylor Murata finishing with a team-leading 12 digs. Zhanelle Geathers added five kills.
RECORD WATCH
Wheeler became the eighth player in program history to chart over 3,000 career assists, owning 3,027. Murata now has 497 digs, ranking second in UTA history in freshman digs and is just 19 away from the school record (Amber Pack, 1999). Canete has 1,068 career kills, ranking 15th in UTA history, andhas 1,236 digs in her career, ranking 15th in school annals.
NEXT
UT Arlington will conclude its regular season on Saturday at UL Monroe, starting at 6:30 p.m. CT. UTA will then host the conference tournament at College Park Center, Nov. 18-20.
Texas State sweeps Warhawks in Monroe
MONROE, La. – The Texas State volleyball team earned a 3-0 (25-20, 25-5, 25-21) victory over ULM Friday night inside Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
The Bobcats improved to 19-11 overall and 12-3 in Sun Belt Conference action, while the Warhawks dropped to 9-24 on the year and 3-12 in league play.
Three members of the road team finished with at least eight kills, led by 10 from junior Jaliyah Bolden. Senior Morgan Lewis posted a .600 attack percentage and finished with nine kills and no errors on 15 swings. She also added four digs and a team-high five blocks. Senior Shelby Vas Matt added 11 digs and eight kills, while senior Kelsey Weynand contributed 10 digs. Junior Erin Hoppe paced the offense with 25 assists, and freshman Micah Dinwiddie powered the backline with 16 digs.
ULM built an early 7-5 lead in the opening set and was able to stay within one point through the middle section of the frame. Texas State moved ahead by a narrow 13-12 margin but used an 8-2 run to power ahead 21-14. The Warhawks got back within two at 22-20, but they would not score again as the Bobcats held on for the five-point first set triumph.
The second set was all Texas State, as the maroon and gold cruised to a 25-5 victory. The visitors initially led 11-4 but busted the set open with a 9-0 run. The Bobcats used the 20-4 lead to cruise to the 20-point win.
ULM would not go down quietly. The home team played a stellar third set and was able to stay tied with TXST at 18-18. In the end, Texas State proved too much as the Bobcats closed on a 7-3 run to secure the final set 25-21. The victory was punctuated by an ace from Vas Matt.
No Warhawk reached double figures in kills. Sarah Woods led the way with seven for the home team. Tara Jenkins added 14 assists and Kacey LeBlanc had a match-high 17 digs.
Texas State led ULM in kills (40-24), attack percentage (.316-.089), service aces (10-5) digs (56-43), and blocks (6-4).
The Bobcats improved to 40-2 all-time against ULM.
Texas State is now set to close out the regular season with a road match at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 12 against UL Lafayette in Lafayette, Louisiana. Following that tilt, the Bobcats will then head to Arlington, Texas, for the 2016 Sun Belt Conference Championship. The maroon and gold have already secured the No. 3 seed in the tournament, which will be contested Nov. 18-20 in College Park Center.
Coastal Carolina Sweeps Troy, Pushes Winning Streak to 13 Matches
CONWAY - The Coastal Carolina volleyball team won its penultimate regular season match Friday evening with a three-set sweep of Troy at the HTC Center.
The 25-18, 25-7, 25-12 decision marks the 13th consecutive win for the Chanticleers (23-4, 14-1), with each of the last seven ending in straight sets.
Though Friday's win had no effect on Coastal's standing in the Sun Belt East Division -- having already clinched the division title last week -- the Chants will enter their first Sun Belt tournament as the second seed after Arkansas State clinched the top spot with a win Friday night over Little Rock.
A-State is the only Sun Belt team to defeat Coastal this season, winning a close five-set match in the teams' lone meeting on Sept. 25.
Troy, meanwhile, drops to 3-12, 9-23 and remains outside of the picture for the Sun Belt tournament.
Friday's win was a convincing one for the Chants as Troy managed just four leads during the match, none of which were larger than a single point.
CCU closed the match hitting .472 to Troy's .021, while posting significant advantages in kills (38-23), digs (37-27) and blocks (7-0).
Natasa Savovic's 11 kills led the match, followed by the nine apiece from Leah Hardeman and Annayka Legros. All three players finished with hitting percentages over .450.
Sara Boothe and Kate Federico combined for 35 assists, with the former dishing out 19 and the latter 13. CCU had two players with double-figure digs as Carla Cahill led the match with 12 and Hardeman tallied 11.
Legros was her usual dominant self at the net as she recorded four blocks, two of which were solo efforts.
The opening set was the closest of the match, with Coastal pulling away for its largest lead at the very end. The Chants enjoyed a modest cushion for the majority of the set, but a kill by Hardeman that gave Coastal a 16-14 advantage sparked a 6-1 run that put CCU in firm control of the game.
The second set was never in doubt as Coastal staked an early 9-3 lead before winning six straight points, and later seven straight points, to pull away for a dominant 18-point set win.
The Chants finished off the match with a .600 hitting percentage in the final set while receiving four kills apiece from Savovic and Legros. A pair of CCU blocks and six digs from Cahill helped the Chanticleer defense limit Troy's hitting to .000 in the game.
The Chanticleers return to the court on Sunday to close out the regular season against South Alabama at the HTC Center. Prior to Sunday's game the team will recognize the three members of its senior class; Savovic, Legros and Tahleia Bishop.