Saturday, November 12
Bobcats reach 20 wins in regular-season finale
LAFAYETTE, La. – The Texas State volleyball team defeated Louisiana 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-20) Saturday night inside Earl K. Long Gym in the regular-season finale for both teams.
The Bobcats (20-11, 13-3 SBC) reached the 20-win plateau for the 23rd time in the Karen Chisum era, while the Ragin' Cajuns (10-21, 6-10 SBC) saw their season come to a close.
Senior Shelby Vas Matt registered the 32nd double-double of her career after finishing with 14 digs and 12 kills. Junior Jaliyah Bolden led both teams with 13 kills, and junior Erin Hoppe commanded the offense with 31 assists. Freshman Micah Dinwiddie led the defense with 16 digs.
Texas State laid claim to the opening set by a 25-21 margin. The Ragin' Cajuns were initially able to build a 15-11 lead, but the Bobcats rattled off eight of the next nine points to secure a firm grip of the frame. The visitors made sure to close on a high note after Louisiana got within two at 22-20.
The Bobcats secured the second set 25-19 as they stretched their grip on the match to 2-0 overall. The maroon and gold carried the momentum over from the first set to an 11-4 advantage in the second, but ULL battled back and climbed within two points at 20-18. Five consecutive kills by Texas State cleaned up the frame, and the visitors headed into intermission with the dominant lead.
The third set went in favor of the visiting team as the Bobcats were able to earn the sweep. They initially found themselves locked in a 6-6 tie, but they then powered ahead to a 13-10 lead that eventually ballooned to a comfortable 20-12 margin. ULL pushed back within four at 21-17, but the visitors earned the four necessary sideouts the rest of the way to collect the victory.
Nia Antoine led Louisiana with seven kills. Jessica Bartczyszyn had 23 assists, and Sydney Davis posted 14 digs.
Texas State improved to 13-0 all-time against Louisiana. The maroon and gold led Saturday's match in all major categories, including kills (46-25), hitting percentage (.200-.071), assists (44-24), digs (53-50), blocks (7-6), and service aces (3-0).
The Bobcats are now set to venture to Arlington, Texas, Nov. 18-20 for the 2016 SBC Championship. The maroon and gold will be the No. 3 seed and will face No. 6 South Alabama in the opening round. The official brackets will be released Sunday afternoon.
Georgia Southern Tops Georgia State 3-1 on Senior Day
STATESBORO, Ga. – Lauren Reichard tallied 14 kills and seven blocks to lead Georgia Southern to a 3-1 (25-17, 25-20, 21-25, 25-15) Sun Belt volleyball victory over Georgia State Saturday afternoon its regular-season finale at Hanner Fieldhouse.
Both teams have earned a berth in next week's Sun Belt Tournament in Arlington, Texas. The final seeding and brackets will be announced later today.
The win gives the Eagles a full point in the Southern vs. State Rivalry series as Georgia Southern swept the Panthers in volleyball this season. Georgia State leads the competition 3-2, and two points will be on the line when the school's square off in football Nov. 19 in Atlanta.
Seniors Katie Bange, Alex Beecher and Leah Joseph were recognized prior to the start of today's match. Bange collected nine kills, 22 assists, six digs and four blocks for the Eagles (15-17, 7-9), and Beecher finished with a match-high 25 digs. Anna Wenger chipped in nine kills and three blocks.
Kristina Stinson led the way for the Panthers (10-17, 6-10) with 12 kills, and Morgan Hash finished with 11 kills. Celeste Friesen posted 23 digs and 10 assists.
The story
After Georgia State won the third set to make the score 2-1in the match, Georgia Southern put its foot on the gas and hit .333 with just four errors in the fourth. The Eagles jumped out to a 6-1 lead behind good serving from Kendra Koetter and Joscelin Morrow and pushed the advantage to 12-3 on a block by Wenger and Reilly Bosworth. The Panthers worked the margin down to 22-14 on a kill by Eliza Zachary but that was as close as they would get.
Southern jumped out to an 11-3 lead to start the match, and Bosworth had to kills during the stretch. State fought back to make the score 20-15, but the Eagles ended the set on a 5-2 run on the strength of two kills by Reichard and an ace by Koetter. The Eagles had three team blocks and 22 digs in the second set to hold the Panthers to minus -.022 hitting en route to opening a 2-0 lead in the match.
UTA's Murata Sets Freshman Digs Record in Win at ULM
MONROE, La. -- After a 29-dig performance, libero Taylor Murata set a new program record for digs by a freshman, helping lead UT Arlington to a 3-1 win at ULM to conclude the regular season, 25-20, 25-14, 19-25, 25-21, on Saturday night at Fant Ewing Coliseum.
With the win, UT Arlington (16-15, 10-6 Sun Belt Conference) concluded its regular season with a fourth-place finish in the standings. The Mavs won the first two sets in the match on Saturday, before ULM answered with the third-set win out of the break. UT Arlington then finalized the win with a 25-21 win in the fourth.
ULM (9-25, 3-13 SBC) finished its regular season with the loss.
KEY RUN
With the fourth set tied up at 21-21 and ULM owning some momentum following the third-set win, UT Arlington won the final four points to win the set and the match, 25-21.
QUOTABLE
"The first two sets we played with a lot of good energy, passed the ball well and got some good things out of our middles and our right side," UT Arlington head coach Diane Seymour said. "First two sets were pretty well played by us.
"A little different energy, focus in the third set. We were really high error and we really continued to be high error up until late in that fourth set, when we took control around point 20. A little disappointed in how we played in set three and four but obviously happy we came out with the win. Really pleased with how well Z (Geathers) played. She was outstanding for us and that is always a good sign going forward.
"Our middle blockers played really well. Taylor Murata was really good tonight. To see her get to 29 digs is what we've been wanting to see from her for the last couple of weeks. So some good things going into the tournament.
"Taylor setting the record is awesome. We knew she was close and that would be a target goal for us. She is that talented. Really the exciting thing for us is to see her go for seven digs per set. We've been looking for that kind of consistency from her."
PLAYERS OF THE MATCH
Zhanelle Geathers had a strong performance in the win, totaling a team-leading 18 kills and adding five total blocks. Kaitlyn Granger and Madison McConnell each added seven kills. Freshman Kylie Jedlicka, a night after leading the club with 14 kills, had five kills and five total blocks.
RECORD WATCH
Murata had a historic night, owning 29 digs in the win. That brought up her season total to 526, breaking the previous record held by Amber Pack in 1999.