Friday, November 4
Dillard Breaks Little Rock Blocks Record
LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock volleyball (12-15, 8-6 Sun Belt) snapped Texas State's nine-match winning streak with a 3-1 (25-19, 17-25, 26-24, 25-21) victory on Friday night at the Jack Stephens Center.
The win over the Bobcats (18-10, 11-2) was even more special for Carolee Dillard as the redshirt senior broke both the Little Rock program record (564) and the Sun Belt rally-scoring record (566) for career blocks with eight for the night. Dillard's career total now stands at 571.
Veronica Marin led the Trojans with 10 kills and had a match-high .350 hitting percentage. Marina Avram put down nine kills and two aces while Edina Selimovic had seven kills with three block assists. Along with Dillard's block total, she put down six kills and a .294 hitting percentage. Taylor Lindberg had 26 assists, eight digs and six block assists. Hope Larmour and Kelsey Leech each scooped up 14 digs and served up an ace.
Down 10-9 in the fourth frame, Little Rock put together an 8-1 run to take a 17-11 lead over Texas State. The Bobcats whittled the Trojans' lead down to one at 17-16 with five consecutive points, but Little Rock never lost control of the lead. The Trojans took the set with a four-point win as Selimovic put down the match's final kill.
Tied 1-1 for the match heading into the third set, Little Rock built up an eight-point lead at 15-7. Texas State battled back with seven consecutive points to cut the Trojans' lead to one at 16-15. The Bobcats eventually tied the Trojans at 24 before an Avram kill and a Texas State attack error ended the set and gave Little Rock a 2-1 lead for the match.
Little Rock dropped its only set of the night in the second frame as Texas State got off to a hot 11-1 lead. The Trojans were able to cut the Bobcats' lead to four at 13-9, but they got no closer as Texas State took the set with an eight-point win.
The Trojans began the match on a high-note as they took a six-point win over the Bobcats. Texas State began the set with a 5-1 lead, but Little Rock fought back to tie the frame at 16. With the Bobcats up 18-16, the Trojans put together a 9-1 run to win the set. Little Rock finished the set hitting .394 — the best by either team for the entire match.
Miona Milovanovic tallied three kills, two aces, six digs and block. Sydnee Martin had three digs with an ace, and Daisha Gillard had one block assist and one dig.
Little Rock's win guarantees the Trojans finish at .500 or above in Sun Belt play for the fifth consecutive season. The Trojans now need one more win or a Louisiana loss to clinch a spot in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
The Trojans' victory was the 499th career win for head coach Van Compton. She'll be looking for her 500th victory as the Trojans return to action against UT Arlington at 12:30 p.m., on Sunday at the Jack Stephens Center.
A-State Volleyball Defeats UT Arlington for 1,000th Win in Program History
JONESBORO, Ark. (11/4/16) – The Arkansas State volleyball team registered its 1,000th win in program history with a 3-1 (25-14, 25-21, 24-26, 25-12) victory over UT Arlington Friday night at the Convocation Center.
The Red Wolves (21-7, 13-1 SBC) did see their eight-match sweep streak end, but extended the winning streak to nine as the team became the 18th program in NCAA Division I history to win 1,000 matches. A-State tied its season high with 11 blocks (Aug. 27 vs. North Carolina State) and hit .222 to a .103 mark for the Mavericks (13-15, 7-6 SBC).
“We knew UTA had the potential to give us a tough match,” A-State head volleyball coach David Rehr said. “I wasn’t too concerned with the streak of sweeps, but we did get the win, which is the most important thing. We also responded really well and showed what type of team we are after they took the third set. It was important to see that from us.”
Carlisa May was an offensive force for A-State with 20 kills, while Kelsey Reis added 10 kills on a .421 hitting percentage as eight different players tallied kills. Mallory Warrington recorded her team-high 12th double-double with 50 assists and 14 digs, while Markie Schaedig led the team with 21 digs and Drew Jones reached double digits with 11. Jessica Uke led the team with five blocks, while May and Kenzie Fields had three apiece.
The Red Wolves took control early in set one with a 10-5 lead to force a timeout by UTA. A-State extended the advantage to 19-9 on an ace by Reis to force the Mavericks to call their second timeout. The home team never allowed UT Arlington to get back in it as a kill by Uke ended the set at 25-14 in favor of A-State.
The second set was much more competitive with A-State holding a 15-14 edge at the media timeout after a kill by Shelby Holmes. UTA went on a 3-0 run for a 17-15 lead, and then A-State responded with a 4-0 run for a 19-17 edge on a block by Fields. The home team went in front 24-20 on a May kill, but UT Arlington won the next point to make it 24-21. However, Anna Murphy registered a kill on the next point to give the Red Wolves a 25-21 set win.
The Mavericks jumped out to a 15-12 edge at the media timeout of the third set, but A-State battled back to tie the set at 17-17 on a block by Murphy. A-State was able to pull ahead on a couple of occasions, but the set was tied 24-24 before two straight points by UT Arlington gave them a 26-24 set win to force a game four.
However, A-State responded in dominating fashion by racing out to a 13-6 lead in the fourth set after a block by Holmes and Reis. The team later went ahead 18-7 and forced UT Arlington to call its final timeout. The Red Wolves extended the edge to 24-12 on a May kill and clinched a 25-12 set win and 3-1 match win on a kill by Holmes.
Arkansas State has clinched a spot in the SBC Tournament and can be no lower than the third seed. A-State takes on Texas State Saturday, Nov. 5 in a match with huge implications for the West Division. If A-State defeats the Bobcats, the Red Wolves clinch at least a share of the division title. Saturday’s match also represents Senior Night for the Red Wolves with the team’s seniors set to be honored before the contest. First serve at the Convocation Center is set for 6:30 p.m. and the match will air on ESPN3.
Chants Win Consecutive Matches Versus Georgia Southern
CONWAY - The Coastal Carolina volleyball team won its second straight match against Georgia Southern and extended its winning streak to 11 matches Friday night as the Chanticleers swept the Eagles in straight sets (25-22, 25-11, 25-8) at the HTC Center.
The Chants (21-4, 12-1) were officially named Sun Belt East Division champions earlier this week after downing Georgia Southern in straight sets Wednesday night. The Division title ensures Coastal one of the top two seeds in its first-ever Sun Belt tournament, set for Nov. 18-20 in Arlington, Texas. Heading into Friday's match, Arkansas State (20-7, 12-1) held the top seed with the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Chants.
Annayka Legros powered Coastal with 12 kills and an impressive .500 hitting percentage. The senior middle blocker also added three solo blocks to close the match with 15 points.
Leah Hardeman also reached double-figure kills with 10, and recorded her second straight double-double as she led all players with 17 digs.
Sara Boothe dished out a match-leading 23 assists and helped Coastal to a .333 team hitting percentage.
Coastal never trailed in the match, and the Eagles only managed to even the score four times in the first and second sets.
The Chants were led in the opening set by the six kills of Tahleia Bishop, who put down nine total shots for the match. Coastal took a quick 8-3 lead, though the Eagles fought back to even the set a 10 points apiece. From there, an 8-1 CCU run put the Chants ahead by a sizeable margin that proved too large for Georgia Southern to recover from.
Natasa Savovic and Hardeman paced the Chants with five and four kills, respectively, in the middle set as Coastal posted a .316 team hitting percentage. Another hot start led to an 11-4 Coastal advantage, and the Chants closed the set on a 9-2 run to take a 2-0 match lead.
Coastal was in control for the entirety of the final set as it posted its best hitting percentage of the match at .423. Legros put down seven kills and stuffed a pair of Georgia Southern attempts as she led the Chants to 17-point set victory.
The Chants return to the HTC Center floor on Sunday afternoon for a 1 p.m. match against Georgia State. The Chants downed the Panthers in straight sets on Oct. 7 in Atlanta, Ga.
PANTHERS OUTLAST MOUNTAINEERS, EARN SECOND ROAD WIN
BOONE, N.C. – Georgia State rallied from a 2-1 deficit to take down the Appalachian State Mountaineers in five sets. The Panthers took the match by a final of 10-25, 25-22, 11-25, 25-22 and 17-15.
Head coach Sally Polhamus and GSU improve to 10-14 overall and 6-7 in the Sun Belt. App State falls to 3-22 and 1-11 in the SBC.
Despite falling behind two sets to one after a dropping the third frame 11-25, the Panthers battled back to take the match in five sets. An ASU attacking error and Kristina Stinson’s seventh kill from Sarah Renner sealed the victory for the Panthers.
Georgia State got some much-needed production from freshmen Morgan Hash and Sydney Stroud. The two combined for 21 kills carry the Panthers. Seniors Kristina Stinson and Eliza Zachary finished with seven kills apiece.
Sophomore setter Sarah Renner added 36 assists and four Panthers tallied double-digit kill totals. Celeste Friesen, Anna Rantala and Morgan Hash led the Panther defense with 16, 13 and 11 digs respectively. Zachary and Hash also combined for 10 block assists on the night.
The Mountaineers made GSU fight all evening long with four players registering double-digit kill totals. Senior middle blocker Ashton Gregory posted 14 kills and three Mountaineers recorded 11 kills to lead the Mountaineer offense.
Four Mountaineers also earned double-digit totals in digs including Sloan Evans and Kati Stammen. The outside hitter and libero kept ASU competitive with 34 combined digs.
The Panthers will look to continue the momentum from their sixth conference victory into the team’s match on Sunday versus Coastal Carolina. The Chanticleers have not dropped a single set in their last six matches.
ULM Wins Five-Set Thriller Over South Alabama
Monroe, La. - The ULM volleyball team kicked off their five-game homestand with a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Sun Belt Conference opponent South Alabama, winning the final three sets of the night.
HOW IT HAPPENED
-The Warhawks looked to take the first set at 24-21 but South Alabama crept its way back in and tied the score at 24. USA was able to push back and take the first set.
-ULM led early on in the second set but again the Jaguars found their way back into the match. After a tie score of 18 USA went on a five-point run that would put them three points away from taking the set. With one final push after a three-point run from the Warhawks the Jaguars were able to close out the set.
-South Alabama was leading the match 2-0 and looking to close the night out in the third set. However, after a tie score of 18 ULM flipped the tables on USA and was able to take the set three win.
-In set four the Warhawks took control right away and posted an 8-3 lead to start things off. ULM saw that lead to the close of the fourth set to tie the match score at two sets apiece.
-ULM came out strong again in set five and was the first team to five, 10 and 15 points as the Warhawks led for the entirety of the final set.
Ragin' Cajuns Sweep Troy in Homecoming Opener
LAFAYETTE – Nia Antoine produced 13 kills and hit .650 to lead the offense for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball team which posted a straight sets sweep (25-22, 25-21, 25-19) of Troy in the opening match of Homecoming Weekend held Friday evening at Earl K. Long Gym.
The Ragin' Cajuns (9-18, 5-7 Sun Belt) hit at least .240 in each set capped by a match-best .424 clip in the third set which sealed the sweep.
Louisiana, which hit .317 for the match, played with the lead nearly the entire night. The lone deficits came at 3-1 in the opening set and following a service error on the first rally of the second set.
The Ragin' Cajuns will hold an alumni match at 10 a.m. on Saturday at Earl K. Long Gym, then wraup up Homecoming Weekend on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. vs. South Alabama.
Stacey Reilly posted 11 kills on 31 swings with a .258 hitting percentage. The Houston native posted double digits kills for the fourth straight match and 21st time overall this season.
Katherine Young added eight kills on 19 swings and Chloe Cordell had six kills on 19 swings to supplement the Ragin' Cajuns offense behind Antoine and Reilly.
Setter Jessica Bartczyszyn handed out 37 assists to increase her season figure to 1,010, giving her the first 1,000-plus assist campaign of her career.
Lafayette High product McKenzie John led the Ragin' Cajuns with 10 digs. Sydney Davis (8), Bartczyszyn (7) and Reilly (6) backed her up.
Belle Waldrop led Troy (8-22, 2-11 Sun Belt) with 10 kills. Bethany Cullity scooped a match-high 14 digs.
Louisiana took control of the first set and snapped a 4-all tie with a kill from Reilly, Antoine ace and block by Reilly to forge ahead 7-4. The final push was a 4-0 run, fueled by a pair of kills and Troy attack errors, which stretched the advantage to 18-12.
After the service error on the opening error of the second set, the Ragin' Cajuns took back the momentum with back-to-back kills from Antoine to take the lead for good. The Trojans hung around and were within a point at 19-18. After a timeout, Louisiana gained a sideout on a service error, then threw up a pair of blocks on a three-point spurt to create distance at 23-18.
The Ragin' Cajuns .424 percentage in the third set, which featured 15 kills on 33 swings, allowed the squad to stay ahead of the Trojans to complete the sweep.