Compton Claims 500th Win in Sweep of Jackson State
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – In the second match of her 30th season, Little Rock volleyball head coach Van Compton earned her 500th career victory as the Trojans defeated Jackson State 3-0 (25-10, 25-15, 25-13) on Friday night at Reed Green Coliseum on the campus of Southern Miss.
Compton becomes the 32nd active head coach in Division I with 500 wins.
Daisha Gillard led the Trojans (1-1) with eight kills on 11 attempts. She hit .545 for the match while adding four block assists. Veronica Marin was in beast mode as the junior tallied a career-high eight blocks (three solo and five assisted), seven kills and a match-high .583 hitting percentage. Taylor Lindberg came up one dig shy of a double-double with 27 assists and nine digs. Sydnee Martin led the match with 13 digs.
Little Rock finished the match with its third double-digit set win of the evening. The victory was helped by two five-point runs early and late in the frame. Despite a 1-1 tie to begin the set, Little Rock maintained control the rest of the way. Helping the Trojans was Jackson State's -.208 hitting percentage for the frame as Little Rock hit .240.
The second frame had similar results as the first as the Trojans once again won by double-digits. Little Rock hit .320 for the set while Jackson State hit a flat .000. Gillard led the set with five kills while Marin upped her block total to eight. The Trojans put together a total of four three-point runs throughout the frame.
The Trojans dominated the first set with a .448 hitting percentage, 15 kills, 15 assists, 17 digs and six blocks. Avram led the set with five kills while Lindberg tallied 12 assists. Martin scooped up six digs while Marin came up with five total blocks. Little Rock capped off the set with an eight-point run to win by 15.
Maritza Mesa racked up seven kills with five digs, three block assists and one ace. Marina Avram put down six kills, two block assists and one ace. Mya Robinson added four kills on seven attempts and one block assists. Tamaira Armstrong had two kills and two blocks. Jovana Cernjanski had a team-high two aces with three digs while Kassidy Hopkins added four digs and one ace.
The Trojans dominated every statistical category with a .342 hitting percentage, 37 kills, 34 assists, 37 digs, seven aces and 12 total blocks.
Little Rock will conclude the Southern Miss Invitational tomorrow at noon against host Southern Miss.
Tulane Bounces Back for Split of Opening Day Twinbill
LAFAYETTE – Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball finished with a split on the opening day of the 2017 season after Tulane grabbed a 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-15) win in the second of two matches contested on Friday at Earl K. Long Gym.
The Green Wave (1-1) posted a .216 hitting percentage and limited the Ragin' Cajuns (1-1) to a .085 clip in posting the sweep.
Nia Antoine paced Louisiana's offensive effort landing 10 kills on 17 swings and a .412 hitting percentage. Stacey Reilly chipped in seven kills to increase her total for the doubleheader to 19.
Sydney Davis led the Cajuns with 14 digs, giving her double figures in both outings. Lafayette-based freshmen Avery Breaux and Lexi Hebert contributed 10 and eight digs, respectively.
Earlier in the day, Louisiana officially kicked off the 2017 season with a 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-22, 26-24) win behind 12 kills apiece from Reilly and Chloe Cordell and six blocks from Dree'Ana Abram.
The Ragin' Cajuns opened their season at home inside Earl K. Long Gym for the first time in the now 10-year span of the Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot era.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Tulane took advantage of 10 Louisiana attack errors in the opening set to grab an early lead in the match. Both teams posted 12 kills, but the Cajuns miscues gave the Green Wave the advantage.
A string of five consecutive points, initiated by a kill from Dayna Kern that snapped an 8-all tie, gave Tulane breathing room at 13-8. The Ragin' Cajuns drew within a point at 19-18 following a kill and block solo from Antoine, however the Green Wave had an answer to remain ahead.
- Louisiana stormed back in the second set with a .220 hitting percentage. The Green Wave was able to overcome with a 16-11 edge in kills.
The Ragin' Cajuns were leading 18-14 following an ace from Hebert only to have Tulane reel off a 7-1 spurt and reclaim the lead. Louisiana forged a 23-all tie, but a kill by Hannah Shaw and block from Alexis Silver captured set point.
- The teams traded scoring runs to start the third set with the Ragin' Cajuns jumping out to a 5-1 lead and the Green Wave rallying to pull ahead 7-6.
Tulane captured the momentum after back-to-back kills from Erika Hansel and Kristen Thompson followed by a Cajuns attack error opened a 10-8 lead. The Green Wave led the rest of the way and closed the set with a 15-7 run to lock up the match victory.
QUICK HITS
- Friday's matches with Tulane were played at Earl K. Long Gym after Hurricane Harvey's impending effects on the San Antonio area forced the cancellation of the I-10 Cardinals Classic on the Incarnate Word campus. Both the Ragin' Cajuns and Green Wave were scheduled to compete in the event.
- Senior Stacey Reilly pushed her career digs total over the 900-mark with 22 during Friday's action. She currently owns 913 career digs.
- Senior setter Jessica Bartczyszyn dished out 72 assists on Friday, increasing her career total to 1,857 which passes Beth Henson for fourth place on the program's rally scoring era career charts.
- Freshman Julia Angelo, Avery Breaux, Lexi Hebert and Hali Wisnoskie all made their collegiate debut. Wisnoskie and Hebert each posted their first career kills as a collegian.
- Louisiana and Tulane met at Earl K. Long Gym for the first time since Sept. 2004.
UP NEXT
Louisiana travels to Hattiesburg, Miss., on Tuesday for a midweek non-conference match at Southern Miss. First serve at Reed Green Coliseum is set for 6 p.m.
Following the match at USM, the Ragin' Cajuns return to Earl K. Long Gym for the annual Sawyer Camillo Memorial Volleyball Classic set for Sept. 1-2. The tournament field includes Houston Baptist, Jacksonville State, Mississippi Valley and Nicholls.
Texas State finishes TAMU Invite 1-1
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas State volleyball team closed out the Texas A&M Invitational with a 3-0 (25-23, 32-30, 25-12) loss to VCU Friday afternoon inside Reed Arena.
The Bobcats dropped to 1-1 on the young campaign, while the match was the season opener for the Rams.
Senior Jaliyah Bolden and sophomore Megan Porter led TXST with nine kills each. Freshman Brooke Johnson tallied 14 assists, while senior Erin Hoppe added 11.
The opening game saw the two teams stay near deadlocked throughout. Neither side ever found more than a three-point cushion, and it was the Rams who were able to secure the early advantage. Texas State went ahead 23-22, but VCU won the final three points to take the frame 25-23.
The second set looked to be a comfortable triumph for the Rams, but the Bobcats made them earn the 32-30 win. VCU worked to a 21-12 lead and held at least five game points at 24-19. Texas State won all five and even held a set point at 25-24. The Bobcats saved nine set points, but it was the 10th that would spell doom for the maroon and gold.
The Rams used the momentum of winning two close sets to pull ahead 11-4 in the third. They were able to hold TXST at bay to earn the sweep with a 25-12 victory in the third set.
Gina Tuzzolo led VCU with 10 kills. Dajah Ard dished out 17 assists, while Tyler Sroufe contributed 14. Both Alica Kandler and Rebekah Strange finished with 11 digs.
VCU led in kills (42-37), attack percentage (.286-.051), assists (36-32), and blocks (15-4). The Bobcats held the advantage in digs (39-36).
The Bobcats were meant to face Texas A&M Saturday, but the match was canceled due to the impending threat of Hurricane Harvey. The next action for the maroon and gold will now be the Xavier Tournament Sept. 1-2 in Cincinnati, Ohio. TXST will face Western Michigan, Cincinnati and Xavier.
Georgia Southern Splits a Pair of Matches on Opening Day
FT. MYERS, Fla. – Lauren Reichard tallied 30 kills and 11 blocks as Georgia Southern split a pair of volleyball matches at the FGCU Hilton Garden Inn Invitational Friday. The Eagles topped FIU 3-0 (26-24, 26-24, 25-19) and fell 3-1 to IUPUI (25-20, 25-27, 25-20, 25-21).
Cathrine Murray added 22 kills and 15 digs on the day, and Anna Wenger posted 16 kills. April Luther tallied 80 assists, 15 digs and six blocks in the two matches, and Joscelin Morrow finished with 44 digs.
The story vs. FIU
Reichard led Georgia Southern with 12 kills and seven blocks, Luther posted 35 assists and seven digs and Morrow notched 20 digs.
Georgia Southern built an 11-4 lead in the first set but had to fend off the Panthers. FIU opened a 22-19 advantage before the Eagles ran of three straight, sparked by a block by Wenger and Skylar Ball. With the score tied 24-24, Wenger put down a ball and the Eagles took the set after an error by FIU.
The second set went down to the wire as well with neither team leading by more than three points in the frame. GS overcame another late deficit with three straight points and fought off a set point to tie the score 24-24. Brooke Birch served up an ace for set point for the Eagles, and GS took the 2-0 lead in the match on a FIU error.
The story vs. IUPUI
Reichard tallied a career-high 18 kills and added four blocks, and Murray registered 15 kills and nine digs. Morrow posted 24 digs, three assists and a pair of aces.
IUPUI held the Eagles to a .142 hitting percentage for the match, and GS hit under .100 in each of the final two sets. After dropping the first set 25-20, GS overcame a five-point deficit and fought off two set points to win the second frame 27-25. With the score tied 25-25, Wenger got a kill, and Landon Jones served up an ace to tie the match 1-1.
A 7-1 run in the third set gave IUPUI the breathing room they needed to go ahead 2-1 in the match, and the Jags won five straight points to break a 17-17 tie in the fourth.
Quotable from head coach Dustin Wood
"I loved the way we focused and prepared today for the match vs. FIU. We had a great warm up, and we could see the kids were focused. There was some rust, but that's expected in our first match. We started out fast in each set, which is one of our goals as a program. We found a way to score big points in pressure situations to come out on top of the first two sets, and I am proud of the team for finishing strong in the third to put them away."
"We came out a little flat, and we hung in there in the second match. IUPUI did a great job of exposing some weaknesses. We had an opportunity to get the match to the fifth but ran out of steam. We struggled in the setting game tonight, and offensive timing was an issue for us. The kids fought hard but lacked execution."
"Lauren Reichard was great today. They couldn't stop her. She has brought her game to another level. Brooke Birch passed and played defense well for us, and Joscelin made the most of her first collegiate start and put up big dig numbers. Our two freshmen, Landon and Skyler produced and helped the team win. I'm proud of our staff and how they are working with these players. You see the players getting better each day with them, and the program took a good step in the right direction for our journey in the 2017 season."
"We know what we need to do tomorrow, and the players are looking to fix the execution that wasn't there tonight. I'm proud of this team and the leadership they are showing. It's a great locker room, and we know these kids our bought in to our program."
Next up
The Eagles take on tourney host Florida Gulf Coast Saturday at 11 a.m.
Georgia Southern Athletics provides current information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, which is fully responsive across all mobile devices. Information on Eagle athletics can also be found through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics and Instagram.com/GSAthletics. To purchase tickets to Georgia Southern athletics events, visit GSEagles.com/tickets.
PANTHERS BEST RUTGERS IN OPENER
GREENVILLE- Georgia State began the 2017 volleyball season in a big way defeating Rutgers three sets to one Friday afternoon. The match was the first of three GSU will play this weekend as part of the ECU Invitational.
“It was a great team effort, we showed incredible hustle on scramble plays and didn’t let much hit the floor”, said Panther head coach Sally Polhamus. “I am proud of our girls, we came out ready to play.”
The Panthers got off to a hot start in the first set rattling off ten straight points to begin the match. Junior Carley Eiken served for nine of the ten points. Georgia State continued to roll on the way to a 25-8 first set victory.
The second set saw Crystal Lee rattle off six straight points, including two service aces. Lee would continue to dominate play in set two racking up six kills in the Panthers 25-15 win.
Rutgers battled back and led the entire third set. The Panthers would not go away, but the Scarlet Knights were able to squeak out a 24-26 third set win. Set four was a back and forth affair, but eventually the Panthers overwhelmed Rutgers to earn a 25-23 win, securing a three set to one victory.
Leading the way for Georgia State with 16 kills and 10 digs was junior Crystal Lee. Carley Eiken posted 40 assists, and Morgan Hash added 16 kills of her own.
“Carley did an incredible job leading our offense”, said Polhamus. “As a team we were focused, no matter who came in the game they were ready to raise the bar.”
The Panthers will look to keep the momentum going as they return to action tomorrow for a doubleheader beginning with tournament host East Carolina at 10:00 a.m. The match will be available to watch live on ecupirates.com. Georgia State will conclude tournament play with a 4:30 p.m. match against William & Mary. Live stats for all matches are available at georgiastatesports.com.
Mavs Open Wenger Era With Sweep
ARLINGTON, Texas -- In the debut of the Coach J.T. Wenger era, UTA volleyball cruised to a three-set victory over Southern (25-17, 25-11, 25-18), on Friday night at College Park Center.
UTA (1-0) posted a smooth win over Southern (0-1) in the first game of the Wenger era. Wenger took over the UTA program for the 2017 season after winning a national title at UCLA, and coaching with the Bruins, Colorado and Michigan State.
The Mavs were in control throughout the match, rolling to wins in the first two sets, including a 13-point win in the second. The third set saw Southern get within a pair at 19-17, before a Wenger timeout saw the Mavs power through the final six points for a 25-18 win.
LEADING THE MAVS
The Mavs were led in the match by a double-double from Qiana Canete, who charted a match-best 13 kills, while adding 11 digs and three assists. UTA also got a 25-assist outing from setter Haley Higgins, making her first career start. Sophomore libero Madelyn St. Germain set a new career high with 15 digs.
NEXT
UTA will return to action with a doubleheader on Saturday, hosting the second round of the UTA Invitational Tournament at College Park Center. The Mavs will face McNeese at 12 p.m. CT and Houston at 7 p.m., with all four games of the day in the UTA Invite streamed live on UTAMavs.com with Josh Sours voicing the action.
GAME ONE
UTA opened the scoring in the 2017 season with a kill from Geathers off a nice dig from St. Germain. The teams then traded points to open the set 2-2 before Canete ripped her first two kills of the year, with UTA taking a 4-2 lead. After Southern took its third lead of the set, 11-10, UTA ripped off a 6-0 run to take a 17-11, with the Jaguars resetting with a timeout during the run. The Mavs used kills from McConnell and Higgins to take a 21-14 lead into a Southern timeout. Geathers smashed home a kill out of the timeout and McConnell gave the Mavs a 23-14 lead with her fourth kill. After a service error got the Mavs to set point, Higgins finished off the set win with her third kill. UTA took a 19-9 lead, its largest of the match, into a Southern timeout. After the timeout, Kailyn Gilbreath, Allie Deese and Madison Helt checked in off the bench for the Mavs, with UTA taking a 22-10 lead after Geathers finished her fourth kill.
GAME TWO
Harfield got the Mavs on the board in the second set with her first career kill, a smash from the far side of the net. The Mavs went on a 4-0 run to take a 5-1 lead, with Harfield and Jedlicka combining on a block. With a 6-4 lead, UTA went on a 7-1 run to take a 13-5 lead into a Southern timeout, getting a service ace from St. Germain. The Mavs took an 18-9 lead after Geathers finished home a kill.
GAME THREE
Both clubs traded points early in the third set, before UTA went on a 3-0 run to take a 5-2 lead, with Cameryn Zahradnik notching her first career kill for the three-point lead. Southern took its first lead in the set after an attack error, 8-7 but Zahradnik immediately evened up the set with her second kill. The Mavs went on a 3-0 lead to earn a 12-9 lead entering a Southern timeout. UTA stretched its lead to 17-11 off an Ashlynn Ford service ace. Southern rallied to force a UTA timeout and UTA finished of fthe match with the final three points for a 25-18 win.
NOTES
• The Mavs are 1-0 all-time vs. Southern, winning the first meeting since 2011 in El Paso, Texas.
• UTA has won seven straight season openers.
• UTA first-year Head Coach J.T. Wenger coached his first career game.
• Sophomore setter Haley Higgins made her first career start.
• Sophomore libero Madelyn St. Germain made her second career start.
o St. Germain set a new career high in digs.
• Sophomore MB Tessa Harfield made her collegiate debut in her first career start.
• Junior OH Allie Deese made her NCAA debut.
• Freshman setter Kailyn Gilbreath made her collegiate debut.
• Freshman DS Madison Smith made her collegiate debut.
Volleyball Holds Off UTSA in Season Opener
FORT WORTH, Texas - The Coastal Carolina volleyball team opened the 2017 season Friday with a five-set victory (25-19, 25-20, 19-25, 17-25, 15-13) over UTSA in the first match of the TCU Cowtown Classic. The Chants relinquished an early 2-0 match lead before winning a thrilling fifth set.
Coastal carries a 1-0 record into its second and final match of the Cowtown Classic, set for Saturday at 6 p.m. ET against TCU.
Coastal was led by an outstanding effort from Leah Hardeman, who paced the Chants with a 23 kill, 15 dig double-double. The senior outside hitter added a .340 hitting percentage and tied for the team lead with four blocks. Four of Hardeman's kills came in the deciding set, with the final two breaking a 13-13 tie and swinging the match in favor of the Chants.
The two sides were nearly even in all statistical categories, with Coastal holding slim leads in hitting percentage and digs. The biggest difference was Coastal's defensive presence at the net, as the Chants totaled 11 team blocks to UTSA's five.
Joining Hardeman with four blocks each were Leah Levert and Larissa Dos Santos in the middle. Levert added nine kills at a .562 pace, and Dos Santos put down five shots while hitting .400. Freshman Kyla Manning made an impact in her first career match, putting down 11 kills to join Hardeman as the only Chants to reach double figures in the category.
Sara Boothe provided 34 assists for the Chants, while defensive specialist Sydney Alvis led the squad with 26 digs. The two juniors also landed a pair of service aces each.
Coastal led the entirety of the opening set as Boothe served to a 4-0 advantage to start, and the Chants continued to build upon their lead. CCU led by as many as seven points in the set, initially taking a 10-3 lead before going ahead 17-10 to take firm control of the game.
The Chants jumped out to another early lead in the second frame, going on a 10-4 run from the opening serve. UTSA rallied to even the set on five occasions, however, including a 19-19 deadlock later in the game. An Alvis service ace then sparked a run of four straight points for the Chants that included a pair of kills from Levert, and two straight UTSA errors allowed the Chants to finish off the set.
Neither side led by more than two points midway through the third set, at which point UTSA used a 5-2 run to take a 20-16 lead. Coastal managed to trim its deficit to two points, but was unable to retake the lead.
A 10-10 tie in the fourth set was broken by a 10-5 UTSA run, and four errors from the Chants helped UTSA force a match-deciding fifth set.
@AStateVB Splits First Two Matches of 2017 Season
LEXINGTON, Ky. (8/25/17) – The Arkansas State volleyball team opened the 2017 season with a split of two matches at the Bluegrass Battle being held in Lexington, Ky., in Memorial Coliseum Friday with a 3-1 win over Cincinnati in the nightcap after falling to No. 14 Kentucky 3-0 earlier in the day.
A-State (1-1) was able to hold the Bearcats (0-2) to a .137 hitting percentage in the win, including percentages of .000 and -.057 in sets three and four. Carlisa May led the team with 21 kills on a .312 hitting percentage, while Drew Jones posted a double-double (13 kills and 10 digs). Ellie Watkins paced the offense with 53 assists, while Tatum Ticknor (27 digs) and Anna Murphy (six blocks) were strong on the defensive side of the net.
“I challenged our team after the second set against Cincinnati to play better defense,” A-State head volleyball coach David Rehr said. “I flat out told them I didn’t care about their offense in the final two sets, I just cared about defense and they responded as shown by Cincinnati’s hitting percentages those final two sets. That is what I was pleased with the most today. I pointed out something I wanted done better and the team went out there and did it against a solid team.”
Carly Nolan led Cincinnati, who was an at-large selection in last season’s NCAA Tournament, with 20 kills, while Elly Ogle had 18 digs and 12 kills.
A-State led 10-9 in set one before an 8-2 run, finished on a kill by Murphy, put some separation between the two teams at 18-11. Cincinnati got as close as five at 23-18, but the Red Wolves held on for a 25-19 opening set triumph. The second game was close throughout, but A-State had set point at 24-22 before the Bearcats scored two straight points after a timeout. The Red Wolves held set point two more times, but a 3-0 run by Cincinnati after a 26-25 A-State edge gave the Bearcats the second set 28-26.
The Red Wolves rebounded by jumping out of the gates to a 13-9 advantage on a Kenzie Fields kill in set three. However, the Bearcats wouldn’t go away quietly by coming back to tie the set at 18-18 and take a short-lived 20-19 edge. The two teams were tied 21-21 before a 4-0 run, capped by back-to-back blocks by Murphy and Jones, clinched the set for A-State 25-21.
The fourth set went differently as A-State forced the Bearcats to call timeouts after going in front by scores of 7-2 and 18-8. The Red Wolves stretched their advantage to 11 on multiple occasions before an attack error by Cincinnati put the final at 25-14 and gave A-State a 3-1 victory.
Earlier in the day, the first set between the Red Wolves and Wildcats was very competitive with the score tied 14-14 after a kill by May. The kill by May started a short 3-0 spurt for A-State with a service ace by Diane Phillips giving the visitors a 16-14 edge. Arkansas State pushed its advantage to 19-16 on a kill by Jessica Uke that forced Kentucky to use a timeout. The Wildcats used a 7-4 run to tie the game 23-23 before a kill and ace by Leah Edmond propelled UK to a 25-23 win.
Kentucky used the momentum from the set one win to race out to a 6-1 lead in game two. A-State clawed its way back to within three at 9-6 on a Uke kill, but a 12-4 run by UK put the score at 21-10. The Red Wolves weren’t able to put too much of a dent in the deficit and dropped the set by a score of 25-15.
The host Wildcats ran out front 8-4 to begin the third set, but the Red Wolves battled back to tie things up at 12-12. However, the home team regained control with an 8-2 run to push the score to 20-14 and didn’t look back as UK won set three 25-19 and swept the season opener for both squads.
Jones led A-State with 13 kills, while May added nine. Watkins handed out 28 assists and was second on the team with seven digs to Ticknor’s nine. The Red Wolves could only muster a .112 hitting percentage, while Kentucky hit .307. Edmond led the Wildcats with 12 kills, while Kaz Brown led the match with eight block assists.
“I thought we played really well early and an overall decent first set despite losing it,” Rehr added. “However, once we lost the set we had to face some adversity and try to fight back and sadly we weren’t up to that challenge against Kentucky. We hung our head too much and Kentucky is an extremely talented team so that wasn’t a recipe for success.”
Arkansas State wraps up play at the Bluegrass Battle with a 4 p.m. (CT) match Saturday afternoon against No. 23 Utah in Memorial Coliseum.
Fans can follow the team on Twitter (@AStateVB) and Instagram (astatevb) along with liking the Arkansas State University Volleyball page on Facebook for the latest news and updates regarding the team.
Troy Volleyball Falls in Five-Set Season Opener
COLUMBIA, South Carolina- After falling behind in set one, the Trojans (0-1) bounced back to take two in a row from North Florida (1-0), but a late rally from the Ospreys forced a fifth set as the Trojans were narrowly defeated 3-2 in game one of the Gamecock Invitational hosted by South Carolina.
Troy kept the first set close as it continued to find answers to the Ospreys' offense. The Trojans took a 13-9 lead after two straight kills, a service ace and an Osprey error, but a few miscues by Troy gave North Florida the momentum to take set one 25-19.
The Trojans were able to even things up in set two as sophomore Savannah Moore posted three timely blocks, and Belle Waldrop contributed five kills as Troy started finding rhythm in the match. UNF tied things up at 24-24, but a clutch kill from Waldrop with the assist from Alisha Hinrichs and an error from the Ospreys put Troy on the board.
The Trojans took advantage of the momentum and won set three to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Three late kills from senior Lauren Long and two from sophomore Logan Page propelled the Trojans to take the third set 25-21.
North Florida was able to come back and barely hold off the Trojans to take set four 25-23 in order to force a fifth set. A seven-point run by the Ospreys put Troy down 12-5 in the final set as North Florida was able to close out the match.
NOTEWORTHY
• The Trojans out-aced the Ospreys 9-3 as Kiara Barrett and SaraGrace Wilson each recorded three service aces, Bethany Cullity added two, and Moore had one.
• Freshmen Cheyenne Hayes and Wilson each started all five sets for the Trojans, as did sophomore transfer Jenni Young.
• Waldrop recorded a team-high 14 kills and 15.0 points followed by Long with 13 kills and 13.5 points
• Savannah Moore's 9 kills on 17 total attempts, with no errors gave her a career-high .529 hitting percentage.
• The Trojans outscored the Ospreys 73-70, but fell just short of the win
UP NEXT
The Trojans will wrap up the Gamecock Invitational as they face host team South Carolina Saturday at 12 p.m., followed by Mercer at 3 p.m. Fans can follow along with live stats and on Twitter.
App State Falls to Missouri State in 2017 Opener
BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State University volleyball dropped a five-set thriller, 3-2 (23-25, 25-20, 25-22, 15-25, 13-15), to Missouri State in the 2017 season opener on Friday at the Holmes Center.
The Mountaineers (0-1) were lead offensively by Emma Longley who finished with a team-high 18 kills and she was followed by freshman Kara Spicer who had 15 kills in her App State debut. Melissa McMath was the other Mountaineer to finish with double-digit kills with 14. Ashlyn Brown dished out 48 assists.
Defensively, four Mountaineers collected double-digit digs. Longley and Brown finished with 13 and 10, respectively, and Olivia Loeffler led the team with 24. Freshman Emma Reilly rounded out the defense with 14 digs.
In the match-tying second set with a 22-20 lead, App State used two kills by McMath and a Missouri State (1-0) setting error to secure the first set win of the season.
Neither team could get a lead higher than three points in the third set until the Mountaineers went on 5-0 run at the end of the set. McMath made a huge block to put App State up 24-20 right before the Bears benefited from a App State service error. The Mountaineers would then win the set and take a 2-1 lead on a Spicer kill.
Missouri State would control much of the fourth set as the Bears used a 6-0 run to close out a 25-15 set win, leveling the match at 2-2.
In the match-deciding fifth set, Missouri State lead halfway though, 8-6, but the Mountaineers would go on a 4-0 run to take a 13-12 lead. The Bears would score three-straight points and secure a 15-13 victory.
Appalachian heads to Wilmington for the Springhill Suites Mayfaire Invitational on Saturday and Sunday. The Black and Gold will play Davidson on Friday at 9:30 a.m. before play the host UNCW at 7:30 p.m. that night. On Sunday, the Mountaineers play a 10:00 a.m. match against Loyola.