UTSA Win Streak at 10
UTSA 3, Texas-Pan American 1
EDINBURG, Texas ? UTSA wrapped up another perfect week on Saturday, its fourth in a row, with a 25-17, 25-20, 21-25, 25-20 at Texas-Pan American. The Roadrunners (11-6) extended their winning streak to a league-best 10 matches, while the Lady Broncs (3-10) dropped their seventh contest in a row.
Sophomore Kendra Rowland had a match-high 18 kills on just 35 attacks (.353 pct.) to lead the UTSA offense. Junior Stefanie Robbins and sophomore Valorie Rogers both hit .400 with a dozen winners apiece, while freshman Amber Brooks handed out 41 assists, her ninth 40-plus effort in the last 10 contests, and she also served up a career-best six aces.
Robbins led the defensive effort at the net with three block assists and freshman Kelsey Schwirtlich added two. Meanwhile, freshman Kelsey Jewasko led the back row defense with a match-high 16 digs and Brooks racked up 10 for her fifth double-double of the season.
It was the second victory against UTPA in the last 18 days and 36th in the past 37 meetings for UTSA. The Roadrunners posted a 25-16, 22-25, 25-15, 25-14 victory on Sept. 17 in the Convocation Center.
Kellie Phillips led the Lady Broncs with 14 kills and Chelsea Blakely recorded a double-double of 35 assists and 13 digs.
UTSA resumes its current five-match road trip on Friday with a Southland Conference tilt at Lamar. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. in Beaumont.
Stephen F. Austin 3, McNeese State 1
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Ladyjack volleyball team got 35 kills between the tandem of Ashley Bailey and MC Bottles and rejected a season-high 13 shots as it won it’s ninth straight match with a 3-1 (25-15, 25-17, 21-25, 25-15) over the Cowgirls on Saturday.
SFA’s (11-3, 3-0) nine-match win streak is second to UTSA’s current 10-match streak as the longest in the Southland this season. Both Bottles and Bailey finished with career highs with 19 and 16 kills respectively, while Whitney Schott finished with a career-best 57 assists.
Laurel Kuepker finished with 20 digs, picking up her second 20-dig match in a row.
Long rallies were a staple of the night as the teams combined for 320 attacks, with SFA landing 63 kills to the Cowgirls’ (3-10, 0-3) 41.
SFA hit over .300 in each of the first two sets, keeping a defensive stranglehold on the Cowgirls to nab a 2-0 lead heading into the locker room. Bottles and Kelsey Owens found the mark for five kills in the first set, with Owens not committing a single error on her way to a dozen kills on the afternoon. The second set saw balance across the board for the Ladyjacks with five players picking up at least three kills.
In the third set the Cowgirls found a renewed sense of energy, racing out to as large as an 18-6 lead on what seemed like a blowout win. But the Ladyjacks did claw back to get as close as three points at 24-21 before McNeese finally closed it out.
SFA used that momentum from the end of the third set to propel itself into the final set, getting eight kills from Bailey and six from Bottles in closing it out.
The Ladyjacks will get the weekend off before taking on Louisiana Tech on Tuesday at Johnson Coliseum.
Sam Houston State 3, UT Arlington 1
ARLINGTON, Texas ? Haley Thomas, Carli Kolbe and Anna Ferguson all totaled double figure kills to lead Sam Houston State to a four-game Southland Conference volleyball victory over Texas-Arlington Saturday afternoon at Texas Hall.
The victory ended a five-match skid for the Bearkats, upping Sam Houston’s season record to 6-13. The Kats are now 1-2 in Southland Conference action.
Sam Houston State won 25-21 18-25 25-20 25-19, outscoring the Mavericks 57 kills to 46. The Bearkat front line also totaled eight blocks to just two for UTA. Errors hurt the Mavs as well as UTA had 27 hitting errors compared to only 20 for Sam Houston.
Thomas led the Kats with 13 kills in 20 attempts as she hit .550 for the match. Kolbe totaled 12 kills in 29 attempts and Ferguson had 11 in 35 attempts.
With opening set tied 18-18, Sarah Hazlewood started a 7-3 run for the Kats to win the frame. The first set was tied six times before Sam Houston took control.
UTA rebounded to win the second set. Sam Houston trailed 18-17 in the third set, but rallied to win eight of the last 11 points.
The Bearkats jumped out to a 10-3 lead to open the decisive fourth game. UTA rallied to cut the margin to 19-18 but Sam Houston prevailed to pick up the match victory.
After more than a month on the road, the Sam Houston State volleyball team will return home to host two Southland Conference matches next weekend. The Kats face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday at 7 p.m. and UTSA on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Johnson Coliseum.
Central Arkansas 3, Southeastern Louisiana 0
HAMMOND, La. - The University of Central Arkansas volleyball team fended off several Southeastern Louisiana runs en route to a 28-26, 25-22, 25-20 Southland Conference victory at the University Center on Saturday afternoon. With the win the Sugar Bears improve to 12-4 overall and 4-1 in SLC play, while the Lady Lions drop to 5-7 and 1-2.
UCA got out to a 17-10 lead in the first set, but SLU fought back to knot the game at 24-24. The Sugar Bears finally put away the Lady Lions with back-to-back service aces by freshman Jessica Hays to win the frame 28-26.
Tied at 21-21 in set two, UCA went on a 5-1 run, keyed by kills by Chloe Smith and Amicha Williams. Central Arkansas jumped out to a 10-3 advantage in set three, but Southeastern once again made their way back, eventually cutting the lead to 22-20, before the Sugar Bears put it the game away with an ace by senior Kelly Bence and a kill from Smith.
Both teams recorded 39 kills, but the Sugar Bears outhit the Lady Lions .179 to .116. UCA also had a 7-4 ace advantage.
Smith led all players with 13 kills and had three blocks. Junior setter Robyn Smith registered five kills, 20 assists and 13 digs for her second double-double of the year. Hays added 11 digs and Bence came up with 11. Senior Natalie Lundquist recorded a career-high 10 assists.
Williams, a junior from Houston, recorded seven kills, giving her 833 for her career. She moves into eighth place on the Sugar Bear career list.
SLU was led by Jessica Srajer with 11 kills and Margaret Pittman with 13 digs.
The Sugar Bears will return to the Pelican State next Saturday, when they face Northwestern State in Natchitoches.
Nicholls State 3, Northwestern State 2
THIBODAUX, La. - Down 2-0 after the first two sets, the Colonels rallied to upset Northwestern State 3-2 (23-25, 20-25, 25-21, 25-23, 15-11) Saturday afternoon in Southland Conference action in Stopher Gym.
"The crowd was huge for us again," said head coach of the Colonels, Chris Laird. "I'm very proud of our team and how we did today. It's hard to express that feeling. I'm just ecstatic that we won and that we came back being down two sets. This is a huge win."
A well-balanced offensive attack propelled the Colonels (5-8, 2-1 SLC) to victory, led by senior Chelsey Adams (Gulf Breeze, Fla./Pensacola JC) and junior Manieka Golden (Porter, Texas/Galveston CC) who each posted 12 kills. Adams hit .478 in the match, making just one error.
Junior Rachel Spreen (Houston, Texas/Bellaire) had a double-double on the day, tallying 11 kills and 12 digs through the five-set match.
Defensively, the Colonels were led by senior Enjoli Ford (New Orleans, La./McDonough 35), whose 26 digs set a new season high.
As a squad, Nicholls posted 13 total blocks, led by freshman Rachel Yezak's (Houston, Texas/Klein) 11 block assists and Golden's seven.
"This was really a redemption match for us," added Laird. "We were up two sets last year vs. Northwestern [State] and lost in five, so it's a great redeeming feeling to get this win at home like we did. They are a good program, a tough opponent, and I'm just so proud of the girls for coming back and playing with such enthusiasm."
After Northwestern State (6-8, 1-4 SLC) claimed the first two sets, the Colonels battled back, using a 6-2 scoring run to break a 19-19 stalemate and pick up the 'W' in the third game 25-21.
In the fourth set, the squads traded points and serves before Nicholls scored five unanswered points for a 20-15 lead. The cushion was enough as the Colonels sent the match to a fifth and deciding set with a 25-23 victory.
Northwestern State took the early lead in the final set, but Nicholls pulled ahead 5-3 and never looked back, not allowing the Lady Demons within two points of the lead through the entire game.
"Today was really a team effort," Laird said. "Everyone contributed for us. We kept our composure and worked through some line-up changes that we're dealing with because of injuries and came out on top. This is such a big win for us and I'm so proud of our girls and so thankful to our fans for being there and being so enthusiastic."
The Colonels will return to action next weekend, traveling to Stephen F. Austin (Oct. 10) and McNeese State (Oct. 11) in Southland Conference play.
Texas State 3, Lamar 1
SAN MARCOS, Texas ? Four players had double-doubles this afternoon that led the Texas State volleyball team to a 3-1 (25-21, 25-20, 25-27, 25-13) win over the visiting Lamar Cardinals. The Bobcats are now 9-11 and 3-1 in Southland Conference play.
In the first set the Bobcats looked solid as they won the set, 25-21. Emily Jones Wilkes and Lawrencia Brown both had three kills to get Texas State started.
The first two sets looked quite similar as the outcome came to a 25-20 win for the Bobcats. The Bobcats continued to step up as a team and get everyone involved.
After falling behind 0-3 in the beginning of the third, the Bobcats fought the Cardinals to an extra point set but lost 25-27. The lowest percentage of the afternoon came in the third set (.318) but the Bobcats stayed positive.
The Bobcats had a fairly well hitting percentage today as they combined for a .351 on the day. Brown and Melinda Cave led all Bobcats with 14 kills each. Brown had 21 digs and two block assists to add to her game.
Jessica Weynand had 10 kills and 13 digs today for her second double-double of the season. Shelbi Irvin had her first double-double of the day as she had 21 assists and 11 digs. Jones Wilkes finished with 13 kills and only one error on the day.
Your Bobcats will travel to Houston on Tuesday, October 7 as the y will face the Cougars at 7 p.m.CT. The two teams faced each other earlier in the season at the Time Warner Cable Invitational where the Cougars won in five.