Southland Conference

UT Arlington Takes Two at Maverick Invitational

9/4/2010 4:19:00 AM

UT Arlington 3, Arkansas-Little Rock 1
ARLINGTON, Texas - Reagan Daniel set out to evenly distribute the opportunities Friday afternoon in UT Arlington's 3-1 win over Arkansas-Little Rock at Texas Hall.

Her efforts netted 48 assists and helped three Mavericks land double-digit kill totals in their first game of the UT Arlington Maverick Classic. Eld-hah Kaswatuka led the match with 17 kills, helping guide UTA to its 9-25, 31-29, 25-22, 25-17 victory.

The game didn't start quite so promising. UALR won the first set 25-9. The Mavericks responded, though, hanging tough in the 60-point second set, holding off several Trojans rallies.

UT Arlington coach Diane Seymour stressed two points before the tournament. For starters, she wanted to see her team come up with more digs. Libero Alicia Shaffer rose to the challenge, tallying 22 digs. Bianca Sauls added 13 of her own and Daniel and Kendall Whitson compiled seven apiece.

The other issue Seymour wanted to address was spreading the wealth - especially to her middle hitters. With the added opportunities, Emily Shearin posted 11 kills, Christy Driscoll added six and Sauls had seven more.

Outside hitters Kaswatuka and Tara Frantz still led the charge. Frantz contributed 14 kills herself.

Shearin also turned in a spectacular defensive effort, totaling eight of the Mavericks' 14 blocks.

UT Arlington 3, Louisiana Tech 0
ARLINGTON, Texas - Bianca Sauls recorded a double-double, guiding UT Arlington to a 3-0 sweep over Louisiana Tech on Friday night at Texas Hall.

The senior outside hitter was the brightest star in the match, ending the night with 12 kills and 14 digs.

"She was very good," UTA coach Diane Seymour said. "We knew if we got our middle blockers involved, that would help her to become more offensive as well - give her some more opportunities on the outside.

"I'll reiterate again how well she is returning serve for us. That has not always been her strong point, but it's something we have spent a lot of time working on and it's paying off."

Sauls also had plenty of support. The newfound balance in UT Arlington's offense helped the Mavericks coast to their second straight win - a 25-20, 25-19, 25-23 win over the Bulldogs.

Reagan Daniel found success in a wide distribution of passes, earning 33 assists and helping five different Mavericks obtain at least seven kills.

The spread-out offense also created a higher attack percentage for the Mavs (2-3). They hit .280 through the first two sets before falling to .216 to finish the match.

Tara Frantz, Emily Shearin and Eld-hah Kaswatuka posted nine, 10 and eight kills, respectively.

"We created some split situations for our outside hitters and Bianca and Tara and Eld-hah all jump very well and are able to hit the ball very hard tonight," Seymour said. "If we provide them some one-on-one opportunities, there's a good chance they'll be able to put balls away from us."

Daniel and Alicia Shaffer each finished with double-figure dig totals. Daniel had 11 and Shaffer finished with a match-high 19.

"We talked about it with our team," Seymour said. "That was one opportunity that we knew would provide us better opportunities to win was if we could dig more balls. We certainly worked on it a lot this week. Today Alicia was digging close to seven balls a game.

"I think for her to be one of the top liberos in the conference and for us to win, she needs to dig about five balls a game. If she could keep up that pace, it would be incredible."

Kassia Pinto led Louisiana Tech (2-3) with 13 kills.

UTA plays again Saturday at noon when it hosts UT Pan American (1-4) in the third game of the UT Arlington Maverick Classic. The Mavericks also host Mississippi State (5-0) at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.

With two UTA wins already, Seymour's team now shifts its focus on winning the first of its two home tournaments in 2010.

"I think the biggest thing for us is we had a good day today, can we turn around and have another good day tomorrow?" Seymour said. "We play well at home at Texas Hall, but there's a mental part of playing back-to-back good days as well.

"I think it will be a good experience for us to come back tomorrow morning and match up against a pesky Pan-Am team and then try to finish it out against a quality SEC opponent. It would make us feel pretty good going into next weekend."

No. 21 LSU 3, Central Arkansas 0
FORT WORTH, Texas - In their first ever match against a ranked opponent, the University of Central Arkansas volleyball team lost to #21 LSU 25-20, 25-20, 25-15 in the first match of the TCU Molten Invitational. With the win, the Tigers improve to 4-0, while the Sugar Bears drop to 3-3.

UCA jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in the first set on the strength of three kills by freshman middle blocker Jessica Nagy and an ace by freshman setter Marissa Collins. LSU went on an 11-4 run to take control of the lead and eventually win the frame 25-20.

After starting the second set tied at 5-5, the Tigers pulled ahead and kept the Sugar Bears just out of striking distance, taking the game 25-20. Both teams excelled offensively in the third set, with UCA hitting .368 with eight kills and only one error, but the Tigers hit .556 and connected on 18 kills to seal the match.

"We competed well the first two sets and I am proud of the way the girls fought against a top 25 team," said UCA head coach Steven McRoberts. "We will hopefully learn from this sperience and get better. Jessica Nagy had a great match for us."

Nagy, a native of Carleton, Mich., set season bests with 11 kills and a .588 hitting percentage. She made just one error on 17 attempts to go with three block assists. Sophomore middle blocker Taylor Hammonds had five kills and hit .333 with three total blocks.

Angela Bensend led LSU with 14 kills. Sam Delahoussaye and Madie Jones added 11 kills each. Brittney Johnson led all players with 42 assists.

For the match, the Tigers outhit the Sugar Bears .370 to .179 and had a 50-26 kills advantage. UCA recorded seven blocks, while LSU had five.

Central Arkansas 3, Alcorn State 0
FORT WORTH, Texas - After falling to #21 LSU earlier in the day, the University of Central Arkansas volleyball team rebounded by blasting Alcorn State 25-6, 25-11, 25-13 at the TCU Molten Invitational on Friday evening. The Sugar Bears (4-3) connected on 35 kills and hit a season-best .308, while the Lady Braves (0-2) hit -.114 with 10 kills.

UCA had a balanced attack on offense with Chloe Smith, Taylor Hammonds and Jessica Hays getting seven kills each. Freshman middle blocker Jessica Nagy added six kills. Freshman setter Marissa Collins assisted 30 attacks. Junior libero Cristin Curl led the Sugar Bears with 10 digs and Hays came up with nine digs and three blocks.

The Sugar Bears had a huge advantage, as they served up 16 aces, tied for the eighth most in school history. Freshman Kyle Hartman led UCA's serving game with five aces. Smith recorded four aces while Collins and freshman Megan Elmquist had two each.

ASU's Donna Kelly led all players with 12 digs.

UCA will wrap up the tournament against host TCU on Saturday at 1 p.m.

UNC-Asheville 3, Southeastern Louisiana 0
Southeastern Louisiana 3, Alabama A&M 2
MOBILE, Ala. - The Southeastern Louisiana volleyball team posted a 1-1 record on day two of the Jaguar Classic Friday at the Jag Gym on the University of South Alabama campus.

Southeastern (4-3) opened the day with a 25-20, 25-20, 25-19 loss to UNC-Asheville (2-2). Senior Allison Jones led the Lady Lions with seven kills in the day's opening match.

In the nightcap, the Lady Lions battled back from a set down to earn a 25-21, 20-25, 23-25, 25-19, 15-8 win over Alabama A&M. Junior Paige Dollison posted a double-double with 11 kills and 15 digs for the Lady Lions. Junior Chelsea Barr added a match-high 16 digs.

Sophomore Courtney Donald led the Lady Lions with 13 kills, while Jones and freshman Stephanie Mueller contributed 11 kills apiece. Barr paced the squad with 30 digs, while sophomore Taylor Buckner (15), senior Alex Greer (11) and freshman Cherish Krohn (11) also posted double-digit digs. Junior Arianne Cruckshank finished with a match-high 51 assists.

Southeastern will close tournament play on Saturday, facing Alabama State at 1 p.m.

In the opening set, UNC-Asheville posted an impressive .295 hitting percentage to grab the early lead. A kill by Jones and an attack error by UNC-Asheville's Alex Stewart pulled Southeastern within one, 19-18. However, a kill by Meredith Foster capped a 7-1 set-ending rally to put the Lady Lions in an early hole.

UNC-Asheville pulled away late in the second set to take a 2-0 advantage. Southeastern fell behind early, 8-3, but battled back to tie the set twice. A kill by Jones knotted the score at 20, but kills by Foster and Cindi Miller fueled a 5-0 run to close out the set for UNC-Asheville.

UNC-Asheville hit .333 in the final set to close out the match, scoring five straight points to hold an early 15-9 edge. The lead would grow to as many as 11 in the final set and UNC-Asheville closed out the sweep.

In the second match, the Lady Lions hit a solid .216 in the opening set to take a 1-0 lead. A Cruckshank kill gave Southeastern a 9-4 lead early in the set and Southeastern led throughout. A service ace by Dollison and kill by Jones closed out the opening set for the Lady Lions.

Alabama A&M held Southeastern to sub-.100 hitting percentages in sets two and three to put the Lady Lions on the brink of defeat. Southeastern battled back to hit .268 in the fourth set to even the match. A kill by Alabama A&M's Clarissa Moore cut the score to 19-18, but Dollison and Mueller had three kills apiece as the Lady Lions closed the set with a 6-1 run.

Southeastern was even more efficient in the deciding fifth set, as the Lady Lions posted a .400 hitting percentage. Jones had three kills, while Dollison and Donald chipped with two kills each in the final set, as Southeastern closed the match with a 15-8 victory.

UC Davis 3, Texas State 2
DALLAS, Texas – For the second straight weekend, the Texas State volleyball team found itself in a five-set match to begin a tournament. Unfortunately for the Bobcats, the result was also the same as the last weekend.

Texas State fell 3-2 (22-25, 25-16, 13-25, 25-23, 15-10) in the first match of the SMU Doubletree Invite on Friday morning at Moody Coliseum. The Bobcats led 2-1 in the match but could not close out the Aggies (1-2).

With the loss, Texas State evens its record at 2-2 this season.

“It was a tough one,” head coach Karen Chisum said. “We beat ourselves today. We had too many errors on our side.”

A slow start by the Bobcats was quickly erased by a 7-2 run that put Texas State in front, 17-15. UC Davis answered with three of the next four points to tie the set at 18-18, but four straight points by the Bobcats, capped off by a kill from Amari Deardorff, gave the lead back to Texas State. Ahead 24-22, setter Caleigh McCorquodale went back to Deardorff for the set winner, and she delivered with her third kill of the set.

The Bobcats hit .382 in the opening set as Preslie Alexander had a team-high five kills and AJ Watlington added four. McCorquodale finished the period with 14 assists.

The second set started much like the first as Texas State fell behind early. However, this time the Bobcats were not able to turn things around like they did in the first. Down 19-9, the team came within seven after going on a 7-4 run, but that is as close as they would get before falling, 25-16.

The Bobcats regained their form from the first set as they jumped out to a 9-4 lead early. The Aggies crept back to within four points, 10-6, but Texas State displayed its balance as the team increased its lead to 19-11 thanks to back-to-back aces by Ashlee Hilbun. Madeline Gaffney scored consecutive points on a block and subsequent kill to make the Bobcats’ advantage 21-11, and kills from Deardorff and Alexander gave Texas State the set, 25-13.

“Ashlee Hilbun went in and did a very good job,” Chisum said. “She was a motivating factor for us.”

Within the final 10 points of the crucial fourth set, two plays sparked controversy. First, with the Bobcats trailing, 20-16, an attack by Watlington looked to hit the floor for a Bobcat point, but initially, play continued. Several seconds after the play, the action was stopped and Texas State was awarded the point to the dismay of UC Davis.

The second incident occurred on set point and was much less favorable for the Bobcats. After coming back from a four-point deficit late in the set, Texas State was within one point of tying the match at 24-24 when what appeared to be a back row attack on the UC Davis setter was not whistled, and the Aggies took the point on a kill to win the set, 25-23.

In the deciding set, the Bobcats had the momentum early as they led by two, 8-6, but when the teams changed sides of the court, the momentum stayed for the Aggies as they quickly erased the deficit before taking the lead for good and winning the set, 15-10.

Deardorff led the team with 20 kills, while Watlington finished with 15 and Alexander had 13. McCorquodale set a career high with 51 assists and matched a career best with six kills. Jennifer Neice tallied 22 digs for her fourth consecutive match with double-digit digs, and Watlington added 13 digs for her first double-double of the season.

SMU 3, Texas State 1
DALLAS, Texas – The Texas State volleyball team fell to tournament-host SMU, 3-1 (25-23, 25-23, 18-25, 25-20), on Friday evening in the team’s second match at the SMU Doubletree Invite. The Bobcats’ record now stands at 2-3, while the Mustangs, who received votes in the most recent American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, improved to 5-0 this season.

Neither team was able to find its groove offensively as both hit below .200 for the match. The Bobcats held an 85-80 advantage in digs, while SMU led with a 10-6 advantage in blocks.
 
Leading the offensive attack for Texas State was AJ Watlington who finished with a team-high 14 kills. Melinda Cave added 11 kills, while freshmen Preslie Alexander and Amari Deardorff each had nine.

Five Bobcats finished with 10-or-more kills, led by setter Caleigh McCorquodale who tallied 18 saves. Alexander, Watlington and Jennifer Neice each had 16 digs, and Shelbi Irvin finished with 10.

Texas State led briefly in the early going before SMU went on a 7-1 run to take an 11-6 advantage in the first set. The Mustangs maintained their advantage, but the Bobcats started to chip away at the lead behind the hitting of Deardorff. The freshman put down consecutive kills to help bring Texas State back to within four, 17-13.

After SMU extended its lead back to six, 22-16, Cave smashed a kill from the right side and McCorquodale followed with a service ace to bring Texas State within four once again. Matti Schumacher entered late in the set for the Bobcats and made an impact as she put down a pair of kills late to help bring Texas State within one, 23-22. The Bobcats managed to fend off one set point on a kill by Deardorff, but the Mustangs capitalized on their second set point opportunity to take a 1-0 lead in the match by a score of 25-23.

Set two was nearly a mirror image of the first as the Bobcats fell behind early before making a feverish run to close the set. Behind 23-19 in the latter stages of the period, Texas State would score four of the next five points to pull within one, 24-23. The Bobcats needed the next point to stay in the set, but a long rally ended in an SMU kill to put the Mustangs in the driver’s seat with a 2-0 lead.

The Bobcats found themselves in a familiar position in the third set as SMU took an 11-8 lead early. The Bobcats pushed back this time and tied the set at 12-12 following a pair of kills by Cave and Watlington. Texas State then went on a 5-1 run, grabbing its largest lead of the match at the time on a block by Madeline Gaffney and Deardorff.
Leading 21-16, Texas State kept the pressure on down the stretch as Alexander hammered a pair of kills before Cave’s kill gave the team a 25-18 third set win.
 
The fourth set began much like the first three as SMU sprinted out to a 10-5 lead. The Bobcats cut their deficit to four at one point but couldn’t make a run as the teams traded points for the majority of the set before an SMU kill gave the Mustangs a 25-20 win.

The Bobcats return to action on Saturday, September 4 in the final day of the SMU Doubletree Invite. Texas State takes on Texas Tech at noon. Live coverage of the game will be provided by www.smumustangs.com and score updates can also be found on www.txstatebobcats.com and the Texas State Athletics Twitter account.

Lamar 3, St. Francis 1
ITHACA, N.Y. - Sophomore Wendy Krell recorded 11 kills, and Lamar's defense suffocated the St. Francis (PA) offense, as the Lady Cardinal volleyball team picked up an easy 3-0 victory Friday afternoon in the first match of the Cornell Invitational.

The Lady Cardinals, who improved to 1-3 on the season, won easily by scores of 25-18, 25-15 and 25-15. Lamar will continue play on Saturday with a noon match against Siena and a 6 p.m. match against host Cornell.

"It feels great to get a win and great to play with so much confidence," said LU head coach Justin Gibert. "It was a solid performance overall and we won this match with good serving and passing which let us get into our offense."

Krell, the 2009 Southland Conference Freshman of the Year, had her best match of the young season. In addition to 11 kills, the 6-foot-2 middle blocker attacked at a sparkling .600 percentage and added three service aces.

For the match, Lamar hit .284 as a team, finishing with eight service aces and eight total blocks. Leading the block parade was sophomore middle blocker Jayme Bazile with two block solos and five block assists.

The Red Flash managed only 20 kills for the match with 18 attack errors and a .027 attack percentage.

Nicholls 3, Houston Baptist 2
LAFAYETTE, La. - Four different Colonels totaled double-digit kills, led by sophomore Jennifer Brandt's 17 and Nicholls overcame a tough Huskies defense that totaled an impressive 19 blocks on the afternoon, as the Nicholls State University rallied for a 3-2 win over Houston Baptist by scores of 15-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-16 and 15-11 on the first day of the 2010 Ragin' Cajun Invitational at UL-Lafayette on Friday afternoon.

The Huskies struck first by dominating the opening set in a 25-15 win. HBU outhit the Colonels .448 (14-1-29) to .028 (10-9-36) in the first set en route to the win.

However, Nicholls battled back in the second. The Colonels recorded 17 digs as a team in the second frame with junior libero Danielle Daigle tallying seven of her 31 to limit the Huskies to a -.025 team hitting percentage (8-9-40) in the second frame. However, the HBU defense was just as adept, totaling 5.0 of their 19.0 blocks to limit Nicholls to .079 (13-10-38) hitting. Fortunately, in a set that saw five tie scores and three lead changes, the Colonels went on a 7-3 run to take a 20-13 lead before hanging 25-22 to even the match at 1-1.

Houston Baptist took the lead back in the third as 4.0 more blocks from the Huskies limited Nicholls to just .070 hitting (11-8-43). The Colonels still managed to fight through five ties and four lead changes, but after pulling to within three at 22-19, HBU pulled away for a 25-21 win to take a 2-1 lead.

Looking to force a fifth and deciding set, the Colonels put together their best statistical set in the fourth, steamrolling HBU with a 25-16 victory. Nicholls outhit HBU .344 (13-2-32) to .132 (12-7-38) and never trailed in the fourth to force the final set.

The Colonels kept their momentum in the final set and overcame 6.0 total team blocks by the Huskies. Nicholls jumped out to a commanding 10-4 lead, but HBU went on a run to cut the Colonel lead to one at 12-11. Fortunately, Nicholls put the match away thanks to a service error by the Huskies, a block by Jordan Karst and Jessica Addicks and a match-ending attack error by the Huskies.

Brandt (17), Addicks (11), junior right side hitter Rachel Yezak (10) and freshman outside hitter Lauren Chapman (10) each had double digit kills for the Colonels with Brandt (17 kills, 15 digs), Yezak (10 kills, 11 digs) and Chapman (10 kills, 10 digs) each recording double-doubles.

The Colonels will face a quick turnaround when they return to action on Saturday, the final day of the 2010 Ragin' Cajun Invitational. Nicholls will square off against Jackson State at 10 a.m. before taking on host UL-Lafayette at 3 p.m.

Samford 3, Northwestern State 0
Tennessee Tech 3, Northwestern State 0
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - Northwestern State suffered its first defeats of the young season on Friday when the Lady Demons dropped back-to-back 3-0 contests to Samford and Tennessee Tech at the Samford Volleyball Invitational.

The losses dropped the Lady Demons to 3-2 on the season as they'll continue play on Saturday against Syracuse at noon followed by a 3 o'clock game against North Texas.

Against the host team on Friday, the Lady Demons fell by scores of 26-24, 25-27, and 25-14. In the first set, Northwestern led by as much as 15-11 before Samford rallied to tie the game at 19-19.

The two teams swapped points until Samford (4-1) broke a 22-22 tie to go up 24-22. Consecutive attack errors by the Bulldogs enabled Northwestern to tie the game at 24-all but kills by Samford's Elizabeth Neisler and Lyndsey Holt gave the team the win.

Laranda Spann was the only Lady Demon to collect double-digit kills with a team-high 11 to go along with a .292 attack percentage. As a team, Northwestern hit .135 while Samford hit .300.

Neisler led the Bulldgos with 12 kills while Katie Murphy had 11.

Against Tennessee Tech, Northwestern was hit with the error bug as it hit -.009 for the match with 28 attack errors and just 27 kills.

Taylor Deering led the Lady Demons with eight kills while Spann was held to just one kill on 14 attacks with six errors.

Natalie Penrod led Tennessee Tech (2-4) with 12 kills while Leah Meffert added 10 as TTU won by scores of 25-22, 25-21 and 25-14.

Delaware 3, Sam Houston State 1
NEWARK, Del. - Delaware handed Sam Houston State a 25-18 19-25 25-13 25-18 volleyball loss on the first day of the University of Delaware Classic Friday night.

Carli Kolbe led Sam Houston with 12 kills in 36 attempts. Kaylee Hawkins totaled seven kills and Kelli Stewart added six.

Delaware was led by Alissa Alker and Katie Dennehy who both were credited with 17 kills.

The two teams battled back-and-forth in a first set that saw five lead changes and nine ties before Delaware pulled away by winning 12 of the last 15 points.

Sam Houston never trailed in the second set, jumping out to a 4-1 lead and holding off each Delaware rally.

But the host team found the range, making only four errors in the final two sets while posting hitting percentages of .453 and .357.

Kim Black had a strong defensive effort in the front line, having a hand in seven of Sam Houston's 10 blocks.

Portland 3, Stephen F. Austin 2
Wichita State 3, Stephen F. Austin 0
WICHITA, Kan. - The Stephen F. Austin volleyball team dropped a pair of matches on the first day of the Springhill Suites Shocker Classic on Friday, falling 3-2 to Portland and 3-0 to Wichita State at Charles Koch Arena.

For the third time in five matches the Ladyjacks (2-4) went to five sets after holding a 2-0 lead, but for the first time this season the Ladyjacks did not come out with the victory as Portland (3-1) falling 3-2 (18-25, 22-25, 25-21, 25-19, 15-13).

Kelsey Owens tied a career high with her fourth straight double-double for SFA (2-3) with 15 kills and 11 digs to lead the way, but Ariel Usher and Katie Hronek combined for 31 kills for the Pilots (3-1), including 21 in the final three sets. As a team the Ladyjacks rejected 20 shots to just six for Portland, a mark that is five blocks more than any other Southland team in 2010. MC Bottles finished with 10 kills and was part of 10 blocks, also the most by any SLC individual this season also.

Freshman Leslie Jackson stepped in to add 13 kills on 42 swings (.214) and six blocks, while Allison Gideon finished with 42 assists and seven blocks from her setter spot. Sophomore libero Madison Hanlan led the Ladyjacks with 18 digs, but was one of just two Ladyjacks in double figures.

Stephen F. Austin only hit .148 as a team, thanks in part to the Pilots digging 24 more balls and finishing with nine more kills, despite the Ladyjacks getting off 17 more swings.

Only a few hours later the Ladyjacks were swept by Wichita State, 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-13) in the second match of the Springhill Suites Shocker Classic at the Charles Koch Arena.

Ten Ladyjacks saw action on the night with Lauren McDaniel leading the way with seven kills, but no other player was able to muster more than four kills as the Shocker (3-1) defense held SFA to just -.061 hitting for the match. Wichita State finished with a .223 hitting percentage on the night, getting 13 kills from Camri Zwiesler to lead all players.

Hanlan had 13 digs and Lindsay Hill had five blocks, but the Shockers finished with 19 more kills only four more swings than SFA.

Stephen F. Austin will get one more chance to even its series with Portland, with a noon match scheduled against the Pilots on Saturday to wrap up the tournament for the Ladyjacks.

Northern Arizona 3, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 1

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The Texas A&M–Corpus Christi volleyball team lost a 3-1 (25-20, 25-16, 20-25, 25-22) match to the host team in the Northern Arizona Fiesta Bowl Tournament late Friday night to end the first day of play.

 

The Islanders are now 1-4 on the season while the Lumberjacks improved to 2-3 on the year. Emma Ridley led the team with 17 kills on the night, her fifth double-digit kills match in five matches this season.

In the first set, the Islanders fell behind early and made it close but could never recover, losing 25-20 to trail 1-0 in sets. Northern Arizona jumped out to a 5-1 lead and stretched it to as many as six points at 13-7 midway through the set. The Islanders got to within two points at 20-18 but scored just two points the rest of the set to take the loss.

The Islanders were unable to get back on track in the second set as Northern Arizona pulled away for a 25-16 win.

The team came back strong in the third set, taking a 25-20 win to move within 2-1 of the Lumberjacks. With the two teams tied at 10-10, the Islanders scored six-straight points to take a 16-10 lead. After the first three points came on Northern Arizona errors, Emma Ridley served up an ace, followed by kills from Isabella Arcidiacono and Shannon Hullum to put the lead at six.

The lead never got smaller than three points from that point on. With A&M-Corpus Christi leading 23-20, a kill by Ridley and a Lumberjack attack error finished the scoring in the third set.

The fourth set was another close one that came down to the end as the Islanders came up short by a 25-22 final. The set stayed within three points all the way to 11-11 before A&M–Corpus Christi ran off four-straight points to take the lead.  A kill from Ridley, a pair of attack errors from Northern Arizona   and a pair of kills from Arcidiacono made it 15-11. The score stood at 17-14 in favor of the Islanders before the Lumberjacks scored six-straight to reverse the deficit into a three-point advantage at 20-17.

Kills from Logen Bourque and Ridley closed the set to within one point at 20-19, but the Islanders were never able to get any closer as the teams traded points to 22-21 before the Lumberjacks finished the match with three-straight points for a 25-21 victory.

Ridley led the Islanders in kills with 17 in the match while Arcidiacono was close behind with 13 on the night. Ridley also added 10 digs for her third double-double of the season. Bourque led the team with 38 assists on the night while Micah Nolan finished with 11 digs to pace the team.

The Islanders will be back on the court at 11:00 a.m. in the morning to face Maryland Eastern Shore before finishing play at the tournament with a 6:30 p.m. match against Rider.

Live stats will be available by visiting www.NorthernArizonaathletics.com.

UTSA 3, Sacramento State 2
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - UTSA ended its three-match losing streak, but it wasn't easy, as the Roadrunners outlasted tournament host Sacramento State in five sets (25-15, 25-18, 23-25, 21-25, 15-4) late Friday night at The Nest.

Having dropped eight of their previous nine sets entering the contest, the Birds (2-3) rolled to a early 2-0 lead, but they saw that advantage evaporate after intermission. That pushed UTSA to the full five frames for the third time in five matches to open the campaign.

However, the Roadrunners scored the first 10 points (12 of the first 13 overall) to open the final stanza and that was more than enough to put away the pesky Hornets (2-3) in a match that didn't wrap up until the clock struck and passed the midnight hour in the Central Time Zone.

Senior Kendra Rowland led three players in double figures with 16 kills, while senior Briana Mason and sophomore Brittney Malloy controlled the middle with 14 and a dozen winners, respectively, in addition to hitting over .400. Redshirt sophomore Kelsey Schwirtlich continued her strong start to the fall with 50 assists.

The Roadrunners recorded a season-best 11 blocks with Malloy and sophomore Whitney Walls leading the way with five assists apiece. Meanwhile, junior Kelsey Jewasko led a balanced effort along the back row wit 14 digs and fellow third-year player Elise Huskey added 11.

Janelle Currey had a match-high 20 kills for Sacramento State and Breanne Menees led a trio of Hornets in double digits with a match-best 20 digs.

UTSA concludes tournament play with a pair of matches on Saturday. The Birds will take on Cal State Northridge (1-3) at noon (CT), followed by a 7 p.m. (CT) meeting with Elon (5-1).