Texas State Claims 2008 Southland Volleyball Title
Texas State 3, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 0
SAN MARCOS, Texas - The Texas State volleyball team shined tonight as they celebrated Senior Day, the 1998 Southland Conference Championship team and their own 2008 SLC regular season championship. The Bobcats downed the visiting Islanders in three (25-19, 25-21, 25-13) leaving no room for anyone else on the championship podium. Texas State will enter the SLC tournament next week with an 21-13, 14-2 SLC record. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi has ended their season 4-22, 2-14 SLC.
“I’m extremely proud of the ladies,” said Head coach Karen Chisum. “There were so many distractions tonight. We knew we had it won. It may not have been the prettiest match, but we won it 3-0. We have won the conference outright and the seniors have done a great job all year long. Now we are just looking forward to the tournament.”
In what was another team effort night, the Bobcats got started with a 25-19 win in the first set over the Islanders. Texas State had a hitting average of .265, while they held the Islanders to .083. Lawrencia Brown had four kills and four digs in the first.
After beating the Islanders, 25-21 in the second, Texas State came out in the third focused. Jessica Weynand lit up the boards as she seven kills.
Texas State had a hitting percentage .323 in the third; finishing the match with .269. For the 17th straight game the Bobcats have been able to keep their opponents hitting percentage to .300 or below.
Weynand led all Bobcats with 12 kills and eight digs. Brown had seven kills and 15 digs, while Melinda Cave had nine kills. Emily Jones Wilkes led all players in blocks with six.
Coach Chisum and the team honored the 1998 Texas State volleyball team during halftime. Sixteen players and staff showed up from the SLC Tournament Champions.
Texas State would like to say thank you to their senior class; Lawrencia Brown, Amy Weigle and Emily Jones Wilkes.
The Southland Conference Tournament will be held in Nacogdoches, Texas hosted by Stephen F. Austin. The tournament will begin on Friday, November 21 with the championship match being held on Sunday the 23rd.
“We will refocus on Monday and really get down to business, because our season is not over. That was part two of our season; part three of our season is now the post season and the NCAA berth.
“(Having the No. 1 seed) is the same thing as being picked early on in the polls. I don’t like it. I think it’s the kiss of death. There’s always a target on your back. I think the loss to UTSA early in the season may have helped us, to wake us up. But, we are the No. 1 seed and we are going in to win it.”
Texas State will enter the SLC Tournament as the No. 1 seed for only the fourth time since joining the SLC. Tonight’s championship marks the first time since 2004 that the Bobcats have won the regular season title. Back in 2004, was the last time that the Bobcats won both the regular season and tournament championship.
Central Arkansas 3, Lamar 1
BEAUMONT, Texas - The University of Central Arkansas volleyball team wrapped up Southland Conference play with a 22-25, 25-20, 25-22, 31-29 road win at Lamar on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Sugar Bears improve to 20-7 overall and finish 12-4 in the league. They won the SLC East Division outright, and tied for second overall with the Lady Cardinals (14-11, 12-4).
UCA compiled their best record in conference since joining the SLC in 2006. They also finished 7-1 in conference road games.
Lamar looked to be in charge of the match early by outhitting UCA .455 to .229 in the first set. Trailing 13-8 in the second set, the Sugar Bears went on a 9-0 run to move ahead 17-13 and take control of the frame.
Poor serving cost the Lady Cardinals in the final two games. They recorded 12 of their 16 service errors in the final two sets, while the Sugar Bears connected on six aces.
For the match, Lamar outhit UCA .257 to .199, but the Sugar Bears had a 58-55 lead in kills.
Freshman outside hitter Jessica Hays recorded her fourth consecutive double-double with 18 kills and 13 digs to go with three aces and three solo blocks. Sophomore middle blocker Chloe Smith hit .364 with 16 kills and three aces. Junior outside hitter Evaree Franklin added 10 kills.
Defensively, senior libero Kelly Bence paced the Sugar Bears with 17 digs. Junior setter Robyn Smith posted 55 assists.
Lamar was led by Shaylayne Blyhte's 14 kills and Andrea Hamilton's 14 digs.
If UCA was eligible for the Southland Conference tournament, they would be the second seed, behind conference champion Texas State.
The Sugar Bears will wrap up the season next weekend with the Provisional Invitational Tournament hosted by USC Upstate.
UTSA 3, UT Arlington 1
ARLINGTON, Texas - Junior middle hitter Stefanie Robbins tied her career high with a match-best 20 kills and UTSA held off a pesky UT Arlington squad, winning by scores of 25-20, 25-22, 19-25, 25-21 in Saturday's regular season finale for both teams.
The Roadrunners (19-11, 11-5 SLC) rebounded from Thursday's three-set loss at Texas State and won for the eighth time in their last 11 outings. UTSA also tied the single-season record for most wins during the seven-year Laura Neugebauer-Groff era, matching the totals posted by the 2003 and '06 squads.
The Birds used an 8-0 run midway through the first stanza to break open a 14-13 advantage. The Mavericks did not go away quietly, though, staving off four set points before UTSA took a 1-0 lead. The second frame, which featured 15 ties and six lead changes, was much closer, but the Roadrunners scored three of the final four tallies after UTA (8-23, 3-13 SLC) pulled within one at 22-21 to take a commanding 2-0 lead into the intermission.
The Mavericks jumped to a 10-2 edge in the third set and cruised to a six-point victory, which made things interesting. The following stanza was once again tight until UTSA turned a 15-14 deficit to a 19-16 lead with a 5-1 run. The Mavericks would get no closer than two the rest of the way and the Birds finished the regular season on a winning note.
Robbins hit .326, committing just six errors in her team-high 43 attacks. Sophomore outside hitter Kendra Rowland added 13 winners, while freshman outside hitter Elise Huskey and sophomore middle hitter slammed home 11 and 10, respectively. Freshman setter Amber Brooks had one of her finest matches of the year, as she handed out 52 assists to go along with a career-best eight kills and three service aces.
Freshman libero Kelsey Jewasko led three Roadrunners in double figures with a match-high 18 digs. Senior defensive specialist Audrey Hiser collected 13 and Huskey added a dozen.
UT Arlington was led by Amanda Aguilera's double-double of 19 kills and 13 digs.
UTSA will be the No. 3 seed at next weekend's SLC Tournament in Nacogdoches and will face sixth-seeded McNeese State (11-17) on Friday (time TBA). The Roadrunners rallied for a five-set win on Oct. 15 in Lake Charles, La., in the only meeting with the Cowgirls this season.
Stephen F. Austin 3, Nicholls State 0
THIBODAUX, La. - Lauren Railey paced three Ladyjacks in double-figure kills as the SFA volleyball team swept Nicholls State, 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-15), for the second time this season in the regular season finale on Saturday.
SFA (20-8, 11-5) earned its fifth consecutive 20-win season with the win and could still earn the No. 3 seed in next week¹s Southland Conference Tournament with a loss by UTSA at UT-Arlington this afternoon. Otherwise, the Ladyjacks will be the No. 4 seed with a match versus Sam Houston State likely, pending the Bearkats final result against Northwestern State this afternoon.
Nicholls (9-17, 6-10) will enter the tournament as the No. 8 overall seed, making its first appearance in the tournament since 2003. The Colonels will face No. 1 Texas State in the first round.
SFA did commit 18 errors on the afternoon compared to only 12 for Nicholls, but the Ladyjacks outkilled the Colonels 48-31 as they hit .291 as a team in the sweep.
The first set was nip-and-tuck early on before Railey landed three consecutive kills to give SFA a 11-8 lead. Shelly Swendig landed a kill later on to push the lead to its height of five points at 21-16, and finished things off when she dropped in another one for the final margin
25-21 as SFA hit .333 in the set.
In set two the Ladyjacks were not nearly as efficient, but still were able to pick up the win, only managing a .129 hitting percentage after committing eight attack errors. But Railey had four kills in the frame and the Ladyjacks rejected four shots and forced five misfires from Nicholls to go into the locker room up 2-0.
MC Bottles was the go-to hitter in the final stanza, slamming home seven of her 11 kills in the third set as she finished with a .421 hitting percentage for the night with three blocks. SFA never trailed in the third, racing out to an early 7-2 lead after back-to-back kills from Bottles and an ace from Laurel Kuepker. Consecutive kills from Kelsey Owens later on in the set pushed the lead to 22-10 before Railey gave the Ladyjacks a match point that Ashley Bailey would take advantage of to give SFA the 10-point edge.
Owens was the third Ladyjack in double figures with 10 kills on the afternoon, while Whitney Schott did well directing the offense with 41 assists. Kuepker finished with a match-high 11 digs with Railey and Swendig right behind her with eight apiece, respectively.
Next week¹s SLC Tournament will be on the Ladyjacks¹ home floor Johnson Coliseum beginning Friday with the first match set for an 11:00 a.m. start time. With SFA holding the home court, their matches will each be the final match of the day beginning with a 6:30 p.m. start for the first round.
Southeastern Louisiana 3, McNeese State 1
HAMMOND, La. - Senior middle blocker LaToya Anthony posted eight kills and eight total blocks to lead the way for the Lady Lions on Saturday as the Southeastern Louisiana University women's volleyball team (11-17, 4-12 Southland Conference) overpowered the McNeese State Cowgirls (11-17, 7-9 SLC) to a 3-1 win via scores of 25-22, 25-22, 21-25 and 25-21.
"It's always good to end the season with a win," head coach Julie Langford said. "Obviously, we're disappointed that we couldn't make it to the conference tournament, but to have beaten teams like Sam Houston, Northwestern State and McNeese this season is a big confidence boost for us and should help us going forward."
In a match that saw 28 ties and 11 lead changes over four sets, the Lady Lions came out on top thanks to a .277 team hitting percentage (59-19-148) and 38 Cowgirl errors.
Southeastern got off to a quick start in the opening set, taking a 14-8 lead early on. Junior right side hitter Jessica Srajer led the offensive effort with six kills. Meanwhile, Anthony led a stiff Lady Lion defense with a pair of blocks in the first frame. The Cowgirls put together a late rally to close to within one at 23-22, but consecutive kills from junior right side hitter Lauren Mayer and junior middle blocker Julie Elliott gave Southeastern the 25-22 opening set win.
In a back-and-forth second set, the Lady Lions came out on top once again. Anthony recorded another block and Mayer added five kills as Southeastern closed with a 4-2 run to claim a 25-22 win and a 2-0 advantage in the match.
The Cowgirls rallied in the third, forcing a fourth set thanks in part to their best offensive output of the afternoon. Srajer posted four kills, and Mayer and sophomore outside hitter Kalynn Evans added three. Anthony posted another block and added a kill, but it wasn't enough to overcome a .269 (11-4-26) Cowgirl hitting percentage as McNeese held on for a 25-21 win.
Southeastern came out in the fourth looking to quash any hope of a Cowgirl comeback. Srajer led the offense once again with four more kills to total a career-high 16 on the afternoon, but Anthony took over in the final set of her college career.
The Longview, Texas native posted four total blocks (three solo, one assist) to keep the Cowgirl offense in check and added three kills of her own as Southeastern finished off McNeese with a 25-21 fourth set win.
"Our hitting performance today was one of the best we've seen in conference this year," Langford said. "Our passing was consistent and our girls did a great job anticipating on defense. They really wanted this win today."
With the win, the Lady Lions sent their three member senior class out with a win, posted their highest single-season overall win total and SLC win total since a 15-16 (7-13 SLC) mark in 2003.
Sam Houston State 3, Northwestern State 0
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Anna Ferguson and Carli Kolbe each totaled nine kills as Sam Houston State blanked Northwestern State in three sets to earn a victory in the Bearkats' final regular season match of 2008 Saturday afternoon at Johnson Coliseum.
The Bearkats won 25-13 25-21 25-16 to end the regular season with a 14-18 record. The Bearkats will be the number five seed at next weekend's Southland Conference post-season tournament in Nacogdoches. SHSU ends with a 9-7 SLC slate. This will mark the third post-season tournament appearance for Sam Houston in the past four seasons.
Northwestern State dropped to 10-16 for the year and 5-11 in Southland play. The Demons will be the number eight seed at the tournament.
Only the second set appeared to be in doubt as the Colonels held a 19-14 lead. But the Bearkats battled back to win 11 of the final 13 points to earn the set win.
Sam Houston had an outstanding day at the service line, totaling 11 aces. Carli Kolbe accounted for more than half of the service aces with six.
The Bearkat front line combined for 13 blocks with Ferguson having a hand in five of them.
The contest was the final match at Johnson Coliseum for Bearkat seniors Megan McNamara and Haley Thomas.