Lamar Sweeps Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Lamar 3, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 0
BEAUMONT, Texas -- Kaci Brewer posted a double-double and Lamar recorded its highest hitting percentage in eight years in a 3-0 sweep of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at McDonald Gym Friday night.
Lamar (12-10, 7-4 Southland) hit .442 with nine blocks and six service aces as it snapped a two-match losing streak. The 25-14, 25-8, 25-5 tally was A&M-Corpus Christi's (7-18, 0-10 Southland) eighth-consecutive loss.
"It's always nice to see your team play up to its potential and I thought we did that tonight," Lamar head coach Justin Gibert said. "I think we showed our talent level and how capable this team is of winning and playing great volleyball.
Brewer had 10 kills and 10 digs for her second double-double in her last three matches and her third of the season. The senior also added a pair of assists and a block.
Junior Genevieve Glade was equally as strong with eight kills, 10 digs, two aces and two blocks. The freshman middle blocker duo of Jayme Bazile and Wendy Krell combined for 13 kills and nine block assists - half of the team's total.
Setter Adrianne Meengs had 30 assists and hit .800 on five swings with four kills. She also dug six balls, was part of three blocks and recorded two aces.
The Lady Cardinals never trailed and opened up large margins in all three sets while never hitting below .375 and holding the Islanders to .000 twice and a -.194 in the third.
Part of the key to Lamar's defense was keeping A&M-Corpus Christi's Emma Ridley in check to the tune of 12 kills and 11 errors for a .021 pct. The Islanders' primary attacker had hit .214 in the first meeting three weeks ago, which Lamar won 3-1.
Lamar will now conclude the home portion of its schedule against UTSA on Saturday at 3 p.m. The team's three seniors - Brewer, Meengs and Lauren Holdorff - will be honored prior to the contest.
McNeese State 3, UT Arlington 0
LAKE CHARLES, La.- McNeese State's volleyball team got back into the win column and improved to 17-7 overall and evened their Southland Conference record to 5-5 with a straight set 25-18, 25-19, 25-20 win over UT Arlington Friday night.
The Cowgirls had three players record double figure kills and were led by senior outside hitter Chanel Tyler's match high 12. Tyler also led the Cowgirls with eight digs. Freshman Priscilla Massengale added 11 kills and sophomore Nicole Bowden ended the match with 10 kills. Bowden led all players with six blocks. Senior setter Sarah Cartie led all players with 35 assists to go along with six digs and two service aces.
"I'm really pleased with the win and to have three players record double figure kills in a three set match is outstanding," said head coach Dale Starr.
The Cowgirls got off to a slow start in the first set and trailed 8-2 then 12-9. McNeese made a comeback and took the lead for good on a UTA service error. That would be the last time the Cowgirls would trail in the set as they went on to take a 17-16 lead on a UTA error. McNeese outscored the Mavericks 8-2 the rest of the way to win the set.
"We had good balance tonight. To get back to .500 in the Southland race is big for us. We hold the tie-breaker over UTA should it come down to a tie for the final spot for the Southland Conference Tournament field."
The second set was back and forth at the beginning with seven ties before McNeese took the lead for good at 11-10 on a Massengale kill. McNeese held a 20-16 lead on a Deanna Sanchez kill before scoring the final two points of the set on a UTA ball handling error and a hitting error for a 2-0 match lead.
"We blocked well tonight. UTA entered the match as the top blocking team in the league and we out blocked them. Nicole Bowden had an excellent match by leading us in blocks to go along with her 10 kills and a .474 hitting percent."
The Cowgirls came out swinging in the third set and held a 17-8 lead after back to back kills by Bowden and Massengale. After a UTA point, back to back errors by UTA gave McNeese a 19-9 lead and before you knew it, the Cowgirls were serving for the match. Bowden put down her tenth kill to end the match.
"I'm really pleased with the win and the sweep. UTA is a good team and we put ourselves in a good position as far as the standings are concerned. We have been playing well the last couple of weeks but we will face a good team in Texas State Saturday. I hope we play well and if we do it will be an exciting match."
The Cowgirls return to action this afternoon to face Texas State (13-12, 7-2 Southland), the second place team in the West division.
Central Arkansas 3, Southeastern Louisiana 1
HAMMOND, La - The University of Central Arkansas volleyball team remained unscathed in Southland Conference play by defeating Southeastern Louisiana in four sets at the University Center Friday night. The Sugar Bears (22-3, 11-0) defeated the Lady Lions (6-15, 2-8) 25-16, 17-25, 25-20, 25-16 to move their league winning streak to 17 matches, dating back to last season.
Southeastern had a 41-40 kills advantage for the match, but UCA won the percentage battle by hitting .166, compared to .054 for the Lady Lions. Southeastern also had more digs (79-67) and aces (6-4).
Senior Amicha Williams recorded 10 kills with a .320 hitting percentage to lead the Sugar Bears. Sophomore outside hitter Jessica Hays recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 10 kills and 12 digs. Sophomore libero Cristin Curl recorded a career-high 26 digs and senior setter Robyn Smith had 35 assists and nine digs.
Jessica Srajer paced the Lady Lions with 14 kills and Alex Greer came up with 28 digs.
UCA will take on Nicholls in Thibodaux, La. at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
Nicholls 3, Northwestern State 0
THIBODAUX, La. - Freshman middle blocker Jasmine Harris hit .700 without an error and had a hand in four blocks, sophomore outside hitter Rachel Yezak had finished just three kills shy of a double-double, and the Nicholls State University women's volleyball team (10-14, 4-6 Southland) got back on track with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-22) win over Northwestern State (2-11, 1-10 Southland) to snap a four-match losing skid on Friday night at Stopher Gym.
"It feels great to get a win at home," head coach Chris Laird said. "I'm really proud of the girls because they had opportunities to let Northwestern State come back, and they didn't. We didn't panic and we showed good composure tonight. I think we did some excellent things tonight. We executed the way we expect to during a match. I'm very pleased with our girls playing as hard as they did. The fans tonight were great, and I hope they can come out and help us tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to playing Central Arkansas on Saturday. They really are a phenomenal team. They'll be a tough test. But, hopefully, if we play the way we can it'll be a good match. "
The Colonels started strong with a 6-1 run to open the first set. After surrendering the opening point to the Demons, the Colonels rallied and never trailed the rest of the frame. Nicholls outhit Northwestern State .231 (13-4-39) to .051 (11-9-39) en route to a 25-22 opening set win.
Northwestern State tried to rally in a hotly-contested second set. The Demons and Colonels battled through 13 tie scores and six lead changes, but a .296 team hitting percentage and four second-set aces from senior outside hitter Rachel Spreen helped the Colonels pull away for a 25-21 win and a commanding 2-0 lead.
After falling behind 2-0 to open the third frame, the Colonels rallied to take control for a straight set win. Nicholls went on a 7-2 run to take the lead, but the Demons would not go quietly.
Northwestern State rallied to within one at 22-21, but a 3-1 run by the Colonels put the straight-set victory on ice.
The Colonels will return to action on Saturday by hosting Southland Conference juggernaut Central Arkansas. The Bears will enter the match with a 22-3 record and a perfect 11-0 mark.
Nicholls, who lost at UCA by a 3-1 margin on Oct. 1, will go for the upset starting at 5 p.m. on Saturday.