UTSA Wins Ninth Straight
UTSA 3, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 2
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas ? Sophomore outside hitter Kendra Rowland posted her 10th double-double of the season and UTSA held off a late rally by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for a 25-16, 23-25, 25-22, 25-27, 15-10 victory on Friday night at Moody Fieldhouse.
The Roadrunners' ninth win in a row pushed their overall record to 10-6 and they also improved to 3-0 in Southland Conference play for the first time in school history.
UTSA used early runs of 4-0 and 8-3 to take command of the first set and the Birds hit .353 with Rowland and junior middle hitter Stefanie Robbins leading the way with five kills apiece. The Roadrunners looked to be on their way to a 2-0 lead, but A&M-Corpus Christi (3-10, 1-2 SLC) scored 12 of the final 16 points of the second frame to rally from a 19-13 deficit to tie the match heading into intermission.
The two squads came out of the locker room strong, as the third stanza featured 10 ties and four lead changes. After falling behind 19-18, UTSA went on a 7-3 run to record a three-point win and take what appeared to be a commanding 2-1 lead.
However, it was déjà vu all over again in the fourth set.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi dug itself another big hole, this time at 22-11, but the Roadrunners could not finish the Islanders off. AMCC went on to score 16 of the final 19 tallies to rally for a thrilling, two-point triumph. UTSA had a pair of match points, but the Islanders fought both of them off during a late 5-1 run that sent the match to a fifth-and-deciding set.
The Roadrunners scored three of the first four points of the final frame and it was the closest A&M-Corpus Christi would get the rest of the way. The Islanders drew within two at 9-7, but UTSA closed the match out with a 6-3 run that sent them to their ninth win in a row and third to open the conference slate.
Rowland led three Roadrunners in double figures with 17 kills. Robbins hit .333 on the strength of a season-high 15 winners, while freshman outside hitter Elise Huskey added a dozen. Freshman Amber Brooks racked up 50 assists and also recorded seven kills.
Freshman libero Kelsey Jewasko led a balanced defensive effort along the back row with 16 digs. Three other players ? Huskey (14), senior Audrey Hiser (12) and Rowland (11) ? were in double digits, as the Southland Conference leaders racked up 66 on the night. Sophomore middle hitter Valorie Rogers continued her strong play at the net, recording a match-high eight total blocks (2/6).
Kasey McBrearty led the Islanders with a match-best 22 kills and Lauren Paslay collected 16 digs.
UTSA is back in action on Saturday when it heads to Edinburg for a 4 p.m. match at Texas-Pan American. The Roadrunners defeated the Lady Broncs in four sets two-and-a-half weeks ago and have won 35 of the last 36 meetings between the two schools.
Central Arkansas 3, Nicholls State 2
THIBODAUX, La. - The University of Central Arkansas volleyball team won their first Southland Conference road game of the season, edging out Nicholls State 21-25, 25-22, 24-26, 25-14, 15-13 on Friday night. The win improves the Sugar Bears to 11-4 overall and 3-1 on the season, giving them their best ever start since joining the SLC. It was also the 500th victory in program history since 1978.
For the match, UCA had a 57-50 kills advantage and outhit the Colonels .209 to .193. The Sugar Bears also recorded 10 aces, but were outblocked by NSU 9-6.
The Colonels led 13-10 in the fifth and deciding set, but UCA rattled off five straight points, including the final two kills by sophomore middle blocker Chloe Smith.
Senior middle Emily Gordon led the Sugar Bears with 18 kills and hit .412. Smith added 16 kills to go with four aces and four blocks. Freshman Jessica Hays led all players with 19 digs and senior libero Kelly Bence had 12. Junior setter Robyn Smith recorded 49 assists and nine digs.
Nicholls was led by Manieka Golden's 13 kills and Rachel Spreen's 14 digs.
UCA will take on Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday in Hammond, La.
Southeastern Louisiana 3, Northwestern State 2
HAMMOND, La. - Junior middle blocker LaToya Anthony returned from injury to fuel a Lady Lion comeback and junior right side hitter Lauren Mayer notched a double-double with 11 kills and 13 digs as the Southeastern Louisiana University women's volleyball team (5-6, 1-1 Southland Conference) rallied to defeat in-state SLC rival Northwestern State (6-7, 1-3 SLC) by a final of 3-2 (17-25, 25-20, 17-25, 27-25, 15-12) on Friday night at the University Center.
"This was a great win for us," head coach Julie Langford said. "We got behind early, but the team did a good job of adjusting and battling back. Once we forced the fifth set, we could tell that our girls were really focused and determined to come out on top. We've had some five-set matches not go our way lately and it was good to come away with the win."
Things did not start well for the Lady Lions as Northwestern State rolled to a 25-17 win in the opening frame. However, Southeastern recovered with its best set of the night in the second.
The Lady Lions combined to hit .267 (13-5-30) as a team as Mayer (3-0-4, .750), freshman middle blocker Paige Dollison (4-0-5, .800) and sophomore outside hitter Allison Jones (3-0-5, .600) each hit over .600 in the second as Southeastern claimed a 25-20 win to even the match at 1-1 after two.
A hot-hitting Northwestern State offense rallied in the third, hitting .500 (16-2-28) en route to a 25-17 win to claim a 2-1 advantage, but the Lady Lions recovered in the fourth as Anthony, who returned to the court after a knee injury sustained in a win over Jackson State on Sept. 12, posted a pair of kills and assisted on two key blocks late in the fourth as Southeastern claimed a 27-25 win to force a fifth and final set.
The Lady Lions jumped out to an early lead in the final set, but Northwestern State battled back to tie things up at 11-11. Anthony then posted a kill and assisted on a block with Mayer to key a 3-1 run as Southeastern hung on for the 15-12 win.
"She (Anthony) played great tonight," Langford said. "She really came up with some big points when we needed them. As a whole, this was a great team win. We kept making adjustments and battling and we were able to come out on top. Now we face a quick turnaround and we need to get prepared for a good Central Arkansas team on Saturday. But it was great to come out on top in a hard-fought match, and this should serve as a confidence booster for our team as the conference schedule continues."
The Lady Lions will return to action on Saturday when the Central Arkansas Bears visit the University Center. First serve is set for 3 p.m. Live stats will be available at www.LionSports.net.