Texas State Eliminates Northwestern State in Southland Volleyball Tournament
CONWAY, Ark. - Top-seeded Texas State move on to advance to the semifinals after defeating No. 8 seed Northwestern State, 3-1 (25-14, 25-21, 22-25, 25-17) in the 2011 Southland Conference Volleyball Tournament at the Farris Center in Conway, Ark. The Bobcats improve to 25-7 on the year while the Lady Demons finished their season 10-20.
Texas State came out in the first set staking its claim at the tournament's top seed, winning 25-14. After being tied 7-7, the Bobcats separated themselves from the Lady Demons and won 18 of the next 25 points. Texas State distributed the offense with Lindy DeGeare tallying four kills and Amber Calhoun, Ashlee Hilbun and Melissa Toth each recording three kills apiece. The Lady Demons were led by 2011 freshman of the year Stacey DiFrancesco, who notched seven kills.
In the second set, the Bobcats fell behind 4-8 before pulling together and winning, 25-21, to stake a two-set lead. Trailing early in the set, conference coach of the year Karen Chisum called a timeout to cool the Lady Demons' 7-0 run. The Bobcats responded by winning 12 of the next 14 points to take control of the set. Junior Caleigh McCorquodale led the Bobcats' offense and defense with six assists and five digs in the set. DiFrancesco added four more kills for the Lady Demons while freshman Emily Sweet tallied 10 assists.
Northwestern State fought to keep the third set close and took advantage of a late run to win the set, 25-22. The third set had 15 ties and eight lead changes, but with the score tied at 20, the Lady Demons rallied off five of the remaining seven points. Freshman Kelly Jimenez led Northwestern State with five kills in the set, while Sweet added 13 assists. Jimenez and Sweet had four and three digs, respectively. Sophomore Hilbun led the Bobcats with five kills and three digs and McCorquodale tallied 10 assists and six digs.
Texas State jumped out to a 6-2 fourth set lead and never trailed on its way to winning the clinching set, 25-17. Sophomore all-conference Amari Deardorff led the Bobcats in the fourth set with four kills, one assist and one block assist. For the Lady Demons, Sweet had 11 assists and two digs.
For the match, Calhoun, the 2011 player of the year, recorded 10 kills while hitting a match-high .444 for the Bobcats. McCorquodale notched a double-double with 34 assists and 20 digs for Texas State. The Lady Demons were led by Jimenez's double-double of 11 kills and 15 digs. Sweet also notched one with 41 assists and 10 digs.
Texas State advances to the semifinals to face the winner of the Central Arkansas and Lamar match played later tonight. The semifinal match will be played tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. The match will be streamed live on SLC NOW on the Southland Conference website, southland.org.
Postgame quotes
Texas State head coach Karen Chisum
On Northwestern State...
"Hats off to Northwestern State. They are scrappy and played well."
On the third set...
"Maybe that's what we needed. The one versus eight game can be a trap game because the eighth seed has nothing to lose. We played better after that set."
On the team...
"I thought our two middles did a great job tonight. We're exactly where we want to be. We're going to play tomorrow at 7:30."