VOLLEYBALL: Aug. 29 Scoreboard
Houston Baptist 3, Louisiana Tech 0
Houston Baptist 3, UT-Rio Grande Valley 0
Lamar 3, Marist 0
Southeastern Louisiana 3, NC Central 0
A&M-Corpus Christi 3, Campbell 0
New Orleans 3, Fordham 1
Nicholls 3, Mercer 2
New Orleans 3, Presbyterian 2
Corpus Christi 3, UT-Arlington 2
Central Arkansas 3, Nebraska-Omaha 2
Seton Hall 3, Central Arkansas 2
Jacksonville 3, Stephen F. Austin 2
UTSA 3, Sam Houston State 2
Sam Houston State 3, Montana State 1
Oral Roberts 3, Northwestern State 1
Utah Valley 3, UIW 1
Army 3, McNeese 1
UTEP 3, Abilene Christian 1
NC State 3, Southeastern Louisiana 0
Southern Miss 3, Nicholls 0
Ole Miss 3, Northwestern State 0
Kansas 3, McNeese 0
Samford 3, Stephen F. Austin 0
Arizona 3, Abilene Christian 0
Houston Baptist 3, Louisiana Tech 0
HOUSTON – The HBU women’s volleyball team completed their sweep of the field in the Marriott Houston Westchase Invitational, with a 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-20) victory over Louisiana Tech on Saturday night in Sharp Gym.
The straight-set win is the third consecutive for the Huskies (3-0) to open the season, marking the first time since 2004 the program has done so and a first in the Division I era.
Junior setter Kayla Armer was named tournament MVP, collecting 31 assists and 10 digs for her first double-double of the season in the nightcap. The native of Bradenton, Florida, was also joined by Blair Gillard and Jessica Wooten on the all-tournament team for their efforts.
Wooten led HBU offensively against the Lady Techsters (1-2), turning in a season-high 13 kills on 25 swings, while senior Allison Doerpinghaus also turned in a season-best with 10. For the match, the Huskies hit a .321 clip, while holding LA Tech to a .058 attack percentage.
Both teams traded points in the opening set with HBU narrowly leading 9-7, until a 9-3 surge gave the Huskies a comfortable lead at 18-10. HBU’s lead never fell below seven points the rest of the way in claiming a 25-15 win.
The Huskies found themselves down 14-9 midway through the second set, but outhit the Lady Techsters .417 to -.042 for the set to come back and take a 25-18 triumph and 2-0 advantage into the break.
Both teams again played close in the third set, tied 18-18 late, but HBU capitalized on eight kills from Wooten to seal the match with a 25-20 win.
The Huskies will be back in action on Tuesday, Sept. 1, playing their road-opener at Prairie View A&M. First serve is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
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Houston Baptist 3, UT-Rio Grande Valley 0
HOUSTON – The HBU women’s volleyball team used a collective effort to sweep UT Rio Grande Valley, 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-20), on Saturday afternoon in Sharp Gym as part of the Marriott Houston Westchase Invitational.
Despite hitting .209 as a team, the Huskies (2-0) held UTRGV (1-1) to a -.044 attack percentage for the match to seal the sweep, marking the first time HBU has opened the season with two consecutive 3-0 victories since 2004.
Junior Jessica Wooten tied a career-high with four service aces, as HBU collected 11 total for a second straight match. The native of Humble, Texas, also finished with nine kills, a team-high, and six digs.
Six of the seven Huskies who played in the match recorded four kills of more, as Bailey Banks (6), Blair Gillard (6) Allison Doerpinghaus (5), Kayla Armer (4) and Ashlee Vann (4) landed attacks against the Vaqueros. Six HBU players also recorded three digs or more with Banks’ season-high nine leading the way.
After Gillard claimed the opening point for the Huskies with a kill, Wooten fired off three consecutive aces to put the Huskies up 4-0. However, up 7-1, UTRGV edged back with a 4-1 spurt to pull within three at 8-5, before HBU reclaimed momentum, later taking the set 25-18.
The Huskies hit a match-high .296 clip in the second set and got four kills from Wooten in cruising to a 25-15 win and 2-0 advantage at the break.
Three kills each from Doerpinghaus, Gillard and Wooten helped HBU break a close third set to claim the match with a 25-20 triumph.
The Huskies will be back in action later this evening, hosting Louisiana Tech at 7 p.m. in the final match of the tournament.
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Lamar 3, Marist 0
BEAUMONT – It was a close call between three fabulous performances, but Chelsea Grant was awarded the Most Valuable Player honors after the Lamar University volleyball team went on to win the Lamar Invitational Saturday after knocking out Marist 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-22) at McDonald Gym in the event finale.
Cortney Moore and Tomar Thomas each had arguments for the top spot, but each was named to the all-tournament team along with various players from other teams in the tournament. It ended with LU finishing the tourney with a perfect 3-0 record, UAB was 2-1, Marist 1-2 and Texas Southern 0-3.
For LU, it is the first time it has started a season 3-0 since 2001, when the Cardinals ran through six straight without ever dropping a set. It opened the 2015 campaign with a four-set win over Texas Southern and straight-set victory over UAB Friday night.
Chelsea Grant recorded 26 kills and 2.60 kills per set, second on the team to Moore’s 29 and 2.90, and had a tournament-leading 1.50 blocks per set average on 15 kills. Her kills numbers ranked fifth in the tournament and Moore’s ranked tied for second.
Freshman Tomar Thomas was welcome addition with a .400 hitting percentage- which ranked second in the Lamar Invitational. She had 21 kills, ranks third on the team, and only three errors in 25 attacks.
“Tomar Thomas is special and for her to come in and give us that as a freshman is phenomenal. When you put her in, she kicks it into gear and goes,” said Edwards. “Really our entire freshman class is special. We put Murielle Hlavac in for some situations and she gets it done. The same could be said for Erin Pequeno who came up huge for us too.”
As a team, the Cardinals hit for a .312 average with 37 kills only eight attack errors in the match Saturday. They hit a match-high .500 in the first set and .407 in the second.
Marist, which hit for .198 on the day, pushed Lamar early in the match taking a lead in the first set and holding it until Big Red was able to tie it at 14-14. The Red Foxes held as big a lead as four (13-9) after an attack error that forced Edwards to call a timeout.
After the timeout, the Cardinals went on a 6-1 run to tie the game. Eventually, they would work out of the 13-9 hole and grab a five-point lead at 21-16.
The second set was reversed when Thomas put down a kill that gave LU a 13-9 lead, but it never let MC get within two points.
The final game was much tighter and had 12 ties between the two teams. LU jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but Marist tied it at 6-6 on a kill by Kelsey Ediger- also named to the all-tournament team. Both teams battled back-and-forth until Lamar was able to get a three-point run on a Grant kill, Lauren Stahlman ace and MC attack error to close it out at 25-22.
Moore led the Cardinals with 10 kills, was second for all players to Kelsey Lahey’s 11, on 18 attacks and two errors, and Thomas finished behind her with nine kills and one error. Grant had eight kills and Autumn Taylor had six. Grant also had two blocks in the match, one behind Nicole Parish.
Stahlman accounted for a team-leading 17 digs, ahead of Taylor’s eight and Haley Morton’s six. Morton led the team with 21 assists and Ashley Ellis finished behind her with 11.
“We’re getting really good set locations out of our setters, and they are doing a nice job with our offense,” said Edwards.
Amanda Schlegel led Marist with 32 assists, Lexi Millington led with 12 digs and both Ashton Korona and Liz Gassman each had two blocks apiece.
“I like a lot of the things we are doing right now. I think we have plenty of room to improve. We have some younger kids that are really starting to push some of the older kids. The older kids will quickly recognize once place they can make changes is in serve receive,” said Edwards.
“We’ve got pretty even production throughout where last season we were really middle dominate,” he said. “A lot of that has to do with ball control and the fact that we are able to throw some pretty quick stuff at teams that force them to deal with us being in system, that is a credit to Lauren Stahlman and our outsides for they are playing in serve receive.”
The Cardinals open the road portion of their schedule on Tuesday at 6 o’clock when they travel to Rice before heading to Texas State for the Delta Zeta Classic.
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Southeastern Louisiana 3, NC Central 0
COLUMBIA, S.C.
– The Southeastern Louisiana volleyball squad earned its first win of the season Saturday, splitting a pair of matches on the final day at the Gamecock Invitational presented by Hyatt Place. Southeastern dropped its first match of the day to North Carolina State, 25-17, 25-17, 25-19, before wrapping up the day with a sweep of North Carolina Central, 25-21, 25-21, 25-15.
Junior Landry Bullock paced the Lady Lion (1-2) offense in both matches, recording a season-high 16 kills in the win over N.C. Central (0-3). Southeastern hit .236 as a team against the Lady Eagles, pounding out 43 kills in the three-set match.
The Lady Lions went 1-2 in the tournament, dropping their season-opener to host South Carolina, 3-0, on Friday. It was the first time in school history Southeastern faced any of the three schools on the volleyball court.
Southeastern travels Tuesday to Southern Miss before returning to the University Center to host Eastern Washington (Sept. 6) and Troy (Sept. 7) in a pair of Labor Day weekend matches.
Match Two – Southeastern Louisiana 3, North Carolina Central 0
The Lady Lion offense turned in a .281 attack percentage on the way to claiming its first set of the season. Bullock led four players with multiple kills in the set as Southeastern never trailed.
Falling behind 9-3 in the second set, the Lady Lions rallied to tie the score, 15-15, before taking the lead on a Rachael Bunn service ace. A kill by Odom extended the lead to 17-15 and Southeastern had the momentum it needed to finish off the set.
Rallying again in the third and final set, the Lady Lions closed out the match on a 22-8 run with a kill by Odom to finish off N.C. Central.
Bullock led all players with 16 kills while Odom and Veronica Turk each contributed eight to the offensive attack. Shippy dished out 36 assists for a season-best 12.00 assists per set average. Freshman Monica Ramon (11 digs) and Odom (10 digs) each recorded double-digit digs for the Lady Lions.
Kelsey Murphy (12 kills), Casey Curran (16 assists) and Tamika Brekke (14 digs) were the statistical leaders for N.C. Central.
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Corpus Christi 3, Campbell 0
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas
– The Islanders volleyball team wrapped up an impressive weekend at the Maverick Classic hosted by UT-Arlington. A&M-Corpus Christi swept the morning match against Campbell College before winning in five sets against the hosts Saturday evening. Head coach Tony Graystone was impressed with how his team played in its first weekend of competition.
"Every match had someone new who impressed us," said Graystone after the evening match. "Maddie Doud played very well. Her block was a big key for us, and she showed us how she has improved her offense. Morgan Carlson has been waiting for this opportunity for three years and had a great performance in her first weekend as a starter for this program."
For their performances this weekend, Ivy Baresh, Morgan Carlson and Madeleine Doud were named to the Maverick Classic All-Tournament Team.
Corpus Christi
– The Islanders volleyball team wrapped up an impressive weekend at the Maverick Classic hosted by UT-Arlington. A&M-Corpus Christi swept the morning match against Campbell College before winning in five sets against the hosts Saturday evening. Head coach Tony Graystone was impressed with how his team played in its first weekend of competition.
"Every match had someone new who impressed us," said Graystone after the evening match. "Maddie Doud played very well. Her block was a big key for us, and she showed us how she has improved her offense. Morgan Carlson has been waiting for this opportunity for three years and had a great performance in her first weekend as a starter for this program."
For their performances this weekend, Ivy Baresh, Morgan Carlson and Madeleine Doud were named to the Maverick Classic All-Tournament Team.
The Islanders swept the Lady Camels in the morning match 25-16, 30-28 and 25-20. Compared to the Friday lineup against Grambling State, Graystone used a veteran roster for most of the team's second match.
Brittany Gilpin and Shayla Maldonado picked up early aces to propel the Islanders to a quick 9-4 lead in game one. A kill by Kelsee Felux prompted a three-point run to extend the lead to 12-4. Carlson secured the final two points of the game after the Fighting Camels went on a four-point run.
A&M-Corpus Christi faced their first deficit of the season in the second game, before Felux leveled the set with a kill to make the score 10-10. The Camels fought back to take a 26-25 lead. Kills by Ivy Baresh, Doud and Carlson, offset by two Campbell points, delivered game two for the Islanders.
A combination of errors by Campbell and strong offensive attacks from Baresh and Gilpin helped the Islanders jump out to an early 6-2 lead. Felux provided a needed kill to halt a Fighting Camel four-point run at 16-11, before finishing the match with the with her 10th kill.
Carlson added eight kills, while Doud provided seven more after her impressive performance yesterday against Grambling State. Kristyn Nicholson finished the match with 31 assists.
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New Orleans 3, Fordham 1
FORT MYERS, Fla
. – The New Orleans Privateers volleyball team (2-1) shook off an error prone start of the match to close out a 3-1 win (27-25, 22-25, 25-19, 25-18) over the Fordham Rams (0-3) on Friday afternoon at the Alico Arena.
New Orleans had to rally from an early deficit to take the fourth set and finish the match. Fordham opened up with a 6-1 lead, but the Privateers quickly tied the score at 6-6 after a few Rams errors. The Privateers continued their run, scoring eight consecutive points to take a three-point lead.
From there, New Orleans would not relinquish the lead for the rest of the set. The final point was recorded when Shaylene Reimer notched her third ace for the Privateers who held a distinct advantage in the service game as part of their victory. New Orleans had 11 service aces to just three for Fordham.
"We showed great potential for who we can become as a team. We had some highs and lows this weekend and were able to battle back and stay on the positive side in the overall results," said Head Coach Millicent Van Norden about the team's opening weekend.
"We can't be satisfied with being better than before. We have to strive to become the exception. We have a lot of work to do before we compete again next week. I'm looking forward to it."
The Privateers overcame eight attack errors and five service errors to take the opening set in extra rallies. After New Orleans tied the set at 24-24, the teams exchanged points to keep the score level. Then back-to-back tandem blocks came: the first by Rondolyn Bryant and Keke Irby followed by the set clincher from Irby and Cara Sander.
After the changeover, the second set was a back-and-forth affair for a while. Blessing Dunn registered an ace to cut Fordham's lead at the time to 16-15. The Rams responded by scoring the next five points and a subsequent late rally attempt by the Privateers fell short.
The third set was played evenly until late on when the Privateers broke a 17-17 tie by scoring on six of the next eight rallies. Four different players registered a kill in that stretch which pushed the Privateers to a 2-1 lead in the match.
Bryant led the way with 12 kills and was very efficient, recording an attack percentage of .500. Bryant also led the way in total blocks with five. Sander finished with nine kills while Takierra Boughton added seven. Dunn and Lane Hindenburg each added six kills. Reimer and Lauren Levy landed in double figures in digs with 15 and 11 each. Sara Hammoutene added 22 assists and eight digs while Celeste Ramirez contributed 12 assists and five digs.
The Rams were led by Natalie Martinez who posted 13 kills and hit .344. Breanna Jones and Brianna O'Neill each added nine kills to Fordham's attack. Three players wound up with double figures in digs including O'Neill and Clarissa Cartledge who recorded 15 each.
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Nicholls 3, Mercer 2
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – After a dominant performance against Southern in the opening match of the Southern Miss Invitational, the Nicholls State University women’s volleyball team split on Saturday, downing Mercer, 3-2, in the morning before falling to the host team, 3-0, in the nightcap.
Following the conclusion of the tournament, junior outside hitter Kayla Mashburn and freshman outside hitter Anna Niederhauser were each selected to the All-Tournament team in recognition of their outstanding performances over the weekend.
In the first match of the day the Colonels had their hands full against a strong Bears squad, going toe-to-toe over a five-set marathon. Mercer, who defeated the Golden Eagles on Friday, won Saturday’s opening set in a back-and-forth 28-26 effort. Nicholls responded and set the tone for the rest of the match with a 25-23 answer in the second set. The Colonels took the third set, 25-21, to secure a 2-1 set lead over Mercer, but the Bears fought back, earning a 25-20 win in the forth to extend the match. Leading 7-6 in the final frame, Nicholls caught fire, scoring eight unanswered points to run away with the set and seal the victory.
Mashburn paced the Colonels with 18 kills and 13 digs against Mercer. Niederhauser filled the stat sheet with 14 kills, 11 digs, and team-highs in both blocks (four) and service aces (four). Alyse Barclay and Ainsley Marroccoli finished with 23 and 19 assists respectively. Kali Schwartz added 14 kills and Stephanie Tobison recorded 13 digs in the win.
The Colonels were unable to maintain their momentum in the tournament-finale as Southern Miss jumped on top early. The Golden Eagles cruised through the first set with a 25-9 victory and took the second set, 25-17. Nicholls fought back in the third, desperately seeking to extend the contest, but Southern Miss closed out the set and the match with a 25-23 win.
The Colonels were their own worst enemy against the Golden Eagles, totaling 22 attack errors with just 29 kills. Nicholls averaged 17 attack errors and 45 kills over the first two matches in the tournament.
Mashburn led the Colonels offensively against Southern Miss with 10 kills in match. Niederhauser was second on the team with seven kills and added five digs. Tobison paced the squad with 15 digs and Marroccoli had a team-leading 15 assists.
Nicholls will next head to Texas for the Sawyer Camillo Memorial Volleyball Classic, hosted by the University of Houston. The Colonels will open the tournament against the Cougars on Friday, Sept. 4 at 5 p.m., before taking on Louisiana-Lafayette and Jackson State on Saturday.
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New Orleans 3, Presbyterian 2
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The New Orleans Privateers volleyball team (1-1) took the first two sets and had to rally late in a 3-2 win (29-27, 25-14, 18-25, 18-25, 15-13) over the Presbyterian Blue Hose (1-1) on Saturday morning at Alico Arena.
New Orleans gained an early advantage in the fifth set, but Presbyterian pushed right back with a 5-1 run to tie the set at 9-9. The Blue Hose crept to a 13-11 lead, but the Privateers would not be denied. Kills by Keke Irby and Rondolyn Bryant coupled with two errors on Presbyterian's side closed out the match.
After pushing to a 2-0 lead at halftime, Presbyterian had a rally in them to take the next two sets by identical score lines. The Blue Hose played mostly from ahead in the third set. In the fourth, the Privateers raced to an early 9-4 lead, but that was quickly erased in part by the service game. Presbyterian recorded three aces to push the match to the deciding fifth set.
The morning match against Presbyterian started with nothing between both sides. The first set featured the score being tied on nine different occasions and extra rallies. With the score tied at 27-27, Bryant came through with kills on consecutive rallies to polish off the opening set in the Privateers' favor.
The Privateers parlayed that momentum into a huge run to set the tone in the second set. New Orleans went on a 10-0 run to establish a 12-2 lead and kept command for the rest of the set. The Privateers hit .355 as a team in the second set with 14 kills and three errors in 31 attempts. At halftime, New Orleans also had eight service aces.
Blessing Dunn made a huge mark on the match, posting six kills in the first set. Dunn, making her first collegiate appearance and start, wound up with her first career double-double by notching a team best 15 kills along with 13 digs.
Also making contributions were Bryant who added 13 kills, matching a career high. Kaitlyn Grice was in on seven of the team's 11 blocks (1 solo, 6 assist) and added eight kills. Samantha Uline had seven kills and 11 digs. Celeste Ramirez posted 35 assists, six digs, and assisted on three blocks. Shaylene Reimer added 27 digs and contributed two of the Privateers' 12 aces in the service game.
Presbyterian had 11 service aces on the morning including three from Mikayla Register who also led the team in digs with 23. Two players ended up in double figures in kills: Rachel Elshoff had 14 kills while Ashton Stewart added 12.
The Privateers will close out their first weekend against Fordham at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.
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Corpus Christi 3, UT-Arlington 2
Corpus Christi
– The Islanders volleyball team wrapped up an impressive weekend at the Maverick Classic hosted by UT-Arlington. A&M-Corpus Christi swept the morning match against Campbell College before winning in five sets against the hosts Saturday evening. Head coach Tony Graystone was impressed with how his team played in its first weekend of competition.
"Every match had someone new who impressed us," said Graystone after the evening match. "Maddie Doud played very well. Her block was a big key for us, and she showed us how she has improved her offense. Morgan Carlson has been waiting for this opportunity for three years and had a great performance in her first weekend as a starter for this program."
For their performances this weekend, Ivy Baresh, Morgan Carlson and Madeleine Doud were named to the Maverick Classic All-Tournament Team.
UT-Arlington
The Islanders entered the final match of the Maverick Classic against the hosts, as both teams had completed sweeps of Campbell and Grambling State in the previous contests. The teams traded the first four sets, 25-18, 16-25, 25-17, 21-25, before A&M-Corpus Christi secured the victory in game five 15-10
"Those five-set matches are always a battle of wills," added Graystone. " We needed to play our style, which happened in sets one and three. In the final set, we adjusted the lineup to create different matchups to give us an advantage. I am really proud of how the team battled through the match en route to a great win for the program."
Both teams started game one trading errors and points, before Nicholson and Gilpin combined for a block, which forced UT-Arlington to call their first timeout of the tournament. The Islanders went on a four-point run to finish the game.
UTA started the second game quickly, going on an eight-point run to go ahead 12-4. Ivy Baresh managed two kills to pull within six, but the Mavericks extended their lead to 11 and out of reach.
The Islanders came out of the break before game three trading points with UTA. Baresh produced six kills as a part of a 10-2 run for A&M-Corpus Christi, as the team rolled in game three.
In game four, an A&M-Corpus Christi timeout sparked a run that brought the Islanders within two points at 12-10. The Mavericks finished with 6-3 run to close out the game.
The Islanders used a five-point run to charge out to a 10-5 lead in the final set. Felux and Doud combined for back-to-back kills to extend the lead to 12-6, on the way to winning the game and match.
Baresh and Gilpin each provided 14 kills to lead the Islanders offensively. Felux and Carlson added 11 kills.
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Central Arkansas 3, Nebraska-Omaha 2
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Central Arkansas volleyball team returned to action for a pair of matches at the UNLV on Saturday. The Sugar Bears split a pair of five set matches on the day, defeating Omaha and falling to Seton Hall
Against the Omaha (1-2) the Sugar Bears found themselves in a hole early, as the Mavericks hit .385 to take the first set 25-15. Central Arkansas hit just .182 in the set, led by senior Heather Schnars, who tallied five kills while hitting .385.
UCA (1-2) upped its hitting percentage to .265 and locked in defensively, limiting the Mavericks to a .250 attack percentage to even the match with a 25-22 win. Schnars added six kills to her total, while junior Fulani Petties chipped in four of her own on a .667 hitting percentage.
The Sugar Bears took the third set 25-17 to grab a 2-1 lead in the match. Freshaman Kellen Dunn turned in a blistering performance, racking up six kills on seven attacks for an .857 attack percentage in the set.
Omaha rebounded to take the fourth set 25-20 to even the match at two sets apiece and force a decisive fifth set. Petties paced the Central Arkansas attack in the set, tallying four kills while senior Amy South handed out 12 assists.
The Sugar Bears hit just .038 in the fifth set, but limited Omaha to a -.069 percentage to win the set 15-12 and take the match 3-2. Schnars collected all five of Central Arkansas’ kills in the set, and freshman Savanah Allen picked up a pair of blocks.
For the match, Schnars tallied a double-double, collecting a match-high 20 kills to go with 16 digs. South dished out a match-high 48 assists, while senior Corri Hunt dugs a match-high 22 attacks. Allen turned in a match-high seven blocks.
In their first match of the day, the Sugar Bears fell to Seton Hall (1-1) 3-2. Central Arkansas dropped the first set 25-19, but took the next two sets by scores of 25-17 and 25-14. The Pirates bounced back with a 25-23 win in the fourth before securing the match victory with a 15-9 win in the fifth.
Schnars had a match-high 20 kills while hitting .311 in the match, and junior Rachel Sharp hit .302 while adding 15 kills. South handed out a match-high 46 assists, while Hunt had 15 digs and Allen added eight blocks.
Central Arkansas returns to action next weekend, traveling to Norman, Oklahoma to take part in the Oklahoma Nike Invitational. The Sugar Bears will face off against North Texas at 11:00 AM on Friday, before battling Little Rock at 5:00 PM the same day. Central Arkansas will close out the tournament on Saturday, playing host Oklahoma at noon on Saturday.
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Seton Hall 3, Central Arkansas 2
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Central Arkansas volleyball team returned to action for a pair of matches at the UNLV on Saturday. The Sugar Bears split a pair of five set matches on the day, defeating Omaha and falling to Seton Hall
Against the Omaha (1-2) the Sugar Bears found themselves in a hole early, as the Mavericks hit .385 to take the first set 25-15. Central Arkansas hit just .182 in the set, led by senior Heather Schnars, who tallied five kills while hitting .385.
UCA (1-2) upped its hitting percentage to .265 and locked in defensively, limiting the Mavericks to a .250 attack percentage to even the match with a 25-22 win. Schnars added six kills to her total, while junior Fulani Petties chipped in four of her own on a .667 hitting percentage.
The Sugar Bears took the third set 25-17 to grab a 2-1 lead in the match. Freshaman Kellen Dunn turned in a blistering performance, racking up six kills on seven attacks for an .857 attack percentage in the set.
Omaha rebounded to take the fourth set 25-20 to even the match at two sets apiece and force a decisive fifth set. Petties paced the Central Arkansas attack in the set, tallying four kills while senior Amy South handed out 12 assists.
The Sugar Bears hit just .038 in the fifth set, but limited Omaha to a -.069 percentage to win the set 15-12 and take the match 3-2. Schnars collected all five of Central Arkansas’ kills in the set, and freshman Savanah Allen picked up a pair of blocks.
For the match, Schnars tallied a double-double, collecting a match-high 20 kills to go with 16 digs. South dished out a match-high 48 assists, while senior Corri Hunt dugs a match-high 22 attacks. Allen turned in a match-high seven blocks.
In their first match of the day, the Sugar Bears fell to Seton Hall (1-1) 3-2. Central Arkansas dropped the first set 25-19, but took the next two sets by scores of 25-17 and 25-14. The Pirates bounced back with a 25-23 win in the fourth before securing the match victory with a 15-9 win in the fifth.
Schnars had a match-high 20 kills while hitting .311 in the match, and junior Rachel Sharp hit .302 while adding 15 kills. South handed out a match-high 46 assists, while Hunt had 15 digs and Allen added eight blocks.
Central Arkansas returns to action next weekend, traveling to Norman, Oklahoma to take part in the Oklahoma Nike Invitational. The Sugar Bears will face off against North Texas at 11:00 AM on Friday, before battling Little Rock at 5:00 PM the same day. Central Arkansas will close out the tournament on Saturday, playing host Oklahoma at noon on Saturday.
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Jacksonville 3, Stephen F. Austin 2
AUBURN, Ala. – The Stephen F. Austin women’s volleyball team finished the War Eagle Invitational with two losses on Saturday, dropping a 3-0 match to Samford before falling in a five-set thriller to Jacksonville inside Auburn Arena.
The Ladyjacks (0-3) took a tough Jacksonville team to five sets in Saturday evening’s match. SFA’s middle blocking duo of Jacque Allen and Justice Walker paced the attack with 14 kills apiece while junior setter Shannon Connell dished out 50 assists and senior OJ Olson led the way with 25 digs. Allen added 10 blocks (1 solo, 9 assists) to notch a double-double.
The Dolphins (2-1) took the opening set 25-18, but the Ladyjacks fired back with a convincing 25-13 victory in the second set to tie the match 1-1. SFA hit at a .250 clip while holding Jacksonville to a -.083 attack percentage in the frame.
The two squads went back and forth again in the third and fourth sets, with Jacksonville winning 25-18 in the third and SFA posting a 25-16 win in the fourth. Once again, the Ladyjacks forced the ‘Fins to hit in the negative (-.047) in the fourth period to force a deciding fifth set.
Despite hitting at a respectable .238 percentage in the fifth, SFA couldn’t overcome an efficient .500 hitting rate by Jacksonville in the final set, as the ‘Fins took the set 15-10 to win the match.
After Olson’s 25 digs, the Ladyjacks got great defense from Haley Coleman (11 digs), Lexus Cain (16 digs) and Courtney Schade (19 digs) to keep the Dolphins at a .133 attack percentage on the night.
In the morning match against Samford, SFA was led offensively with eight kills from Walker, seven from Abby McIntyre and six at the hands of Coleman. Connell recorded a team-high 25 assists and Olson racked up 21 digs.
Despite playing the Bulldogs tough, SFA fell in straight sets (25-21, 25-21, 25-19).
The Ladyjacks will look for their first win of the season next weekend at the SFA Volleyball Invitational held in Shelton Gym on Friday and Saturday. SFA will play Columbia, Northeastern, Texas Tech and South Dakota State over the two-day tournament.
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UTSA 3, Sam Houston State 2
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Led by sophomore outside hitter Brooke White and junior middle blocker Shelby Genung, Sam Houston finished as runner-up in the 27th Bearkat Volleyball Invitational Saturday after winning three of their four matches.
UTSA won all four of its matches to take the tournament title. The Roadrunners defeated Sam Houston in a thrilling two-hour plus, five set battle by a score of 19-25 25-20 25-20 19-25 15-12 Saturday afternoon. The Bearkats bounced back to defeat third place Montana State 25-22 23-25 25-16 25-21 in the final match of the event.
“We played with a lot of energy the entire tournament,” Sam Houston head coach Brenda Gray Said. “The team was disappointed after losing such a close match to UTSA. But we have to learn from every situation. They bounced back to beat Montana State. Those two teams are from bigger conferences and we competed well with them. To lose to a team like UTSA by just three points and winning our other three matches – you can’t complain about that.”
Sophomore Jordyn Vaughn, White and freshman Amanda Gooch all totaled double figure kills against the Bobcats. Vaughn collected 15 while White had 14 and Gooch 11. The Kats out-pointed Montana State 68-52.
Claire Kirkpatrick led the defense with 26 digs in the Montana State contest. Setter Michelle Griffith assisted on 50 of Sam Houston’s 59 kills.
“Our two all-tournament players both had outstanding weekends,” Gray said. “Brooke was steady from start to finish. Shelby is doing a heck of job in the middle. Our team right now is better than it was all last year.”
After fighting from two sets to one down to force a fifth and deciding set, the Bearkats lost a heart-breaker to UTSA in Sam Houston’s first match of the day. The loss ended a 16-match home winning streak at Johnson Coliseum that stretched back to October, 2013.
Three Bearkats totaled double figure kills in the two hour, 10 minute battle. Brooke White totaled 17, Jordyn Vaughn 16 and Sarah Sherman 12. Dajana Boskovic of UTSA led both teams with 26 kills.
The total kills in the match demonstrate how close the contest was with both teams scoring 75 points and the Roadrunners holding a narrow 62-61 edge in kills. There were 21 ties through out the five sets with eight lead changes.
Sam Houston jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead in the fourth only to see UTSA come back and tie the set nine times. At 15-15, a kill by freshman Madison Wallace started a 7-1 run that helped the Kats to even the contest at two sets apiece.
The Bearkats got off to another quick start in the fifth, winning the first four points. But the Roadrunners rallied to win nine of the next 12 points for a 9-7 lead. White’s kill tied the set as 12-12 but UTSA took the next three points on a kill, a Kat error and a service ace.
Michelle Griffith assisted on 49 of Sam Houston’s 61 kills. Brenna Homer and Claire Kilpatrick accounted for 20 and 16 digs, respectively.
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Sam Houston State 3, Montana State 1
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Led by sophomore outside hitter Brooke White and junior middle blocker Shelby Genung, Sam Houston finished as runner-up in the 27th Bearkat Volleyball Invitational Saturday after winning three of their four matches.
UTSA won all four of its matches to take the tournament title. The Roadrunners defeated Sam Houston in a thrilling two-hour plus, five set battle by a score of 19-25 25-20 25-20 19-25 15-12 Saturday afternoon. The Bearkats bounced back to defeat third place Montana State 25-22 23-25 25-16 25-21 in the final match of the event.
“We played with a lot of energy the entire tournament,” Sam Houston head coach Brenda Gray Said. “The team was disappointed after losing such a close match to UTSA. But we have to learn from every situation. They bounced back to beat Montana State. Those two teams are from bigger conferences and we competed well with them. To lose to a team like UTSA by just three points and winning our other three matches – you can’t complain about that.”
Sophomore Jordyn Vaughn, White and freshman Amanda Gooch all totaled double figure kills against the Bobcats. Vaughn collected 15 while White had 14 and Gooch 11. The Kats out-pointed Montana State 68-52.
Claire Kirkpatrick led the defense with 26 digs in the Montana State contest. Setter Michelle Griffith assisted on 50 of Sam Houston’s 59 kills.
“Our two all-tournament players both had outstanding weekends,” Gray said. “Brooke was steady from start to finish. Shelby is doing a heck of job in the middle. Our team right now is better than it was all last year.”
After fighting from two sets to one down to force a fifth and deciding set, the Bearkats lost a heart-breaker to UTSA in Sam Houston’s first match of the day. The loss ended a 16-match home winning streak at Johnson Coliseum that stretched back to October, 2013.
Three Bearkats totaled double figure kills in the two hour, 10 minute battle. Brooke White totaled 17, Jordyn Vaughn 16 and Sarah Sherman 12. Dajana Boskovic of UTSA led both teams with 26 kills.
The total kills in the match demonstrate how close the contest was with both teams scoring 75 points and the Roadrunners holding a narrow 62-61 edge in kills. There were 21 ties through out the five sets with eight lead changes.
Sam Houston jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead in the fourth only to see UTSA come back and tie the set nine times. At 15-15, a kill by freshman Madison Wallace started a 7-1 run that helped the Kats to even the contest at two sets apiece.
The Bearkats got off to another quick start in the fifth, winning the first four points. But the Roadrunners rallied to win nine of the next 12 points for a 9-7 lead. White’s kill tied the set as 12-12 but UTSA took the next three points on a kill, a Kat error and a service ace.
Michelle Griffith assisted on 49 of Sam Houston’s 61 kills. Brenna Homer and Claire Kilpatrick accounted for 20 and 16 digs, respectively.
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Oral Roberts 3, Northwestern State 1
OXFORD, Miss. – For two sets, the Northwestern State volleyball team looked like it would follow the script set forth in a season-opening win against Tennessee State.
Oral Roberts, however, had other ideas. After splitting the first two sets with the Golden Eagles, Northwestern State dropped the final two and suffered its first loss of the year, falling 3-1 to Oral Roberts on Saturday in the Magnolia Invitational hosted by Ole Miss.
After dropping the first set, 25-12, NSU (1-1) put together its best offensive set of the match, hitting .344 and scoring a 25-20 victory that evened things at one set each.
Lauren Agan led the way offensively with six kills in the set, while NSU’s defense limited ORU (1-1) to a .079 hitting percentage.
Oral Roberts turned things around in the third and fourth sets, holding NSU to a .000 hitting percentage in each of the final two sets en route to clinching the win with 25-13 and 25-14 decisions.
“We struggled with ball control in some specific areas, which gives us great information to work with as a coaching staff for practice next week,” first-year head coach Sean Kiracofe said. “We are still learning as a team how to make in-match adjustments and to consistently execute them.
“Set two shows how we can play when we execute those adjustments, but consistency is something that will come with time.”
NSU took control of the second set after a timeout. Trailing 12-9 before the timeout, Northwestern State responded with an 8-1 run out of the break, highlighted by a pair of Glynna Johnson kills and a tandem block by Johnson and Reagan Rogers.
NSU never trailed by less than three the rest of the set, closing it out with consecutive kills from Caiti O’Connell and Rogers.
Agan paced the NSU offense with 12 kills, while Bailey Martin’s 15 digs led the NSU defense.
Laura Milos delivered 23 kills and had a .444 hitting percentage to lead Oral Roberts.
Northwestern State concludes play in the Magnolia Invitational tonight at 7:30 when it faces host Ole Miss in a match that will be televised on SEC Network Plus.
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Utah Valley 3, UIW 1
MALIBU, Calif. – The University of Incarnate Word volleyball team played their final match of the Pepperdine Asics Classic on Saturday against Utah Valley and dropped the match in four sets 26-24, 25-23, 19-25, 25-19.
The match started off very strong for the Cardinals (0-3) as they scored seven straight points early in the first set to take an 8-5 lead. However, the Wolverines (1-2) battled back with a run of their own and the set was very competitive all the way up to the final points. Although the Cardinals held a 24-22 advantage late in the set, they were unable to stop a Utah Valley run which resulted in four straight points and gave the set win to the Wolverines, 26-24.
The second set was also very competitive as each team was unable to separate themselves early in the contest. The Cardinals started the set with three straight points, but much like the first set, the Wolverines battled back with various runs of their own. After a kill by Shaina Garza (San Antonio/Warren HS), UIW took a late 23-21 lead, but like the first set, the Cardinals were unable to stop a late charge as the Wolverines won the set 25-23 after scoring the last four points.
The third set of the match was the highlight of the day for the Cardinals. Unlike the first two sets, UIW was able to put together a late run of their own and finish off the Wolverines for their first set win of the young season. Not only did the Cardinals finish the set strong, they started with four straight points to start the set forcing Utah Valley to take an early timeout. Leading the team's attack in the third set was Sarea Alexander (San Antonio/MacArthur HS) and Garza who combined for nine kills in the set and helped the Cardinals to a 25-19 set victory.
In the final set of the match, the Cardinals were unable to take control midway through the set, which led to a 25-19 victory for Utah Valley in the fourth set. After a kill by Alexander to trim the Wolverines lead to 17-13, Utah Valley scored five unanswered points to take control of the match.
Alexander and Garza had very strong performances for the Cardinals as Alexander had 14 kills with a .609 hitting percentage and Garza picked up 11 kills. Leading the team in assists for the third straight match was senior Taylor McClelland (Cypress/Cypress Ranch HS) who had 23 for the match. Claudia Hernandez (San Antonio/Antonian HS also had an impressive performance with a team high 17 digs to go along with six assists. Freshman Autumn Lockley (Leander/Leander HS) followed up her strong performance yesterday with another solid performance. She had 10 digs to go along with nine kills.
The Cardinals played the match against Utah Valley without two of their normal starters in senior Angelique Vidaurri (San Antonio/Southwest HS) and junior Brittani Dear (La Vernia/La Vernia HS) who were each out with injuries. McClelland was named to the all-tournament team for her performance in the three matches.
The UIW Volleyball team continues their season when they travel to Edinburg, TX to play in the UT-Rio Grande Valley Tournament starting on September 4. The Cardinals start the tournament by taking on the host team UT-Rio Grande Valley, at 11 a.m. on Friday.
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Army 3, McNeese 1
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — It was another tough day for the McNeese volleyball team Saturday at the Arkansas Invitational. The Cowgirls dropped both matches to extremely tough competition in Kansas and Army West Point.
“We are really grateful for the opportunity to play three great teams this weekend,” said head coach Ashleigh Fitzgerald. “We are pleased with our play, the effort, and we absolutely believe we will be better for taking part in this tournament. Our kids aren’t hanging their heads, they know we are going to be better than this.”
The Cowgirls opened the day with a straight set loss to Kansas (25-9, 25-14, 25-10). Sophomore Ray Myers, who was named to the all-tournament team, once again led the Cowgirls on offense with eight kills. Kelly Graham dished out 12 assists and freshman Bridget Justis was credited with 11 digs.
“I’m so proud of Ray (Myers). She was outstanding all three matches and we relied so heavily on her,” Fitzgerald said.
McNeese concluded tournament action by falling in four sets 3-1 (25-19, 19-25, 25-14, 25-23) to Army West Point in a hard fought match to close out its opening weekend with and 0-3 record.
Myers, for the third straight match, led McNeese in kills with a career high 17. Four Cowgirls recorded double figure digs with Justis leading the way with 19. Malina Sanchez pitched in with 16, Hailee Showers had 14 and Graham tallied 11. Graham led McNeese with 39 assists and Bridget Hudgins had a team high four blocks.
McNeese will return to action next Tuesday when they will take part in the Ole Miss Tri-Match.
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UTEP 3, Abilene Christian 1
FORT WORTH – The ACU Wildcats battled for four sets Saturday morning at the TCU Rec Center, but dropped a 3-1 decision to Texas-El Paso in the Crosstown Volleyball Classic.
The loss drops ACU to 0-2 on the season before Saturday's late afternoon match against No. 17 Arizona at SMU's Moody Coliseum. The Wildcats dominated Texas State, 3-0, Saturday morning, winning the first 19 points of the match en route to a 25-5, 25-22, 25-13 win over the Bobcats. ACU and Arizona have never met on the volleyball court.
The Wildcats and Miners engaged in a tense four-set match Saturday morning that saw them split the first two sets before UTEP pulled away by winning the final two matches. The Miners won the match by the scores of 26-24, 27-29, 25-22 and 25-20.
ACU had 64 kills in four sets, its most since it posted 67 last year in a 3-2 loss at Northwestern State (La.) on Oct. 2, and its third-highest total in the program's last three-plus season (87 matches). The most kills ACU has in that span are 74, which came in a 3-2 loss to Dallas Baptist on Oct. 9, 2012.
The Wildcats' 197 attempts mark their 10th-highest number of attempts in a match since the the 2007 season, but their 43 errors are the program's second-highest total since 2007 (44 vs. Central Oklahoma on Oct. 27, 2007).
ACU had leads in each of the first three sets (14-7 in the first set, 7-4 in the second set and 11-5 in the third set), but could only pull out a win in the second set. ACU was undone by 11 attack errors in the first set and 12 attack errors in both the third and fourth sets.
Kendall Bosse led the Wildcats with 15 kills and a .297 attack percentage, while senior Jenny Loerche had 13 kills (15 errors) and Lauren Walker added 12 kills and just four errors.
The Miners out-blocked ACU 11.5-7.0 and out-hit the Wildcats, .162-.107. UTEP also only had 16 attack errors on 148 swings and came up with 40 kills.
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NC State 3, Southeastern Louisiana 0
COLUMBIA, S.C.
– The Southeastern Louisiana volleyball squad earned its first win of the season Saturday, splitting a pair of matches on the final day at the Gamecock Invitational presented by Hyatt Place. Southeastern dropped its first match of the day to North Carolina State, 25-17, 25-17, 25-19, before wrapping up the day with a sweep of North Carolina Central, 25-21, 25-21, 25-15.
Junior Landry Bullock paced the Lady Lion (1-2) offense in both matches, recording a season-high 16 kills in the win over N.C. Central (0-3). Southeastern hit .236 as a team against the Lady Eagles, pounding out 43 kills in the three-set match.
The Lady Lions went 1-2 in the tournament, dropping their season-opener to host South Carolina, 3-0, on Friday. It was the first time in school history Southeastern faced any of the three schools on the volleyball court.
Southeastern travels Tuesday to Southern Miss before returning to the University Center to host Eastern Washington (Sept. 6) and Troy (Sept. 7) in a pair of Labor Day weekend matches.
Match One – N.C. State 3, Southeastern Louisiana 0
The Lady Lions led for the majority of the first set, building up a five-point advantage. A Madi Odom kill gave Southeastern an 11-6 lead and carried it to a 16-12 advantage on a service ace from Tiffany Thomas. But N.C. State went on a 10-0 run off the strength of Kassie Kasper's serving and three of the team's six blocks in the set.
Carrying the momentum into the final two sets, the stingy Wolfpack (2-0) defense shut down Southeastern's comeback attempts.
Bullock led the Lady Lions with seven kills. Freshman Haley Baker dished out a team-high eight assists. Senior Brooke Balser recorded a match-high eight digs.
Julia Brown posted nine kills to pace the Wolfpack. Maggie Speaks handed out 32 assists. Megan Cormier and and Emily Harris turned in six digs apiece. Kaitlyn Kearney had a hand in seven of N.C. State's 12 team blocks.
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Southern Miss 3, Nicholls 0
HATTIESBURG, Miss
. – After a dominant performance against Southern in the opening match of the Southern Miss Invitational, the Nicholls State University women’s volleyball team split on Saturday, downing Mercer, 3-2, in the morning before falling to the host team, 3-0, in the nightcap.
Following the conclusion of the tournament, junior outside hitter Kayla Mashburn and freshman outside hitter Anna Niederhauser were each selected to the All-Tournament team in recognition of their outstanding performances over the weekend.
In the first match of the day the Colonels had their hands full against a strong Bears squad, going toe-to-toe over a five-set marathon. Mercer, who defeated the Golden Eagles on Friday, won Saturday’s opening set in a back-and-forth 28-26 effort. Nicholls responded and set the tone for the rest of the match with a 25-23 answer in the second set. The Colonels took the third set, 25-21, to secure a 2-1 set lead over Mercer, but the Bears fought back, earning a 25-20 win in the forth to extend the match. Leading 7-6 in the final frame, Nicholls caught fire, scoring eight unanswered points to run away with the set and seal the victory.
Mashburn paced the Colonels with 18 kills and 13 digs against Mercer. Niederhauser filled the stat sheet with 14 kills, 11 digs, and team-highs in both blocks (four) and service aces (four). Alyse Barclay and Ainsley Marroccoli finished with 23 and 19 assists respectively. Kali Schwartz added 14 kills and Stephanie Tobison recorded 13 digs in the win.
The Colonels were unable to maintain their momentum in the tournament-finale as Southern Miss jumped on top early. The Golden Eagles cruised through the first set with a 25-9 victory and took the second set, 25-17. Nicholls fought back in the third, desperately seeking to extend the contest, but Southern Miss closed out the set and the match with a 25-23 win.
The Colonels were their own worst enemy against the Golden Eagles, totaling 22 attack errors with just 29 kills. Nicholls averaged 17 attack errors and 45 kills over the first two matches in the tournament.
Mashburn led the Colonels offensively against Southern Miss with 10 kills in match. Niederhauser was second on the team with seven kills and added five digs. Tobison paced the squad with 15 digs and Marroccoli had a team-leading 15 assists.
Nicholls will next head to Texas for the Sawyer Camillo Memorial Volleyball Classic, hosted by the University of Houston. The Colonels will open the tournament against the Cougars on Friday, Sept. 4 at 5 p.m., before taking on Louisiana-Lafayette and Jackson State on Saturday.
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Ole Miss 3, Northwestern State 0
OXFORD, Miss. – A day after giving Sean Kiracofe his first win as the Northwestern State volleyball coach, NSU dropped a pair of matches at the Mangolia Invitational hosted by Ole Miss on Saturday.
NSU fell to Oral Roberts, 3-1, Saturday morning then dropped a 3-0 decision to host Ole Miss in Saturday night’s tournament finale.
In both matches, Northwestern State (1-2) played its best volleyball in the second set, shaking off slow first-set starts.
Against Ole Miss, NSU dropped the first set, 25-19, before taking a 22-19 lead late in the second set. The Rebels rallied for a 25-23 second-set victory and clinched the match and a perfect 3-0 run through the Magnolia Invitational with a 25-16 third-set victory.
Lauren Agan led Northwestern State with nine kills, while Amanda Kunz hit .545, collecting six kills on 11 attacks.
Nakeyta Clair paced Ole Miss’ offense with a match-high 13 kills.
For two sets, the Northwestern State volleyball team looked like it would follow the script set forth in a season-opening win against Tennessee State.
Oral Roberts, however, had other ideas. After splitting the first two sets with the Golden Eagles, Northwestern State dropped the final two and suffered its first loss of the year, falling 3-1 to Oral Roberts on Saturday in the Magnolia Invitational hosted by Ole Miss.
After dropping the first set, 25-12, NSU (1-1) put together its best offensive set of the match, hitting .344 and scoring a 25-20 victory that evened things at one set each.
Lauren Agan led the way offensively with six kills in the set, while NSU’s defense limited ORU (1-1) to a .079 hitting percentage.
Oral Roberts turned things around in the third and fourth sets, holding NSU to a .000 hitting percentage in each of the final two sets en route to clinching the win with 25-13 and 25-14 decisions.
“We struggled with ball control in some specific areas, which gives us great information to work with as a coaching staff for practice next week,” Kiracofe said. “We are still learning as a team how to make in-match adjustments and to consistently execute them.
“Set two shows how we can play when we execute those adjustments, but consistency is something that will come with time.”
NSU took control of the second set after a timeout. Trailing 12-9 before the timeout, Northwestern State responded with an 8-1 run out of the break, highlighted by a pair of Glynna Johnson kills and a tandem block by Johnson and Reagan Rogers.
NSU never trailed by less than three the rest of the set, closing it out with consecutive kills from Caiti O’Connell and Rogers.
Agan paced the NSU offense with 12 kills, while Bailey Martin’s 15 digs led the NSU defense.
Laura Milos delivered 23 kills and had a .444 hitting percentage to lead Oral Roberts.
Northwestern State returns to action Tuesday night when it hosts UL Lafayette at 7 in Prather Coliseum.
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Kansas 3, McNeese 0
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — It was another tough day for the McNeese volleyball team Saturday at the Arkansas Invitational. The Cowgirls dropped both matches to extremely tough competition in Kansas and Army West Point.
“We are really grateful for the opportunity to play three great teams this weekend,” said head coach Ashleigh Fitzgerald. “We are pleased with our play, the effort, and we absolutely believe we will be better for taking part in this tournament. Our kids aren’t hanging their heads, they know we are going to be better than this.”
The Cowgirls opened the day with a straight set loss to Kansas (25-9, 25-14, 25-10). Sophomore Ray Myers, who was named to the all-tournament team, once again led the Cowgirls on offense with eight kills. Kelly Graham dished out 12 assists and freshman Bridget Justis was credited with 11 digs.
“I’m so proud of Ray (Myers). She was outstanding all three matches and we relied so heavily on her,” Fitzgerald said.
McNeese concluded tournament action by falling in four sets 3-1 (25-19, 19-25, 25-14, 25-23) to Army West Point in a hard fought match to close out its opening weekend with and 0-3 record.
Myers, for the third straight match, led McNeese in kills with a career high 17. Four Cowgirls recorded double figure digs with Justis leading the way with 19. Malina Sanchez pitched in with 16, Hailee Showers had 14 and Graham tallied 11. Graham led McNeese with 39 assists and Bridget Hudgins had a team high four blocks.
McNeese will return to action next Tuesday when they will take part in the Ole Miss Tri-Match.
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Samford 3, Stephen F. Austin 0
AUBURN, Ala. – The Stephen F. Austin women’s volleyball team finished the War Eagle Invitational with two losses on Saturday, dropping a 3-0 match to Samford before falling in a five-set thriller to Jacksonville inside Auburn Arena.
The Ladyjacks (0-3) took a tough Jacksonville team to five sets in Saturday evening’s match. SFA’s middle blocking duo of Jacque Allen and Justice Walker paced the attack with 14 kills apiece while junior setter Shannon Connell dished out 50 assists and senior OJ Olson led the way with 25 digs. Allen added 10 blocks (1 solo, 9 assists) to notch a double-double.
The Dolphins (2-1) took the opening set 25-18, but the Ladyjacks fired back with a convincing 25-13 victory in the second set to tie the match 1-1. SFA hit at a .250 clip while holding Jacksonville to a -.083 attack percentage in the frame.
The two squads went back and forth again in the third and fourth sets, with Jacksonville winning 25-18 in the third and SFA posting a 25-16 win in the fourth. Once again, the Ladyjacks forced the ‘Fins to hit in the negative (-.047) in the fourth period to force a deciding fifth set.
Despite hitting at a respectable .238 percentage in the fifth, SFA couldn’t overcome an efficient .500 hitting rate by Jacksonville in the final set, as the ‘Fins took the set 15-10 to win the match.
After Olson’s 25 digs, the Ladyjacks got great defense from Haley Coleman (11 digs), Lexus Cain (16 digs) and Courtney Schade (19 digs) to keep the Dolphins at a .133 attack percentage on the night.
In the morning match against Samford, SFA was led offensively with eight kills from Walker, seven from Abby McIntyre and six at the hands of Coleman. Connell recorded a team-high 25 assists and Olson racked up 21 digs.
Despite playing the Bulldogs tough, SFA fell in straight sets (25-21, 25-21, 25-19).
The Ladyjacks will look for their first win of the season next weekend at the SFA Volleyball Invitational held in Shelton Gym on Friday and Saturday. SFA will play Columbia, Northeastern, Texas Tech and South Dakota State over the two-day tournament.
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Arizona 3, Abilene Christian 0
DALLAS – The ACU Wildcats battled one of the nation's top teams for three sets, but 17th-ranked Arizona was too much for ACU to handle as Arizona walked out of SMU's Moody Coliseum with a 3-0 win over ACU in the Crosstown Classic.
ACU completed its run in the tournament with an 0-3 mark after losing to TCU in Fort Worth on Friday, UTEP in Fort Worth on Saturday morning and to Arizona early Saturday evening at SMU's Moody Coliseum. ACU is now 0-3 on the season after the pair of losses Saturday.
The Wildcats are back in action next weekend (Sept. 4-5) at the Texas A&M Invitational in College Station where they will play Wichita State (Friday) and both New Mexico State and Texas A&M on Saturday.
Arizona – which went 3-0 in its tournament stay in Texas – needed just 70 minutes to knock off the Wildcats as it won the match, 25-13, 25-16, 25-12. Arizona had 37 kills against just 13 attack errors (.273 hitting percentage), while the Wildcats had 22 kills and 20 attack errors (.022 hitting percentage).
Arizona was led by Nikki Attea's 10 kills and Penina Snuka's 24 assists, wh lie ACU was led by six kills from freshman Corinne Grandcolas.
Saturday morning, the Wildcats and Miners engaged in a tense four-set match that saw them split the first two sets before UTEP pulled away by winning the final two matches. The Miners won the match by the scores of 26-24, 27-29, 25-22 and 25-20.
ACU had 64 kills in four sets, its most since it posted 67 last year in a 3-2 loss at Northwestern State (La.) on Oct. 2, and its third-highest total in the program's last three-plus season (87 matches). The most kills ACU has in that span are 74, which came in a 3-2 loss to Dallas Baptist on Oct. 9, 2012.
The Wildcats' 197 attempts mark their 10th-highest number of attempts in a match since the the 2007 season, but their 43 errors are the program's second-highest total since 2007 (44 vs. Central Oklahoma on Oct. 27, 2007).
ACU had leads in each of the first three sets (14-7 in the first set, 7-4 in the second set and 11-5 in the third set), but could only pull out a win in the second set. ACU was undone by 11 attack errors in the first set and 12 attack errors in both the third and fourth sets.
Kendall Bosse led the Wildcats with 15 kills and a .297 attack percentage, while senior Jenny Loerche had 13 kills (15 errors) and Lauren Walker added 12 kills and just four errors.
The Miners out-blocked ACU 11.5-7.0 and out-hit the Wildcats, .162-.107. UTEP also only had 16 attack errors on 148 swings and came up with 40 kills.
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