Sunday, October 11, 2009
South Alabama 3, Louisiana-Monroe 0
MOBILE, Ala. - Behind Juliana Almeida's 13 kills and eight digs, the University of South Alabama volleyball team swept Sun Belt Conference foe Louisiana-Monroe, 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-18) Sunday afternoon at Jag Gym. With the win, the Jags take two out of three in their three-match SBC home stand.
"Obviously, to get two wins this weekend is big for us. I think more importantly, that we are starting to play better and better," South Alabama head coach Nicole Keshock. "Even in our loss to New Orleans on Saturday, we played well in the first two sets. I think that all we needed to see was that we can play well and be competitive, regardless of who the opponent is. The next couple of weeks are going to be very important for us, so we have to keep playing better each time we step onto the court."
USA (11-10, 2-6 SBC) will now head back out on the road for a pair of matches, beginning with Florida Atlantic on Friday at 6 p.m. (CT).
The Warhawks fall to 3-19 on the season with the loss and 0-7 in Sun Belt Conference action. ULM was led offensively by Mari O'Neal who posted a match-high 24 kills and hit .439 in the loss.
South Alabama held a huge advantage at the net, recording 18 block assists, compared to just six by Louisiana-Monroe. Olivia Mohler and Tereza Bendlova each led the way for the Jags in that category with four block assists apiece.
Throughout most of the opening set, South Alabama controlled the tempo and led by as many as seven. With the Jags sitting one point away from taking the first set, ULM mounted a furious charge and reeled off six straight points to narrow the deficit to 24-23. However, on the next point, USA was able to end the Warhawk rally and take the set after an attack error from Louisiana-Monroe.
O'Neal recorded eight of her 24 kills during the first frame, while Almeida led the Jag attack with seven.
After nearly rallying to take the first set, the Warhawks held the early momentum in set two, jumping out to an 8-5 lead on a Lacey Dietlin ace. Over the next 11 points though, South Alabama mounted a charge of its own and out-scored ULM 8-3 to retake the lead. Jag sophomore setter Jennica Hagberg capped off the run for USA when she dropped in an ace of her own.
Over the next few points, South Alabama was able to lead by as many as four (16-12), but like in the opening set, the Warhawks refused to roll over. After a Jaguar attack error, ULM was able to cut the deficit to 22-21. That was as close as USA would let the Warhawks get. A Louisiana-Monroe attack error sealed the 25-22 win for the Jags and USA headed into the intermission with a 2-0 lead in the match.
Coming out of the break, Louisiana-Monroe held the early advantage again, leading by as may as four (13-9) after a kill from O'Neal. It was at that point that South Alabama re-took control of the match, closing the match on a 16-5 run. Almeida began the pivotal run with a put away and then clinched the 25-18 victory for USA when the junior outside hitter slammed home her 13th kill of the day.
FIU 3, North Texas 1
DENTON, Texas (10/11/09) - A potent Florida International duo was too strong for the North Texas volleyball team in a 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-23) win over the Mean Green on Power In Pink Day.
The reigning Sun Belt Player of the Year, Yarimar Rosa, landed 19 kills and Jovana Bjelica had 18 for FIU (17-2, 6-0 Sun Belt), which topped the Mean Green (7-13, 3-3 Sun Belt) despite 27 attack errors.
The Mean Green donned pink jerseys and socks in honor of Power In Pink Day, a volleyball specific program that raises money for breast cancer research. In lieu of admissions to the match North Texas took donations for the cause.
Kati Dillard and the Mean Green blocking efforts kept the Golden Panthers off kilter all afternoon. Dillard was behind five blocks and freshman Brittany Brown sent back four.
Amy Huddleston also tallied three blocks to go with her team-high eight kills. The junior racked up 16 kills combined in the two matches this weekend, and now has 709 career kills to her credit. She needs just 93 more to tie for 10th in North Texas history.
North Texas now hits the road next weekend to start a four-match road swing, starting with Middle Tennessee on Oct. 16 and Western Kentucky on Oct. 17.
Troy 3, New Orleans 1
TROY, Ala. - The University of New Orleans' eight-match winning streak came to an end as Troy upset UNO 3-1 (25-23, 25-19, 15-25, 25-22) on Sunday afternoon.
The win was the first in the 12 matches against the Privateers for Troy (9-10, 5-3 Sun Belt), who extended their home win streak to five matches with the victory. Devin Von Pingel and Meghan Gilroy led the Trojans with 13 and 10 kills, respectively.
Megan Henderson distributed 40 assists for Troy with Lizzie Clough notching 19 digs from the back row.
Despite playing without Maria Szivos for the second straight match, UNO (12-6, 5-1 SBC) still was able to outhit the Trojans, totaling a .215 clip for the match compared to .144 for the host squad.
Leading the way was Lindsey Loyd with 14 kills and a .314 hitting percentage. Vesna Jelic and Edina Dobi each reached double-digits with 10 kills apiece.
Cassidy Asebroek was the top setter for head coach Jozsef Forman with 29 assists while Hajnalka Molnar chipped in 10. Nicky Valenti had 18 digs in the match, tying Kristin O'Hearn (1992-95) at second place in school history with 1,327 career digs.
Dobi started the offense for UNO in the opening set connecting on kills during two of the first three points contested. The Privateers capitalized and built a five-point lead at 13-8.
The Trojans climbed back with a two consecutive UNO errors putting Troy on top for the first time at 20-19. Three Privateer errors including two by Jelic after a deadlock at 23 gave the Trojans a 25-23 opening set victory.
Riding the momentum into the second set, Troy jumped out to an early 6-3 lead and built a four-point advantage before UNO began their rally. The Privateers ran off four straight points with Anett Farkas having a hand in two blocks during the spurt to take a 12-11 lead.
The teams would contest six ties and three lead changes with the Trojans emerging during a 4-0 run which featured three straight Von Pingel kills. Down 24-19, Forman would receive a red card and Troy would enter the break with a 2-0 lead.
With their backs against the wall, the Privateers started the third stanza on a 4-1 run with two Jelic kills making up half of the points. With the Trojans within two at 16-14, UNO opened up the scoring with a 9-1 run that carried the squad until the set's end as the Privateers prevailed 25-15.
In the fourth frame, Troy would take control early at 5-2 and continue to hold the lead, jumping out to a 16-9 advantage. The Privateers closed the gap to two points at 23-21 with two Gilroy kills finishing off the contest in favor of the Trojans.
UNO will head to Arkansas next weekend for a pair of matches, beginning on Friday night at 5 p.m. against UALR and finishing with a 3 p.m. contest on Saturday against Arkansas State.
Middle Tennessee 3, UALR 0
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee battled with Arkansas-Little Rock but managed to pull out the match in straight sets 3-0 (28-26, 25-16, 27-25).
The Blue Raiders (11-7, 4-1) notched 47 kills in the match for a .271 attack percentage while UALR had just 35 kills for a.164 attack percentage.
Junior Izabela Kozon, who joined the 1,000 kill club, knocked down 18 kills in the match for a .444 hitting percentage. Senior Ashley Mead added to the Blue Raider arsenal with 12 kills of her own.
Senior Ashley Waugh guided the backcourt defense with 18 digs while senior Leslie Clark had 11 and sophomore Brynne Henderson notched 10.
As a team, the Blue Raiders had 7.5 blocks while UALR ahd five total blocks with senior Janay Yancey and junior Alyssa Wistrick each having three block assists.
Clark also guided the offense with 39 assists on the day.
Middle Tennessee and the Trojans battled back and forth throughout the first set before the Blue Raiders pulled it out after playing extra points. Kozon hit the 1,000 kill mark for her career midway through the set and ended it with seven kills. Clark also hit a milestone midway through the first set as she notched 5,000 assists. Clark is the only player in Blue Raider history to have 5,000 assists in a career.
The Blue Raiders took control of the second set and while UALR pulled into within a few points it never got the upper hand. At the set break, Middle Tennessee had 31 kills with a .307 attack percentage while the Trojans were hitting just .150 with 23 kills.
Kozon had 12 kills at the break with just two errors posting a .345 hitting percentage. Waugh and Henderson were each performing well in the backcourt with 11 and 10 digs respectively.
Middle Tennessee will be back in action on Friday, Oct. 16 when it plays host to North Texas at 7 p.m. Then on Sunday, Oct. 18 the Blue Raiders will face one of the top teams in the Sun Belt West Division Denver at 1 p.m.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Troy 3, Louisiana-Lafayette 0
TROY, Ala. - The Trojans won their second match in as many days on Saturday, defeating Louisiana-Lafayette, 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 28-26). The win marked the Trojans fourth straight victory at Trojan Arena.
"At points we played really well," said head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick, "we had some ebbs and flows that we need to remedy."
The Trojans (8-10, 4-3) were led on the day offensively by Meghan Gilroy who posted 22 kills and a .395 attack percentage. Devin Von Pingel also posted double digit kills and an attack percentage over .300 with 11 and .310. Megan Henderson set up the Trojan attack with 46 assists.
Defensively, Emily Strader paced the Trojans with 22 digs. Three other Trojans were in double digits, including Lizzie Clough (19), Henderson (14) and Laura Mackley (13).
The Trojans used a long run in the middle of the first set to take control. After the two sides found themselves tied at 10-10, the Trojans scored two of three to go ahead, 12-11. Troy then scored six straight behind the serve of Clough, pulling ahead 18-11. The Trojans then scored seven of eleven points to take the first set, 25-15.
In the first set for the Trojans, Gilroy had eight kills on ten attempts while Henderson posted 11 assists.
The second set was close early, with the two teams finding themselves tied at 10-10. At that point, the Ragin' Cajuns scored four straight, pulling ahead 14-10. Troy was able to bounce back, and they won six of eight to pull even at 16-16. The two sides remained tied up to 19-19. It was then that the Trojans scored four straight to go ahead 23-19. They went on to take the set, 25-20.
The third set was much closer throughout, with the two sides being tied on 10 different occasions. The Cajuns took and early 11-7 lead, but Troy fought back and eventually tied things up at 17-17. The two sides traded points throughout the rest of the set, but the Trojans ultimately took the advantage and the set, 28-26.
"We came up with some critical points at crucial moments," Kirkpatrick said, "and that is what ultimately got us over the top."
ULL (6-15, 0-6) was led Mandi Gavin who posted eight kills. Defensively, Lindsey Brown paced the Cajuns with 18 digs. She was one of four ULL players with double digits in the digs category.
"We definitely need to step up play tomorrow with New Orleans coming into town," Kirkpatrick said.
The Trojans will be back in action tomorrow when they take on Sun Belt West Division leader New Orleans at 4 p.m. at Trojan Arena. For more scores and stats from the volleyball, check back with TroyTrojans.com.
WKU 3, Arkansas State 1
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - After a tough battle with Arkansas State, the Lady Toppers defeated the Red Wolves in four sets (25-20, 25-19, 24-16,
25-22) to improve to 14-6 this season and 3-2 in the Sun Belt Conference.
The Lady Toppers hit .342 in the first set after recording 20 kills and just seven errors. After tying the match up at one after a kill by junior Emily Teegarden, the Lady Toppers captured the lead after a kill by senior Brittany Bowen. WKU then took the lead for the final time and went ahead 4-3 after a kill by freshman Jordyn Skinner and never allowed Arkansas State to catch up again. Up 24-20 at the end of the set, WKU took the set win after another kill by Skinner.
WKU was nearly perfect in the second set posting a .652 hitting percentage after recording just one error in 23 attempts and 16 kills.
After a tough battle with the Red Wolves, WKU was able to pull ahead at the 15 point mark and take the lead after another kill by Skinner. Up 16-15, WKU went on to outscore Arkansas State 9-4 the rest of the way and won the set off a kill by senior Abbie Siljendahl.
In the third set, WKU couldn't hold on to an early lead and fell to the Red Wolves after posting their worst hitting percentage of the day, a
.192 percentage after committing eight errors. But, in the fourth set, after battling with Arkansas State ost of the set the Lady Toppers were able to take a 21-20 lead after a kill by Teegarden and never looked back. Tied at 22, the Lady Toppers scored the next three points and won the match after a kill by Skinner.
WKU was led by Elmore who finished the night with 13 kills and a .632 hitting percentage. Sophomore Lauren Stuckel led the team in assists with 52 and freshman Sarah Rogers posted 21 digs to lead the team.
Senior Brittany Bowen led the team in blocks with five.
As a team, WKU finished with 67 kills and a .333 hitting percentage, 63 assists, one ace, 54 digs and 14 blocks.
WKU will continue play next Friday when the Lady Toppers host Denver at
7 p.m. CDT in E.A. Diddle Arena. Then on Saturday, WKU will take on North Texas at 3 p.m.
New Orleans 3, South Alabama 0
MOBILE, Ala. - The University of South Alabama volleyball team fought hard, but dropped a 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-16) decision to Sun Belt Conference West Division leader New Orleans Saturday night at Jag Gym.
"We had opportunities in sets one and two, but I felt like we just weren't as crisp in those last couple of points. We tried to do things that we hadn't done," South Alabama head coach Nicole Keshock said. "As the match progresses, you have to get better and better and tonight we didn't. Our passing and setting weren't as crisp as we need it to be and then our hitters made some uncharacteristic errors. I was proud that we came out and played tough today. UNO is a good team and they have a lot of weapons."
With the loss, South Alabama falls to 10-10 on the season and 1-6 in league play. The Jags will conclude their current three-match home stand on Sunday, when they host Louisiana-Monroe at 1 p.m.
New Orleans (12-5, 5-0 SBC) placed three players in double figures.
Lindsey Loyd led all players with 11 kills, while Vesna Jelic and Edina Dobi chipped in with 10 apiece.
Juliana Almeida led USA with 10 kills and Tereza Bendlova had eight of her own. Almeida and Olivia Mohler also had a team-high four block assists each.
The first set proved to be a tight contest throughout with the two clubs exchanging the lead early on. With things tied at 13-13, South Alabama reeled off four-straight points to take its largest lead of the set. After consecutive kills from Hristina Markova, Mohler and Bendlova, USA took a 17-13 lead after a UNO attack error.
New Orleans answered the scoring spurt with one of its own, taking six of the next seven points and retaking the lead (19-18) on a kill from Lindsey Loyd.
Coming out of a time out with the set tied again at 23-23, Loyd slammed home another kill and Dobi blocked a Jaguar attack to give UNO the 25-23 victory.
Loyd had five kills in the set for the Privateers, while Bendlova paced the Jaguar attack with five of her own.
New Orleans kept the momentum in the second set, recording the first three points. After a run of six unanswered Privateer points, UNO took its largest lead of the frame at 13-5 after an ace from Nicky Valenti.
Trailing by six (17-11), South Alabama began to claw its way back and after an service ace from Kari Frazier, knotted things back up at 22.
New Orleans though took the lead for good on the next point as a Jaguar serve found the net and the Privateers later picked up the 25-23 win after a ball handling error by USA.
Coming out of the intermission holding a 2-0 lead in the match, the Privateers raced out to a 7-3 lead in the finale and never looked back.
USA was able narrow the gap to as few as three on a couple of occasions, but New Orleans eventually stretched its lead out to as many as 10 before taking the set and the match 25-16.
Friday, October 9, 2009
WKU 3, UALR 0
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - On Friday night, the WKU volleyball team swept the UALR Trojans (25-19, 25-15, 25-17) in Bowling Green to improve to 13-6 this season and 2-2 in the Sun Belt.
In the first set, the Lady Toppers recorded 12 kills and a .179 to take a 1-0 advantage in the match. After falling behind 2-0 to begin the set, WKU tied the set up after a kill by freshman Jordyn Skinner and an UALR error. After battling early with the Trojans, the Lady Toppers were able to take the lead for the final time at 13-12 after an attack error by the Trojans. Then, WKU continued to extend their lead and sealed the set victory after a serving error by UALR.
WKU easily took a 2-0 lead in the match after winning the second set dominating the Trojans on offense. In the set, WKU posted a .412 hitting percentage after recording 17 kills and just three errors while UALR finished with a .062 hitting percentage with nine kills and seven errors. To begin the set, WKU took a 3-0 lead before UALR was able to score their first point. Up 3-1, WKU never allowed UALR to challenge their lead and went on to outscore the Trojans 22-14.
The Lady Toppers were even hotter in the third set posting a hitting percentage of .467 after recording another 17 kills and just three errors in 30 attempts. After taking an early lead, the Lady Toppers extended their lead to five after scoring four consecutive points. Up 8-3, WKU continued to pull ahead going ahead by as many as ten points.
Senior Brittany Bowen secured the win for the Lady Toppers after recording one of her eight kills of the night.
In the match, WKU was led by sophomore Tiffany Elmore who finished the night with a .692 hitting percentage after recording nine kills and zero errors. She also led the team in blocks with four. Senior Abbie Siljendahl also had an outstanding night tallying ten kills and zero errors for a .556 hitting percentage. Sophomore Lauren Stuckel led the team in assists with 27 and freshman Sarah Rogers and senior Lindsey Gould both finished with a team-high nine kills.
As a team, WKU finished with a .340 hitting percentage after recording
46 kills, 39 assists, two aces, 18 blocks and just 11 attack errors.
The Lady Toppers held the Trojans to just 29 kills and .094 hitting percentage after committing 20 errors.
WKU will continue play tomorrow when they host Arkansas State at 3 p.m. CDT.
South Alabama 3, Louisiana-Lafayette 2
MOBILE, Ala. - Behind the offensive production of juniors Hristina Markova and Juliana Almeida and senior Tereza Bendlova, the University of South Alabama volleyball team rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Sun Belt Conference foe Louisiana-Lafayette 3-2 (17-25, 20-25, 25-22, 27-25, 15-11) at Jag Gym and pick up its first conference win. The Jag trio combined for 47 of South Alabama's 63 kills in the match and 32 digs.
"Hristina (Markova) and Juliana (Almeida) played with a lot of confidence tonight," South Alabama head coach Nicole Keshock said.
"Tonight, they played like the junior-experienced players that I think they are. Another player that I thought played well for us was Tereza (Bendlova) in the back row. She was scrappy and had some huge digs for us."
Markova led all players and tied a season-high with 18 kills, while Almeida finished the night with 15 kills and 13 digs - her ninth double-double of the season. Bendlova was just as valuable on both sides of the net, as she posted her first double-double of the year with
14 kills and a career-high 18 digs.
USA reserves Jillian Jordan and Jaclyn Nickels also provided valuable time on the court and sparked the Jag offense with two and four kills, respectively. Junior libero Kari Frazier's 18 digs were also a season-high for the Mobile native.
"I really think our players that came off the bench tonight really did a great job for us," Keshock said. "In the fourth set, Jaclyn Nickels really helped bring us back. Not everyone is going to have a great match every night, so we need to be able to depend on everybody.
We needed this win tonight, just to be able to get that feeling back of what we did during the preseason and see that we can play good and come back after a team challenges us."
USA (10-9, 1-5 SBC) will continue its home stand on Saturday when it host SBC West Division leader New Orleans at 5 p.m. With the loss, ULL falls to 6-14 on the year and 0-5 in league play.
The Ragin' Cajuns placed three players in double figures offensively, led by Bethany Fogler and Caroline Dufrene - who each chipped in with 13 kills apiece. Ariel Krolikowski was the other ULL player to end the match in double digits with 10 kills. Reining SBC Defensive Player of the Year, Lindsay Brown posted a match-high 20 digs in the loss.
South Alabama jumped out to an early 5-3 lead on the Ragin' Cajuns in the first set, but ULL answered back with four-straight points to take a two-point advantage. USA pulled to within one a few points later after a kill from Bendlova, but the Cajuns again came right back with an 8-3 scoring spurt. Kendra Hall capped of the run and gave ULL a 15-9 lead with a pair of aces.
Louisiana-Lafayette held on to take the set with the 25-17 victory.
The Ragin' Cajuns came out hot offensively in the opening frame, recording a .429 attack percentage, while USA was only able to hit a .156.
The Jags again jumped out to the early lead in the second set, taking three of the first four points. USA's advantage would be short-lived though as Louisiana-Lafayette reeled off six unanswered points. South Alabama narrowed the deficit to 12-10 after a block solo and a kill from Markova, but the Cajuns pushed across seven of the next nine points to increase the deficit for South Alabama to seven. ULL took the 19-12 lead after a Jaguar attack error, one of their seven in the set.
South Alabama tried to mount a late rally, narrowing the deficit to 24-20 after another kill from Markova, but Louisiana-Lafayette's Dufrene sealed the 25-20 win with one of her three kills in the frame.
Coming out of the intermission, USA got off to a good start in the third set. Jordan and Almeida combined to turn back a Cajun attack and after another ULL attack error, the Jags held their largest lead to that point at four. It was then Louisiana-Lafayette's turn to take advantage of some offensive miscues. Aided by three Jaguar attack errors, ULL reeled off seven unanswered points and grabbed a 12-9 lead.
USA answered right back with five straight points of its own and after an ace from Almeida, retook the lead at 14-12.
The set would stay close for the rest of the way, with neither team able to pull away from the other. With things all square at 21, South Alabama was able to push across three consecutive points and take the lead for good after a couple of Cajun errors - a service error and an ball handling error - and a kill from Markova. The Sofia, Bulgaria native then clinched the 25-22 win for the Jags when she slammed home her 11th kill of the match.
In the fourth set, the Ragin' Cajuns looked as if they were going to cruise to the match victory as they led by as many as six on several occasions, the last coming at 18-12. It was at that point that the Jags turned to Almeida to lead the charge. Over the next five points, Almeida led the offensive attack, posting four kills that narrowed the gap to three (19-16).
USA kept clawing its way back and eventually knotted things back up at
23-23 after another Almeida kill. Over the next few points, Louisiana-Lafayette held match-point on a couple of occasions, but the Jags refused to lose. Trailing by one late, Markova tied the contest up at 25 and Bendlova put South Alabama out in front with a kill of her own. The Jaguars then evened the match up at two sets apiece when Louisiana-Lafayette committed an attack error that gave USA the 27-25 set win.
In the pivotal fourth set, Almeida (6), Markova (5) and Bendlova (5) combined to record 16 of South Alabama's 18 kills in the frame.
In the finale with South Alabama trailing by one at 9-8, the Jags rattled off six unanswered points to take the lead for good. USA began its run by taking advantage of bad Cajun set. Then after a Bendlova kill and a ULL attack error, Lindsay Schwartz and Markova slammed home the Jags next three points with back-to-back-to-back kills.
ULL pushed across the next two points, but Bendlova's put away sealed the come back and gave USA the 15-11 fifth set victory.
North Texas 3, Florida Atlantic 0
DENTON, Texas - Amy Huddleston's 700th career kill and a blistering service game were too much for Florida Atlantic in a 3-0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-19) North Texas win at the Mean Green Volleyball Center.
Huddleston tallied the 700th kill of her noted career late in the third set, as North Texas (7-12, 3-2 Sun Belt) pounded the Owls (3-12, 2-5 Sun Belt) with 30 kills on .227 hitting. NT forced 22 FAU attack errors and .116 hitting from the Owls.
The Mean Green simply served Florida Atlantic off the court all evening. Setter Kayla Saey landed four aces and Salah Schoenecke had three more, giving NT an 11-1 edge in aces.
Winners of four of their last six matches, North Texas jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the opening set thanks to Saey's serving and Kati Dillard's play at the net. Saey kept the Owls at bay on eight straight serves, and Dillard landed a kill and registered a block.
Saey finished the evening with 27 assists, while Dillard poured in five kills and a pair of blocks.
Huddleston and Salah Schoenecke led the Mean Green offensive attack with eight kills each. Schoenecke hit a season high .500 on 14 kills, as did Brittany Brown, who notched six kills on .455 hitting.
North Texas returns to the court on Sunday for Power In Pink Day, which will raise money for breast cancer research. The Mean Green will don pink jerseys and socks for the match against Florida International, and will be taking donations.
Admission to the Mean Green Volleyball Center is free, but the team is asking for donations in lieu of the admission cost. Sunday's match is set to begin at 1 p.m.
FIU 3, Denver 0
DENVER - The University of Denver volleyball team (8-11, 3-2 SBC) fell 3-0 (26-28, 20-25, 23-25) to the Florida International Golden Panthers (16-2, 6-0 SBC) in Hamilton Gymnasium on Friday evening.
"As far as points scored, we were extremely close," said head coach Beth Kuwata. "We just didn't make enough plays down the stretch and take advantage of our chances to win against one of the conference's premiere teams."
Once again, senior Emmy Davidsmeyer (Colorado Springs, Colo.) was strong at the net as she led the Pioneers with 15 kills and six blocks. Sophomore Jordan Raines (Coppell, Texas) posted 11 kills, while junior setter Kresson Vreeman (Raymond, Minn.) provided 36 assists in the Pioneer effort.
FIU's Yarimar Rosa had a game-high 21 kills, while setter Natalia Valentin finished with 37 assists and 12 digs as the Golden Panthers' remained undefeated in the SBC.
The Pioneers return to action on Sunday, as the Pioneers host another SBC foe, Florida Atlantic at 1 p.m. The match will be available on Pioneer Vision and Live Stats.
Middle Tennessee 3, Arkansas State 2
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The Blue Raiders pulled out a five-set battle (23-25, 25-23, 18-25, 25-15, 15-13) over Arkansas State on Friday night.
Middle Tennessee (10-7, 3-1,) started out rocky but composed itself when it needed to pull out the win. The Red Wolves (14-6, 4-2) fought and won then they needed to but the Blue Raiders were able stay ahead just enough.
Senior Ashley Mead who needed just eight kills to join the 1,000 kill club and joined the prestigious group when she notched 13 kills.
Senior Ashley Waugh also joined a prestigious club when she recorded her 1,000th dig. Waugh had 19 digs against the Red Wolves.
Sophomore Stacy Oladinni led the team throughout the night at the net notching 14 kills for a .440 hitting percentage while junior Izabela Kozon added 13 kills of her own.
As a team, Middle Tennessee had 66 kills for a .210 hitting percentage while ASU hit just .153 in the match with 51 kills.
Brittany Hoag led the Red Wolves in kills with 15 for a .308 hitting percentage while Cayla Fielder had 13.
The Blue Raiders continued to perform well at the net defensively posting 15 total blocks with senior Janay Yancey posting six block assists and one solo block. Mead also added depth to the block with five assists and one solo of her own.
Middle Tennessee and the Red Wolves battled throughout the first set. With the match tied at 23 ASU pulled ahead by one. Then Kozon made a passing error receiving the serve from the Red Wolves giving them the 25-23 win.
The Blue Raiders rebounded in the second set staying ahead by two or three. ASU tied the match a number of times but Middle Tennessee kept winning points to take the lead back over. A kill by Wistrick gave the Blue Raiders the 25-23 win and knotted the set at one.
At the end of two sets, Middle Tennessee had 32 kills with a .240 hitting percentage while the Red Wolves had a .192 attack percentage with 27 kills. Wistrick and Oladinni each had eight kills at the set break.
The Blue Raiders had just one more block in the match though with five while ASU had four.
Each team had 10 kills in the third set but the Blue Raiders were unable to capitalize and win a string of points falling to ASU 25-18.
The Blue Raiders will be back in action on Sunday, Oct. 11 at 1 p.m. when they face Arkansas-Little Rock.
Troy 3, ULM 0
TROY, Ala. - The Trojans won their third straight home match with a 3-0 sweep of ULM on Friday night (25-22, 25-14, 25-20).
"At points we played really well," said head coach Sonny Kirkpatrick, "but we need to do a better job defensively."
The Trojans (7-10, 3-3) were led on offense by Meghan Gilroy who had nine kills. Kayla Giles was right behind her with eight total kills. Megan Henderson and Caroline Alexander each posted 16 assists for the Trojans.
Defensively, Emily Strader, Laura Mackley and Henderson each had seven digs. Devin Von Pingel paced the squad with four blocks.
The first set was close throughout, with the two sides being tied 12 times, once as late as 22-22. ULM (3-18, 0-6) held the biggest lead of the set at 17-14. Trailing 21-19, the Trojans used a 6-1 run to take the first set, 25-22.
The Trojans were led in set one by Brittany McClelland who had four kills. Alexander set up the Trojan attack in the first set, dishing out 10 assists.
The Trojans used early five and four to take a quick 10-4 lead. The Warhawks couldn't manage to score more than two consecutive points throughout the rest of the second set, and the Trojans extended their lead to eleven with a 25-14 final.
An early run in third set the tone for the Trojans. They scored the first seven points and jumped ahead, 7-0. The Trojans maintained the seven point lead until 15-8, when the Warhawks went on a three point run get within four at 15-11. ULM got within two late in the set at 20-18. At that time, the Trojans took five of seven to take the set 25-20, and the match 3-0.
ULM was led by Stephanie Wardach who posted nine kills. Meghan McCoy posted 27 assists. Defensively Christy Tribble's 12 digs paced the Warhawks.
"We just need to keep playing well," Kirkpatrick said, "We have another important match tomorrow that we need to refocus and prepare for."
That match will come against the Ragin' Cajuns of Louisiana-Lafayette at 3 p.m. at Trojan Arena. Check back with TroyTrojans.com for more scores and stats from the volleyball court, as well as all of Troy Athletics.
Photo Credit: School Files
