| VOLLEYBALL RESULTS |
Arkansas 3, Georgetown 2
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Kentucky 3, Ohio 0
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TCU 3, Alabama 1
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South Carolina 3, Elon 1
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Miami 3, Georgia 0
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Tennessee 3, Dayton 2
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LSU 3, New Mexico State 1
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Florida 3, Clemson 0
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Ole Miss 3, Eastern Illinois 2
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Houston 3, Tennessee 2
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Kentucky 3, Virginia Tech 0
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South Carolina 3, UNC-Asheville 0
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UC-Santa Barbara 3, Georgia 1
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Duquesne 3, Mississppi State 0
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Mississippi State 3, Army 1
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SMU 3, Alabama 2
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Auburn 3, MTSU 2
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Norton joins 1,000-kill club against Georgetown
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Jasmine Norton became the 14th player in program history to total 1,000 career kills Saturday as the University of Arkansas volleyball team beat Georgetown in five sets (20-25, 25-16, 18-25, 25-17, 15-5) at the Deacon Invitational. Norton led the Razorbacks with 19 kills and a .304 hitting percentage. Amanda Anderson added 11 kills out of the middle and libero Christa Alvarez paced the defense with 12 digs.
With her ninth kill of the match, a crosscourt smash in the second set, Norton joined Arkansas’ 1,000-kill club. She is the first Razorback to hit the milestone figure since Christina Lawrence did so during her senior season in 2008. With Saturday’s performance, Norton now has 1,010 career kills.
“I’m really excited about today’s match,” Norton said. “I didn’t know I was that close (to 1,000 kills) but it’s definitely exciting to hear. It was a good win for us today because we had to come together to comeback. We’ve been working really hard at trying to be more consistent but we still have some work to do, too.”
In the decisive fifth set, Norton got the Razorbacks on the scoreboard with back-to-back kills. With libero Christa Alvarez at the service line, Arkansas forged ahead with the help of its defense at the net. Kelli Stipanovich picked up a solo stuff and a tandem block by Anderson and Roslandy Acosta gave the Razorbacks a 6-3 lead. The teams switched side with Arkansas leading, 8-4.
Arkansas used a seven-point surge to grab the momentum and position itself to complete the comeback. Raymariely Santos went to Norton on the final two plays of the match and the Razorback attacker responded with consecutive kills to seal the victory and give Arkansas its third win of the weekend. The team is now 1-1 in five-set matches in 2011. Santos dished out 39 assists in the match, leading the club to a .316 hitting percentage.
Through the first half of play in the opening set, the teams traded points with neither side gaining a lead of more than two points. However, with the score tied at 15, Georgetown scored four unanswered points to take control of set one. The Razorbacks got as close as three on two occasions but Georgetown closed out the game, 25-20, on its second set point with a kill by Dani White.
Looking to reverse the flow of action, Arkansas won the first two points of the second set and the teams battled to a 6-6 tie. This time it was the Razorbacks’ turn to grab momentum with a five-point spurt that forced a GU timeout. The Hoyas won the first two points out of the timeout but Arkansas reeled off five more points in a row to take a 17-9 lead.
A tandem block by Acosta and Charmaine Whitmore gave the Razorbacks an 11-point lead at 22-11. Georgetown pulled to within eight but on its first set point, Arkansas sealed the game win, 25-16, on a dump kill by Santos. Norton paced the offense with six kills in the set, including the milestone putaway.
The third set played out in a similar pattern as the previous games. Back-and-forth play characterized the first 20 points but Georgetown turned a one-point lead into a five-point advantage, 14-9, to take control. The Razorbacks stopped the run of points with a kill by Anderson but never got closer than four the rest of the way. The Hoyas’ built their lead to eight and eventually took the set, 25-18.
Arkansas responded in the fourth set to force the decisive fifth. Leading 12-10, the Razorbacks padded its lead by winning four of the next five points. Georgetown pulled to within two with Arkansas leading 18-16 but the Razorbacks ended the set with a 7-1 run. Anderson had an ace on set point to push her team to the game win, 25-17.
Saturday’s match was the second meeting between Arkansas and Georgetown. The teams first met in a first-round match of the 1999 NCAA Tournament in Long Beach, Calif. Arkansas posted a four-set victory in that match. For more information regarding Razorback volleyball or University of Arkansas athletics, please visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.
Wildcats Pick Up Second Consecutive Sweep
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Led by another terrific offensive performance from freshman Lauren O’Conner and a team-high 11 kills from junior Ashley Frazier the Kentucky volleyball team earned its second consecutive sweep in the Kentucky Classic with a 3-0 (25-20, 30-28, 25-14) victory over Ohio Saturday morning.
Kentucky improves to 4-2 on the season with the win, and Ohio drops to 3-2 on the year.
“I was pleased with our performance this morning,” UK coach Craig Skinner said. “Now we have to be ready for Virginia Tech tonight.”
UK will finish its run in the Kentucky Classic with Virginia Tech at approximately 7:30 p.m. ET this evening.
Frazier led the kill output with 11 hammers and O’Conner also reached double figures with 10. It marked the second consecutive match that the Taylor Mill, Ky., freshman notched 10 or more hammers in a match.
Senior Gretchen Giesler chipped in with seven and sophomore Whitney Billings charted six on the afternoon. Billings also notched 12 digs and a trio of blocks. She was one of four Wildcats to earn three blocks in the match.
Junior setter Christine Hartmann dished out 33 assists and added five kills of her own.
Junior libero Stephanie Klefot earned a match-high 16 digs with reigning Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week Jackie Napper picking up 10 to aid the Wildcat cause. Sophomore Jessi Greenberg chipped in with six in the win.
Kentucky opened the match with a 25-20 opening set victory. UK totaled 12 kills with O’Conner leading the way with four in the stanza.
Giesler opened the scoring with a block to set the tone for the match. Kentucky earned an advantage it would never relinquish with the opening point. Kentucky would earn its largest lead of the stanza following a kill from Billings at 20-16. A Hartmann kill and a forced error by the visiting Bobcats capped the set with Kentucky earning the five-point edge.
The teams battled back and forth in the second set with extra points needed to determine an outcome. UK prevailed with a 30-28 win behind 19 kills on an impressive .302 hitting percentage. Frazier, Giesler and O’Conner all stashed away four kills in the set.
The squads exchanged points throughout much of the entire set, until a kill from senior Ann Armes lifted Kentucky to a 22-19 advantage. Ohio responded with a run of its own to tie the score at 23. UK saved set point five times all in the form of a kill with the final one coming off the hand of Frazier. The junior then lifted Kentucky with a 29-28 edge with an ace before the duo of Armes and Billings came up with a powerful block to end the set in style.
A Giesler and O’Conner block opened the third set scoring. Giesler posted a kill and then teamed up with O’Conner for a block to lift UK to a 2-0 lead and the home team would never look back rolling to a 25-14 final set win.
Frazier paced the attack in the final set with five kills, while Billings came up with a squad-best eight digs in the clinching set-win.
Kentucky’s Memorial Coliseum will play host to the NCAA Regionals Dec. 9-10. UK is one of four sites selected for Sweet 16 and Elite Eight matchups with one team advancing to the Final Four in San Antonio, Texas, from the Lexington Region. Tickets are on sale now through the UK Ticket Office.
Alabama Volleyball Falls to TCU 3-1 on Day Two of Doubletree Invite
DALLAS, Texas – In its second game of the SMU Doubletree Invitational, the Alabama women’s volleyball team suffered a 3-1 loss to the TCU Horned Frogs from Moody Coliseum on Saturday morning. Alabama dropped to 4-2 on the season, following set scores of 21-15, 16-25, 29-27, 25-15.
Kayla Fitterer posted her sixth double-double of the season with 17 kills and 12 digs, but was held to a season-low .154 hitting percentage. Cortney Warren hit a match-high .476 with 11 kills and one error on 21 attempts.
Andrea McQuaid logged her second double-double with a team-high 23 assists to go along with 11 digs. Senior Stephanie Riley also had her second double-double of the year with 18 assists and 10 digs. Kelsey Anderson posted a team-high 14 digs and Leigh Moyer had a match-high five total blocks.
UA hit a season-low .135, while the Horned Frogs, which improved to 5-0 on the season, hit .250 in the match. Four TCU players had at least 10 kills in the match, as Kristen Hester posted a match-high 15 kills.
In the opening set, the score was tied at 18-18 before the Horned Frogs rolled off three straight points to take a 21-18 advantage. The Tide got as close as 22-20 following a kill by Fitterer, but could not close the gap before falling 25-21 in the set.
TCU opened a 4-0 advantage to start the second set and never looked back. The lead reached as much as 10 points (20-10), before the Horned Frogs took a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-16 win in set two.
Out of the intermission, Alabama rolled out to an early 5-2 lead, only to see TCU rally to eventually take a 14-11 lead. Megan Munce gave the Frogs a 12-11 lead and a Sarah Joeckel ace punctuated the rally.
The Frogs maintained the lead, pushing the score to 22-20 following a series of errors by the Crimson Tide. The miscues prompted Alabama to use both of its timeouts. Alabama used the breaks to get regain its focus and after staving off three match points by the Frogs, eventually rallied back to take a 29-27 set three win.
TCU quickly squelched any momentum Alabama gained in the third set as it raced out to a 9-2 lead. The Frogs would build its lead to 22-11 before finishing the match with a 25-15 fourth-set win and a 3-1 victory over the Tide.
The Tide wraps up the SMU Doubletree Invitational with a 7 p.m. match against the SMU Mustangs.
Gamecocks Get Past Elon in Four Sets
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Behind a stellar offensive and defensive effort that produced career highs for a pair of Gamecocks, South Carolina (6-0) got past Elon in four set, 25-20, 25-12, 22-25, 25-9, in front of 403 fans at the Volleyball Competition Facility on Saturday afternoon.
Sophomore libero Paige Wheeler posted a career-best 28 digs, which ties her for third on the four-set match list at South Carolina. Freshman outside hitter Bethanie Thomas led all players with 16 kills and tallied a .577 hitting percentage. Sophomore outside hitter Juliette Thévenin added her fifth double-double of the season with 14 kills and 16 digs. Freshman outside hitter Hanna Forst had 10 digs. Junior setter Taylor Bruns nearly had a double-double with eight kills and 46 assists. Middle blockers Frankie Vain and Teresa Stenlund helped out again, posting eight and nine kills each.
Carly Ledbetter and Allison Johnson led the Phoenix with nine kills each. Johnson had 10 digs and three blocks, while Ali Deatsch led her side with 16 digs. Caroline Lemke added five blocks and eight kills.
South Carolina claimed the first set, 25-20, behind some amazing defense and dynamic offense. The Gamecocks hit .457 in the frame while nearly doubling Elon’s dig total, 19-10. Two four-point runs put the Gamecocks up, 14-8. The last run had two Carolina blocks, both involving freshman outside hitter Hanna Forst. Elon put together a three-point stand to make it 19-16, but South Carolina answered with their own, helped by two Thévenin kills. A blocking error by the Phoenix ended the frame. Wheeler had seven digs in the frame, while Forst and Thévenin added five each. Six Gamecocks recorded multiple kills, led by Thévenin and Vain’s four each.
The Gamecocks dominated the second set, taking a 25-12 win. A 7-1 advantage grew to 19-6 before the Phoenix slowed down the Gamecocks a bit. Thomas had three kills in the middle of that run. Redshirt freshman outside hitter Kellie Schmidt recorded her first career kill in the set, and freshman setter Lexie Pawlik had the final two Gamecock points to end the frame. South Carolina hit .433 while holding Elon to a .088 mark. Both Thévenin and Thomas had four kills without errors, while sophomore middle blocker Megan Kent added three.
Elon came back to take the third set, 25-22, behind some strong play at the net. The Phoenix posted six blocks in the frame, compared to one by the Gamecocks. South Carolina held a 9-7 lead at one point, but Elon took charge with two four-point skeins, the final one, powered by Johnson’s two kills and a block assist with Danielle Smith, making it 18-13. The Gamecocks fought back to take a 20-18 lead after a seven-point stand, but Elon answered with a five-point run that put them to set point. Lemke ended the frame after an Elon error with a kill. Thomas had five kills in the frame, while Johnson had 5.5 of the Phoenix’s points.
Rebounding from the tough third set, the Gamecocks posted a 25-9 win in the final frame. Stenlund recorded seven of her nine kills in the frame, including the first and last for the Gamecocks, helping South Carolina to a .515 hitting percentage in the frame. Thomas added four kills without an error.
South Carolina held advantages of over 20 in kills, assists and digs over Elon, won the hitting battle, .359-.147, and doubled the Phoenix in aces, 4-2. The teams tied with seven blocks each.
The Gamecocks wrap up the weekend’s action at 7 p.m. tonight against UNC Asheville.
Georgia Volleyball Drops Three-Set Match To Miami; Bulldogs Play Again Tonight
MALIBU, Calif. – The University of Georgia volleyball team dropped a three-set match to the Miami Hurricanes in the Pepperdine Asics Classic on Saturday afternoon at the Firestone Fieldhouse.
Miami improved to 5-0 with the sweep by winning it with set scores of 25-19, 25-13 and 27-25, while Georgia fell to 2-3.
The UM-UGA match was the first of four matches on the final day of the Pepperdine Asics Classic. Tournament host Pepperdine faces UC Santa Barbara at 3:30 p.m. prior to the Bulldogs facing the Gauchos at 8 p.m. The final match of the event will then be the Waves and Hurricanes at 10:30 p.m.
Georgia fought back throughout the third set against Miami to force extra points before the Hurricanes earned the win, and the Bulldogs ended up leading the match in kills at 44-41. However, Miami led the contest in hitting percentage, .287 to .182, aces, 5 to 2, and digs, 54-51. The key difference in the match came on errors as the Hurricanes only had one service error and two blocking errors compared to Georgia's 11 service errors and five blocking errors.
In the opening set, Georgia pulled to within three at 22-19 but Miami scored the final three points to take the set by six at 25-19. The Hurricanes carried that momentum into the second set jumping out to a 4-1 lead. Later in that set, Miami used a 6-0 run to stretch the lead to 10 points en route to taking it by 12 at 25-23. In the third set, the Hurricanes were ahead by seven at 20-13 before the Bulldogs went on a 12-4 run to take a late lead at 25-24, but Miami scored the final three points to close the match.
The Canes were led by Lane Carico and Christine Williamson with 10 kills each, while Georgia's Kathleen Luft and Kathleen Gates each notched double-doubles. Luft provided a match-best 15 kills to go along with 12 digs while Gates had 33 assists and 11 digs. Georgia also received a 13-kill match from freshman outside hitter Tirah Le'au and 15-dig performance from sophomore libero Allison Summers.
Also of note for the Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon, freshman Gaby Smiley made her Bulldog debut recording an ace and two digs.
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Fifth-Set Comeback Lifts Lady Vols To Victory
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — When the Tennessee Lady Volunteers lost the first five points of the fifth and deciding set Saturday, they were down but never out.
The Lady Vols reeled seven consecutive points to turn the momentum in the final frame to beat No. 21 Dayton 25-17, 25-23, 14-25, 23-25, 15-12 and earn their first ranked victory of the season at the Illinois State Farm Classic at Huff Hall.
After losing a close fourth set, the Lady Vols (4-1) fell behind 5-0 to start the fifth but slowly started to pick up steam.
“There wasn’t too much I needed tell the team,” said Tennessee coach Rob Patrick, who called a timeout when the team trailed 4-0. “We knew what we were going to do. Dayton knew what we were going to do. And we knew what Dayton was going to do. It was basically who was going to make the play, and they did a fantastic job after a slow start.”
A kill by sophomore Kelsey Robinson cut Dayton’s lead to 9-7, and fellow sophomore Ellen Mullins started her service game. While she did not get any aces during her turn, she kept the ball in play and Dayton off balance as the Lady Vols won six consecutive points during the possession to take a 13-10 lead.
“Ellen did a great job of putting the ball on the person we wanted to pass the ball, which provided us with an easier time of defending that rotation,” Patrick said. “Ellen continued to do that, even through timeouts and them trying to break her concentration and serving routine. Our defense did a great job picking the ball up in transition.”
From there, the Lady Vols’ final two points came off an attack error and a serve that sailed beyond the baseline.
Robinson scored a career-best 28 kills, the second-most by a Lady Vol in the rally scoring era, while hitting .297 and adding 19 digs. At libero, Mullins led the team in digs with a personal-best 20.
“This is what she wanted; this is why she came to Tennessee,” Patrick said. “She wanted to be a person that made a difference in big matches. We saw that potential. I didn’t know when it was going to happen, whether it would be as a sophomore or junior or senior. She put herself in this position to make these things happen.”
The Lady Vols also benefitted from the consistency of junior Leslie Cikra, who made her season debut after coming back from an ankle injury. She played a handful of points against Illinois on Friday, but Saturday marked her return to the lineup.
She made her presence count on the court, tying her career best with 14 kills and hitting a team-best .323.
Saturday’s first match started fast for the Lady Vols, who entered the contest having won the first set only once in first four matches. Tennessee took the first two sets while hitting at a .370 pace in the first and a whopping .419 in the second.
The Lady Vols jumped ahead on the opening point and never relinquished the lead in the first set. The second set had 17 ties and five lead changes before Robinson had two kills on the final two points to give the Lady Vols a two-set advantage.
Tennessee’s offense tapered off drastically in the next two sets, hitting just .024 and .182 average over the next two frames as Dayton climbed back into the match, winning the third 25-14 and the fourth 25-23.
“When we competed really hard, we controlled the match, and when we didn’t compete like we needed to, Dayton just took advantage,” Patrick said. “When you play great teams like Dayton and Illinois, if you don’t compete every point, the other team will control the match and take momentum.”
Dayton (4-1) was led by Rachel Krabacher, who had 24 kills.
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LSU Volleyball Upends New Mexico State; Wins Hotel Encanto Classic
LAS CRUCES, N.M – Desiree Elliott found her rhythm during the final two sets and finished with 16 kills to vault the LSU volleyball team to its third straight win and a gritty 3-1 triumph over New Mexico State [25-22, 22-25, 25-23, 25-18] Saturday to claim the Hotel Encanto Classic title.
After splitting the first two sets, LSU (6-1) came alive behind 10 Elliott kills on a scorching .600 hitting percentage. The reigning SEC Freshman of the Year also provided a match-high six blocks.
Michele Williams turned in a complete effort with 15 kills, five blocks and three aces. Like Elliott, Williams cranked it up in the last two stanzas and notched six spikes on a .375 hitting clip.
“I can’t say enough about the effort our kids played with today against a very good New Mexico State team in front of a very hostile environment,” head coach Fran Flory said. “Every time we play them, it’s a long and drawn out battle with lots of long rallies. We showed great heart and great competitive desire for the first time this season.”
Helen Boyle chipped in 11 kills to go along with 13 digs to come away with her second career double-double. Madie Jones also provided eight kills for the Tigers.
Returning to the starting lineup after missing the first two matches of the weekend, Malorie Pardo passed out a match-high 50 assists and added five digs. Pardo fueled the Tigers to 16 critical kills in both sets three and four highlighted by a match-best .308 hitting ratio in the fourth frame.
“Malorie gutted it out where I don’t know many players who would have done what she did today,” Flory said. “Those are the types of efforts that define and create opportunities in a season. The bottom line is that we trust her as coaches, and our offense really feeds off of her.”
LSU’s defense bottled up New Mexico State (4-2) to a season-low .100 hitting percentage. Lauren Waclawczyk and Meghan Mannari reeled in 16 and 15 digs, respectively.
“We learned a lot from our loss to Miami last weekend and worked hard at practice on getting better in all parts of our game,” Elliott said. “New Mexico State is a big, physical team like many of the SEC teams we face. After a slow start, I know all I had to do was listen to my teammates and my coaches to make sure my errors didn’t get me down. It’s nice to start our road schedule with three big wins.”
LSU led wire-to-wire in the opening set behind five blocks, three involving Williams. The Aggies evened the ledger five times, the latest at 22-22. LSU answered each occasion and used a Boyle out-of-system kill off the tape followed by a Boyle ace coupled with an Elliott solo stuff to emerge with a 25-22 victory.
New Mexico State used a late frame flurry to snatch set two. Ahead 20-19, the Aggies rode the right arm of Meredith Hays. She popped three of her team-high 14 kills to fuel the spurt. The Tigers fended off three set points down 24-19, but Hays delivered the final sideout as NMSU took a 25-22 decision.
LSU regrouped out of the locker room and led for a majority of the third set. A Williams ace put the Tigers ahead 23-18, but New Mexico State ran off five quick points to deadlock the score at 23-23. After a LSU timeout, Elliott ripped back-to-back kills to lift the Tigers to a 25-23 triumph.
Down 15-12 in set four, LSU found its bearings behind Sam Delahoussaye’s serve. The Tigers rolled to 10 consecutive points to seize momentum and close out the match. Elliott and Boyle dominated play with three kills each. The duo also combined for a pair of blocks before Jones ripped a cross-court kill to secure the 25-18 win.
“Desiree and Sam’s runs were the defining factor for us in the match,” Flory said. “When you have veterans, you expect them to make those plays. I also thought Helen found her rhythm passing which allowed her to turn it on offensively and defensively. She had some key digs to keep us rallies and accurate digs to put us in transition offense.”
LSU wraps up the non-conference slate with a trip to Western Kentucky where the Tigers will face off against Wake Forest, Xavier and the host Hilltoppers.
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Florida Wins Invitational
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Without dropping a set and forcing their three opponents into a -.018 hitting percentage on the weekend, the No. 9 Florida volleyball team (6-0) was named the 2011 Campus USA Credit Union Invitational champions.
The story of the match was sophomore middle blocker Chloe Mann (Gainesville, Fla.) who, in her first career start, tripled her career high in kills with nine, had a career-high five blocks and tied tournament MVP Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) for a match-high of 12 points, also a career high for Mann. The hometown hitter was errorless on the afternoon, hitting at a .818 clip and never committed an error all weekend, hitting .682.
"Chloe played the match of her life today," Florida head coach Mary Wise said. "She really brought her A-game and took full advantage of her starting opportunity. She is the best jumper on the team. She looks like an experienced player out there and she never looks lost. Our ability to hold Clemson to .024 had a lot to do with the play of Chloe in terms of stabilizing the front-row blocking."
Sophomore setter Chanel Brown (Tempe, Ariz.), Jaeckel, senior right-side/setter Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.) and redshirt freshman libero Taylor Unroe (Muncie, Ind.) were named to the All-Tournament Team. Jaeckel contributed a match-high 11 kills and seven digs, as well as a service ace and five blocks.
Florida had 10 total blocks in the match, its highest output of the season and the most in a three-set match since Nov. 5, 2010 at Georgia. Senior middle hitter Cassandra Anderson (Bakersfield, Calif.), Mann and junior right-side Tangerine Wiggs (Seattle, Wash.) each had five total blocks. Murphy wasn't far behind with four blocks of her own. Jaeckel, senior outside hitter Stephanie Ferrell (Los Angeles, Calif.) and redshirt freshman libero Taylor Unroe (Muncie, Ind.) added seven digs apiece.
The Gators and Tigers dueled for the first points in the opening frame. After Clemson tied the score at 3-3, Mann fired a blast in the middle of the Tigers' offense to take the lead, 4-3. The Orange and Blue didn't allow Clemson back into the game. Unroe had a service ace to extend the lead to 10-5 and cause a Tigers timeout. Jaeckel had a slam down the line, coupled with an ace from Brown, and Florida extended its lead to 19-11. The final point of the set was a tremendous stuff block by Murphy and Anderson to give the Gators the set, 25-14.
Clemson brought out their claws early in the second stanza to give the Tigers an early 5-3 lead. The Gators finally tied the set at 7-7 with a Wiggs-Anderson block, and Murphy's ace gave the Orange and Blue their first lead of the second set, 8-7. The Gators shut the door on the Tigers with a 5-0 run to secure their lead at 11-7. Jaeckel found the seam in the Clemson block, continuing Florida's run and putting Anderson behind the service line. Another 5-0 run extended the Gators' lead to 19-10. Brown dished a perfect quick set for Anderson to deliver the final shot, giving the Gators a 25-16 win heading into the break.
The Tigers came out of intermission ready to battle by taking another early lead over the Gators, 7-4. Jaeckel served a 5-0 run, giving the Gators a two-point advantage with a 9-7 lead. Clemson fought and tied the Gators three separate times, but were unable to take the lead back from UF. A Mann stuff block continued the Gator momentum and expanded the gap to a 16-12 lead. The teams traded points before Murphy slammed an overpass from the Tigers to extend the lead to 20-15. The Lowe's Senior CLASS Award candidate served up an ace on the back line to close the door on the Tigers, 25-18.
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Rebels Down Eastern Illinois 3-2 At Cardinal Classic
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Senior middle blocker Regina Thomas hit .476 while recording a double-double with 12 kills and 10 blocks to help lead Ole Miss (1-3) to a win over Eastern Illinois (2-5) by a score of 3-2 (23-25, 25-18, 25-16, 22-25, 15-5) at the Cardinal Classic on Saturday.
Thomas was one of three Rebels to record double-digit kills on the night as Kara Morgan and Allegra Wells both added 11 kills on the night. Thomas’ match-high 10 blocks helped lead the Rebel net defense as Ole Miss out-blocked Eastern Illinois 17.0 to 10.0 on the night.
Three Rebels hit .300 or better in the match, led by Thomas and joined by Kellie Goss’ .375 hitting performance and Amanda Philpot’s .308 attack percentage. Goss put down eight kills and added four blocks, while Philpot put down six kills and added five blocks to go along with 33 assists.
Morgan Springer led the back row defense with 19 digs, a match-high for the Rebel.
“Regina Thomas is starting to come back a little more each day in the gym,” said Ole Miss head coach Joe Getzin. “We have to do a better job of creating some offense. We look forward to another high-level match against Wichita State tomorrow.”
The Panthers jumped out to an early lead on the Rebels to open the match, moving in front of the Red and Blue 5-1 out of the gates. Ole Miss recovered, fighting back to tie the match at eight on a service ace from Morgan before a Thomas kill gave the Rebels the first lead of the set.
The Rebels held the lead from there, until Eastern Illinois put together a run to erase a three-point lead nd tie the match at 21. It was back and forth from there before an attack error and a Panther kill gave Eastern Illinois the first set 25-23.
Ole Miss turned the tables in the second set, pushing out to a 5-1 lead on the Panthers. The Rebels never relinquished the lead, seeing the advantage cut to two points twice – at 11-9 and 17-15 – but held on throughout to claim the second set 25-18 and even the match at a set each.
The third set again saw the Rebels storm ahead of the Panthers out of the gate, staking a 6-1 lead on Eastern Illinois that rapidly grew to 14-2. Ole Miss was never threatened in the set as the Rebels took a lead in the match with a 25-16 win in the third frame.
Ole Miss once again claimed an early lead on the Panthers in the fourth set, moving out in front of Eastern Illinois 6-2 before the Panthers would chip away at the lead. A Rebel attack error evened the score at 12 and set the stage for a nip-and-tuck battle down the stretch.
The Rebels would hold as much as a two-point lead at 19-17, but Eastern Illinois strung together a final run to surge in front 24-21 before a kill from Emily Franklin sent things into a fifth set with a 25-22 win for the Panthers in set four.
It was all Rebels in the fifth and final frame, as Ole Miss raced ahead of the Panthers 5-1 to start things off and kept the offense in high-gear. The Rebels never let Eastern Illinois any closer than four points again on the way to a 15-5 match clinching win in set five.
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UT Drops Five Setter To Houston
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Just hours after the Tennessee Lady Volunteers rallied late for a five-set victory over 21st-ranked Dayton, they did not repeat that feat in their evening contest against Houston.
The Lady Vols fell behind early in the final set and lost in five sets 19-25, 25-22, 25-23, 20-25, 15-8 to close out their final match at the Illinois State Farm Classic at Huff Hall.
Tennessee (4-2) wrapped up the two-day tournament with a 1-2 record, having also lost in four sets to a talented seventh-ranked Illinois squad Friday evening.
The deciding fifth set was tied 6-6 when Houston jumped on a 7-1 run to go up 13-7. While the Lady Vols had dug out of a five-point deficit against Dayton earlier, they could not string the points together a second time.
Errors plagued Tennessee off and on during the match, particularly in the service game, where they had six aces but 19 serves that landed outside of play, a ratio that made it difficult for the team to get its offense rolling. Houston, on the other hand, had two aces and just 10 service errors.
Sophomore Kelsey Robinson once again led Tennessee offensively, getting another double-double with 22 kills and 14 digs. Sophomore Ellen Mullins led with 17 digs.
Freshman Tiffany Baker was also a bright spot for the Lady Vols, playing her most productive match from the front line. She had a career-best 14 kills and hit .400.
The first two sets were closely contested, each with more than 10 tie scores and five lead changes. Tennessee led 20-15 in the second set, when Houston surged to take 10 of the next 12 points to close out the set and even the match at one set each.
Houston took the lead early in the third set and held on, but Tennessee battled back in the fourth, where the Lady Vols led from the first point on. They forced the deciding set thanks to hitting .325 while limiting Houston to .188.
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UK Volleyball Captures Kentucky Classic with Third Sweep
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky volleyball team captured the Kentucky Classic in stylish fashion capping off the weekend with its third consecutive sweep this time a (25-22, 25-22, 29-27) win over Virginia Tech Saturday evening in front of 1,188 fans in Memorial Coliseum.
The Blue and White did not drop a set in the first of its two home tournaments and improve to 5-2 overall on the season. Virginia Tech drops to 3-3 on the year with the loss.
“They (the tournament field) are all good teams that we played this weekend,” UK coach Craig Skinner said. “We talked about being more consistent and I thought we did that this weekend.”
Junior libero Stephanie Klefot was the anchor of consistency for the Blue and White this weekend with an average of five digs per set en route to earning the tournament’s most valuable player honors. She picked up a match-high 14 in the clinching victory over Virginia Tech.
Setter Christine Hartmann and outside hitter Lauren O’Conner were also named to the All-Tournament team. Hartmann averaged 11.5 assists per set in setting up four players with more than 2.20 kills per stanza. The squad posted a tournament-best .220 hitting clip under Hartmann’s direction. O’Conner paced the Wildcat attack with 3.78 digs per set and 4.28 overall points. O’Conner tallied three straight double-figure kill efforts and led the Wildcats in scoring in every match.
In tonight’s victory, sophomore Whitney Billings provided an additional spark with a season-high 10 kills and 13 scoops for the team’s first double-double effort of the season. She also posted four blocks to add to her stat line.
Senior Gretchen Giesler also reached double-figures with 10 kills, while senior Ann Armes tallied eight and paced the defensive front line with six rejections. Junior Ashley Frazier chipped in with eight hammers and the duo of sophomore Jessi Greenberg and freshman Jackie Napper combined for 12 digs.
The Wildcats benefited from a 10-1 run through the middle half of the opening set to go ahead 1-0 behind a 25-22 victory. UK posted 17 kills on a blistering .333 average led by four kills each from Armes and O’Conner.
Kentucky grabbed the early lead behind a kill from Giesler, but Virginia Tech rallied to earn the largest lead of the set at 14-9. Another kill from Giesler jump started the 10-1 run in which UK struck for five kilsl in the run and the team of Armes and Billings paired up for a pair of blocks. With Kentucky owning a 19-15 edge after the dominating run, the Wildcats marched on to the opening frame victory topped off by a kill from Frazier.
Armes’ defensive prowess opened the second set which was finished by an O’Conner kill that gave the Wildcats the first point of the set and UK never looked back. Kentucky maintained a lead throughout the entire frame and a kill from Giesler became the clinching point in another 25-22 win.
UK notched 15 kills on .162 hitting with Giesler leading the charge with five. Kentucky’s defense was at its best in the second set forcing Virginia Tech into nine hitting errors, five of which turned into UK blocks. The Hokies managed just 10 kills on a .029 hitting clip.
The final set of action turned into an exciting finish for the raucous crowd. Kentucky opened a substantial lead going ahead as many as seven at 8-1. The visitors would not go away, however, fighting back to eventually tie the score at 21. The Hokies then scored the next three points to earn set-point at 24-22. UK saved the match with back-to-back kills from O’Conner and Giesler.
An error by Virginia Tech lifted UK to set point, but the visitors fired back. The team of Hartmann and Armes combined for a stuff block to give UK a 28-27 edge. Armes finished the match by tossing down her eighth kill of the match to preserve Kentucky’s unblemished weekend.
The Wildcats posted a match-high 19 kills in the frame with O’Conner finishing strong with seven in the set.
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South Carolina Moves to 7-0, Wins Gamecock Invite with Sweep of UNC Asheville
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina swept its way past UNC Asheville (3-4), 25-16, 25-14, 25-10, to claim the Gamecock Invitational title on Saturday night at the Volleyball Competition Facility. The Gamecocks move to 7-0 under first-year head coach Scott Swanson, just the fourth time South Carolina has been 7-0 in volleyball since entering the Southeastern Conference in 1991, joining the 1992, 1995 and 2009 teams with that record.
Freshman outside hitter Bethanie Thomas claimed tournament MVP honors after hitting .391 on the weekend with a 3.15 kills and 3.00 digs average. Junior setter Taylor Bruns (11.38 assists per set, 18 kills) and sophomore middle blocker Frankie Vain (2.31 kills per set, .519 hitting percentage) joined her on the all-tournament team. UNC Asheville’s Cindi Miller, Elon’s Caroline Lemke and Davidson’s Caroline Brown also made the all-tournament team.
Against UNC Asheville, sophomore outside hitter Juliette Thévenin led the way with 10 kills and nine assists, while Thomas added seven kills and a match-high 12 digs. Sophomore libero Paige Wheeler added 10 digs. Senior middle blocker Teresa Stenlund hit .455, tied for best among attackers for the Gamecocks, with six kills while posting eight blocks, a season best. Miller led the Bulldogs with 11 kills and 11 digs, while Alex Stewart added 10 digs.
Thévenin led a balanced Gamecock attack to a first-set win, 25-16, posting four kills in the frame. A kill from the sophomore gave South Carolina a 10-9 lead, one they would never relinquish, but three-consecutive aces by Vain gave the Gamecocks some distance from the Bulldogs. From there, the Bulldogs would only put together back-to-back points once the rest of the frame. A series of kills from Vain, freshman outside hitter Hanna Forst and Thévenin ended it. Thomas and Forst also had three kills in the set, while Thomas contributed six digs.
South Carolina again worked well on Vain’s serving to start pulling away in the second. A three-point run on her serve gave the Gamecocks a 12-7 lead. Two more three-point skeins stretched the lead out to 19-11, with Thévenin posting two kills in the first of those. Carolina closed out the frame at 25-14 with four-consecutive points, getting kills from redshirt freshman Cara Howley and Thévenin, a solo block from Vain and a kill from freshman setter Lexie Pawlik. Thévenin had five more kills in the set, while Stenlund posted two kills among her four points. The Gamecocks held UNC Asheville to a -.038 hitting percentage in the second.
After a Gamecock attack error started the third set, South Carolina ran away from UNC Asheville with a seven-point stand on Bruns’ serve that included consecutive Thomas kills. UNC Asheville could not get a run going against the Gamecock defense, which posted 17 digs and three blocks in the frame. Stenlund did most of the work in a five-point run that made it 19-8 with a kill, a solo block and a block assist. A five-point run ended it at 25-10, with Thomas posting a kill and the final two aces and Pawlik getting credit for two kills. Thomas made four kills in all in the third, not making an error on seven swings, leading the Gamecocks to a .538 mark in the frame. Howley also had three kills without an error in the frame.
South Carolina posted season bests in aces (7) and blocks (9), dominating those two categories while winning them all against UNC Asheville.
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Georgia Volleyball Falls To UC Santa Barbara, 3-1
MALIBU, Calif. – The University of Georgia volleyball team concluded its play in the Pepperdine Asics Classic on Saturday night falling 3-1 to UC Santa Barbara, 3-1, at Firestone Fieldhouse.
UC Santa Barbara (2-4) earned the win over Georgia (2-4) with set scores of 21-25, 25-15, 25-16 and 25-20. The Gauchos tallied 67 kills on a .324 hitting percentage, 70 digs and 5.0 blocks compared to the Bulldogs 43 kills on a .170 clip, 55 digs and 8.0 blocks.
"Throughout the weekend we found moments of what we can be," Georgia head coach Lizzy Stemke said. "Obviously, we are still working on some consistency and finding that fight for a full match. This was tough tournament with some top teams, and we are looking to be pushed. Hopefully, we can take those moments of fight and start to put some more runs together in the future."
UCSB was led by Stacey Schmidt, Leay Sully and Kara Sherrard. Schmidt and Sully notched double-doubles as Schmidt had a match-best 20 kills on a .581 mark and 14 digs while Sully had 13 kills and 16 digs. Sherrard added 13 kills as well, and the Gauchos' defensive effort was supported by 21 digs from Chelsey Lowe.
Georgia was paced by redshirt sophomore outside hitter Kathleen Luft and freshman outside hitter Tirah Le'au with 11 kills each while sophomore libero Allison Summers provided a career-best 21 digs. Luft was selected to the All-Tournament team after finishing the weekend with 34 kills and 29 digs.
In the first set, UGA and UCSB were tied three times late in the frame at 18, 19 and 20 points until the Bulldogs went on a four-point run to go up 24-20 and then win it 25-21. Luft led the Dogs in the opening set with six kills.
In the second set, UCSB used an 8-0 run to open up an early 9-3 lead. Georgia battled back to pull within two at 12-10, but the Gauchos pulled back away to win the set 25-15.
UCSB broke a 3-3 tie with a 6-1 run and later used a 5-1 run to extend its lead to 18-10. Georgia pulled back to within five at 20-15, the Gauchos closed the set on another 5-1 run to win the set 25-16.
In the fourth set, Georgia held a narrow lead early before the two teams competed to six ties with the final tie coming at 15-15 before UCSB went on a 10-5 run to close the set and match, 25-20.
Earlier in the day on Saturday, Georgia dropped a 3-0 match to Miami (5-0) as the Hurricanes won that contest with set scores of 25-19, 25-13 and 27-25.
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Miss. State Tops Army In California Tournament Finale
STOCKTON, Calif. --- Senior outside hitter Caitlin Rance picked up her fifth all-tournament team honor in two seasons Saturday after leading Mississippi State (2-4) to a hard-fought 3-1 win (25-21, 25-23, 24-26, 25-15) over Army in the 33rd annual Community Bankers Classic. Earlier in the day the Bulldogs dropped a 3-0 decision (20-25, 22-25, 15-25) to Duquesne. State, which dropped a 3-0 opening round setback (25-22, 25-23, 25-19) to host and eventual champion Pacific, finished 1-2 in the tournament.
“We knew we were going to face some stiff challenges in this tournament,” said head coach Jenny Hazelwood. “I’m proud of our players for working through some early-season issues and pushing through for the win against Army. This level of competition will definitely help prepare us for the tough battles we’ll face in the Southeastern Conference.”
Hazelwood also offered praise for Rance. “She works so hard and is such a steady competitor. I’m happy that her hard work gets recognized with all-tournament honors.”
The Bulldogs hit at a weekend-best .243 and rode the 20-kill, 10-dig performance by Rance in the win over Army. It marked Rance’s third double-double of the year and the sixth time in as many matches that she’s reached double figures in kills this season. Rance finished the weekend with 47 kills and 23 blocks and raised her season total to 98 kills.
MSU’s other senior, middle blocker Hannah Wilkinson, tallied 10 kills and four blocks while sophomore setter Paris Perret reached double-double status with 44 assists and 19 kills in her best outing of the campaign.
State got another strong performance at the net from freshman middle Lainey Wyman. Wyman finished with eight kills and a match-leading eight blocks.
“Our freshmen got in a lot of playing time this weekend, and that should prove beneficial as we work to strengthen the depth of our team,” said Hazelwood.
Rookie libero Bentley Witte recorded a match-high 23 digs.
Rance paced the Bulldogs with a match-leading 15 kills in the loss to Duquesne.
With four freshmen in the starting lineup, State stayed close throughout most of the first two sets, trailing by two points late at 22-20 in the opening stanza and 24-22 in the second set. Duquesne jumped out to a 5-1 lead to open the deciding third frame and pulled away from a 14-12 game to earn the win.
Freshmen Alex Scott, Rachel Williams, Lainey Wyman and Kristin Byers opened the match as starters along with libero Bentley Witte, who took match honors with 22 digs.
Allison Foschia paced the Dukes with 13 kills while Liz Homan recorded 10 kills on a .360 hitting performance and finished with a match-leading four blocks.
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Alabama Volleyball Wraps-up Doubletree Invite with 3-2 Loss to SMU
DALLAS, Texas – In the third Alabama match, and final contest of the Doubletree Invitational, the Crimson Tide dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 (20-25, 25-23, 18-25, 25-18, 15-12) loss to the host SMU Mustangs on Saturday night from Moody Coliseum. With the loss, the Tide finished the tournament with a 1-2 record and fell to 4-3 on the season.
Alabama had four match points in the fifth set. However, the Mustangs ran off three straight points to even the fifth set at 14-14, and after the Tide took a 15-14 lead on an error by SMU, the Mustangs rebounded with two straight points for a 16-15 lead. After UA’s Cortney Warren evened the set at 16-16 with her 16th kill of the match, a kill by SMU’s Courtney Manning and a hitting error by Brianne Vande Griend ended the match.
UA Andrea McQuaid had a big match, posting the team’s first triple-double of the season with season-highs of 13 kills and 25 digs, while adding a team-high 29 assists. Stephanie Riley notched her third straight double-double with 28 assists to go along with a career-high 17 digs. In the process, Riley had 66 assists in the tournament to bring her career total to 1,459 to pass Kayla Schmidt for eighth all-time in assist at Alabama.
Kayla Fitterer had a double-double with 16 kills and 18 digs and has had at least 10 kills and 10 digs in all seven matches this season. Cortney Warren added a career-high 16 kills while Vande Griend had 10 kills. Kelsey Anderson paced the Tide with 33 digs.
Alabama hit .220 in the first set with 15 kills and four errors on 50 attempts. With SMU leading 16-15, the Mustangs went on a 5-1 run to take a 21-16 lead and then traded points the rest of the set for a 25-20 decision to open the match.
UA opened an 8-2 lead to start the second set, but SMU rallied to pull within one (8-7). The Tide regrouped, and after leading 12-11, the Tide ripped off five straight points to take a 17-12 lead. SMU’s fight for the set wasn’t over, as the Mustangs took the lead at 22-23. UA closed the set with a kills by Warren and an ace by Riley to even things at 1-1.
The third set was dominated by the Mustangs, as SMU opened an 11-3 advantage to open the set. UA got as close as four points at 14-10 and 18-14, before the Mustangs closed the third set with a 25-18 win for a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Tide did not go down without a fight, winning the fourth set 25-18. McQuaid was big in the fourth for UA as the sophomore had four kills and eight assists. Warren also added six kills in the set, while Fitterer had three kills and a pair of aces. The Tide had its best hitting performance in the fourth set, posting a .300 mark with 16 kills with two errors on 42 attempts.
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Auburn Wins Fifth In A Row, Outlasts MTSU 3-2
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – For the second straight night, Auburn rallied from multiple deficits and prevailed in a deciding fifth set to take a 3-2 (25-22, 15-25, 25-23, 19-25, 15-11) victory over tournament host Middle Tennessee on Saturday night at the Blue Raider Bash.
The Tigers (5-1) have won five matches in a row, matching their longest winning streak from the 2010 season, and won despite being bested in nearly every statistical category by MTSU (2-3). The Blue Raiders outhit the Tigers .276 to .173, had 14 more kills, two fewer errors, 14 more digs and one more block; yet the Tigers’ never-say-die attitude and continued aggressiveness when faced with large deficits in all five sets prevailed.
“Those are fun matches to be involved in,” Auburn head coach Rick Nold said. “You had two very competitive teams. Sometimes at the end it just comes down to getting the right break, and I think we earned those breaks by being aggressive. I think, statistically, they beat us in most every area. But it’s just making the timely play. We try to keep communicating; they were in a very difficult system to stop, so we just tried to stick with the same game plan. In the end, that paid off, and we made some plays when we needed them.”
Sarah Bullock led Auburn with 12 kills in the match to go along with seven digs and three blocks. Camila Jersonsky had the Tigers’ best hitting percentage at .435 with 11 kills and four blocks. Kelly Fidero also had 11 kills on the night, while Vesela Zapryanova had seven kills and seven digs.
Over the three matches so far this weekend, Jersonsky has 32 kills and is hitting .534 with just one attack error over 13 sets played. She also has nine blocks in the three matches.
“I think Camila definitely has come in and made a big impact,” Nold said. “They were doing a lot of things to try and stop her; I thought she did a good job of picking her spots when she could go after them. And then she came up with a big block at the end. So I think she definitely stood out.”
Sarah Wroblicky, making her first start at libero since the season’s opening match, finished with a career-high 15 digs and also had a kill on a mishandled overpass.
“Our passing, overall, was much better tonight,” Nold said. “We had a lot of people rotating through those spots. Starting off the season, that was an area we needed to improve a lot, and I think we have.”
Auburn took the first set 25-22 on the strength of six kills from Kelly Fidero and an outstanding .500 hitting percentage where the Tigers had 15 kills with just three errors. But MTSU was equally impressive with a .357 average as the Tigers had to come from behind to take an early lead in the match. With MTSU leading 19-17, Auburn won the next four points to take a 21-19 lead as MTSU made three errors in that stretch. A pair of kills from Fidero pushed the lead to 23-20 before the Radiers climbed back to within a point at 23-22, but kills from Fidero and Bullock ended the first set in favor of the Tigers.
But the second set was all Blue Raiders as MTSU rolled to a 25-15 win. Auburn hit a flat .000 and especially had trouble from the outside as three attack attempts either hit or went outside the antennas. MTSU jumped out to a 10-5 lead, then extended that to 15-7 on three attack errors by the Tigers. Auburn ran off three straight points at one juncture, but it was too little, too late as MTSU led by as many as 11 in the set.
It was setting up to be more of the same in the third as Middle Tennessee had a 22-18 lead. But a great rotation with Chelsea Wintzinger serving sent the Tigers on a 6-0 run that would give them their first lead since early in the set and lead to a 25-23 win. In that six-point stretch, Jersonsky and Bullock had kills, Wintzinger served up an ace, and MTSU committed three errors to give the Tigers a chance at set point. The Blue Raiders fought off one game point, but served into the net at 24-23 to give Auburn a 2-1 lead in the match. Auburn won the set despite being outhit by the Blue Raiders .286 to .216.
Set number four was quite similar to the second as MTSU jumped out to a 10-4 lead and never really looked back en route to a 25-19 win. Auburn managed to cut the deficit to as few as four points at 16-12 but would get no closer in the set. The Tigers hit just .129 in the set with just nine kills.
The fifth set was a real barn-burner with eight ties and four lead changes. The teams traded leads until Auburn got the first advantage at 8-6 on a pair of kills from Bullock just before the teams changed ends. From there, though, Middle would win five of the next six points – including a highly controversial call on a shot down the line – to make it 11-9 in MTSU’s favor and force an Auburn timeout.
A kill from Fidero to make it a one-point game at 11-10 would force a timeout by MTSU. Little did the Raiders know it would be the start of a 6-0 run to end the match. With Zapryanova serving, a bad set by MTSU tied the match, and a block from Jersonsky gave the Tigers a 12-11 lead. Zapryanova would then serve up an ace to make it a 13-11 game, and Jersonsky put down two kills to end the match and set off a joyous celebration by the Tiger bench.