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Georgia 3, Kennesaw State 0
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Oklahoma 3, Arkansas 1
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Northcutt, Bulldogs Defeat Kennesaw State, 3-0
ATHENS, Ga. – Sophomore outside hitter Brittany Northcutt posted a match-high 13 kills on a .455 hitting percentage to help lead the Georgia Bulldogs past the Kennesaw State Owls, 3-0, on Tuesday evening at the Ramsey Student Center.
Georgia (3-4) took the win over KSU (3-5) by scores of 25-12, 25-18 and 25-17, and the Bulldogs have now posted a sweep in all their victories this season.
"We were able to iron out some details," Georgia head coach Lizzy Stemke said of Tuesday's match. "We've been focusing a lot on serve and pass game. That really showed tonight, and I think that was very big strong point for us. We were able to gain a lot of confidence in that area. This was a big and really important match for us coming off of a super tough weekend. We had a game plan that we executed to a 'T.'"
Northcutt's 13 kills were supported by senior middle blocker Elizabeth Reid’s career-best eight kills as Reid recorded no error on 14 attempts to also post a career-best .571 hitting percentage.
"I think we performed really well today," Reid said. "This game was about staying disciplined and executing our plays. I think we did a good job doing that."
Senior setter Kathleen Gates paced the offensive attack with 32 assists as the Bulldogs hit .321 as a team. Defensively, Allison Summers tallied 11 digs while the Bulldogs blocking effort was led by senior middle blocker Ann Dylla's five stops while Gates and junior Briana Bahr each added four blocks. The Owls were limited to a .054 mark.
Including starting the match with an ace from Gates, the Bulldogs opened on an 8-1 run in the first set. Later in that frame after going up 19-9, three consecutive kills from Northcutt, an ace from senior Carla Tietz and another kill from Reid extended the lead to set-best 15 point advantage at 24-9. KSU scratched three points on the board before the set came to a close on an Owl service error.
The second set opened with the Owls and Bulldogs swapping points before freshman Tirah Le’au recorded a kill that ignited a 5-1 Georgia run to go ahead 12-7. A KSU timeout started to give the visitors’ momentum, but a kill from Bahr’s at 13-9 started a 6-2 scoring spree that added insurance to the Bulldog lead. After going back and forth in scoring late in the frame, Georgia concluded the set with a 25-18 on a kill from Northcutt.
Georgia opened the third set by climbing to an 8-4 lead that including two of Reid's eight kills. The Bulldogs held the lead throughout the set after hitting .267 compared to KSU’s .053 and closed the contest on an 8-3 run capped by an ace from Gates. It was one of eight aces from the Bulldogs while the Owls only recorded one in the match.
"This match really helped us out and got our confidence up coming off of the weekend," Northcutt said. "I think we will work really hard on Wednesday and Thursday to prepare for this weekend."
"We're in a position where we have a pretty deep bench, so we can make some adjustments," Stemke noted about sophomore outside hitter Kathleen Luft suffering a set back with an ankle injury last weekend. "We're preparing for the weekend with the players that are here and now. Kathleen's situation is a day-by-day progress report."
Up next, Georgia returns to the road traveling to Atlanta for the Georgia Tech Regency Suites Invitational this Friday and Saturday. The Bulldogs opening match of that tournament will come against the host Yellow Jackets (4-2) on Friday at 7 p.m. ET.
Arkansas Suffers four-set loss at No. 18 Oklahoma
NORMAN, Okla. - The University of Arkansas volleyball team had three players with double-digit kills but dropped a four-set decision (16-25, 25-18, 25-23, 25-20) to No. 18 Oklahoma Tuesday evening at McCasland Fieldhouse in Norman, Okla. Jasmine Norton led the way with a match-high 17 kills and Kelli Stipanovich posted a double-double effort with 11 kills and 10 digs. Roslandy Acosta added 10 kills and freshman libero Christa Alvarez paced the defense with 13 digs.
In the opening set, the teams traded points to a 7-7 tie but the Razorbacks scored the next four points to take control of play. Later in the set, Arkansas (5-3) used a five-point spurt to extend its lead to eight, 19-11. During that stretch of points, the Razorbacks benefitted from three OU attack errors. The lead reached double figures, 22-12, after another hitting miscue by the Sooners. Acosta closed out the opener, 25-16, on the team's fourth set point with a shot down the line.
Arkansas' offense posted a .357 hitting percentage in set one and six different players had at least two kills. Conversely, the Razorback held Oklahoma (7-1) to a -0.36 hitting percentage in the first set.
The Sooners responded quickly to start the second game. An early 7-1 run put Oklahoma in the driver's seat through the middle phases of the set. The home team padded its lead and went ahead by 10 on three separate occasions, the last time coming at 21-11. With its back against the wall, Arkansas won the next seven points to pull to within three. Once again, the Razorbacks took advantage of OU errors during the push. However, the Sooners won the final four points to win the set, 25-18.
"I felt like we just stopped working," Norton said. "We tried to get back into the sets but were too far behind and it was too late. We just need to keep working at being more consistent throughout the entire match."
Game three was a near replica of the second. Arkansas gave the Sooners four of their first five points on errors, forcing head coach Robert Pulliza into an early timeout. Oklahoma's lead ballooned to nine, 21-12, before the Razorbacks began its comeback.
With Amanda Anderson at the service line, Arkansas reeled off eight points in a row to pull to within one. Norton tallied five kills during the rally and defensive substitute Marci King got in on back-to-back blocks to get the team back into the set. The Sooner regained their form and on its second set point, OU won the game, 25-23, with a kill by Suzy Boulavsky.
The fourth set was the most evenly played on the scoreboard with neither team building a lead of more than three points until late. The Razorbacks led, 10-7, after an ace by Raymariely Santos, but from that point, the set was tied seven times until the score was tied at 17-all. Oklahoma won eight of the final 11 points of the match to win the set, 25-20.
The Razorbacks travel to the Empire State this weekend for the West Point Challenge. Including Arkansas, the field at the non-conference event features Dartmouth, NJIT and host Army. Arkansas is scheduled to play two matches Friday before closing out the event Sunday.