| volleyBALL RESULTS |
Arkansas 3, Dartmouth 1
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LSU 3, Wake Forest 0
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Ole Miss 3, Arkansas-Little Rock 0
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Clemson 3, South Carolina 0
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Tennessee 3, Seton Hall 0
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Miami 3, Auburn 0
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Georgia Tech 3, Georgia 0
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Alabama 3, Toledo 1
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Kentucky 3, Houston 1
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Arkansas 3, Army 0
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Xavier 3, LSU 2
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Mississippi State 3, Lamar 0
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Ole Miss 3, Northwestern 1
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Florida 3, Texas 2
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Stipanovich reaches 1,000 in win over Dartmouth
WEST POINT, N.Y. – Kelli Stipanovich reached 1,000 career kills Friday morning as the University of Arkansas volleyball team beat Dartmouth in four sets (25-9, 25-15, 22-25, 27-25) in the opening match of the West Point Challenge. Stipanovich, Jasmine Norton and Raymariely Santos each posted double-double performances and libero Christa Alvarez tallied a season-high 20 digs.
With her 13th kill of the match, a tip shot out of the back row in the fourth set, Stipanovich became the 15th player in program history to reach the career milestone. She is the second Razorback to reach 1,000 career kills this season, joining Norton who eclipsed the mark last weekend at the Deacon Invitational. It marks the fourth time Arkansas teammates have reached 1,000 career kills in the same season.
“I knew I was close to getting it but I didn’t know I was that close,” Stipanovich said. “That number gives me a lot of confidence knowing that I’m making steps in the right direction. As a team, we have a lot to work on but I’m excited to get to 1,000. With Jasmine getting there last week, it’s a really exciting time for us.”
Stipanovich finished the match with 15 kills and a career-best 16 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. Norton had a match-high 17 kills and added 10 digs for her first double-double effort of the year. In the fourth set, Norton had 11 kills and no attack errors.
At the setter position, Santos dished out 45 assists and had a season-high 15 digs for her first double-double performance of the season. She guided the Razorback offense to a .293 hitting percentage. Janeliss Torres-Lopez added 10 kills.
The Razorbacks won the first 11 points of the match on their way to their most lopsided set win since the 2009 season. Arkansas held Dartmouth to a negative hitting figure through the first two sets of the match and eased to a 2-0 lead in the match.
In the third set, Dartmouth went ahead early and led by four but the middle stages of the set went back and forth with the teams trading points. Arkansas pulled even at 19-19 after back-to-back tandem blocks. With the score tied at 22, the Big Green rattled off the final three points of the set—two by way of Arkansas errors—to force game four.
“Bottom line is we have to toughen up,” Stipanovich said. “We had some All-American numbers out there but as a team, we have to know how good we can be and then play like it. We can’t settle. We have to commit to winning.”
After losing the first point of the fourth set, Arkansas went ahead and held the lead for the remainder of the match. The Razorbacks arrived at match point, 24-21, after a kill by Stipanovich but Dartmouth stayed alive with three straight kills by Madeline Baird to tie the score. On its fifth match point, however, Arkansas secured the win with a kill by Norton. She had the team’s final three points.
Arkansas returns to the court Friday evening for its second match of the day. The Razorbacks will play host Army at the Gillis Field House with first serve scheduled for 6 p.m. (CT).
LSU Crushes Wake Forest
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Malorie Pardo set a balanced attack as the LSU volleyball team ripped a .302 team hitting percentage and three players collected double digit kills during a 3-0 rout of Wake Forest (25-13, 25-17, 25-13) Friday to open the WKU Tournament at E.A. Diddle Arena on the campus of Western Kentucky University.
LSU (7-1) won its fourth straight match and secured its fifth sweep of the season. The Tigers also posted their 16th consecutive September victory dating back to the 2009 season.
Pardo handed out a match-high 41 assists and added 10 digs to secure her second career double-double. For the match, LSU’s offense racked up 47 kills on a crisp .302 hitting percentage. The Tigers have attacked at over a .300 hitting ratio during three of Pardo’s five starts on the season.
“I thought we had a great overall performance,” head coach Fran Flory said. “We got off to a little bit of a slow start, but did an excellent job of adjusting to the game plan that Wake Forest had prepared for us. The good news to come out of this match is that we were able to adapt to a way that another team was trying to affect our offense and still succeed at a very high level.”
The Tigers (7-1) rode the quick, efficient right-arms of Desiree Elliott, Madie Jones and Michele Williams. The trio combined for 36 of the squad’s 47 spikes on a collective .397 hitting percentage.
Williams fueled the charge and powered home 13 kills on 21 swings with only one error to notch a blistering .571 hitting clip.
Jones blasted 12 kills on a .302 hitting ratio to return to double digit kills for the first time since opening weekend, while Elliott hammered home 11 spikes to go along with a match-best four blocks.
“We can probably start to call them the big three [Desiree Elliott, Madie Jones and Michele Williams] because they’re going to carry the load for us,” Flory said. “We worked really hard this week in practice on shot selection and finishing plays. I thought the entire team did a fantastic job with that aspect of their game during this match.”
Defensively, the SEC’s top unit flustered Wake Forest (2-3) into a season-low .063 hitting percentage. It marked the sixth time on the young season that the Tigers have held the opposition to under a .100 clip.
LSU amassed an astounding 61 digs behind Meghan Mannari’s match-high 16 scoops. She has garnered 10 or more digs in six of her first seven appearances on the season. Helen Boyle also chipped in 14 digs for the Tigers.
“The performance of our back row was outstanding,” Flory said. “They did a wonderful of staying patient and allowing plays to materialize. When you have three defensive players finish with 10 or more digs in a three-set match, it’s an extremely impressive effort all the way around.”
The Tigers overcame an early 3-0 hole in the opening set. Ahead 11-10, LSU used a strong finishing kick and ran 14 of the final 17 points to win going away, 25-13. Elliott, Jones and Williams teamed up to pop 14 of the Tigers 17 kills during the frame.
Set two was much of the same as LSU found its bearings during the middle of the frame. Holding a 13-11 edge, the Tigers seized momentum behind a pair of Williams kills coupled with a block from Elliott and Nicole Willis to surge ahead 19-13. The Tigers forced Wake Forest into a match-high seven attack errors during the set and another Williams spike provided the finishing touches to a 25-17 win.
The third set proved to be a carbon copy of the previous two stanzas. After five ties and two early lead changes, LSU took control at 13-10 to finish off the sweep in style on a 12-3 spurt. The Tigers ran off the final six points of the match capped by two blocks involving Marissa Maas for the 25-13 triumph.
LSU continues the WKU Tournament Friday with a 4:30 p.m. tilt versus Xavier. Live stats are offered through the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net. In-match updates also are available via the program's social media outlets at http://twitter.com/lsuvolleyball or LSU Volleyball on Facebook.
“Xavier runs a faster pace of an offense, similar to what we run,” Flory said. “It’s a completely different challenge and pace than the match we just had. We’re going to have to be prepared to change tempos and rhythms within the match. It’s a challenge that I hope we’re ready for.”
Ole Miss Downs UALR to Open Magnolia Invitational
OXFORD, Miss. – The middle blockers came up big for the Rebels on Friday afternoon, combining for 21 kills, as Ole Miss (2-4) defeated UALR (3-5) by a score of 3-0 (25-19, 26-24, 25-21) at the Magnolia Invitational.
Courtney Cunningham put down a team-high 11 kills with four blocks and hit .412, while senior Regina Thomas put down 10 kills with seven blocks and hit .381 to help lead the Rebels past the Trojans.
Amanda Philpot and Morgan Springer both added 10 digs each for the match to lead the back row defense.
Ole Miss out-blocked UALR 11.0 to 7.0 for the match.
It was back-and-forth to open the match before the Rebels took advantage of a service error by the Trojans and take a 6-5 lead in the set. The slight opening sparked an Ole Miss run as the lead swelled to seven points t 15-8. The Rebels never trailed again in the set, closing it out with a 25-19 win.
The second set reversed with UALR breaking an 8-8 tie to move out to a five point lead on the Rebels. Undeterred, the Rebels kept fighting back and chipping away at the lead before tying the set at 20. UALR again moved out in front only to see Ole Miss knot things at 24. A block from Cunningham and a service error from Kiley Sherman pushed things the way of the Rebels as Ole Miss claimed the second set 26-24.
Ole Miss fell behind early in the third set before fighting back to tie the score at six. The Rebels used a quick run to extend the lead to seven at 15-8 and never looked back. Ole Miss won the match with a 25-21 win in the third set.
The Rebels will return to action tonight against the Northwestern Wildcats (5-1) at 7 p.m. at the Gillom Sports Center. Admission is free.
Gamecocks Drop Match to Clemson in Three
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Despite a double-double from sophomore outside hitter Juliette Thévenin, South Carolina (7-1) fell in three sets to Clemson (5-3), as the Tigers won sets 25-16, 25-22, 25-18, on Friday afternoon at TD Arena in the College of Charleston Invitational opener.
Thévenin tallied 14 kills and 10 digs for the Gamecocks, while sophomore libero Paige Wheeler and freshman outside hitter Bethanie Thomas both compiled 10 digs. Junior setter Taylor Bruns had six kills, 28 assists and nine digs.
Sandra Adeleye led the Tigers with 13 kills, while Serenat Yaz posted 10 kills, 10 digs and two aces. Kamryn Sherman posted 20 assists and 11 digs, while Hannah Brenner had 16 assists and eight digs.
Clemson took a 25-16 win in the first set behind a nearly perfect offense. Adeleye had five of the Tigers’s 15 kills, and Clemson only made one attack error in the frame. The Tigers raced to a 7-3 lead behind a pair of aces from Kristin Faust. A six-point run made it 19-10, as Adeleye started it with two kills. Monisha Simmons ended the frame with a kill. Bruns and sophomore defensive specialist Lindsey Craft both had six digs in the frame for the Gamecocks.
South Carolina held leads of 8-6 and 13-10 before Clemson came back in the second, taking six of seven points in one stretch to take the 18-15 lead. The Tigers moved it to 21-17 before South Carolina drew to within one on three-consecutive kills by Thévenin. But the Tigers prevailed, 25-22, with Simmons capping things again with a kill. Thévenin had seven kills in the frame, but Adeleye matched her and only had one error on her 11 swings. Junior Christina Glover, Thomas and Thévenin all had five digs for South Carolina.
The Gamecocks and Tigers battled back and forth in the third until the Tigers claimed five of six points in a series to capture a 20-15 lead. The Tigers ended it at 25-18 with an ace by Yaz, who had 10 of Clemson’s points in the frame (eight kills, two aces).
Clemson won every stat category except blocks, where the Gamecocks owned a 6-4 advantage. The Tigers out-hit the Gamecocks, .287-.182.
South Carolina ends its non-conference slate on Saturday with matches against the College of Charleston at 12 noon and Winthrop at 5 p.m. in TD Arena.
Lady Vols Earn Second Sweep of 2011
BLACKSBURG, Va. —The Tennessee Lady Volunteers started the Virginia Tech Invitational the best way possible Friday, with a three-set sweep against Seton Hall at Cassell Coliseum.
After cutting down early errors, the Lady Vols started clicking on all phases of the game in the third set en route to a 25-22, 25-17, 25-15 victory over Seton Hall.
The Lady Vols (5-2) picked up steam offensively as each set passed in their second shutout of the season. Their attack percentage rose from .132 in the first set to .312 in the second and finally .371 to close out the match in the third.
Much of the improved came with simply eliminating many mistakes. In the first set, Tennessee had seven attack errors, finishing with just 13 in the match. In the second set, the Lady Vols committed seven of 11 service errors.
“We kind of shot ourselves in the foot not just in game one, but game two as well,” Tennessee head coach Rob Patrick said. “Any time we wanted to start building momentum, we’d make an error. In the first set, it was hitting errors. In the second set, it was serving errors.
“It made the match harder for us to get things going, but I was happy with our improvement throughout the match. I thought our defense improved as the match went on. We were able to provide ourselves with a lot of opportunities to get some kills in rallies.”
Once again, sophomore Kelsey Robinson led the Lady Vols offensively, collecting 11 and hitting .400 in the match.
Freshman Shealyn Kolosky also added her best performance to date, getting a career-best 10 kills while hitting a whopping .769 (10-0-13) from the middle blocker position. Her first six attacks were kills.
“Shealyn’s been improving every single weekend,” Patrick said. “We just integrated her in our offense a little more and a little more and used her great arm swing to get her the ball.
“In the short period we’ve played already, she’s shown she’s not one to make a lot of errors. Our passing was on, you have to give credit to Mary Pollmiller to give Shealyn opportunities to take swings.”
Freshman setter Mary Pollmiller had 29 of the team’s 37 assists.
Defensively, Tennessee was on point all evening, holding Seton Hall to a .041 attack percentage. Sophomore libero Ellen Mullins led the way with 13 kills, and junior Jasmine Brown had a career-best 10 digs, surpassing her previous high of five.
Seton Hall (3-4) committed 21 attack errors in the match, compared to Tennessee’s 13.
“One of the things we really needed to work on that was exposed the first couple of weekends, was that there are some teams that just played better defense than us,” Patrick said. “With our athleticism, we saw that was an area of improvement. That’s something that we really worked on this week and spent time on in practice, and that’s something we need to work on as the season goes along.”
Tennessee led 18-11 to start the first set, but Seton Hall jumped on a 7-0 run to tie the match 18-18 and again at 20-20 before Robinson put the Lady Vols ahead for good with kill off a pass from Pollmiller.
The second set was the closest of the three early on, featuring eight ties and four lead changes. Kolosky got a kill to break a 9-9 tie, and despite the seven service errors, Tennessee led the rest of the way to take the frame 25-17.
Patrick called a timeout at 2-2 to start the third set, and Tennessee never slowed down from there. Kolosky got a kill and then served three consecutive points as the Lady Vols jumped ahead 6-2. Mullins later served during a 7-0 run that put Tennessee up 15-5.
Tennessee returns to Cassell Coliseum for a pair of matches tomorrow, playing American at 10:30 a.m. and host Virginia Tech at 7 p.m. A live blog will be available at UTLadyVols.com for both matches.
Auburn Falls at Miami 3-0
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Auburn matched their season-high with 10 blocks against a tough Miami squad on Friday night, but fell to the Hurricanes 3-0 (14-25, 22-25, 16-25) in the opening match of the Hurricane Invitational at the James L. Knight Sports Complex.
The Tigers (5-3) were strong defensively as they had their second match of the season in double-figures with blocks, but Miami (8-0) proved to be too strong with their attack and remained undefeated on the year.
Sarah Bullock led the Tigers with eight kills; she also had nine digs in the contest. Kelly Fidero finished with six kills, five digs and four blocks, while Camila Jersonsky had five blocks along with three kills. Libero Sarah Wroblicky finished with a team-high 14 digs, and Chelsea Wintzinger recorded 22 assists.
Miami out-hit Auburn by a .268 to .139 margin, recording 46 kills against the Tigers’ 34. The Hurricanes also won the digs battle 61-54, but were outblocked 10-4 by the Tigers.
The first set started well for the Tigers as they jumped out to an early 5-2 lead, but the Hurricanes would go on a 6-0 run to force an Auburn timeout. From there, the Hurricanes stayed in control, extending their lead throughout the set and eventually taking a 25-14 win. In the set, Auburn hit .091 while the Hurricanes swung at a .368 clip.
Set number two saw the Tigers outhit Miami .191-.143, but the Hurricanes took a 25-22 win to take a two-game lead in the match. The difference in the second set was in the service game as Miami scored a pair of aces with no errors while the Tigers had no aces but three errors on serve. Auburn never led in the set, but rallied from a 19-15 deficit to cut the margin to 22-21. Miami then scored two in a row, and Auburn was able to fight off one set point but not the second.
Miami jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the third set, but Auburn would not go away quietly. The Tigers rallied to cut the deficit to 13-9 after three straight kills from Vesela Zapryanova, Bullock and Fidero, but Miami would then pull away with three straight points of their own. Miami had 15 kills to Auburn’s 11 in the set, out-hitting the Tigers .333 to .129.
The Tigers will conclude the non-conference portion of their schedule Saturday with a pair of matches to wrap up the Hurricane Invitational. Auburn faces No. 18-ranked Oklahoma at 9 a.m. CT and then closes out the week with a 3 p.m. match against Florida A&M.
Georgia Falls To Georgia Tech, 3-0
ATLANTA – The University of Georgia volleyball team fell in its opening match of the Georgia Tech Regency Suites Invitational to the host Yellow Jackets, 3-0, in front of a sell-out crowd of 1,384 at O'Keefe Gymnasium on Friday evening.
Georgia Tech (5-2) earned the victory over Georgia (3-5) with set scores of 25-23, 25-19 and 25-22, but the match was closely contested throughout. The Yellow Jackets held the lead in the match in hitting percentage, .266 to .202, and blocks, 6.0 to 5.0, while the Bulldogs led the contest in kills, 38 to 35, and digs, 27-22.
"We have been talking about mini games, and each point is a mini game," Georgia head coach Lizzy Stemke said. "We are so proud of the way we fought tonight. We haven't seen that length of fight yet, and tonight we made a huge step forward because that fight was there every point. We executed a game plan and the trust out there is coming."
Georgia freshman Tirah Le'au posted a match-high 12 kills on a .476 hitting percentage, and her effort was supported by 11 kills from sophomore Brittany Northcutt.
"Tirah had an absolute coming out party tonight," Stemke said. "That's a kid who has been playing on the right for us all preseason and played on the right her entire life. We throw her in the L1 position and she hits .476 against a really great blocking and defensive team. She had an absolute night and that's exciting for the future of the program."
"We never gave up that's for sure," Le'au added. "We trusted in our training to get us through tonight to get one step closer to our goal, and we are improving."
Leading the Yellow Jackets on Friday was Monique Mead and Asia Stawicka. Mead had a team-best 11 kills and Stawicka added eight kills and four blocks.
In the first set, the two teams battled back and forth early and late in the set. Georgia Tech used a 7-1 run to pull away in the middle of the set going up four at 15-11, but Georgia answered with a 7-4 run to get within one at 19-18 and was still within one at 24-23 before the Yellow Jackets got the final point to take the set.
The second frame then witnessed Georgia Tech jump out to an early 4-1 lead, and later the Yellow Jackets used a 4-0 run to make it 11-4 and a 6-0 run to extend the advantage to 18-7. Georgia did not go quietly though climbing back into it with a 10-4 run of its own to make it 22-17, but Tech would hold on to take it 25-19.
In the third set, Georgia took a timeout trailing 7-3, and out of the stoppage of play, the two teams exchanged points until the Bulldogs went on a 3-0 run to pull within one at 13-12. However, Georgia Tech would not relinquish the lead en route to winning the set 25-22 to take the match.
Georgia returns to action in the Regency Suites Invitational with two matches on Saturday. UGA faces Samford (8-0) at 10:30 a.m. and Mercer (1-7) at 4:30 p.m. Live stats for both matches will be available through www.ramblinwreck.com.
"Tomorrow is a super important day for the Bulldogs," Stemke noted. "We face two teams who are going to be gunning for us. They're going to give us their best effort. We're obviously not going to have the noise and the atmosphere that we had tonight, but I think we fed off of that tonight so we need to find the drive and the passion of every point within ourselves tomorrow as we face two really scrappy teams."
Alabama Volleyball Takes Down Toledo 3-1 to Open Rocket Classic
TOLEDO, Ohio – Sophomore outside hitter Cortney Warren had a career-high 20 kills as the Alabama women’s volleyball team opened the Rocket Classic with a 3-1 (23-25, 25-15, 25-22, 25-11) win over the host Toledo Rockets on Friday night from Savage Arena. After dropping the opening set, the Crimson Tide won the next three sets to improve to 5-3 on the season.
The victory for Alabama gave first-year head coach Ed Allen win number 499 in his career. He will have two opportunities on Saturday, with matches against No. 25 Ohio State and Penn, to reach the 500-win milestone.
The Crimson Tide got a balanced attack, hitting .257 as a team with five players posting at least six kills. Warren led the team with a career and match-high 20 kills, while posting a career-best .515 hitting percentage with just three errors on 33 attempts. Warren also added three total blocks in the match.
Kayla Fitterer had 14 kills, but was held to a .157 hitting percentage after committing six errors on 51 attempts. Fitterer had a season-low six digs as her consecutive streak of double-doubles ended at eight matches.
Cristina Arenas, who was starting at the libero position for the first time at Alabama, led the team with 26 digs. Andrea McQuaid led the team with 31 assists and added eight digs, six kills and a pair of blocks. Leigh Moyer added seven kills and Brianne Vande Griend had six kills and did not commit an error in 18 swings.
Alabama held Toledo (3-4) to a .200 hitting percentage, including a .114 hitting mark in second set and a .195 mark in the third set. Sondra Parys had a double-double with 16 kills and 11 digs and Bethany Irwin chipped in with 11 kills for the Rockets.
Toledo took a 15-10 lead in the opening set, before the Tide came roaring back to even the first set at 15-15. The five-point run included a pair of kills by Fitterer and another by Moyer. After Toledo took a two-point lead, UA tied the set at 19-19 before the Rockets locked up the opening set with a 25-23 win.
In the second set, Alabama posted a .333 hitting percentage while holding the Rockets to a .114 mark in the frame. With the Tide trailing 6-5, UA ran off eight straight points to take a 13-6 lead. The Rockets got as close as five (13-8) before Alabama extended its lead to 21-12 following an error by UT. Kills by Fitterer, Warren and Vande Griend closed out the set, as the Tide evened the match at 1-1 with a 25-17 victory in set two.
Alabama took the lead in the match for good, winning the third set by a score of 25-22. The Tide trailed 13-11, but went on a 3-point rally to take a 14-13 lead following a kill by Warren. Toledo regained the lead at 17-16 before the set was tied at 20-20. UA scored three straight points on a pair of kills and a UT error for a 23-20 lead before putting the set away with an error by the Rockets.
UA got off to a slow start in set four and trailed 6-9. The Tide rallied to even the set at 11-11 following an ace by McQuaid. On McQuaid’s next serve, she would tally another ace to put the Tide up for good in the set, as the Crimson Tide opened a 17-12 advantage. UA led by as many as six points (23-17) before putting the match in the books with a 25-21 fourth-set victory.
The Tide closes the weekend with a pair of matches on day two of the Rocket Classic. UA will battle No. 25 Ohio State at 10 a.m., CT before taking on Penn at 4 p.m., CT on Saturday at Savage Arena.
Klefot’s Milestone Leads UK to 3-1 Win over Houston
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Junior libero Stephanie Klefot topped 1,000 career digs behind 24 in a 3-1 (28-26, 15-25, 25-20, 25-17) Kentucky victory over Houston, Friday night in Memorial Coliseum. With the win Kentucky has now strung together five consecutive victories on its home floor.
Klefot becomes the 10th player in school history to post 1,000 or more career digs after surpassing 20 for the 16th time in her career in the win. She has totaled 10 or more in all nine matches this season.
“One-thousand digs is an awful lot,” UK coach Craig Skinner said. “She roams the back row back there awfully well and she has a lot of respect from our opponents. She’s a giver. She gives a lot to this team, not only with her performance on the court, but also emotionally. She’s very valuable to this program.”
With the win, Kentucky improves to 7-2 on the season while Houston falls to 5-3.
Kentucky had three players record 10 or more kills as junior setter Christine Hartmann dished out a season-high 47 assists. Senior Gretchen Giesler led the squad with 12 kills with junior Ashley Frazier and sophomore Whitney Billings both adding 10 on the night. Billings has now struck for 10 or more in a match on three straight occasions.
“It’s nice to win a variety of ways, but it would also be nice to be consistent at times,” Skinner said. “This team is capable of a lot of things on the court both offensively and defensively.”
Once again it was UK’s defensive prowess that led the charge as the Blue and White notched 10 blocks and combined for 61 digs. Giesler paved the way at the net with six rejections, while Klefot paced the back line with the match-high 24 scoops. Sophomore Jessi Greenberg contributed with a career-high 11 digs in the match. It marked the first time in her career she has totaled 10 or more digs in a match.
“We definitely finished strong tonight and Houston is a very good team,” Skinner “They’ve won some matches already this year and they’re going to win a lot throughout the season. They’re tough to defend. I wasn’t extremely pleased with how we came out mentally, but that’s something this team is going to have to mature with as we prepare for the matches.”
Senior Becky Pavan helped lead a revived effort following the beak with eight kills and a trio of blocks. Freshman Lauren O’Conner continues her outstanding start to her first season with nine kills on .208 hitting and a pair of blocks. Freshman Jackie Napper added seven digs to the defensive effort.
Kentucky opened the match by claiming the set 28-26. UK has now played five sets that needed more than 25 points to claim a winner. Kentucky has come out victorious on all five occasions.
Frazier began the charge for the Blue and White with five kills in the set, while Klefot posted 11 digs in the opening stanza alone.
A kill from Hartmann gave the Wildcats an early 3-1 edge. Houston would fire back to knot the score at 10 apiece. A pair of blocks from Giesler and company lifted Kentucky to its largest lead at 17-13. Houston continued to fight back and tied the score once again at 21.
The Cougars earned set point at 24-23, but Giesler came up with a set-point-saving hammer. Houston once again had set point, but a kill from Frazier erased the edge. Frazier then lifted Kentucky to set point with her fifth kill of the set, before senior Ann Armes found a spot in the center of the floor for the set-clinching point.
Houston evened the match with a 25-15 second set victory. UK was held to just seven kills on a negative hitting percentage in the stanza.
The Wildcats roared back in a big way following the break, with a 25-20 third set victory. Four kills from Giesler and three blocks from Pavan ignited the run for the home team.
UK trailed for the majority of the opening portion of the frame, but would go on to tie the score at 12 following a block from the tandem of Giesler and O’Conner. Consecutive kills from Frazier gave the Blue and White a 19-17 edge and UK would not look back, closing the stanza on a 6-3 run. Three straight kills from O’Conner, Giesler and Pavan ended the run to bring the crowd to its feet.
Kentucky’s offense fired at will in the final set blitzing Houston for 20 kills on a .548 hitting clip. Billings led the charge with six kills on a perfect 1.000 hitting percentage. Hartmann served up 17 assists in the set.
UK quickly grabbed a 4-1 advantage highlighted by kills from O’Conner, Giesler and Frazier. The home squad stretched its lead to 9-5 following kills from Pavan and Billings. The Cougars pulled to within three at 10-7, but the Blue and White finished the set on a 15-10 run capped off by an ace from Pavan to claim its fifth consecutive victory.
Kentucky will return to action with its final non-conference action Saturday in the conclusion of the UK Invitational. UK takes on Loyola Marymount at 11 a.m. and wraps up play with West Virginia at approximately 7 p.m.
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.
Arkansas Gets Straight-set win over Army
WEST POINT, N.Y. – The University of Arkansas volleyball team knocked off Army in straight sets (26-24, 25-15, 25-23) Friday evening to close competition on day one of the West Point Challenge at the Gillis Field House in New York. Jasmine Norton and Kelli Stipanovich each tallied a match-high 11 kills and Raymariely Santos dished out 34 assists to pace the Razorback offense.
“Tonight’s win was a collective team effort,” head coach Robert Pulliza said. “It was really a combined effort so I’m proud of our team. We really had to battle back against a good Army team which showed a lot of discipline and fought really hard in the third set but we were able to overcome it for the win.”
Janeliss Torres-Lopez hit .438 with nine kills in the middle and Roslandy Acosta added six kills. Defensively, Norton had five total blocks—three solo blocks—and libero Christa Alvarez and Brooke Fournier had 12 and 10 digs, respectively.
Through the early stages of the opening set, the teams traded points but the home team maintained a slight advantage on the scoreboard. Army (5-3) built a four-point lead, 17-13, after a kill by Megan Wilton. The Razorbacks responded by winning six of the next eight points and Stipanovich and Torres-Lopez combined for a block to even the score. After a slow start to the match, Norton had the team’s final three kills. A tandem block by Torres-Lopez and Acosta closed out the set, 26-24, in Arkansas’ favor.
The Razorbacks jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the second set. After dropping the first point of the game, Arkansas (7-3) never trailed. With Amanda Anderson at the service line, Arkansas turned a one-point lead into a seven-point advantage. During the run of points, Norton and Torres-Lopez both tallied two kills. Arkansas started to pull away and extended its lead to nine, 24-15, on a third solo block of the set for Norton. On the team’s first set point, Torres-Lopez came out of the middle with a kill to give Arkansas the 2-0 match lead.
Down to its final set, Army charged out to a 5-1 lead in the third game. The Black Knights maintained their advantage but Arkansas began chipping away until the score was tied 13-all after a kill by Stipanovich. Santos gave her team its first lead of the set, 15-14, with a kill. Norton found the floor from the outside to give the Razorbacks a three-point lead and force an Army timeout. Arkansas had three match points after another kill by Stipanovich. The Black Knights saved the first two but Stipanovich secured the win with the final kill of the match.
There is no tournament play Saturday but the Razorbacks return to action the next day to face NJIT. First serve of Arkansas’ weekend finale is scheduled for 9 a.m. (CT) Sunday at Gillis Field House. On their off day at the West Point Challenge, the Razorbacks will attend the Army-San Diego State football game.
“Part of being in college is about learning some life lessons,” Pulliza said. “Being here is a good opportunity for us to experience and see the people who protect us every day and fight for our freedom and the things we have. We’re really looking forward to being part of Saturday’s game.”
The win was Arkansas’ second of the day after its four-set win over Dartmouth in the first match Friday morning.
LSU’s Comeback Effort Falls Short to Xavier
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The LSU volleyball team charged back from a 17-11 deficit during the fourth set to force a deciding frame, but was unable to complete its comeback effort as Xavier snatched a 3-2 decision [17-25, 25-22, 26-28, 25-23, 11-15] Friday to wrap up day one of the WKU Tournament at E.A. Diddle Arena on the campus of Western Kentucky University.
LSU (7-2) had its four-match winning streak come to a close and dropped its second five-set match of the season. The Tigers also had their 16-match run during the month of September dating back to the 2009 season end.
“I have to credit our team for coming back in the fourth set,” head coach Fran Flory said. “I thought we were going to be in control at the start of the last set. This was a great step for us to make the decision to dig deep and win the fourth. The next step has to be to finish the fifth set. This young team just needs to continue to develop.”
LSU’s offense was sparked by its All-SEC Preseason selections Desiree Elliott and Michele Williams, who racked up 30 of the squad’s 60 kills for the match. Elliott powered home 16 kills and tallied a match-high six blocks. Williams countered with 14 kills, five digs and three blocks.
Helen Boyle and Malorie Pardo notched double-doubles for the Tigers. Pardo distributed 50 assists to go along with 10 digs and four blocks. It was her second double-double of the day and third in her last four outings. Boyle popped 12 kills and 11 digs to secure her third career double-double.
On the back row, LSU had five players register double digit digs for the first time this season. Meghan Mannari reeled in a team-high 19 digs, while Sam Delahoussaye and Lauren Waclawczyk chipped in 12 scoops apiece.
Xavier (5-3) received a magnificent all-around effort from Sarah Brown, who compiled a match-high 22 kills to go along with 22 digs. Aubree Smith came away with 57 assists, eight digs and five kills. She set the Musketeers to a .256 hitting percentage, a season-high for a LSU opponent.
“We didn’t have an answer for Brown,” Flory said. “We kept trying to get our team in the right positions, but couldn’t get our blockers to respond how we needed them to. She picked every right shot, that’s a great performance by a very talented player.”
The Tigers used some moxie to erase a six-point hole at 17-11 in the fourth set. After a Xavier service error, a Pardo-Williams block coupled with a Mannari ace ignited the charge. Williams belted consecutive kills followed by a Musketeer attack error to even the score at 17.
Xavier inched back ahead to a pair of two-point leads, the latest at 23-21, but LSU garnered back-to-back blocks involving Elliott to deadlock the ledger once again at 23-23. Another Xavier attack error in front of an Elliott kill in transition vaulted the Tigers to the gritty 25-23 victory.
Ahead 6-5 in the deciding set, the Musketeers took control of the frame with seven of the next nine points to surge ahead 13-7 capped by a Smith ace. LSU charged back to 14-11 after a Williams kill, but a service error handed Xavier the five-set win.
“Unfortunately for us, Xavier got a lot of bounces to go its way,” Flory said. “I think your create your own luck, they created some easy points for themselves. Credit Xavier because they fought hard and didn’t give us any easy opportunities. We left so many plays out on the court during the early portions of the match. The bottom line is Xavier had a little more determination and beat us.”
Xavier raced out to a 17-7 advantage during the first set and led wire-to-wire to claim a 25-17 win. The Tigers were plagued by seven attack errors and five different Musketeers slapped multiple kills. In the second set, LSU bounced back with a 25-22 win. Down 21-20, the Tigers made the critical plays down the stretch behind a pair of Elliott kills and blocks to turn the tables.
The third set was a back-and-forth affair that featured 20 ties and 10 lead changes. Both teams racked up over a .300 hitting percentage for the stanza. Xavier wiped away set points on two occasions, at 24-23 and at 25-24. Brown cranked out seven of her match-high 22 kills during the set.
LSU concludes the WKU Tournament Saturday with a 2 p.m. CT match-up with tournament host Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers (8-1), who are receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25, posted a four-set win over Xavier and swept Wake Forest.
Live stats will be offered through the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net. In-match updates also are available via the program's social media outlets at http://twitter.com/lsuvolleyball or LSU Volleyball on Facebook.
“We’re frustrated and don’t feel good about ourselves at the moment,” Flory said. “My challenge to the team is to take that feeling and channel it into some type of drive and determination. We need to finish this weekend with a win against a very good Western Kentucky team.”
Dogs Blank Lamar in Tourney Opener
BEAUMONT, Texas - Mississippi State (3-4) hits a sizzling season-best .538 Friday night in racing to a straight sets win (25-18, 25-22, 25-18) over the host Lamar Cardinals in the opening round of the MCM Elegante’ Invitational.
Senior outside hitter Caitlin Rance, playing in the shadows of her Kingwood, Texas, home, tallied a match-high 20 kills to lead the Bulldogs to their tourney-opening win. Rance delivered 11 kills in the opening set and finished with her third 20-kill performance of the season and a .348 attack percentage. She also paced State at the net with a match-best three blocks.
The Bulldogs continue tournament play Saturday, taking on Baylor (7-1) at 10 a.m. and Texas-El Paso (8-1) at 4:30 p.m.
“This was another solid all-around match to build on,” said MSU head coach Jenny Hazelwood. “We stayed steady and took care of our game plan tonight. Caitlin (Rance) had another amazing performance and did a lot to carry us tonight. We’ve got some things we need to continue to improve on, but it was a good start to the weekend.”
Freshman Lainey Wyman of Plainfield, Ill., had nine kills on a season-best .471 hitting night while junior right side Faith Steinwedell from La Jolla, Calif., hit .538 with eight kills and but one attack error.
Sophomore setter Paris Perret from Frisco, Texas, directed the Bulldog offense with 40 assist while freshman libero Bentley Witte of Arlington, Texas, finished the night with a match-high 15 digs.
The Cardinals (1-8) were paced by Sierra Whittaker’s 10 kills.
State opens SEC competition next weekend at the Newell-Grissom Building. The Bulldogs host No. 7 Florida Friday at 7 p.m. and SEC East foe South Carolina Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
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Ole Miss Defeats Northwestern 3-1
OXFORD, Miss. – At the start of the week, Rebel head coach Joe Getzin said all his team needed was to come home after two long weeks on the road to open the season.
It looked like he was right on Friday night as Amanda Philpot notched her first triple-double of the season and four Rebels put down double-digit kills to help Ole Miss (3-4) defeat Northwestern (5-2) by a score of 3-1 (25-21, 20-25, 31-29, 25-20).
Philpot put down 10 kills, 33 assists and a career-high 20 digs on the way to the win over the Wildcats as part of an all-around outing from the Rebels. Allegra Wells put down a match-high 15 kills and added nine blocks, while Kara Morgan came up with her first career double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs. Senior libero Morgan Springer also tallied a double-double with 16 assists and 19 digs.
The net defense from Ole Miss was also solid as Courtney Cunningham and Regina Thomas both put down seven blocks and Cunningham added 10 kills in the win.
The Rebels opened up the first set with an early lead, using five-point run to snap a 2-2 tie and grab the lead on the visiting Wildcats. Ole Miss would hold the lead throughout, though Northwestern would cut the advantage to two twice down the stretch, as the Rebels claimed the first set 25-21 in the nightcap.
The second set saw the Wildcats jump out to the early lead only to have Ole Miss fight back and tie the score at six. This time, however, it was Northwestern who would move back out in front for the duration of the set. Ole Miss would pull to as close as one twice, but couldn’t get over the hump as the Wildcats evened the match with a 25-20 win in set two.
It was a nip-and-tuck battle in the third set with both teams fighting to grab control of the match and set the tone coming out of the break. Neither team could grab more than a two-point edge at any point in the frame. The Rebels fought off a pair of set points at 24-23 and 27-26, while Northwestern fought off four set points from Ole Miss before the home team would take the set 31-29 on back-to-back kills from Morgan and Philpot.
Ole Miss stormed out of the gates to open the fourth set, taking an 8-2 lead on Northwestern before the Wildcats would claw back into the frame. The lead would shrink to one at 9-8 in favor of the Rebels, but Ole Miss responded with another run to move back out in front on the way to claiming the match with a 25-20 in the fourth set.
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Florida Beats Texas In Five Sets
No. 7 Gators Take Down No. 10 Longhorns in Five in First Night of Nike Volleyball Big Four Classic
PALO ALTO, Calif. – The No. 7 Florida volleyball team defeated No. 10 Texas in the second match of the Nike Volleyball Big Four Classic. The Gators won in five sets, 25-22, 20-25, 25-13, 21-25, 15-12. Florida moves to 7-1 on the season while Texas falls to 2-3. Stanford defeated Penn State in four sets earlier in the evening.
Senior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.), playing in her 100th career match, led the Gators with a double-double of 15 kills and 17 digs against the Longhorns. Junior right-side Tangerine Wiggs (Seattle, Wash.) followed up her career performance against No. 19 Iowa State with 13 kills and three blocks against Texas. Senior right-side/setter Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.) had her 64th career double-double with 12 kills and 30 assists, narrowly missing a triple-dip with nine digs. Senior middle blocker Cassandra Anderson (Bakersfield, Calif.) had 11 kills, five digs and two blocks, while junior middle blocker Betsy Smith had a career-high eight blocks to lead the Gators.
Florida outhit Texas, .210-.164 while the Gators had their best defensive performance of the season, scooping 77 digs on the evening. Redshirt freshman libero Taylor Unroe (Muncie, Ind.) had a career-high 20 digs while freshman defensive specialist Madison Monserez (Orlando, Fla.) had eight digs, making big plays throughout the match, including stopping Texas’ Haley Eckerman, who had a match-high 18 kills on the evening.
The teams traded points early before a Jaeckel kill sparked a 4-0 run to put the Gators ahead, 12-6. Florida went on another run off three straight kills from Anderson, Ferrell and Jaeckel. The Gators continued the momentum on their side thanks to five kills in the set for Wiggs and four each for Ferrell and Jaeckel. Smith and Wiggs teamed up for a block to end the set, 25-22.
The teams rallied for points throughout set two, with Florida’s pin hitters getting many of the swings early for the Gators. Florida led by no more than two, continuing to battle Texas point-for-point before the Longhorns forced three Florida errors and ran away with the set, 25-20.
Florida jumped out to an early lead in the third set, behind a stuff block from Anderson and Wiggs and a great off-speed kill from Jaeckel. Wiggs continued her success on the front line, swinging big on a dish from Murphy to put Florida ahead, 4-1. Back-to-back kills from Smith continued the momentum towards the Gators’ side, 7-3. Florida forced a Texas timeout after rattling off four straight points with Unroe behind the service line, 11-5. Jaeckel and Smith teamed up for a stuff and a Texas error gave the Gators their largest lead of the match at 20-9. Three straight errors gave Florida the set, 25-13. Murphy came out swinging in the third set, registering three kills after only posting two in the first two sets combined.
After a Texas service ace started the fourth set, three early kills from Wiggs kept the Gators in the match and gave Florida a three-point lead, 15-12. Four straight points off the serve of Hannah Allison put Texas ahead, 17-15. The Gators tied the match twice but weren’t able to stop the Texas offense, sparked by five late kills from the Longhorns’ Eckerman. Texas took the set, 25-21.
In the fifth and final set, Texas jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead before Florida battled back behind the serve of Anderson, tying the set at 4-4. Three straight kills by Murphy pushed the Gators ahead, 9-7, forcing a Longhorns timeout. Texas scored out of the timeout and both sides continued to sideout, keeping the two-point Gator advantage. Jaeckel had a kill that nicked the back corner of the Longhorns’ court, pushing the score to 13-11. Murphy and Smith teamed up for a huge stuff block to give Florida match point, 14-12 and a kill by Murphy gave the Gators the hard-fought fifth-set victory, 15-12.