| volleyBALL RESULTS |
Oklahoma 3, Auburn 0
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Kentucky 3, Loyola Marymount 0
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Georgia 3, Samford 1
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| Ohio State 3, Alabama 1 |
Ole Miss 3, Central Arkansas 0
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Auburn 3, Florida A&M 0
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Mercer 3, Georgia 2
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Western Kentucky 3, LSU 1
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Alabama 3, Penn 2
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Kentucky 3, West Virginia 0
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Tennessee 3, American 0
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South Carolina 3, College of Charleston 2
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Mississippi State 3, Baylor 1
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South Carolina 3, Winthrop 2
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Mississippi State 3, UTEP 2
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Tennessee 3, Virginia Tech 1
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Stanford 3, Florida 2
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Oklahoma Downs Auburn In Three Sets
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Auburn volleyball team fell in its first match of the season against a nationally ranked opponent, dropping a 3-0 decision (19-25, 16-25, 16-25) to the 18th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday morning in the team’s second match of the Hurricane Invitational, which is taking place at the University of Miami.
Auburn (5-4) dropped its third straight match – all coming against teams that participated in last year’s NCAA Tournament – while Oklahoma (9-1) won for the fifth time in a row.
Camila Jersonsky led Auburn with seven kills, while Vesela Zapryanova had six and Chloe Rowand and Kelly Fidero finished with five apiece. Rowand also had four blocks on the day, and Zapryanova had a team-leading eight digs.
The Sooners had 43 kills to the Tigers’ 35, while Oklahoma had just nine attack errors in the match compared to Auburn’s 21. Four of those nine Oklahoma errors came courtesy of Auburn blocks. Oklahoma also won the digs battle 49-40 and hit .347 for the match compared to Auburn’s .124.
Oklahoma took the first set 25-19 as Auburn hit just .088 to the Sooners’ .324. The first few points went back and forth, but the Sooners jumped out to a 10-5 lead to prompt a Tiger timeout. From there, Oklahoma’s lead would continue to grow as it pulled out to a 21-14 advantage and eventually had set point at 24-16. Auburn fought off three potential game-winners, but not a fourth as the Sooners took a 1-0 lead in the match. Bullock had three kills and four digs in the set, while Rowand was involved in three blocks.
The second set was more of the same as the Sooners took a 25-16 decision, despite five kills on seven attacks for Rowand. Auburn had 13 kills in the set, just two fewer than Oklahoma, but the Tigers were hampered by eight attack errors to the Sooners’ one.
Auburn jumped out to an early lead in the third set, but a 12-1 run by Oklahoma proved to be the difference as the Sooners earned the sweep with a 25-16 win. Courtney McDonald had four kills for the Tigers in the set, while Zapryanova had two kills and four digs. However, four of Auburn’s six service errors for the match came in set three.
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Blocking Keys Sweep of Loyola Marymount for UK Volleyball
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Senior Gretchen Giesler totaled eight of Kentucky’s 13 blocks in the match to lead the way in a 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-20) sweep of Loyola Marymount Saturday morning at the Kentucky Classic. UK has now strung together six consecutive victories and will return to the floor at 7 p.m. ET against West Virginia to conclude non-conference action in 2011.
With the victory Kentucky improves to 8-2 on the season, while Loyola Marymount drops to 5-3.
“It was another good defensive performance against a really faced-paced offense,” UK coach Craig Skinner said. “It is really difficult to get the timing down of their offense and I thought we did a nice job as the match when on making our adjustments.”
Giesler led the defensive charge with the nine blocks. Junior setter Christine Hartmann matched a career-high with six rejections. She also directed the offense with 40 assists as UK had four players with eight or more hammers in the win. Giesler led the attack in that category as well with 11 kills, while junior Ashley Frazier chipped in with 10. Senior Ann Armes posted nine and freshman Lauren O’Conner finished with eight points from kills.
“Hartmann did a good job distributing the ball today,” Skinner said. “We had four players with a number of kills, and that needs to continue to be a theme of ours.”
After achieving a career-high in digs in last night’s victory over Houston, sophomore Jessi Greenberg topped her own performance with a career-best 12 scoops in today’s victory. Sophomore Whitney Billings led the way for the back-line defense with 15 scoops in the win.
“Jessi Greenberg had a nice match defensively,” Skinner said. “She continues to make a positive impact for us.”
Kentucky dominated the opening set of action with a match-high 17 kills on a sizzling .438 hitting percentage. Frazier led the charge with seven kills in the opening set on an impressive .778 clip.
Back-to-back kills from Hartmann and Frazier gave the Wildcats its largest lead of the set with a 17-10 edge. UK capped the set on a 8-4 run which concluded with the duo of Armes and Billings teaming up for a block.
UK had to stave off a Loyola Marymount lead in the second set, and fired back to tie the score at 15 following a kill from Armes. Consecutive Big Blue blocks lifted UK to a 21-17 edge and the frame finished with back-to-back kills from the hands of O’Conner and Giesler.
Loyola Marymount once again opened up a lead in the third set, but UK was not fazed. The Wildcats responded quickly and tied the score at 14 after forcing the Lions into an erroneous attack. Three straight kills from the home team forced a visitor timeout. Out of the break, Giesler and Hartmann teamed up for a block and the momentum was back squarely in Kentucky’s hands. Giesler capped her near double-double performance with a solo rejection to give the Blue and White its sixth consecutive victory.
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Georgia Volleyball Ends Samford's Undefeated Season With 3-1 Victory
ATLANTA – The Georgia Bulldogs handed the Samford Bulldogs their first loss of the 2011 season on Saturday afternoon by posting a 3-1 victory in the Georgia Tech Regency Suites Invitational at O'Keefe Gymnasium.
Georgia improved to 4-5 on the year after earning the win with set scores of 28-26, 15-25, 30-28 and 25-16. Samford suffered its first defeat of the season after starting the year 8-0, the best start in the school's history.
The Regency Suites Invitational continues with three more matches on Saturday, and UGA will be back in action against in-state foe Mercer at 4:30 p.m. It will be Georgia's third match against in-state opponent over a four-match stretch. The Bulldogs started the week with a 3-0 victory over Kennesaw State on Tuesday but fell to Georgia Tech 3-0 in the Invitational on Friday night.
On Saturday morning against Samford, Georgia played arguably its best match of the year posting season highs with 62 kills, 58 assists and 60 digs while overcoming a strong blocking effort from Samford, who notched 12.0 stops to Georgia's 10.0.
Georgia continued to feed the hot hands as freshman Tirah Le'au notched a match-best and career-best 20 kills and sophomore Brittany Northcutt added a season-best 18 kills, which was the second most by any player in the match. It marks the first time since Oct. 3, 2010, against Mississippi State that two Bulldogs have tallied 18 or more kills. Senior setter Kathleen Gates dished out 50 of Georgia's assists to set the tempo.
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Alabama Volleyball Plays No. 25 Ohio State Tough, But Falls in Four
TOLEDO, Ohio – The Alabama volleyball team battled tough against the No. 25 Ohio State Buckeyes, but lost in four sets (25-18, 23-25, 24-26, 16-25) in the Rocket Classic on Saturday afternoon.
After taking the first set of the match, the Tide dropped the second and third sets by two points. Alabama (5-4) had an opportunity to take a 2-1 lead in the match, but after have set point at 24-19, the Buckeyes rallied to win the next seven points to take the lead in the match. In the fourth set, OSU (6-3) continued its rally, taking a 7-1 lead to open the set, before closing out the Tide 25-16 in the fourth.
In the Tide’s first match of the season against a ranked opponent, Kayla Fitterer led the squad with 20 kills and a .241 hitting percentage. Cortney Warren added 10 kills and Andrea McQuaid had six. McQuaid finished the match with her fourth double-double of the season, as she had 22 assists and 10 digs.
Stephanie Riley dished out a team-high 23 assists and Cristina Arenas had a career-high 28 digs to lead the Tide. Arenas, McQuaid and Kelsey Anderson had two aces each, as UA finished the match with eight service aces. Alabama added eight blocks in the match with Leigh Moyer leading the team with four block assists. Fitterer had two solo blocks to go along with one assisted block.
OSU finished the afternoon match with 53 kills and a .215 hitting percentage. Mari Hole led the Buckeyes with a match-high 21 kills and added 11 digs. Taylor Sherwin had 45 assists and Sarah Mignin had a match-high 30 digs.
Alabama took the opening set of the match, 25-18, behind the strength of six kills and a .556 hitting percentage from Fitterer. The Tide hit .375 in the set while holding the Buckeyes to .176 and 11 kills. With the opening set tied at 8-8, the Tide went on an 8-1 run to take a 16-9 lead. OSU got within four points (21-17), but UA put a comeback to rest by winning four of the next five points.
The Buckeyes tied the match at 1-1 winning the second set 25-23. UA was held to a .184 hitting percentage and committed five errors in the set. Alabama held a 2-1 lead early before falling behind 16-12 midway through the set. The Tide got as close at 24-23 following Fitterer’s seventh kill of the set, but Ohio State’s Mari Hole put the set away with her 11th kill of the match.
The Crimson Tide led 24-19 late in the third set, but gave up seven straight points to drop the set 26-24 and fall behind 2-1 in the match. UA hit .082 in the third, committing eight errors while the Buckeyes tallied five blocks against Crimson Tide attempts. Ohio State continued to roll in the fourth set and opened a 7-1 lead. Alabama got as close as 10-6, but the Buckeyes extended their advantage to 18-10 before putting the match away with a 25-16 win in the match’s final set.
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Rebels Claim Magnolia Invitational For Fifth Straight Season
OXFORD, Miss. – For the fifth straight season, the Rebels claimed the Magnolia Invitational as Ole Miss (4-4) defeated Central Arkansas (3-6) by a score of 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-13) on Saturday at the Gillom Sports Center.
The Rebels defeated UALR, Northwestern and Central Arkansas on the way to the tournament title.
Amanda Philpot claimed tournament MVP honors after posting a triple-double on Friday night to down Northwestern and hitting .325 for the weekend while setting the Rebel offense. Also joining her on the All-Tournament team were Allegra Wells and Morgan Springer.
Wells put down 10 kills and hit .412 against the Sugar Bears in the championship match on Saturday, while senior middle blocker Regina Thomas hit .409 and put down a match-high 11 kills to go along with five blocks in the match.
Philpot again was big in the gameplan, putting down seven kills with seven digs and 32 assists.
“It’s always good to be home,” said Ole Miss head coach Joe Getzin. “We did some good things against a Central Arkansas team that gave everyone fits this weekend. Our athleticism really helped out and we did a better job of limiting our mistakes.
“Amanda (Philpot) really is maturing as a setter,” Getzin continued. “She’s a threat and really understanding what it is we want her to do in our system. It makes it tougher on the other team when they have to make adjustments for her.”
It was a tight contest early as Central Arkansas broke a pattern of trading scores on an attack error by the Rebels to go up 7-6. The Sugar Bears extended the lead from there, pushing the Rebels into two timeouts as the lead grew to 20-14 and the home team fought to regroup.
Coming out of the second break in action, the Rebels made a move and cut the lead to two at 20-18 and sent Central Arkansas into a timeout. It did little to slow the Ole Miss attack as the Rebels pushed on to reclaim the lead and take the first set 25-22.
Ole Miss found itself in another pitched battle in set two as the squads again traded scores early. The Rebels would push out into the lead several times, only to see the advantage erased by a run from the Sugar Bears.
Kara Morgan put down a kill to snap a 15-15 tie and give the Rebels the lead for good, though, as Ole Miss would go on to claim the second set 25-19 and pull away from the visitors from Central Arkansas.
It was all Ole Miss in the third set with the home team pushing out to a 14-2 lead that would prove to be too much for the visitors from the west. Central Arkansas would get no closer than nine points in the final frame as Ole Miss claimed the set and the tournament title with a 25-13 win in the final frame.
Tigers Sweep Florida A&M to Conclude Non-Conference Play
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Auburn hit for a season-best percentage and snapped a three-match losing streak with a 3-0 sweep of Florida A&M (25-22, 25-17, 25-23) in the teams’ final match at the Hurricane Invitational, hosted by the University of Miami at the James L. Knight Sports Complex.
The Tigers (6-4) hit .419 – a season-high and the 15th-best hitting performance in program history – and held Florida A&M (0-7) to a .122 hitting percentage, despite games one and three being extremely competitive. Auburn also recorded a season-high 11 blocks in the match. It wrapped up a 1-2 weekend that saw the Tigers finish the Hurricane Invitational in third place.
“We saw this weekend that we’ve got a lot of work to do,” Auburn head coach Rick Nold said. “With conference play coming up, there are a lot of areas we need to improve. We need to play at a much higher level to compete in the SEC.”
Sarah Bullock led all hitters with 11 kills on 18 attacks, hitting a stellar .556 for the match with just one error. Bullock led the team with 22 kills and 23 digs on the weekend, hitting for a .302 percentage.
She fell one dig short of a double-double with nine in the match, and she also recorded a block and three assists.
Brittney Rhude posted a career-high nine kills and hit .500 with just one error in 16 attacks. Camila Jersonsky finished a solid weekend with four kills and seven blocks against the Rattlers; giving her a team-high 12 blocks for the week to go along with 14 kills, earning a spot on the Hurricane Invitational All-Tournament Team. Christina Solverson led Auburn with 16 assists, one more than Chelsea Wintzinger’s 15.
The Tigers took a wild first set, winning 25-22 despite Florida A&M taking advantage of several mistakes and favorable calls. With Auburn leading 19-17, Wintzinger appeared to have executed a perfect setter dump to give Auburn a three-point lead. But she was called for a back-row attack, giving the point to Florida A&M and setting off a protest from the Tiger bench that resulted in a red card, giving another point to FAMU. From there, though, Auburn would get kills from Fidero and Jersonsky to close out the set and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
Set number two, however, was all Auburn as the Tigers rolled to a 25-17 win. Auburn was outstanding offensively, hitting at a .480 clip while holding FAMU to .038. Bullock had five kills on six attacks in the set, and Auburn had just three errors on 25 total attempts. Auburn pulled away early, jumping out to a 10-4 lead and never looking back as the lead ballooned to 20-10. Despite FAMU fighting off three set points, Auburn finally put the game away with a kill from Bullock.
The third set was a back-and-forth affair that featured 15 ties and six lead changes before the Tigers finally held on for a 25-23 win. The Rattlers led by as many as four, jumping out to a 13-8 lead, but a 5-0 run by the Tigers, highlighted by kills from Wintzinger and Rhude along with a block from Kelly Fidero, forced a timeout by FAMU. From there, A&M continued to lead, but Auburn finally went ahead 20-18 on a block from Fidero and Courtney McDonald. After the teams traded blows, Auburn broke a 23-23 tie and put the match away with a kill and a block from Jersonsky, giving the Tigers the victory.
Auburn will kick off Southeastern Conference play next weekend, beginning with a trip to face the Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington, Ky. First serve is set for 6 p.m. CT next Friday, Sept. 16, at Memorial Coliseum.
Georgia Volleyball Falls In Five Sets To Mercer
ATLANTA – The University of Georgia volleyball team concluded its play in the Georgia Tech Regency Suites Invitational on Saturday evening falling to Mercer, 3-2, at O'Keefe Gymnasium.
After Georgia (4-6) won the opening set, 25-15, Mercer (2-8) evened the match by taking the second set, 25-18. The Bulldogs answered by taking the third set, 25-22, but the Bears bounced back to force a fifth set by taking the fourth frame, 25-21. In the decisive set, Mercer edged Georgia, 15-11. It was the first five-set match of the season for the Bulldogs.
The match was closely contest throughout with the Bulldogs leading in kills, 67-62, hitting percentage, .241-.232, and digs, 67-59, but the Bears held a slight edge in blocking at 12.0-9.0. Both teams finished with three aces.
Georgia was paced in the match by senior setter Kathleen Gates' 51 assists and sophomore Brittany Northcutt's career-best 21 kills. Freshman Tirah Le'au added 14 kills while junior Briana Bahr contributed another 11 kills.
Defensively, four Bulldogs finished with double digit digs led by Gates' 15 for her second double-double of the year. Northcutt also notched a double-double with 10 digs, and both senior Carla Tietz and sophomore Allison Summers came away with 11 digs.
Mercer's attack was led by four players would tallied 10 or more kills each. Amiee Frutchey led the Bears with 15 kills while Jennifer Katona had 13 and both Anna Coursey and Jamie Duffy notched 10 apiece. Katona nearly recorded a double-double by providing Mercer with nine blocks.
Saturday evening's match wrapped up play for the Bulldogs in the Regency Suites Invitational at 1-2. Georgia fell to Georgia Tech, 3-0, on Friday but handed Samford its first loss of the season, 3-1, on Saturday morning.
The end of the Invitational also wrapped up non-conference play for UGA. The Bulldogs move into conference play beginning on Sept. 16 at Tennessee and Sept. 18 at Kentucky.
LSU Falls in Four at Western Kentucky
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The LSU volleyball team finished its non-conference slate with a 3-1 setback versus Western Kentucky [20-25, 25-22, 22-25, 22-25] Saturday at E.A. Diddle Arena to conclude the WKU Tournament.
In a battle of two teams receiving votes in the latest edition of the AVCA Top 25, the Tigers (7-3) lost back-to-back matches for the first time since the 2008 campaign when LSU lost consecutive road tilts to No. 25 Kentucky and Tennessee.
“I thought we fought extremely hard,” head coach Fran Flory said. “We created more offensively today than yesterday’s Xavier match so there was a positive step made in the right direction. When it came down to it, we didn’t execute to the level that we needed to late during those tightly contested sets. Ultimately, that’s what cost us the match.”
Desiree Elliott powered home a team-best 17 kills on a .379 hitting percentage and extended her run to six straight matches with double figure kills. She also tacked on four blocks and slapped two aces.
Michele Williams belted 15 kills and came away with a career-high nine blocks, nearly missing her first career double-double. In the process, she picked up a WKU All-Tournament Team nod.
“Michele carried a huge load for us during the entire weekend,” Flory said. “There’s not too many things that she couldn’t have done better for us. Desiree did a lot of those same things well that Michele did. She did a great job serving today and created some much-needed opportunities for us. Everyone in the country knows we’re a middle-based offense. The tribute to Michele and Desiree is that they’re still able to beat as successful as they are. That speaks volumes to the level of their play on a daily basis.”
Madie Jones connected for 15 kills and racked up a career-high seven blocks, while Nicole Willis chipped in six kills to go along with four blocks.
For the third straight match, Malorie Pardo notched a double-double. She passed out a match-best 48 assists and added 10 digs.
As a team, LSU won the blocking battle by a 14-8 margin. The Tigers also had three players collect 10 or more digs. Meghan Mannari amassed a team-high 18 digs to reach double figure scoops for the eighth time in nine outings. Helen Boyle garnered 14 digs for the Tigers.
The Hilltoppers (9-1) were paced by WKU Tournament MVP Jordyn Skinner, who racked up 13 of her match-high 21 kills during the final two sets. She charted nine digs and totaled four blocks.
“We started to try and do too much against Skinner especially in those last two sets,” Flory said. “We had her under control early, but we didn’t stay as focused on her as we needed to. She was able to get into her rhythm, put some balls on the floor and seize momentum when they needed it most.”
WKU controlled the opening stanza from wire-to-wire and claimed a 25-20 win. The Hilltoppers sided out at a match-high 76 percent clip and made the most of four LSU service errors.
The Tigers regrouped in set two and rolled to 17 kills, six of them off of Williams’ powerful right arm. WKU got back to within 19-18 before Elliott and Williams went to work. The duo popped two kill each, the last from Williams, as LSU took six of the final nine points to secure a 25-22 victory.
The third set featured a match-high 10 ties and five lead changes. Down 22-18 and out of its final timeout, LSU rallied with four consecutive points to knot the score at 22. An Elliott kill and ace sandwiched between Boyle and Jones spikes fueled the spurt. The Hilltoppers responded with the final surge aided by a pair of Skinner kills to take the 25-22 decision.
LSU erased another four-point hole during set four. Behind 18-14, LSU reeled off seven of the next nine points to turn the tables and grab a 21-19 edge. Jones and Williams put the Tigers on their backs with two kills apiece and teamed up for a block early in the run. WKU scurried back with six of the final seven points sparked by a trio of LSU attack errors for the final margin of 25-22.
“This was a great tournament for our team right before getting into SEC play because the venue is very difficult,” Flory said. “We needed to take care of business in these last two matches. We certainly showed great resiliency at different points, but we have to find a way to do it at a consistent level especially during long rallies and long matches. That’s a grow-up point that this team needs to make, and we’ll work hard this week in practice to help them to do that.”
LSU heads into SEC action Friday with a divisional tilt at Ole Miss. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. inside the Gillom Sports Center.
Allen Gets 500th win as Alabama Volleyball Defeats Penn 3-2
TOLEDO, Ohio – After suffering a tough 3-1 loss to No. 25 Ohio State earlier in the day, the Alabama volleyball team needed five sets to defeat the Penn Quakers to close out the Rocket Classic from Savage Arena. The Crimson Tide won the fifth set 15-3 en route to a 3-2 (25-16, 23-25, 19-25, 25-20, 15-3) win over the Ivy League opponent.
With the victory over Penn (2-4), Alabama improves to 6-4 on the season and head coach Ed Allen got the 500th win of his 20-year career. Allen is now 500-187 (.729) overall. In five seasons at Division I Tulsa (2006-10) he collected 133 wins, in three seasons at Division II Presbyterian College (2003-05) he had 94 wins and in 11 seasons at Division III Anderson University (1992-2002) he had 267 victories. Allen entered the season ranked 28th among active Division I coaches in career victories.
Alabama played flawless and dominated the fifth and deciding set, posting 10 kills and no errors on 18 swings for a .556 hitting mark. UA held Penn to a -.053 hitting percentage, forcing four errors while the Quakers had just three kills in the set. Kayla Fitterer had six kills on 10 swings and Andrea McQuaid had three kills and five assists just in the fifth set alone.
UA finished the match with a .268 hitting percentage while posting nine service aces and seven blocks.
McQuaid posted her second triple-double in a week and became the first player in UA history to notch multiple triple-doubles. McQuaid finished the match with 13 kills, 23 assists and a team-high 21 digs. She also posted a team-high .400 (13-3/25) hitting percentage. McQuaid’s triple-double on Saturday marks the sixth in the history of the UA volleyball program.
Fitterer finished the match with her eighth double-double of the season, posting a match-high 23 kills to go along with 14 digs. Cortney Warren hit .344 with 12 kills and one error on 32 attempts. Stephanie Riley had 26 assists and 11 digs for her fourth double-double of the season and Cristina Arenas had 17 digs and a career-high three service aces as the libero.
Alabama jumped out to a 1-0 lead, taking the first set with a 25-16 win. Fitterer opened the match with six kills in the first set, hitting .500 along the way.
The Tide held a 12-6 advantage in the second set, but saw its lead slip away as the Quakers rallied to post a 25-23 win to even the match at 1-1. Penn hit .306 in the third set and Alabama was held to .054 for the set, as the Quakers opened a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-19 set-three win.
The Quakers came out strong to start the fourth set, taking a 7-1 advantage in the beginning. Alabama regrouped and scored nine of the next 11 points to take a 10-9 lead. The set was tied at 16-16, but a 4-point run by the Tide, which include two errors by Penn and a pair of aces by Arenas, gave UA the breathing room it need to take the set and even the match at 2-2 with a 25-20 win in the fourth.
The Tide continued its late match domination, posting a 15-3 victory in the fifth set. Alabama opened a 9-0 lead before the Quakers got on the scoreboard in the fifth set. After a pair of points by Penn, UA scored six of the last seven points to put the match away, and secure Allen’s 500th career victory.
The three matches in the Rocket Classic were the final tune up for before Southeastern Conference play. The Crimson Tide opens SEC action on Friday, Sept. 16 when it hosts the Arkansas Razorbacks at 7 p.m. at Foster Auditorium.
Wildcats Capture UK Invitational Crown with Sweep of WVU
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky volleyball team capped its non-conference slate with a decisive 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 26-24) sweep of West Virginia to claim the UK Invitational crown Saturday night in front of 1,017 fans in Memorial Coliseum.
Kentucky concluded its non-conference portion of the schedule winning seven consecutive matches while dropping just one set in the run. UK now holds a 9-2 record entering Southeastern Conference action that begins Friday, Sept. 16 against Auburn. With the loss, West Virginia falls to 2-9 on the year.
“That was another good win for us,” Kentucky coach Craig Skinner said. “It’s tough to play seven matches in seven days with only dropping one set. We didn’t perform our best tonight, but we continue to find a way to win in a variety of ways.”
Junior Ashley Frazier was tabbed the UK Invitational tournament’s most valuable player after charting 11 kills in tonight’s victory over the Mountaineers.
“Ashley continues to get better every match out,” Skinner said. “We knew she could attack, but now she’s really doing the little things like blocking. She was solid all weekend for us.”
Junior Stephanie Klefot and senior Gretchen Giesler joined Frazier on the All-Tournament team. Klefot paced the back-line defense with a team-high 15 digs, while Giesler posted six kills and added a trio of blocks in tonight’s win.
Freshman Lauren O’Conner led the attack with 13 kills. Sophomore Whitney Billings chipped in with seven kills and 11 digs.
Giesler began the scoring for the Blue and White in the opening frame. UK attained a lead it would never relinquish during the entire set as the Wildcats rolled to a 25-18 opening frame win. Frazier led the offensive output with six kills on a .500 hitting percentage. Setter Christine Hartmann passed out 16 assists and Klefot had seven digs in the stanza.
UK’s blocking helped the Wildcats go into the break with a 2-0 advantage following a 25-22 second set win after six rejections in the set. Kentucky offense managed just 10 kills in the frame, but it was UK’s defense that prevailed forcing West Virginia into nine attacking errors.
The Mountaineers grabbed an early lead at 2-1, but Hartmann and Giesler teamed up for a block followed by a kill from Frazier that ignited a UK run. O’Conner had a pair of kills to give the Wildcats a 23-19 lead, but West Virginia made things interesting with three consecutive kills to save set point. The visitors then served the ball into the net giving UK the set.
UK faced the most adversity in the third set as West Virginia earned a 19-14 lead midway through the frame. Frazier then posted a pair of kills and added an ace to bring the home squad to within 20-17 forcing West Virginia into a timeout.
Out of the break, UK’s defense pressed the visitors into an attacking error and then O’Conner found a spot for a 20-19 deficit. After West Virginia halted UK’s run, O’Conner had back-to-back kills and then Billings chipped in with a hammer as UK surged ahead 22-21.
The Mountaineers earned set point at 24-23, but UK would not be denied. The Blue and White came up with another huge defensive stop and then O’Conner gave the home team match point with her 13th kill of the match. Sophomore Elizabeth Koberstein’s crafty dunk capped the weekend for the Wildcats as UK earned its second consecutive UK Invite crown.
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State Tops Baylor, UTEP To Win Lamar Tournament
BEAUMONT, Texas --- Mississippi State rallied to overcome a 2-0 deficit to claim a 3-2 win over Texas-El Paso Saturday and claim the championship of the two-day MCM Elegante’ Invitational hosted by Lamar University. The win (22-25, 23-25, 25-21, 25-16, 15-9) over the Miners (9-2) completed a three-match weekend tournament sweep for the Bulldogs (5-4), who have now won their last four matches.
“I am so very proud of this team and the way they fought through so many things today,” said third-year MSU head coach Jenny Hazelwood. “We intentionally scheduled some tough pre-conference tournaments so that we’d face difficult situations, and the kids showed some mental toughness in beating two very fine teams today.”
State opened the day with a 3-1 win over the Baylor Bears (7-2).
Senior outside hitter Caitlin Rance, who finished the weekend with 66 kills (5.50 d/g), 25 digs and eight blocks, was selected tournament MVP. MSU’s two middle blockers, freshman Lainey Wyman and senior Hannah Wilkinson joined Rance on the all-tournament team.
“Caitlin was a player on a mission,” said Hazelwood. “And her success opened up some things for a lot of other players. Lainey and Hannah had the kind of weekend we hoped to see. When the middles are producing, it puts a lot of pressure on the opponents.”
Wyman had 38 kills, hit at a .351 clip and delivered 11 blocks. Wilkinson tallied 25 kills, hit .500 for the weekend and delivered 14 blocks.
The Bulldogs stayed close with UTEP through much of the early going of the match, tied at 22-22 in the first set and 23-23 in the second set. In both instances, the Miners, riding the 23-give performance of Bridget Logan, muscled through for close wins.
But State turned it around in the third set, hitting .265 and never falling behind in taking a 25-21 win. The Bulldogs, with eight kills by Rance and four kills and four blocks by Wyman, bolted to a 4-1 lead in the fourth stanza and then out-pointed the Miners 9-1 down the stretch to even the match with a 25-16 win. That momentum carried over in the deciding fifth set as State pulled away from a 9-9 deadlock with a 6-0 run to claim the tournament title.
Rance shared match honors with her second straight 23-kill effort and her fourth straight 20-kill performance. It raised her SEC-leading kills total to 164 after nine matches. Wyman delivered a season-high 17 kills backed with a season-best tying nine blocks while junior outside hitter Chanelle Baker registered her second double-double with 13 kills and 11 digs. Wilkinson finished with nine kills on an efficient team-leading .368 hitting display and backed that with six blocks. The offense was engineered by sophomore setter Paris Perret, who reached a career-best with 60 assists and notched her fourth double-double when she added 10 digs. Freshman libero Bentley Witte topped the Bulldogs on defense with 15 kills.
In Saturday’s opening match, four Bulldogs reached double figures in kills as Mississippi State turned back Big 12 Conference foe Baylor 3-1 (25-21, 21-25, 25-19, 25-20).
Rance led the charge and notched her team-leading fourth double-double of the campaign with 23 kills and 12 digs. It was the second-highest career kills total for Rance.
But the Kingwood, Texas, product had plenty of support in the win against the Bears.
Hannah Wilkinson tallied a career-best 12 kills with no errors in a .667 hitting display that included a match-leading six blocks. Freshman Lainey Wyman also totaled a dozen kills and hit a crisp .476 while Faith Steinwedell chipped in 11 kills and three blocks. Sophomore setter dished out 53 assists while freshman libero Bentley Witte led the Bulldog defensive effort with 14 digs.
State was most impressive in winning the matching-clinch fourth set. State piled up 21 kills and hit a match-best .436. The Bulldogs did not trail \after a kill by Rance broke a 9-9 deadlock.
Baylor hit .286 for the match and got 14 kills from Briana Tolbert and 13 more from Adri Nora.
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No. 7 Gator Volleyball Falls in Five to No. 3 Cardinal in Nike Volleyball Big Four Classic Final
PALO ALTO, Calif. – The No. 7 Florida volleyball team rallied back from a 0-2 deficit at intermission to force a fifth and decisive set, but it wasn’t enough as the Gators fell to the No. 3 Stanford Cardinal in the Nike Volleyball Big Four Classic final, 2-3 (17-25, 20-25, 25-20, 25-21, 13-15). The Gators move to 7-2 on the season while Stanford remains unbeaten at 6-0. This was the Orange and Blue's third-straight five-setter against a top-25 team this week.
Florida was led by Nike Volleyball Big Four Classic All-Tournament Team selections Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) and Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.). Jaeckel had her third double-double of the season with a team-high 20 kills and 16 digs. Murphy had her 24th career triple-double with 14 kills, 29 assists and 10 digs. Junior right-side Tangerine Wiggs (Seattle, Wash.) continued her career streak with 18 kills on 31 swings and only one error for a .548 attacking efficiency. Redshirt freshman libero Taylor Unroe (Muncie, Ind.) notched a career-high 22 digs, while sophomore setter Chanel Brown (Tempe, Ariz.) had 28 assists and six digs.
Florida out-hit (.232-.181), out-scored (81.0-74.0), out-blocked (11.0-9.) and registered more digs (73-66) than Stanford, but it wasn’t enough, as the Gators had 47 errors in the match, including seven errors in the fifth set.
The Gators fell behind early in the set after starting the match off with a stuff block from junior middle blocker Betsy Smith (Atlanta, Ga.), 6-1, causing Florida to take an early timeout. Florida continued to struggle out of the timeout until Murphy was able to find a seam in Stanford’s block to stop the Cardinal’s 7-0 run. The Gators couldn’t find an answer on offense, with the Cardinal starting another run to pull ahead, 11-2. Florida continued to fall behind as Stanford distributed the ball evenly to both pins. Murphy and Jaeckel both stepped up for Florida, sparking a 5-1 run and swinging the momentum enough to force a Stanford timeout. Jaeckel took a big swing down the pipe to pull Florida within four at 14-10. Back-to-back Gator hitting errors forced Florida to take their second timeout of the set, the Cardinal’s lead extending to 17-10. Florida attempted a run at the end, but Stanford scored five straight and the Gator errors proved to be the deciding factor in the set, 25-17.
The Cardinal began the second set similarly to the first, using three straight kills from their pin hitters to keep momentum on their side while errors continued to plague the Gators. Stanford jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead, forcing a Florida timeout. Brown set a quick to Smith to stop the Stanford momentum but the Cardinal used off-speed kills and aggressive serving to take a 9-3 lead. Wiggs had two off-speed kills for Florida to close the gap, while senior middle blocker Cassandra Anderson (Bakersfield, Calif.)'s float serve forced back-to-back hitting errors, allowing Florida to close the gap at 10-7. Wiggs continued to swing big for the Gators, pulling them back into the set after back-to-back Florida errors, 13-8. Williams continued to slow down the Gators’ momentum, cutting inside the Florida block to extend the Stanford lead back to 14-9. Back-to-back hitting errors by the Gators forced another Florida timeout, 16-9. Murphy stepped behind the service line and scored three straight for Florida, including setting up Stanford to hit into a stuff block courtesy of Anderson and freshman outside hitter Noami Santos Lamb (Carolina, Puerto Rico). Santos-Lamb utilized her powerful jump serve to pull the Gators within three and force a Stanford timeout, 19-16. Wiggs hit an off-speed kill to pull Florida within two, 19-17. Stanford began to pull away behind the serve of Mary Ellen Luck, including back-to-back service aces, 23-17. Jaeckel hit a cross-court kill and Sam Wopat had a hitting error to pull Florida within three, 23-20. Stanford went back to Wopat to force set point, 24-20. A Wiggs hitting error and Stanford took a 2-0 lead into intermission, winning the second set by a score of 25-20.
Stanford continued the trend of the match by jumping out to a 4-1 lead behind the serve of Jessica Walker. Jaeckel had the first two kills for the Gators, the first coming from the opposite side and the second with another great swing down the pipe, pulling the Gators within one, 4-3. Jaeckel took another swing from back row, giving the Gators their first true lead of the match at 6-5. Behind the serve of freshman defensive specialist Madison Monserez (Orlando, Fla.), Florida continued to swing away on the pins, forcing a Stanford timeout at 10-6. An overpass kill for Stanford stopped the Gators’ run but back-to-back Cardinal errors gave Florida an 11-7 lead. Stanford then went on a 3-0 lead but a Wiggs kill down the line distance the Gator lead at 12-10. Brown serve an ace that skipped over the tape to extend the Florida advantage, 13-10, and Jaeckel used an off-speed kill to keep the lead at three. Stanford looked to be making a run but smart swings by Jaeckel and Ferrell and a stuff block from Ferrell and sophomore middle blocker Chloe Mann (Gainesville, Fla.) forced a Cardinal timeout at 17-13. Jaeckel had back-to-back kills from the back row out of the timeout, extending the Gator lead to 19-15. Florida won the race to 20, but a service error by Brown allowed Stanford within three at 20-17. Murphy had the next two kills for the Gators, pushing to 22-18. A Stanford hitting error gave Florida its largest lead of the match at 23-18. The Gators were able to close out the third set, 25-20, after taking a long rally with a great quick out of the middle by Mann. The Gators hit higher in the third set than in the first two sets combined, with Florida swinging at a .394 clip in the third stanza.
The teams traded points in the beginning of the fourth set, with Stanford taking an early 5-2 lead. The Gators’ pin hitters began swinging big to put Florida back in the set, as Jaeckel had a tool off the block to give the Orange and Blue the lead, 8-7. Wiggs had her fourth kill of the set off the arms of Stanford’s libero Hannah Benjamin. Murphy and Smith teamed up for a Williams’ stuff block to tie the game at 11-11. Ferrell had a block of her own, coupled with a Stanford hitting error, and the Cardinal took a timeout at 13-11. Jaeckel had a service error out of the timeout, but made up for it with a big swing out of the back row, extending the Gators’ lead to 14-12. Big swings by Jaeckel and Wiggs pushed the Florida lead to 17-13, the Gators’ largest of the set. The Orange and Blue took a timeout after Stanford forced back-to-back Gator errors to close the gap to 18-16. Florida kept swinging big on the pins and a Smith overpass kill in the middle forced Stanford’s second timeout of the set, 21-17. Jaeckel had another big swing to extend the Florida lead to 22-17. Stanford began to make a run but a big Murphy swing stopped their momentum and set up set point, 24-20. Florida forced the fifth and decisive set off another Murphy kill, 25-21.
In the fifth and final set, Florida fell behind 3-0 after big swings from Williams. The Gators took a timeout in attempt to shift the momentum and pulled within one, 3-4. A Murphy service error and a Williams kill extended the lead to 7-3. A stuff block from Mann and Wiggs, coupled with a swing down the line from Wiggs and the Gators pulled back within one at 7-6. A great joust at the net won by Mann tied the set at 7-7 and forced a Stanford timeout. A net violation gave Stanford the advantage on the changeover, 8-7. A crucial call came after a ball was called down and was replayed. Wiggs had a kill down the line to give the advantage back to the Gators but a kill down the pipe from Williams tied the set at 9-9. Florida continued to trade points with Stanford before a final Anderson and Ferrell teamed up for a stuff block to give Florida the edge at 12-11. A kill from Ferrell out of the middle gave Florida a 13-12 lead but back-to-back Gator hitting errors gave Stanford match point at 14-13. A Mann hitting error gave Stanford the set and the match, 15-13.