Friday Volleyball scores
|
Kentucky 3, Auburn 0
|
Arkansas 3, Alabama 1
|
Tennessee 3, Georgia 0
|
LSU 3, Ole Miss 2
|
Florida 3, Mississippi State 0
|
Kentucky Sweeps Auburn
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky volleyball team totaled seven consecutive victories to conclude non-conference action and began the opening of Southeastern Conference action in much the same fashion. Kentucky rolled to a 3-0 (25-19, 25-12, 25-22) victory over visiting Auburn to post its eighth consecutive victory and seventh sweep in the stretch.
With the win, Kentucky improves to 10-2 overall on the season and 1-0 in league play. Kentucky now owns an opening day SEC record of 22-9 and 5-2 under the direction of head coach Craig Skinner. Auburn drops to 6-5 on the season and 0-1 in SEC action.
Kentucky once again had a balanced performance both offensively and defensively. Junior Ashley Frazier led the offensive output with a team-high 10 kills on .348 hitting. Frazier added five digs, three aces and a trio of blocks in the victory. Senior Ann Armes pitched in with seven kills on a .778 hitting percentage.
UK had seven total blocks on the night led by three from Frazier and senior Gretchen Giesler. Junior Stephanie Klefot paced the back-line with a match-high 17 scoops. Sophomore Whitney Billings added seven and sophomore Jessi Greenberg chipped in with six.
Kentucky claimed a 25-19 opening set victory behind a .379 hitting percentage and five kills from Frazier. UK limited Auburn to 12 kills on just .054 hitting. The Tigers committed 10 hitting errors in an attempt to avoid UK’s blockers.
UK grabbed a 4-1 edge after forcing the Tigers in four consecutive hitting errors. Kentucky maintained a comfortable advantage, until Auburn pulled to within 11-8. Armes quickly came up with a kill to stifle the run, and Kentucky finished the set on a 14-10 run to end the frame. Giesler capped off the set with her third kill of the set.
Kentucky’s blocking was the difference in the second set as the Big Blue Wall turned back six opponent attacks in the stanza. Frazier led the way with a pair of solo rejections and she also teamed up with Giesler for a block assist. Frazier also totaled five kills in the set including the set-clincher.
Auburn opened the set by grabbing an early advantage, but a kill from Billings and then consecutive blocks ignited a 5-0 run and UK quickly earned an 8-3 edge. Kentucky rolled to a 25-12 win getting 12 kills on a .345 hitting percentage in the set. Auburn was limited to a mere seven kills on a .000 hitting clip in the frame.
Auburn gave UK its best effort in the third frame going ahead 21-18 late in the stanza. Auburn pushed its advantage to 22-20, but the Wildcats would utilize a 5-0 run to finish the set and claim the match 3-0. Billings had a kill and an ace in the run, and freshman Lauren O’Conner posted a pair of kills and teamed up with Giesler for a block in the run.
Kentucky tallied 16 kills on .286 hitting in the frame led by O’Conner’s five in the final frame. Auburn had its best offensive output of the set with 15 kills on .278 hitting.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Arkansas Wins In Tuscaloosa
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Arkansas volleyball team kicked off Southeastern Conference play Friday evening with a four-set victory (21-25, 25-8, 25-22, 25-23) over Alabama at Foster Auditorium. The Razorbacks were led offensively by its outside hitters, paced by 14 kills from Kelli Stipanovich. Jasmine Norton and Roslandy Acosta added 13 and 12 kills, respectively.
Defensively, libero Christa Alvarez led the way with a career-high 21 digs. Four Arkansas players finished the match with double-digit digs. Norton, Stipanovich and Raymariely Santos finished the match with double-double performances. From her setter position, Santos dished out 46 assists and directed the team’s offense to a .283 hitting percentage.
In the opening set, Alabama (6-5, 0-1) went out to an early five-point lead, 12-7, to force an Arkansas timeout. Out of the timeout, Norton pulled the team to within four with her first kill of the match. The Razorbacks fell behind by as much as nine but the team reeled off five points in a row and eight of the next nine points to get back into the set. The run of points cut the Crimson Tide lead to 22-19.
Arkansas (9-3, 1-0) saved one set point but the home team closed out the first game, 25-21, on a kill by Courtney Warren. Stipanovich led all players through the first set of play with five kills on seven attempts. Kayla Fitterer paced Alabama with four kills in the opener.
The Razorbacks responded to start the second set and jumped out to a 10-4 advantage. Kills out of the middle by Amanda Anderson and Janeliss Torres-Lopez forced a timeout from Alabama head coach Ed Allen. The Razorbacks continued to apply the pressure and built their lead to double figures, 14-4. After a brief push by the Crimson Tide, Arkansas re-established its 10-point lead with a tandem block by Torres-Lopez and Santos.
A nine-point surge late in the set secured Arkansas’ momentum in game two. On the team’s first set point, Norton served up an ace to seal the game, 25-8. The Razorbacks posted a .500 hitting percentage in the set, improving on their .212 figure from game one.
The action evened out through the first half of play in set three as the teams went out to a 10-10 tie. Quick spurts by Alabama pushed the home team ahead and caused Pulliza to use both of his timeouts, the final coming with the Crimson Tide holding a 16-13 lead. Out of the timeout, the Razorbacks responded with three straight points to even the score and force an Alabama timeout.
Arkansas’ run continued out of the timeout with the next two points. With the score tied at 18-all, the Razorbacks won four of the next five points to pull ahead, 22-19. The Crimson Tide saved two set points but on the third, Norton went cross court for her 10th kill of the match to give her team the set, 25-22, and the 2-1 lead in the match.
In the fourth set, the Razorbacks went out to an early 7-4 lead but Alabama battled back to win the next four points which caused Pulliza to call his first timeout of the game. The Crimson Tide opened up a 13-10 lead but Arkansas responded with three straight points to tie the score and, with a service ace by Santos, took the lead, 17-16. An Alabama attack error on the next point gave the Razorbacks a free point and forced Allen to call a timeout.
An attack error by Fitterer pushed the Arkansas lead to four, 21-17. Acosta picked up her 12th kill of the night to give the Razorbacks their first match point. After letting four match points go by, the team finally closed out the set, 25-23, with a kill by Anderson to win the match.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tennessee Defeats Georgia
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Lady Vol volleyball team opened the Southeastern Conference portion of its schedule on a high note and netted head coach Rob Patrick career win number 300, as UT (8-2) defeated Georgia (4-7) 25-19, 25-20, 25-21, on Friday night at Thompson-Boling Arena in front of 843 fans.
Now in his 15th season at the helm of the volleyball program, Patrick reached the 300 win plateau after three consecutive 20-plus win seasons. The two-time National Coach of the Year also has the team on pace again this season.
The win marked the fourth consecutive victory for the team, which is coming off a three match sweep last weekend at the Virginia Tech Tournament. Offensively, junior Leslie Cikra and sophomore Kelsey Robinson led the way, each tallying double-digits in kills.
Robinson accounted for 20 of the squad’s 51 kills and has recorded 20 kills in seven matches this season. The Bartlett, Ill., native also just missed registering her seventh double-double on the season, as she finished with nine digs against the Bulldogs.
Overall, the team hit at a blistering mark of .339, while holding Georgia to a hitting percentage of .163. UT also had 17 more assists (48-21) and 19 more kills (51-32) than the Bulldogs.
Cikra blasted 20 kills on the evening and had an astounding hitting percentage of .348. She was also a force on the defensive side of the ball, tallying four blocks.
Freshman Mary Pollmiller, the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week, had a team-high 41 assists against Georgia and ranked second on the team in digs with eight, only behind sophomore Ellen Mullins who had 11.
Junior DeeDee Harrison registered a team-best five blocks to go along with three kills. Freshman Shealyn Kolosky converted seven kills and hit .500 for the match.
The opening set saw five ties and two lead changes, as the Orange and White stormed out of the gates to go up 6-1 in part to a pair of kills each by Cikra and Robinson. The Bulldogs went on a 6-2 run to pull within one, 8-7. Georgia would soon take its first lead of the evening on a Briana Bahr kill to give the Bulldogs a 12-11 advantage.
Once the Lady Vols tied the match up at 15, they never trailed again. Down 15-14, Mullins propelled the team to a 6-1 run to vault the team ahead, 20-16. Two kills by Kolosky, a kill by Pollmiller and a pair of Bulldog service errors gave the first set to Tennessee, 25-19.
Set number two was a back-and-forth battle. After trading point to three, UGA scored four of the next five to go ahead 7-4. Georgia extended its lead to as many as four, up 10-6, but after a timeout the Big Orange rattled off the next four to pull even at 10 apiece.
A pair of attack errors put UT up 12-10, and the team pulled ahead. Kills from Robinson and Harrison, along with a kill from freshman Tiffany Baker and errors on the Bulldogs extended the Lady Vol lead to 18-13. Georgia would get as close as four on seven occasions the rest of the set, but a kill from Cikra and an attack error by UGA’s Brittany Northcutt gave UT the set, 25-20, and a 2-0 advantage heading into the break.
With a three set sweep on the horizon, Tennessee again rallied from an early deficit. Trailing from the time the set was at 2-1 in favor of Georgia, the
Lady Vols evened up the match at 10 a piece following a 5-1 run behind three kills from Robinson, a kill from Harrison and a Kolosky ace.
The match was tied at 10, 12, 15 and 17. At 17-17 all, UT went on a 5-1 run to push their advantage to 23-18. A Robinson kill got the team to within one point of winning the match and an attack by Georgia gave the Lady Vols an SEC opening win.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Florida Sweeps Mississippi State
STARKVILLE, Miss. – The No. 7 Florida volleyball team swept Mississippi State, 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 26-24), to take its 21st consecutive Southeastern Conference opener on Friday night in front of a crowd of 1,009 at the Newell-Grissom Building.
Florida continued their unbeaten streak against Mississippi State, taking all 39 meetings in the series, including 35 3-set sweeps. The Gators hit .310 on the evening and outblocked the Bulldogs, 9.0-6.0.
Florida continued its balanced attack led by senior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) with a match-leading 14 kills and senior right-side/setter Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.) registered her 25th career triple-double on the final point of the match to end with 10 kills on no errors, 19 assists and 11 digs. Junior right-side Tangerine Wiggs (Seattle, Wash.) continued her hot streak with 11 kills on the night to go along with a match-high five blocks and both Murphy and sophomore setter Chanel Brown (Tempe, Ariz.) contributed 19 assists apiece.
Redshirt freshman libero Taylor Unroe (Muncie, Ind.) led the match with 15 digs and a perfect serve reception percentage, while freshman defensive specialist Madison Monserez (Orlando, Fla.) earned her first start of the season and notched seven digs on the evening.
Florida took the first set despite only hitting .167 to Mississippi State’s .244, thanks to Jaeckel’s five kills, as well as strong blocking from Wiggs, who had three of her five blocks in the first stanza. The teams rallied all the way to 20 but the Gators began to pull away behind the serve of senior middle blocker Cassandra Anderson (Bakersfield, Calif.), who served five straight points at the end of the first set. A Bulldog hitting error gave the Gators the first set, 25-20.
The Gators pulled out to a 10-7 lead in the second set, thanks to tough serving by Monserez and big swings on the right side from Murphy and Wiggs. Jaeckel and Unroe were mainstays behind the service stripe, serving six of the last 10 Gator points in the set. With Wiggs’ four second-set kills, Florida cruised to a second set victory, 25-18.
Jaeckel came out on fire after the intermission, registering seven of her 14 kills in the third set alone. The Gators hit .410 in the third stanza, led by Wiggs’ .800 hitting clip. Florida battled back from multiple deficits and even staved off a Mississippi State set point before going on a 6-1 run to close out the set and the match, 26-24.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
LSU Earns Dramatic Win at Ole Miss
OXFORD, Miss. – Madie Jones powered home five of her season-high 18 kills during the deciding frame to propel the LSU volleyball team to a gritty 3-2 triumph over Ole Miss [15-25, 25-16, 27-25, 24-26, 15-6] Friday at the Gillom Sports Center during the SEC opener for both teams.
In the process, LSU (8-3, 1-0 SEC) ended its two-match losing skid and won its first five-set decision of the season. The Tigers also have won seven of their last eight SEC openers under head coach Fran Flory and improved to 48-3 versus fellow SEC Western Division foes going back to the 2006 season.
Malorie Pardo handed out a career-high 60 assists and chipped in 12 digs for her fourth consecutive double-double. She sparked a quartet of hitters to 10 or more kills.
Jones cranked 10 of her match-best 18 kills during the final two sets aided by a match-high .343 hitting percentage. Desiree Elliott collected 16 spikes and extended her double digit kills run to seven straight matches, while Nicole Willis pounded home a career-best 13 kills. It marked the first time that Willis ventured into double figure kills during her career.
Michele Williams finished with 10 kills, two digs and two blocks. Helen Boyle tacked on nine kills and nine digs to fall just shy of her fourth career double-double.
Whereas Ole Miss (4-5, 0-1 SEC) notched a 16-4 blocking advantage, LSU countered with a commanding 78-56 edge in the digs department.
Meghan Mannari corralled a match-best 21 scoops, her second-highest output in her LSU career. She was followed by Lauren Waclawczyk and Sam Delahoussaye, who sprawled out for 19 and 14 digs, respectively. Both Mannari and Waclawczyk slapped two aces for the Tigers.
LSU raced out to an early 3-1 edge in set five behind three quick Jones kills. The Tigers continued their balanced offensive attack as Willis and Elliott sprinkled in a pair of kills to make it 8-4 at the changeover.
Ole Miss used a Thomas spike to pull back to within 8-5, but that’s as close as the Rebels would get. The Tigers slammed the door with authority fueled by a strong finishing kick and reeled off seven the final eight points to earn the 15-6 rout.
LSU belted 12 kills on 18 swings with only one error for an impressive .556 hitting percentage during the fifth set. The Tigers also maintained a spotless 7-for-7 sideout efficiency in the final frame.
Allegra Wells popped 12 kills to pace Ole Miss. Reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Week, Amanda Philpot, was limited to seven kills on a .167 clip, 38 assists and four digs. Courtney Cunningham tallied eight kills to go along with seven blocks, while Regina Thomas recorded five kills and eight blocks.
Ole Miss made a strong opening statement and led wire-to-wire to claim a 25-15 set one win before LSU fired back behind a stout 81 percent sideout clip to pull even with a 25-16 victory during the second set.
Out of the locker room, the two teams settled into a rhythm as set three featured 11 ties and four lead changes. Ole Miss jumped out to an early 13-9 advantage, but the Tigers secured nine of the next 12 points capped by three straight Elliott kills to turn the tables and vault ahead 18-16. Elliott continued her magnificent play down the stretch with three more kills, the last coming at 25-25. Jones delivered the final blow after an exquisite defensive stab by a diving Waclawczyk for the 27-25 triumph.
The Rebels regrouped and ran out to a 6-0 spread to start the fourth set. LSU kept plugging away and got back within three points on six difference occasions. Down 23-20, the Tigers used a Waclawczyk ace coupled with a Willis kill to make it 23-22. After an Ole Miss sideout, LSU staved off two set points and made the most of a Rebel service error along with an Elliott-Willis block to knot the ledger at 24-24. However, a Tiger service miscue and attack error followed to push Ole Miss to the 26-24 decision.