| SEC VOLLEYBALL RESULTS |
Auburn 3, Ole Miss 0
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Alabama 3, Georgia 1
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Kentucky 3, South Carolina 1
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LSU 3, Mississippi State 0
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Tennessee 3, Florida 2
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AUBURN STAYS PERFECT AT HOME, DEFEATS OLE MISS 3-0
AUBURN – Led by a season-high 15 kills from senior Kelly Fidero, the Auburn volleyball team stayed undefeated at home this season with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-12) sweep of Ole Miss on Sunday afternoon at the Student Activities Center.
Auburn (8-6, 2-2 SEC) avenged a pair of defeats at the hands of the Rebels (5-7, 1-3 SEC) last season and won its third straight home match to open the season. In fact, the Tigers have yet to drop a single set at home in 2011, winning all three of their home matches by a 3-0 count.
“I think this was a weekend we really needed,” Auburn head coach Rick Nold said. “After being on the road so much, we really needed to come in here and have our home crowd behind us. I’m really happy with the way it turned out. We talked a lot before about serving and passing, we made some improvements there, and that led to a great weekend.”
Fidero, who racked up 14 kills in three previous matches this season, bettered her 2011 best on the Auburn’s penultimate point, sending the Tigers to match point at 24-11. With just three errors in her 26 attacks, she hit .462 in the match, giving her a weekend total of 29 kills (4.83/set) and a .490 hitting percentage.
“As a senior, Kelly is someone we really rely on,” Nold said. “She’s a great player, and we need to find ways to get the right people open. Our setters did a great job with those opportunities, and she took advantage of them.”
Sophomore setter Chelsea Wintzinger had 29 assists on the night and equaled her career-high with six kills; she also had six digs and assisted on a block. Junior Sarah Bullock finished with 10 kills and nine digs, one shy of her second consecutive double-double.
Camila Jersonsky and Vesela Zapryanova had five kills apiece, and MacKenzy Harper tied for the team lead with nine digs. Chloe Rowand had two blocks while Bullock, Wintzinger and Fidero had one apiece.
The Tigers out-hit Ole Miss .296-.124, improving to 7-0 on the season when hitting .200 or better. It was the fifth time this year Auburn held an opponent below .200 for the match; the Tigers are 4-1 in those contests. Auburn had 43 kills to the Rebels’ 29 and also won the digs battle 46-34. Ole Miss did lead in the blocks category 6-4, with Regina Thomas recording a match-high five blocks.
The first set was a back-and-forth affair early, but the Tigers took control with four straight points to take an 11-7 lead. That lead would eventually swell to 18-10, mainly thanks to five Ole Miss attack errors and a service ace from Harper. From there, Fidero would take control, scoring the Tigers’ final four points on kills to give Auburn a 25-19 win in set number one. Fidero would record five kills in the opening set while Bullock was the defensive leader with six digs.
Auburn got off to an inauspicious start in the second set with Ole Miss scoring five of the first six points, four of which came courtesy of Rebel blocks. The Ole Miss lead would eventually swell to 11-5, forcing a timeout, and remained a five-point game at 15-10. From that point, though, the Tigers would go on a 5-1 run, cutting the deficit to a single point on two kills from Bullock and an ace from Zapryanova to make it a 16-15 game. Another kill from Bullock and a Rebel error tied the score for the first time at 17-17, and a Fidero kill put Auburn ahead for the first time at 19-18. The Tigers would never trail again, but survived the Rebels fighting off two set point attempts to take the second frame by a 25-22 count.
Auburn completely dominated the third set, taking control early and never looking back in a 25-12 whitewash. The Tigers hit .500 in the final game, compared to the Rebels’ .094, and had 15 kills to the Rebels’ nine. In fact, Ole Miss did not score a point on serve in the entire set; Auburn was 12-for-12 in sideout opportunities. After taking a 13-8 lead midway through the set, the Tigers would go on a 9-1 run to put things out of reach at 22-9. Fidero’s kill to make it 24-11 was her 15th of the day, and Wintzinger got her sixth kill to close out the match.
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Alabama Volleyball Defeats Bulldogs, 3-1, on Sunday
ATHENS, Ga. – The Alabama women’s volleyball team got a match-high 21 kills from junior outside hitter Kayla Fitterer, as the Crimson Tide defeated the Georgia Bulldogs, 3-1, (25-21, 21-25, 30-28, 25-22) in a Southeastern Conference match from the Ramsey Center on Sunday afternoon.
Fitterer was one of three UA players to reach double-digits in kills, as Cortney Warren had 14 and Leigh Moyer tied her career-high with 12. The road win for the Tide (7-7, 1-3 SEC) snapped an 18-match SEC road losing streak, with the last conference road win for UA coming exactly two years ago, at South Carolina, 3-0, on Sept. 25, 2009.
Fitterer posted a .294 hitting percentage against Georgia (5-9, 1-3 SEC), recording 21 kills on 51 attempts with six errors. Moyer had a team-high .500 hitting percentage, posting just two errors on 20 swings and Warren was efficient with a .483 hitting percentage, committing zero errors on 29 attempts.
Stephanie Riley and Andera McQuaid had 25 assists each for Alabama, while McQuaid notched her fifth double-double of the season with 12 digs. McQuaid also added seven kills. Cristina Arenas led UA with 15 digs.
Georgia’s Brittany Northcutt had 15 kills and was one of three UG players to reach double-digits in kills. Elizabeth Reid had 12 kills while Briana Bahr added 10. Kathleen Gates had a match-high 54 assists and Alisha Laing posted a match-best 18 digs.
Behind five kills by Moyer and four by Fitterer, Alabama got off to a good start at Georgia, winning the opening set 25-21. UA hit .300 in the opening set, posting 14 kills with two errors on 40 attempts. The Tide also posted two blocks in the day’s first set.
After the Tide opened a 6-0 lead in the second set, the Bulldogs regrouped to even the score at 18-18, before taking the set 25-21 to even the match at one-set each.
In a battle to win the pivotal third set, Alabama came out on top, winning the set 30-28 to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Trailing for the first half of the set, UA got a kill by Moyer to even the set at 15-15. The Tide had set-point at 24-21, but the Bulldogs evened the score at 24-24. The teams traded points, until a Georgia service error and a kill by Fitterer gave the Tide a 30-28 victory.
In the fourth set, Fitterer added six of her match-high 21 kills to help the Tide put the match away. Alabama hit .158 in the fourth set, but held the Bulldogs to a .000 hitting mark, as Georgia posted eight errors and eight kills on 35 attempts.
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Season-Best Offensive Onslaught Leads UK Past South Carolina
COLUMBIA, S.C. – A season-best offensive performance guided Kentucky to a 3-1 (25-21, 25-13, 21-25, 25-15) victory at South Carolina Sunday. UK charted a season-best .398 hitting clip and had three players in double-figures with 10 or more kills. The trio committed a mere four combined errors led by a flawless performance from senior Ann Armes.
With the win, Kentucky improves to 12-3 on the season and 3-1 in Southeastern Conference action. South Carolina drops to 9-4 on the year and 0-3 in league action.
“I thought we played really well for the most part on the road,” UK coach Craig Skinner said. “South Carolina had a great crowd and it really is a tough place to play. We had a lot of people step up offensively and we really terminated the ball well.”
Armes totaled 11 kills on a career-best .647 hitting percentage. Senior Becky Pavan led the way with 15 kills on .520 hitting, while junior Ashley Frazier totaled 14 kills on a .522 clip. Pavan notched 10 kills over the final two stanzas.
“Becky took over in game four and helped seal the win for us,” Skinner said.
Junior setter Christine Hartmann dished out 48 assists at a .533 clip and matched a career-high with seven hammers of her own to the Wildcat cause.
UK limited the league’s top-statistical offensive squad to 44 kills on .205 hitting. Kentucky charted 10 blocks in the match with Pavan leading the way with six for the day. Junior Stephanie Klefot had a match-high 15 digs and sophomore Whitney Billings chipped in with 12. Freshman Lauren O’Conner posted a career-high seven scoops and added eight kills in the match.
Sophomore Jessi Greenberg and freshman Jackie Napper added to the defensive presence in the back row with seven and four digs, respectively.
Frazier’s six kills on .600 hitting led the Wildcats to a 25-21 opening set victory. UK’s junior did not commit an error in her 10 attempts to lead the attack. Kentucky charted 16 kills on .314 hitting in the frame. UK also forced South Carolina’s high-octane offense into five hitting errors in the frame.
Armes opened the set with a kill which was followed by a block from the hands of Billings and Pavan. South Carolina tied the score on six occasions throughout the frame, but never stole the lead from the visitors. The final tied score came at 16, and UK rallied to score nine of the final 14 points of the frame to pull away. Kills from Frazier and Armes ended the set in favor of the Blue and White.
Kentucky charted 15 kills on .393 hitting in the second set with three players tallying three or more in the set. Frazier posted five, Pavan added four and Hartmann struck for three. UK’s defense limited South Carolina to a mere seven kills on .034 hitting. UK totaled four blocks in the set led by two from the arms of Pavan.
South Carolina opened the scoring in the set, but UK rallied back and grabbed the lead at 4-3 with Hartmann’s first kill of the set. Kentucky then utilized a 12-6 run capped off by back-to-back kills from Pavan and O’Conner to earn a 15-9 edge. South Carolina would then charted four straight points to pull to within 16-13, but UK ended the set on a 9-0 run and did not allow South Carolina to score again for the 25-13 set victory. O’Conner had a pair of aces in the stretch to aid the Wildcat cause.
The Gamecocks forced extra frames with a 25-22 third set win. The home team fended off a late UK rally as the Blue and White charged back to within one after trailing by as many as five in the set. South Carolina had its best offensive output with 16 kills on .389 hitting, while UK managed 17 kills on a .378 hitting clip. Pavan and Armes paced the attack for the Wildcats with six and five kills, respectively.
After South Carolina opened the set by taking the early edge, it was a Hartmann solo rejection that gave the Blue and White a lead at 7-6 in which it would never relinquish. UK stretched its lead to 18-9 with a 7-0 run which was highlighted by a pair of Pavan-O’Conner blocks. Kentucky capped the set with a the 15th kill from the hand of Pavan for a 25-15 final set victory.
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LSU Volleyball Downs Mississippi State in SEC Home Opener
BATON ROUGE – Madie Jones continue her hot play and belted 19 kills on a .333 hitting percentage to lift the LSU volleyball team to a 3-0 sweep over Mississippi State [26-24, 25-18, 25-17] during its SEC home opener Sunday at the Maravich Center.
LSU (10-3, 3-0 SEC) won its third straight decision and improved to 3-0 to start SEC play for the fourth time in the last six seasons. The Tigers also moved to 50-3 versus their SEC Western Division rivals since 2006, including 11 consecutive victories against Mississippi State.
Jones hammered home seven kills apiece during the first two sets and put together her six straight double digit kills performance. She also tacked on four digs and three blocks.
LSU’s middle blocker tandem of Desiree Elliott and Michele Williams combined to rack up 20 kills to go along with eight digs and four blocks. Elliott cranked 11 spikes for her eight consecutive double figure kills effort.
Helen Boyle and Nicole Willis provided five kills each, while Willis connected for a team-best .364 hitting clip. Boyle was solid on the defensive end as well and garnered 11 digs.
“We're really excited but feel very fortunate to be 3-0 in the SEC after we didn’t put forth our best effort today,” head coach Fran Flory said. “We persevered and our back court defense led us once again. We lost our rhythm offensively in the middle, but what a great match for Madie Jones. She and Nicole Willis did a really nice job of taking big swings and putting the ball on the floor when we needed it the most.”
Mississippi State (6-7, 1-3 SEC) was limited to a measly .069 hitting percentage. It marked the seventh time this season that the Tigers have held their opponent to under a .100 hitting ratio.
Caitlin Rance, who entered the match with the third-highest kills per set average in the SEC, was bottled up for five kills and committed five hitting errors. Hannah Wilkinson, the SEC’s and NCAA’s hitting percentage leader at the beginning of the week, garnered five kills on a paltry .095 hitting clip.
LSU rolled to a 69-42 advantage in the digs department behind Meghan Mannari, the reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Week. She gobbled up 23 digs to equal the second-highest output of her career and slapped two aces. The Frisco, Texas, native has come away with 10 or more scoops in 11 of her 12 outings.
Sam Delahoussaye also corralled 11 digs as LSU posted a 64 percent sideout efficiency along with a spotless 55-for-55 in reception attempts.
“We had a nice game plan,” Flory said. “You have to credit our assistant coaches Steve Loeswick and Jill Lytle Wilson for putting our players in the best positions to be successful. Steve came up with an excellent blocking scheme, and Jill put together a magnificent serving game plan. Our players were able to execute it. When those two things go together, you’re going to be very successful.”
Mississippi State controlled a majority of the opening set and grabbed a 17-13 advantage on a Nance kill. The Tigers responded with six of the next eight points capped by a Delahoussaye ace and an Elliott spike to deadlock the tally at 19-19. MSU charged right back and possessed a pair of set points at 24-22 before Jones, Willis and Williams carried LSU to four straight points for a 26-24 comeback triumph.
“We started off slow, but we decided that we were going to change the momentum of the match,” Mannari said. “We took control, and Madie did a great job of putting down balls on some crucial points. She got us the ball back, and on those critical runs that we needed to take the first set.”
After splitting the first 18 points of set two, LSU took control of the frame behind a 14-6 spurt. Jones and Elliott notched three kills each and teamed for a block during the run. Jones provided the finishing blast for a 25-18 victory.
Jones and Williams connected for a trio of kills to vault LSU to early 13-5 edge to start the third set. The Bulldogs would get as close as 16-13, but the Tigers answered with five of the ensuing six points to secure the sweep by a 25-17 margin. LSU’s defense held Mississippi State to three kills and a -.030 hitting percentage in the set.
“It was definitely exciting to be back at home and have our first SEC game so we could build up our momentum on our home court,” Jones said. “It’s so easy to be on the outside and hit into the block knowing someone is going to cover you. I’m able to swing away because of that.”
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Tennessee Volleyball Wins Five-Set Thriller Over No. 6 Florida
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In a hostile environment and playing in front of a national TV audience on ESPNU, the Tennessee Lady Vol volleyball team edged No. 6 Florida in thrilling fashion, 25-21, 20-25, 25-21, 19-25, 18-16, on Sunday evening at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
“This was as high of a level match as you are going to see in college volleyball,” Lady Vol head coach Rob Patrick said. “This was two great, athletic, well coached teams battling it out. Unfortunately, there had to be a loser. Fortunately, I’m glad it wasn’t us. Coming down to Florida, it is one of the hardest places to win a match. I couldn’t be prouder of every single player on this team.”
Tennessee (11-2, 4-0) had four players reach double-digits in kills, while two of them recorded double-doubles. Sophomore Carly Sahagian led the charge offensively with a career-high 19 kills, to go along with 13 digs. Sophomore Kelsey Robinson notched double-double number nine this season, blasting 17 kills in addition to 12 digs.
Juniors Leslie Cikra and DeeDee Harrison also reached double figures in kills, as Cikra hit a season-high 17, while Harrison notched 12 of her own. Harrison also led the squad in blocks, sending four attacks back against the Gators.
Freshman Mary Pollmiller continues to impress at the setter position, this time notching 59 assists, plus an ace, eight digs and two blocks.
“We have some really high goals at the University of Tennessee,” Patrick said. “We want to win the SEC Championships. Well guess what, you have to go through Florida. We got that one win over Florida but there are still 16 SEC matches. We better be prepared for every single match from here on out, because we are going to get everyone’s best shot”
With Florida leading the opening set of the match, 2-1, UT used a 3-0 run off kills by freshman Shealyn Kolosky, Robinson and Harrison to take a 4-2 advantage. The Lady Vols would not relinquish their lead, as the squad, up 5-4, went on to score the next five points, in large part to three Robinson kills to extend the lead to 9-4.
Up three, 10-7, Cikra smashed two kills to go along with a Kolosky kill and a UF serving error, giving Tennessee a seven point lead, 14-7. The two teams went back-and-forth until the score was 21-17 in favor of UT. That’s when the Orange and White scored the next three points by way of a Cikra kill, a block by Sahagian and Kolosky and an ace by freshman Nikki Brice, to give UT a 24-17 advantage and the serve for the match.
Florida made it interesting towards the end of the set, going on a 4-0 rally to make the score 24-21, but a kill by Sahagian dashed the hopes of the Gators and gave Tennessee the first set, 25-21.
The Big Orange carried its momentum from set one into the second set, jumping out to a quick 3-0 lead by way of a UF serving error, a solo block from Cikra and a block by Harrison and Robinson. Tennessee would use another 3-0 run behind a Brice ace, a Robinson kill and an attack error by Florida to extend its lead to six, 9-3.
After a Harrison kill to give Tennessee a 13-8 advantage, Florida scored the next seven points and never looked back, leading 15-13. The Orange and White did tie the match up at 16 by way of a Cikra kill and a Brice ace, but could never overtake the Gators after that. Tennessee cut the lead to three on four occasions, 16-19, 17-20, 19-22 and 20-23, but Florida prevailed in the set, 25-20.
The third set was a seesaw battle, as both squads looked to take a 2-1 lead in the match. With the match tied at one apiece, Florida went on a 3-0 run and taking the lead 4-1, only to see the Lady Vols match that run with a 3-0 rally themselves to tie things up at four.
Two Sahagian blasts put the Lady Vols up 7-5, but the Gators went on a 4-1 run to regain the lead, 9-8. Tennessee responded however, knotting the match at 11-11 off a Harrison kill, but again UF rattled off three straight to take a 14-11 advantage. Not to be outdone, Tennessee used two Gator miscues and kills from Cikra and Sahagian to regain the lead, 15-14. Florida would tie the set up at 15, 16 and 17, but Tennessee hit the accelerator and never trailed after being up 18-17.
A UF service error gave Tennessee a 23-20 lead and Sahagian closed out the set with two kills to give Tennessee set three, 25-21, and a 2-1 match advantage.
The fourth frame began with team trading points up to three. The match was then tied at six, eight, 11, 13, 15 and 16. Florida would score the next two points to go ahead 18-16, but a Robinson blast cut the deficit to one. UF followed that up by scoring the next four points and seven of the last nine to capture set four, 25-19. During UF’s 7-2 run to end the set, Tennessee got both of its point by way of Harrison kills.
With the match tied up 2-2, the first to 15, or in this case 18, would leave the O’Dome with a victory. Kills from Cikra, Harrison and Sahagian netted Tennessee its first three points of the match and two Gator miscues put the Lady Vols up 5-3. Tennessee maintained a two point lead from kills by Robinson and Sahagian. Up 8-7 off of another Robinson kill, the two squads switched sides. The switch proved to be very helpful for the Gators, who scored the next four points to take the lead, 11-8.
A timeout called by Patrick settled the Lady Vols down, who then erupted and scored the next six points of the match because of three Gator errors, a Robinson kill, a block and a Sahagian kill. The rally gave Tennessee a 14-11 advantage, and UT was serving for the match. Florida would not go down without a fight, registering three consecutive points off of two kills and a Cikra attack error.
UF’s Kelly Murphy’s ensuing serve hit into the net, putting UT back up by one, 15-14, and giving the Lady Vols another opportunity to clinch the match. Tennessee returned the favor however, as it served the ball into the net to again tie the score up, this time at 15. The teams traded kills to knot the score up at 16, but a Sahagian bomb and a Florida attack error gave Tennessee the victory, 18-16, as the team stormed the court.
“I’m glad they stormed the court,” Patrick explained. “That’s what you are supposed to do. They have a lot of passion for the game and they are really fun to coach because of that passion. I was really excited to see how excited they were.”