| SEC VOLLEYBALL RESULTS |
Mississippi State 3, Auburn 0
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Kentucky 3, Ole Miss 2
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Tennessee 3, Alabama 0
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LSU 3, South Carolina 2
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Florida 3, Arkansas 2
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BULLDOGS COMPLETE SERIES SWEEP OF AUBURN WITH 3-0 TV WIN
AUBURN, Ala. --- Mississippi State (11-16/6-12 SEC) hit an SEC season-best .373 Sunday afternoon in registering a straight-sets SEC volleyball win over Auburn (10-17/4-13 SEC) and completing a sweep of its season series with the Tigers.
State trailed only briefly in the match regionally-televised by SportSouth, winning 25-21, 25-16, 25-20 while snapping an eight-match losing skid.
“I am so proud of the fight and determination our team played with today,” said MSU head coach Jenny Hazelwood. “We were strong in every aspect of our game today and that should give us a lot of momentum going into our last two matches at home this weekend.”
The win was State’s sixth all-time at Auburn and gave the Bulldogs their first season series sweep of the Tigers since 2007. The victory also enabled MSU to match its 2010 season win total.
State was dominant at the net, amassing a 14-3 advantage in total team blocking. Freshman middle blocker Lainey Wyman, who at Georgia Friday set an MSU freshman record for blocks in a season, led the Bulldog block party with six. Setter Paris Perret and senior middle Hannah Wilkinson added five each while junior Faith Steinwedell registered four rejections. Wyman delivered four of her blocks in the second set.
State opened the match with a hot hand. Wyman delivered the first kill of the match and State never trailed in winning the opening set 25-21. Caitlin Rance came through with five kills and Channelle Baker registered four as State hit at a match-best .462 clip.
Auburn jumped out to a 3-0 lead to open the second set, but the Bulldogs answered with a 5-0 run and never trailed again in the frame. Minutes later Wyman drilled two more kills and teamed with Steinwedell on a block during a 5-1 State run that stretched the MSU advantage to 14-7. State registered seven blocks in the set, leading to a negative attack percentage for the Tigers.
The Tigers scored the opening point of the third set, but it would be the last lead of the day for Auburn. Rance registered five of her team-leading 10 kills in the third set and Wilkinson stepped up with four kills and three blocks as Mississippi State cruised on to a match-clinching 25-20 win. Two of Wilkinson’s blocks came during a 5-0 Bulldog run after Auburn had pulled to within two points at 18-16.
Rance reached double figures in kills for the 57th time in her career. With Sunday’s 10-kill performance she raised her season total to a career-best 412 kills, fourth-most kills in a season at Mississippi State.
Chanelle Baker and Lainey Wyman had eight kills each while Hannah Wilkinson tallied seven and Faith Steinwedell three. Auburn, paced by a 14-kill performance by Kelly Fidero, managed a 44036 lead in kills. But State, thanks to an SEC season-low eight attack errors, out-hit AU .373 to .173.
Mississippi State also won the battle of the defenses, out-digging Auburn 32-24. Hillary Parker led State with eight digs while Auburn’s Sara Wroblicky took match honors with nine digs.
Misfires at the service stripe also proved telling in the match for Auburn. The Tigers registered four aces but suffered through 12 service errors.
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No. 18 Kentucky Survives Thriller at Ole Miss
OXFORD, Miss. – The 18th-ranked Kentucky volleyball team survived a thrilling five-set match at Ole Miss with a 3-2 (25-21, 25-23, 19-25, 31-33, 17-15) victory to remain undefeated in five-set matches on the season Sunday afternoon. UK has totaled a perfect 5-0 clip in matches that need a fifth and deciding frame to decide, including a 4-0 mark in conference matches.
With the victory, UK improves to 24-4 overall on the season and 15-2 in Southeastern Conference action. Ole Miss drops to 9-17 overall and 5-13 in league action despite taking both top-25 ranked UK and Tennessee to five-set matches this weekend.
“That was one of the most exciting matches I’ve been a part of,” UK coach Craig Skinner said. “You have to give credit to Ole Miss because they competed well even when they were down big in sets four and five. I have to credit our passes because Ole Miss served really tough. I’m proud of the way our team prevailed through adversity today.”
In the deciding fifth frame, UK jumped out to a 4-0 advantage highlighted by a pair of aces from junior Stephanie Klefot. UK maintained its early edge with an 8-5 score into the switching of benches following a kill from senior Ann Armes. Armes gave UK match point at 14-12, but the Rebels rallied back to tie the score at 14. The match-saving point came on a huge swing from junior Ashley Frazier that a Rebel defended dug and swung back over the net. With UK’s defense charging, the ball dropped just into the court of play for a kill.
Frazier responded with a kill and Ole Miss answered the call to tie the score at 15. Armes followed with her 13th kill of the match to once again give the Blue and White match-point. UK’s defense forced the Rebels into a hitting error to preserve the victory for the visitors.
UK posted 10 kills in the final frame with Armes totaling four of UK’s points. The Blue and White utilized a .286b hitting percentage to the victory. Ole Miss
Kentucky had three players top 10 or more kills in a match, led by a season-high 17 from sophomore Whitney Billings. Frazier notched 16 with Armes (13) and senior Becky Pavan (11) aiding the Wildcat cause. Junior setter Christine Hartmann dished out a career-high 59 assists and led UK to a .297 hitting percentage in the victory. Freshman Lauren O’Conner added eight kills and an ace to the UK’s offensive output.
Klefot picked up a match-high 28 digs with Billings earning 14. Billings has now posted back-to-back double-double efforts for the second time this season. Freshman Jackie Napper added 10 scoops to the winning cause, and sophomore Jessi Greenberg contributed a pair.
The Wildcats earned a 25-21 opening set victory to grab the early advantage. UK charted 15 kills on a .371 hitting clip led by five hammers from Billings in the opening frame. Kentucky also notched three blocks and forced the Rebels into seven hitting errors.
UK grabbed a 3-0 edge to open the set with Billings and Armes teaming up for a rejection. The duo then posted consecutive kills to lift the visitors early. Ole Miss responded to earn a 7-5 lead. A kill from Armes tied the score at 11 and UK would take the lead on a Hartmann kill for a 12-11 edge. The Wildcats would not relinquish its final lead and rolled to a 25-21 set victory. The stanza ended the way it began with Armes and Billings teaming up for a block to cap the set in favor of the Blue and White.
The visitors captured a 2-0 lead into the locker room following 25-23 wire-to-wire second set. UK charted 18 kills on a .333 hitting clip, while Ole Miss managed just 12 hammers on .179 hitting. Billings once again led the way for the Blue and White with six kills in the set on a .545 clip.
A kill from Hartmann gave UK a 2-1 edge in the early stages of the set. Ole Miss then grabbed a 6-4 advantage, before the Wildcats would storm back to knot the score at nine on a kill from Billings. Ole Miss owned a late advantage at 20-19, but the Wildcats would score six of the final nine points to sneak away. In the stretch Frazier, Armes and Billings all posted a kill for the UK offensive effort.
Ole Miss earned a 25-19 third set win to force extra frames. The Rebels limited UK to 14 kills on .265 hitting and benefited from five UK errors. Ole Miss earned 15 kills on an impressive .419 clip to keep the match alive.
Armes began the scoring the fourth frame with her seventh kill of the match. UK stretched its early advantage to a 4-1 score after a Billings and Armes block. Pavan and Hartmann teamed up for a rejection followed by an ace from O’Conner and UK forced the Rebels into a timeout leading 9-5.
With Kentucky maintaining a lead for much of the frame, the Rebels fought back and tied the score at 21 benefiting from an 11-6 run in the late stages of the set. The run was enough to get the Rebels back into things as the squads fought to an above 30-point stanza with UK running out of subs and being forced to play Greenberg in the front row. Consecutive hitting errors by the Wildcats became the difference as Ole Miss forced a deciding fifth frame with a 33-31 fourth set victory.
Kentucky notched 17 kills on a .233 clip with seven coming from Frazier in the set, but Ole Miss earned 23 on .340 hitting in the set-victory.
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#15 Lady Vol Volleyball Finishes Road Portion of the Schedule with 3-0 Sweep Over Alabama
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The No. 15 University of Tennessee volleyball team concluded the road portion of its regular season schedule in dominating fashion, topping Alabama in straight set, 25-17, 25-14, 25-13, on Sunday afternoon at Foster Auditorium in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
“I was really excited about the way we came out and played from the first point on,” Lady Vol head coach Rob Patrick said. “Overall, I was pleased with the defense, offense and the serving. It was a good with for us.”
The Big Orange (24-3, 16-1) hit at a clip of .433, which was the team’s second best performance of the season, only behind its .446 effort against South Carolina on Oct. 30. The triumph over the Tide marked the team’s ninth straight victory and the program’s 800th win.
Sophomore Kelsey Robinson and junior DeeDee Harrison both had 12 kills on the afternoon. Robinson recorded her 19th double-double on the year, as she added a team-best 12 kills, while Harrison hit a career-best .733 by connecting on 12 of her 15 swings, with just one error. Harrison also led the team with five blocks.
Freshman Tiffany Baker had a hitting percentage of .500, as she was successful on five of 10 swings, while not committing an error. Leslie Cikra, a junior, also hit at a high percentage, as she finished with a clip of .400 after converting on five of her 10 swings.
Setter Mary Pollmiller dished out 35 of UT’s 41 assists, while also recording six kills, which was a career-best for the freshman. Fellow classmate Shealyn Kolosky tallied seven kills against UA, which was her eighth SEC match this season where she had at least seven kills.
“Mary was able to distribute the ball to the right people and ran our offense really well,” Patrick said. “Our outside hitters did a wonderful job of taking great swings and taking what Alabama gave to us, which wasn’t a lot.”
The defense put forth a fabulous effort, as it held Alabama (11-18, 4-14) to a hitting percentage of .125, including holding the Crimson Tide to .100 or below in both the second and third sets. Behind Robinson, freshman Nikki Brice had nine digs, while Baker added eight and sophomore Ellen Mullins had five.
The Lady Vols made it tough for the UA offense to get its offense going, as the team tallied six serving aces, highlighted by junior Jasmine Brown notching three, which was a career-best.
The Big Orange jumped out to a quick 4-2 lead, as with the score 2-1 in UA’s favor, Kolosky, Robinson and Harrison recorded consecutive kills to give Tennessee a two-point advantage. The Tide would catch the Lady Vols, tying the set up at seven, and again at points eight through 12.
Tied at 12 apiece, the Lady notched five straight and six of the ensuing seven to grab a commanding 18-13 lead. During that run, Cikra had a pair of kills, Harrison had a kill, Cikra and Harrison combined for a block and Alabama had two miscues. UA would get to within three, 19-16, but a kill from Baker ignited a 5-0 run.
Brown came in to serve with the score 20-16 and quickly registered an ace, followed by two kills from Robinson and a shot from Kolosky, making the score 24-16. After a UA point, a Robinson kill ended the set, 25-17.
Robinson totaled five kills and hit at a clip of .556, while Harrison had a hitting percentage of .750, as she connected on three of her four swings. As a team, Tennessee outhit Alabama .452-.194, as the Big Orange defense totaled three blocks and 12 digs.
Kills from Baker and Robinson kicked off the second set, as UT raced out to a quick 2-0 lead. Up a point, 3-2, the Orange and White scored three of the next four, as two kills from Harrison and a Pollmiller ace made the score 6-3.
With the lead still at three, 9-6, the Lady Vols took advantage of three consecutive Alabama errors, as Tennessee scored eight straight. After the Tide miscues, Robinson and Pollmiller tallied two kills each, while Brown recorded her second ace, which made the score 17-6. Consecutive kills from Harrison and sophomore Carly Sahagian pushed the Tennessee lead to 12, 22-10.
A pair of kills from Cikra got the Lady Vols to within a point of winning the set, 24-12. The Crimson Tide would score the next two, but Tennessee would prevail, 25-14, after Alabama sent a serve into the net to give the Big Orange a 2-0 match advantage.
The third frame saw Tennessee score four of the first five, as two Pollmiller kills, plus a kill from Robinson and a UA attack error made the score 4-1. Up three at 6-3, Harrison had a hand in UT’s next five points, as she had three kills and combined with Robinson and Baker for two blocks, giving Tennessee an 11-4 advantage.
With Tennessee leading by six, 14-8, a solo block and kill from Kolosky, a service ace by Brown, a kill from Baker and a Bama attack error made the score 19-8.
Tennessee finished off the Tide by scoring five of the final seven points of the set and match. Robinson had a pair of aces and a kill to go along with two Harrison kills, which ended the set, 25-13, and the match.
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Jones, Mannari Career Performances Lift Volleyball Past South Carolina
BATON ROUGE – Madie Jones and Meghan Mannari turned in a pair of career performances to propel the LSU volleyball team to a dramatic 3-2 comeback victory [22-25, 24-26, 25-21, 25-23, 15-6] over South Carolina Sunday at the Maravich Center.
“I don’t know the answer to this team, but I’m thankful that they have the fortitude and the drive to come back and finish when they have to do it,” head coach Fran Flory said. “We truly can’t keep doing this and survive. However, I’m proud of them for their effort and proud of them for the way they rebounded. I’m certainly excited that we are growing up as a team, gaining confidence and maturing which is ever so important for late this season and next year, as well.”
Jones ripped a career-high 23 kills behind a crisp .333 hitting percentage, while Mannari sprawled out for a career-best 39 digs to keep the home side alive and rally from a two-set hole for the second time this season. The 39 scoops for Mannari are the second-highest for a single-match in program history only behind former All-American Elena Martinez’ 43 scoops during a five-set victory at Alabama in 2007.
For South Carolina (12-15, 3-14 SEC), Juliette Thevenin hammered home 19 kills and 10 digs. Teresa Stenlund and Cara Howley chipped in 11 spikes each, while Megan Kent popped 10 kills. Defensively, Paige Wheeler collected a team-high 27 digs.
The win placed LSU (18-9, 11-6 SEC) back into sole possession of first place in the SEC Western Division race following an Arkansas loss earlier Sunday to No. 19 Florida in five sets. Both teams have three matches remaining in the regular season.
“Madie likes pressure situations, she thrives in that,” Flory said. “I think if we could create the match and make it hard from the start for Madie, she’d probably be good to go. There are players that are primetime players, and Madie has certainly proven to be that for us. She has great heart, possesses great spirit and great determination. When those things are put together, she’s flowing and really has a good feel of the game. She’s awfully difficult to stop.
Malorie Pardo delivered her team-leading 11th double-double of the season en route to a match-high 56 assists to go along with 12 digs and three blocks.
Michele Williams powered home 15 kills and tacked on five blocks. Desiree Elliott cranked 12 kills to extend her run to 10 consecutive matches in double figure kills. She also recorded a match-best six blocks.
Helen Boyle, the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week, notched 12 kills to give the Tigers four players in the double digit kills department.
LSU’s back row emerged with a 94-87 digs advantage. In addition to Mannari’s 39 digs, Lauren Waclawczyk corralled 15 scoops and slapped a trio of aces. Off the bench, Victoria Jacobsen reeled in a career-high nine digs.
“Meghan made every play we had to have her make,” Flory said. “I’m very proud of her effort, extremely proud of how hard she fought and the composure that she showed. Other matches, Meghan has gotten a little antsy and tried a little too hard. Today, I thought she had a much better, much calmer and much more controlled demeanor. Ultimately, it probably was the deciding factor in the match along with Victoria Jacobson stepping in to some quality playing time.”
Out of the locker room and down by two sets, LSU grinded out the third stanza by a 25-21 margin. Jones heated up for seven kills in the interval. The frame featured a bit of everything as one of the match’s longest rallies included Mannari losing a shoe, but continuing to play to help Boyle finish off the point with a kill. The Tigers used a strong finishing kick to wipe away a 19-18 deficit and won six of the last eight points to ignite the rally.
The fourth set proved to be the most dramatic when South Carolina grabbed a 23-21 edge on a Thevenin kill and were just two points shy from ending the match. LSU ran off the next five points capped by Williams and Jones spikes to secure a 25-23 triumph. The comeback triggered a huge roar from the crowd and gave LSU the boost it needed to finish off the match in the deciding set.
A trio of blocks all featuring Williams teamed with an Elliott spike kept the momentum on LSU’s side and raced the Tigers out to a quick 4-0 lead. LSU continued to push points and took a commanding 10-2 edge after back-to-0back Waclawczyk aces. Elliott delivered the final blow and vaulted the Tigers to a 15-6 margin to compete the comeback. LSU produced a balanced attack with Elliott, Boyle and Jones carrying the load en route to a match-high .500 hitting percentage.
“It’s really important for us to change our mentality when we’re down two sets,” Mannari said. “You have to start playing like there’s nothing to lose at that point. It’s your home court, all your fans are here and you don’t want to upset anyone. We had to take control of the match, play our side, play our pace and that’s what we did in the last three.”
Both teams had their offenses clicking on all cylinders in the opening frame. After splitting the first 30 points, LSU connected a trio of kills from Williams, Willis and Boyle to build an 18-15 advantage. South Carolina stormed right back behind eight of the next 10 points to surge ahead 23-20. The Gamecocks took advantage of a quartet of LSU hitting miscues coupled with two Thevenin spikes to fuel their run. The Tigers pulled back to 23-22 on a Jones kill. Out of a timeout, South Carolina got a Boyle service error, and Bethanie Thomas solo block on Pardo to emerge with a 25-22 victory. USC notched a match-best 72 percent sideout percentage in the set.
The two teams continued to play back-and-forth during set two. The frame featured a match-high 16 ties and seven lead changes. LSU was on the verge of evening the match after a Jones kill placed the Tigers ahead, 24-23. South Carolina responded with the next three points highlighted by a pair of Thevenin kills around a Stenlund kill to take a 26-24 decision. The Gamecock duo combined for 11 of USC’s 17 spikes in the stanza.
“She’s [Thevenin] a great player and we knew it would be a different match-up than it was without her at their place,” Flory said. “I think we kind of survived her. I felt like late in the match they got a little tired and lost their legs. They didn’t quite hit the same shots. We also were able to defend and get some block timing going. The best part for me was that our team maintained. We still were hitting the ball hard, we were still able to maintain in the long rallies. So, our fitness level saved us in this match.”
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No. 19 Florida Volleyball Fights Back in Fayetteville, Rallies to Win in Five
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 19 Florida volleyball team completed an epic comeback, rallying from two sets down to defeat SEC West leader Arkansas, 3-2 (18-25, 30-32, 25-21, 26-24, 15-9), on Sunday afternoon. The comeback marked the first time since September 6, 2008 (W, 3-2 vs. Long Beach State) that Florida rallied from an 0-2 deficit to defeat an opponent.
The Gators were led by sophomore middle blocker Chloe Mann (Gainesville, Fla.) who, coming off a history-making performance on the road at LSU on Friday evening, wrote a new record in the Florida history book with a career-high 19 kills and a match-high five blocks for 21.5 points, the most-ever for a Gator middle blocker and a new career best. Mann finished the weekend with 37 total kills, hitting .589 overall.
Senior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) also had 19 kills on the afternoon to go along with 10 digs for her eighth double-double of the season. The Colorado native added two aces and two blocks against the Razorbacks, registering a team-high 22.5 points total. Senior right-side/setter Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.) posted a double-double of her own, recording 15 kills and 32 assists to go along with seven digs and three blocks.
The Gator back court was paced by redshirt freshman libero Taylor Unroe (Muncie, Ind.), who registered 12 digs on the afternoon, and freshman defensive specialist Holly Pole (Ocala, Fla.), who posted a career-high nine digs in the match. Senior middle blocker Cassandra Anderson (Bakersfield, Calif.) came in big off the bench for the Gators, hitting .500 and serving a match-high three aces.
The setters were key cogs in the Gator comeback, as sophomore setter Chanel Brown (Tempe, Ariz.) continually made smart distribution decisions and ended up with a career-high 36 assists, narrowly missing a double-double with nine digs. In all, Florida’s setters combined for 70 dishes, a season high.
The teams kept it tight in the beginning, knotting the score five times throughout the start of the set. The Razorbacks began to pull away behind strings of unforced Gator errors, with Arkansas setter Raymariely Santos spreading the ball around to all of the Razorbacks’ weapons. Arkansas hit a whopping .467 and held the Gators to a .133 hitting clip, as five Razorbacks registered at least two kills in the opening stanza. Arkansas served aggressively throughout the match and though they didn’t register any aces in the first set, the flat-footed serve of Kasey Heckelman kept Florida unable to run its offense, as the Razorbacks took the first set, 25-18.
Arkansas opened the set on a 2-0 run but a Jaeckel kill out of system put Florida on the board. The teams continued to battle and Florida rallied behind Jaeckel’s serve, taking as much as a 7-5 lead. Heckelman’s serve proved to be dangerous once again, as Arkansas scored four straight to take an 11-8 lead and force a Gator timeout. The Razorbacks continued to swing away any time the Gators pulled within their advantage, with Norton registering 11 kills in the second stanza alone. The float serves of Anderson and Brown allowed Florida to make a move, pushing the Gators on an 8-1 run to take a 20-16 lead. Mann posted four kills and two blocks in the run, as the Orange and Blue looked to be closing the set. Norton and Stipanovich put the Razorbacks on their backs and carried them throughout the rest of the set, as the Arkansas duo combined for eight kills and three blocks in the final points of the set. The Gators and Razorbacks posted nine ties and four lead changes late in the second stanza, but errors plagued Florida late and Arkansas used back-to-back kills to take the set, 32-30.
Florida jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the third behind back-to-back kills from Jaeckel. The teams traded points until kills from Jaeckel and Mann forced Arkansas to call timeout at 12-9. The Gators kept a comfortable lead throughout the third stanza, only allowing the Razorbacks within one point once, and maintaining a considerable distance throughout the third set. Jaeckel proved to be the hot hand for Florida, posting seven kills and hitting .429 in the set. Arkansas began to creep back, pulling within three points and forcing a Gator timeout. Brown went to her mainstay and Mann put the set away, 25-21.
The fourth set was a battle from start to finish, with neither team taking more than three-point lead. Murphy proved to be the difference maker in the fourth stanza, hitting a perfect 1.000 with five kills on five swings. Anderson had back-to-back kills and then utilized her serve to catch the Razorbacks on their heels, rattling off four straight points to put Florida ahead, 19-17. Arkansas inched back to knot the set repeatedly but Murphy had back-to-back kills to stifle match point for Arkansas. Norton hit the ball wide to set up Florida with set point. Murphy found Anderson with a quick set out of the middle and the Gators forced a fifth and decisive set, 26-24.
The fifth set was an offensive showcase for the Gators, as the most efficient hitting team in the nation registered an impressive .526 with 10 kills and no errors on 19 attacks. Norton started the scoring off for the Razorbacks and Jaeckel answered with a kill of her own. Brown found Mann to put Florida ahead, 3-2. Two straight kills by Murphy gave the Gators a 5-4 advantage and put Florida out front for good. A kill at 8-6 by Jaeckel began a 3-0 Florida run behind the serve of Anderson, including an ace by the Bakersfield native after the changeover. Mann notched a kill and a Santos ball handling error put Florida at match point. The Gators looked to their three-time All-American to end the match, as Murphy slammed the final kill through the Arkansas block as Florida took the fifth and final set, 15-9.