| volleyBALL RESULTS |
Kentucky 3, LSU 0
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Tennessee 3, Arkansas 0
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Ole Miss 3, Mississippi State 0
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Florida 3, Georgia 0
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South Carolina 3, Auburn 1
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No. 16 Kentucky Begins Weekend With Sweep of LSU
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Behind a tremendous offensive performance from junior Ashley Frazier and a strong blocking presence from senior Ann Armes the 16th-ranked Kentucky volleyball team earned a 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-21) sweep of visiting LSU on Friday night in Memorial Coliseum in front of 1,378 fans.
With the victory, Kentucky improves to 25-4 overall on the season and a 16-2 mark in conference action. LSU drops to 18-10 overall and 11-7 against Southeastern Conference opponents. UK will return to action with a 1:30 p.m. ET matchup against Arkansas on Sunday. Prior to the match, UK will honor Armes, Gretchen Giesler and Becky Pavan in a traditional Senior Day ceremony. The trio ranks as the all-time winningest class in a four-year span in school history with a .770 career-winning clip.
“We were ready today,” UK coach Craig Skinner said. “We had a really good week of practice leading up to the game tonight, and I was really happy with our performance. The first two sets, we were really smart attacking.”
In the opening two frames the Blue and White notched 25 kills and committed a mere two errors as a unit for a near .400 hitting percentage. UK finished the match with 37 kills and a .276 clip led by 10 kills and a .500 percentage from Frazier.
Armes paved the way defensively with a match-high five block assists in leading the conference’s top blocking unit which totaled eight for the match.
Sophomore Whitney Billings narrowly missed on her third consecutive double-double effort with nine kills and nine digs as well as a pair of aces. Freshman Lauren O’Conner added six kills and Pavan registered five to aid the Wildcat cause. Junior setter Christine Hartmann passed out 29 assists and added a trio of kills to the offensive effort.
Junior libero Stephanie Klefot kept her streak alive with 10 or more digs in every SEC match with 11 scoops in the victory. Freshman Jackie Napper added 11 digs and has now reached double-figures in the digs column in both victories over the Tigers this season. Sophomore Jessi Greenberg contributed eight digs in the quality defensive effort by the Blue and White.
Kentucky jumped out to an early advantage behind an opening 25-15 set victory. UK charted 13 kills on a sizzling .429 hitting percentage with Billings connecting on five kills for an unbelievable .714 clip.
Billings began the scoring rally with a kill followed by the match’s first serving ace. Pavan then added a kill for the early 3-0 lead that LSU would never threaten. Kentucky maintained a steady advantage throughout much of the frame, but the Tigers would pull back to within two at 16-14.
With the Tigers attempting to make the most out of its run, UK responded convincingly with a 9-1 span to end the set. Billings and Frazier both posted a pair of kills, while Frazier teamed up with Armes for the match’s first block to highlight the stretch. The stanza ended in the same fashion it began with a Billings’ kill.
The second set saw four ties and a lead exchange before the Wildcats earned a 2-0 advantage into the locker room with a 25-19 second set victory. UK notched 12 kills on a .333 hitting clip and limited LSU to a mere .067 attacking percentage behind a trio of rejections.
LSU opened the scoring, but a solo put-back by Billings quickly tied the score at one. Kentucky secured a lead with back-to-back kills from Pavan and Armes to grab a 6-4 advantage it would never relinquish. Kentucky’s defense forced the Tigers into its 12th miscue of the stanza for the set’s winning point.
UK once again jumped out to an early 3-0 advantage to open the third frame behind a pair of kills from Pavan and Hartmann. Kentucky earned a six-point edge at 10-4 after forcing the third LSU misfire of the early going. The Tigers would come back to tie the score at 12, but once again the Wildcats would respond. Following a timeout, Pavan slammed down a kill and Billings earned another timely service ace to give UK a 15-12 lead.
LSU would not go away, however, and clawed back to tie things at 15. Frazier answered with a kill and then Armes and Hartmann teamed up for the second block of the stanza. Armes and Frazier then combined for a block and Armes followed with a kill to stretch the lead to four at 20-16 in favor of the home team. LSU would pull back to within two at 23-21, but Kentucky scored the final two points to claim the match. O’Conner and Giesler teamed up for the set’s fourth rejection and Frazier closed out her impressive offensive performance with her 10th kill of the night for the clinching point.
Kentucky's Memorial Coliseum will play host to the NCAA Regionals Dec. 9-10. UK is one of four sites selected for Sweet 16 and Elite Eight matchups with one team advancing to the Final Four in San Antonio, Texas, from the Lexington Region. Opening night matches are scheduled for 5 and 7 p.m. ET. Saturday’s final is set for a 4:30 p.m. ET first serve.
#14 Tennessee Volleyball Wins 10th Straight in Sweeping Past Arkansas
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Behind a match-high 17 kills from sophomore outside hitter Kelsey Robinson and 11 kills by junior outside hitter Leslie Cikra on Friday night at the Thompson-Boling Arena, the #14 Tennessee Lady Vol volleyball team (25-3, 17-1 Southeastern Conference) picked up its 10th consecutive victory and 12th sweep of 2011 by rolling past Arkansas (18-11, 10-8 SEC), 25-21, 25-17, 25-21.
With the victory, the Big Orange now needs just one more triumph over its final two regular-season matches to secure the program’s second SEC Championship.
Tennessee hit .352 overall as a team (44 kills, 12 errors on 91 attacks) while holding Arkansas to just a .149 percentage (31 kills, 18 errors on 87 attacks), well below its season mark of .239. UT hit over .300 in each of the three sets, highlighted by a clip of .393 during the 25-21 final set.
Freshman setter Mary Pollmiller registered 38 assists, while Cikra (.563) and junior middle blocker DeeDee Harrison (.556) each hit over .500 in the contest.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the all-around game that we played tonight,” Lady Vol Head Coach Rob Patrick said. “Arkansas is one of the hottest teams in our conference over the last four to five weeks and has been playing great. Offensively, nobody has stopped them or slowed them down, and I was really concerned about that. I was really proud of the way we were able to play defense against them.”
Neither team could get an early foothold as the two squads traded the lead back and forth through the 9-9 mark. Cikra powered the Lady Vol offense to that point with three of her five first-set kills. Tennessee finally got some breathing room soon after with the assistance of an Arkansas error and a big combined block from DeeDee Harrison and Cikra, granting UT its largest lead to that point at 12-9.
It appeared that Arkansas would get a free kill of an overpass, but Robinson managed to find some space in the Razorback defense for a kill, pushing UT up 15-11. After the Razorbacks clawed back within two points, a hitting error by Roslandy Acosta helped the Big Orange move back in front by four tallies at 18-14, forcing a UA timeout.
At that point, Tennessee was in the middle of a stretch that saw them win five of six points to lead 20-15. At 21-18, a 3-0 run advanced the Lady Vols to set point via Robinson’s sixth kill, a big block by Harrison and Cikra and then a Robinson service ace. Arkansas refused to quit, however, recording its own three-tally spurt to climb within 24-21 and force a timeout by Patrick. Out of the break, Harrison finished off the opening set with a kill from the middle of the court as Tennessee nabbed the opening set, 25-21.
Robinson got the Big Orange off to a quick start in the second set with three consecutive kills, bestowing Tennessee an early 3-0 advantage. Arkansas battled right back with the help of a couple of Lady Vol miscues to knot the count at 4-4. UA even managed a 6-5 lead before a four-point run highlighted by a combined block from freshman Tiffany Baker, rookie Shealyn Kolosky and Pollmiller granted UT a 9-6 lead.
The Razorbacks fought back, getting within a point before Robinson’s 10th kill of the contest made it 12-10 Big Orange. A big swing by Cikra from the right side and a combined block By Baker and Harrison forced another UA timeout as the Lady Vols recorded a three-tally advantage. A service ace from Tennessee’s Ellen Mullins pushed the UT lead out to its largest to that point at 17-12 as the Razorbacks burned yet another timeout.
Tennessee soon finished off the second set by scoring the last four points and five of the last six with kills from Harrison and Robinson, completing a 25-17 victory.
The two squads took turns trading the lead in the third set, as a pair of kills by Robinson evened things at 5-5. That blast started a 3-0 spurt for the Lady Vols and was completed via a combined stuff by Harrison and Robinson. Arkansas fought back to 7-7 before two kills from Cikra and a big block by Kolosky and Baker concluded the stretch of UT taking five of seven points, forcing an Arkansas break at 13-10 UT.
The timeout seemed to help as the Razorbacks used a Lady Vol ball handling error and a kill from Kasey Heckelman to claw back within 14-12 before Baker unleashed her fifth kill of the match. A bad UT set, an Arkansas service ace and a UA block drew the Razorbacks even for the first time since 8-8 as Patrick utilized a timeout. Tennessee looked to run its offense through Robinson, and that proved to be a solid choice, as the Bartlett, Ill., native delivered back-to-back kills for a 17-15 advantage.
UA rallied to dead-lock the set at both 17 and 18 before Robinson blasted home her 17th and final kill. The Lady Vols rolled off a stretch of winning six of eight points and four in a row to lead 23-19. At match point following an Arkansas service miscue, Tennessee failed on its first attempt to secure the match with an attack error. Baker didn’t let the second match point slip away, driving home her seventh kill to complete UT’s 3-0 sweep.
The #14 Tennessee Lady Vol volleyball team will celebrate the “Senior Day” of setter Kelsey Mahoney on Sun., Nov. 20, at 2 p.m. ET by hosting LSU at the Thompson-Boling Arena in a match that will be televised by CSS.
Ole Miss Blanks Mississippi State
OXFORD, Miss. – Kara Morgan and Allegra Wells led the attack in the final road match of the season for the Rebels as Ole Miss (10-17, 6-13 SEC) blanked Mississippi State (11-18, 6-13 SEC) on Friday night, defeating the Bulldogs 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-22).
Morgan put down a match-high 12 kills, while Wells added 10 kills on the night to pace the Ole Miss offense. Sophomore Kellie Goss also came up big for the Rebels, hitting .375 with eight kills and four blocks to go along with a .368 hitting performance from junior Amanda Philpot who added eight kills of her own.
Senior libero Morgan Springer led the back row defense for Ole Miss, coming up with a match-high 16 digs in the win over the Bulldogs, while Ashley Veach added 11 digs on the night.
“This was a very good team win coming off two heartbreak losses the week before and traveling to our in-state rival,” said Ole Miss head coach Joe Getzin. “You never know how things will go when emotion is involved. We had a great week of practice and it’s great to see that translate to the match. Our seniors are making sure we keep focused all the way through to the end of the season.”
Ole Miss scored first in the opening set, but Mississippi State answered as the teams traded scores before the Rebels snapped an 8-8 tie with a block from Kara Morgan and Regina Thomas to put Ole Miss on top. The score was part of a 10-2 run from the Rebels that put Ole Miss out in front 18-10.
The Rebels never let up with the offensive attack, pushing on to claim the opening set in dominant fashion 25-13.
Ole Miss continued to press the Bulldogs in the second set, jumping out to a 5-2 lead on their in-state rivals before stringing together a run that extended the edge to eight at 12-4. Mississippi State cut the lead to four at 15-11 and sent the Rebels into a timeout to slow the Bulldog run.
That would be as close as the score would come as Ole Miss put together an answering run out of the timeout to claim the second set 25-18 and take a two-set lead at the break.
Mississippi State turned the tables on the Rebels early in the third set, moving out the early lead before Ole Miss would use a back-to-back kills from Allegra Wells to take the lead at 11-10 The Rebels would not trail again, pushing on to claim the match with a 25-22 win in set three.
Ole Miss will close out the season at home next Friday, hosting Alabama at 7 p.m. at the Gillom Center on the day after Thanksgiving. Fans in attendance will have the opportunity to win prizes as the Rebels will be giving away electronic items and other surprises, including a flat screen television.
No. 17 Gator Volleyball Stuns Georgia, 3-0, Behind Jaeckel’s 19 Points
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 17 Florida volleyball team had its best offensive performance of the season, hitting .519 in a 3-0 (25-14, 25-15, 25-14) sweep of SEC foe Georgia on Friday evening at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. With the victory, the Gators move to 22-5 on the season and 15-3 in conference play. The Gators’ .519 hitting clip is the most in a 3-set match since Florida’s sweep of South Carolina State in the opening round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament, when the Gators hit at a .586 clip.
Florida was led by senior outside hitter Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.), who hit .480 with 14 kills, three service aces, three digs and three blocks for a total of 19.0 points, the highest for a Gator in a 3-set match since Callie Rivers turned in 19.5 in a 3-0 sweep of College of Charleston in the NCAA Tournament on November 29th, 2007.
Sophomore middle blocker and reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Week Chloe Mann (Gainesville, Fla.) turned in an errorless performance with nine kills on 11 swings for an .818 hitting efficiency, posting two blocks for a total of 10.0 points.
Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award finalist Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.) hit .400 with 21 assists on the evening, registering a .568 setting percentage, pinpointing the accuracy of Murphy’s sets. Sophomore setter Chanel Brown (Tempe, Ariz.) added 16 assists on the evening, as the duo directed the Gators to just their fourth .500+ performance in the last five years.
“Obviously people look at the offense, but they (Kelly and Kristy) do so much more for us,” Florida head coach Mary Wise said. “I thought Kelly’s setting choices and deliveries were outstanding. Kelly was extra special tonight. It’s almost like there are not enough sets to go around when we go on those service runs. Kristy was in the zone with 19 points in three sets; that’s pretty good. And, obviously, Chloe continues that hot streak. It’s pretty amazing.”
In the Orange and Blue’s most efficient hitting performance of the season, it was the Gators’ passing game that put them in position to run their offense. Redshirt freshman libero Taylor Unroe (Muncie, Ind.) had one of her most consistent serve receive outings of the season to go along with a match-high 12 digs, as Florida registered an 84 percent sideout percentage on the evening. Junior right-side hitter Tangerine Wiggs (Seattle, Wash.) turned in seven kills on .583 hitting with two blocks, registering her sixth .500+ performance of the season.
A unit more known for their defense at the net, the Gator middle blockers were errorless on the evening, hitting .810 courtesy of Mann, junior middle blocker Betsy Smith (Atlanta, Ga.) with six kills on eight swings (.750) and senior middle blocker Cassandra Anderson (Bakersfield, Calif.), who came off the bench to hit 1.000 (2-0-2).
Florida jumped out in the first set, taking an 8-3 lead and forcing a Georgia timeout after kills by Jaeckel and Mann spurred a 6-1 Gator run. Out of the timeout, the Gators continued to roll, using a 4-0 serving run from freshman defensive specialist Holly Pole (Ocala, Fla.) to surge ahead, 15-7. Wiggs registered back-to-back kills as Florida continued to push the lead, 17-10. Unroe aced the Bulldogs to pull ahead, 22-12. A Smith kill gave the first set to the Gators, 25-14.
“I thought we did a really good job coming out strong,” Jaeckel said. “Sometimes we have a slower start, but we did a really good job just coming out and executing on our side and slowing down what they wanted to do. I think that’s really where we got our momentum from.”
The Gators carried that momentum into the second set, as Jaeckel notched three straight kills to put Florida ahead, 3-2. Jaeckel continued her hot streak, registering three straight points (kill, block assist, kill) to give the Gators a 7-2 advantage. Murphy began to come alive in the second set, slamming a kill on the left side before teaming up with Mann for a stuff block to force a Georgia timeout at 9-3. Jaeckel continued to utilize her top spin jumper, scoring three consecutive points courtesy of back-to-back service aces. Jaeckel’s sixth kill of the set put Florida ahead, 18-8, and a Georgia hitting error forced the Bulldogs into their second timeout of the set. The teams would side out to end the set, as Anderson slammed the final ball of the set to give Florida a 2-0 advantage heading into intermission, 25-15.
“Especially after the break, you go in and you lose a little bit of focus, but that’s something that we focused on and we wanted to establish being dominant from the beginning,” Wiggs said. “We had great defensive plays. It’s always exciting because defense is something that gives us energy and motivates us. It was really exciting to finally see everything come together.”
Out of the break, the teams battled for the lead, but after back-to-back kills from Mann at 5-4, the Gators never looked back. Florida utilized serving runs from Jaeckel, Murphy and Pole to extend the Florida lead, courtesy of Pole’s 4-0 run, bookended by Jaeckel kills. It was another Jaeckel kill through the seam of the Bulldog block that caused Georgia to call their final timeout of the match with the Gator lead up to 19-9. Murphy finished the match behind the service line and put away the final kill of the match to give the Gators the 25-14 set win and the 3-0 match victory.
Florida held its eighth opponent to less than .100 hitting efficiency, as Georgia hit just .054, the lowest for a Gator opponent since Florida swept LSU in the O’Dome on October 9th, 2011.
The Gators now focus on Sunday, as Florida hosts Auburn on Senior Day. Florida’s five seniors will be honored prior to the match, which will air live on Sun Sports with Larry Vettel and former Gator All-SEC setter Missy Whittemore on the call. Gator fans can also listen in to Sportsradio 850 with Tom Collett and Cory Stephens calling the action. First serve between the Gators and the Tigers is set for 1:30 p.m.
Gamecocks Get Win on Senior Night over Auburn in Four Sets
COLUMBIA, S.C. – In a hard-fought match on Senior Night, South Carolina (13-15, 4-14 SEC) came through with a four-set win over Auburn (10-18, 4-14 SEC), taking the sets 25-17, 25-19, 20-25, 30-28 in front of 706 fans at the Volleyball Competition Facility on Friday.
Middle blocker Teresa Stenlund, South Carolina’s lone playing senior, posted 10 kills for the Gamecocks. Junior setter Taylor Bruns and sophomore outside hitter Juliette Thévenin both had double-doubles, as Bruns posted 42 assists and 10 digs to compliment Thévenin’s 19 kills and 15 digs. Thévenin also led South Carolina in hitting with her .306 mark. Sophomore libero Paige Wheeler compiled a match-best 18 digs, and freshman outside hitter Bethanie Thomas added 11. Redshirt freshman outside hitter Cara Howley had 11 points on eight kills and a team-best four block assists.
Auburn’s Brittany Rhude and Chloe Rowand both posted career bests in kills with 17 and 12, respectively. Kathia Rud also had 16 kills. MacKenzy Harper and Sarah Bullock both made 16 digs, while Chelsea Wintzinger posted 30 assists and 11 digs.
A late surge pushed the Gamecocks to a 25-17 set one win. Consecutive Auburn blocks brought the Tigers within one at 13-12, and they tied it at 14-14 after kills from Rud and Kelly Fidero. South Carolina responded by taking 11 of the final 14 points to claim the win. Howley had two kills, an ace and a block assist with Stenlund in the stretch, which ended with six-consecutive Gamecock points on Bruns’ serve. Thévenin had four kills and four digs in the frame.
South Carolina never trailed in the second set, taking it 25-19. A trio of three-point stands helped, the first coming on Stenlund’s serve that made it 6-2. Wheeler’s serves made it 13-9 later, with Bruns getting a kill in the stretch. The final stand came at the close, as Bruns landed an ace before Howley ended the frame with her big line shot. The Gamecock defense held the Tigers to a .171 hitting percentage, helped by three Gamecock blocks. Thévenin again posted four kills and six digs and added a solo block.
With 11 ties and four lead changes, the third set stood in stark contrast to the second. No team held more than a three-point advantage until Auburn’s last stand, where they claimed five of the final six points for a 25-20 victory. Vesela Zapryanova had two kills in the run, while Rowand finished it with her fifth kill of the set. Auburn hit .400 in the frame and got five digs from Harper, who played libero for the first time in the match.
The Gamecocks started the fourth set strong, holding a lead for most of the frame before Auburn fought back to tie it at 24-24. Rud and Zapryanova put down consecutive kills that knotted it. Gamecock sophomore middle blocker Megan Kent put down a slide to hand the advantage back to the home team, but Rud tallied the next two kills to give Auburn a chance to take the set. An Auburn service error tied up the match at 26-26 before Rowand once again gave the Tigers a chance to force set five. This time, Thévenin posted a kill to knot it up at 27-27. An Auburn attack error gave South Carolina the chance to end it, but Rowand again extended the frame. Thévenin again put the Gamecocks to the brink, and Howley came through with a big shot down the line to end the set at 30-28 and the match. Stenlund had seven of the Gamecocks’ kills in the final frame, helping the team hit .340 in the fourth.
South Carolina held advantages in blocks (6-4) and aces (5-5), while Auburn outhit the Gamecocks, 292-.268, and had more kills, assists and digs. The Tigers also recorded 13 service errors to the Gamecocks’ five and were whistled for six handling errors, while South Carolina had none, the true difference in the match. It is South Carolina’s first win this season when having the lower number in kills, assists or hitting percentage.
The Gamecocks close their home schedule on Sunday afternoon against Georgia, with first serve set for 1:30 p.m.