| volleyBALL RESULTS |
Florida 3, Auburn 0
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Tennessee 3, LSU 0
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Kentucky 3, Arkansas 2
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South Carolina 3, Georgia 1
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Mississippi State 3, Alabama 1
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Florida Sweeps Auburn for Sixth Consecutive Victory
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 17 Florida volleyball team earned its sixth straight win with a 3-0 (25-10, 25-17, 28-26) sweep of Auburn on Senior Day. Florida improves to 23-5 on the season and 16-3 in SEC play.
The Gators utilized a balanced attack, led by senior right-side setter Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.), who hit .615 in the match with eight kills on 13 swings with no errors. The Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award finalist added 14 assists and three digs to tie for the match-high with 9.5 points.
Fellow senior Kristy Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) posted seven kills and a match-high seven digs to go along with three blocks and a service ace to match Murphy’s match-high with 9.5 points. Junior right-side hitter Tangerine Wiggs (Seattle, Wash.) registered seven kills on .455 hitting, senior outside hitter Stephanie Ferrell (Los Angeles, Calif.) notched six kills on the afternoon and middle hitters Chloe Mann (Gainesville, Fla.) and Betsy Smith (Atlanta, Ga.) had matching stats with five kills on a .44 hitting clip. Mann also registered a match-high five blocks against Auburn.
“If Auburn hadn’t turned it around in the third set, I don’t know how much better we would have gotten from this match,” Florida head coach Mary Wise said. “Credit Auburn for turning it around (in the third set) and give credit to the Gators for grinding it out and winning in three.”
Service errors plagued the Tigers, as Auburn committed 16 service errors in the match and hit just .167 on the afternoon. The Gators hit .366 on the afternoon and led the Tigers in every statistical category.
The Gators opened the set on a 5-0 run with Pole behind the service stripe, as Smith registered two kills in the opening points. Florida continued to roll, forcing an Auburn timeout at 9-2. Out of the timeout, the Gators continued their scoring streak and jumping out to a 13-3 lead and forcing the Tigers into their second timeout of the set. Anderson and Wiggs teamed up for a stuff block at 18-5 and Florida continued its run, registering another block, courtesy of Jaeckel and Mann. The Gators continued to surge and easily took the first set, 25-10. Florida hit a blistering .600 in the first stanza with three hitters (Ferrell, Murphy and Smith) hitting 1.000.
The Tigers jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the second stanza, but the Gators went on a 4-0 run with Pole behind the service line. Florida continued to extend its lead, forcing an Auburn timeout at 13-9 after Ferrell slammed one through the seam of the Tiger block. Ferrell used the block for another kill and the Gators took a 16-9 lead. A Wiggs kill put Florida up, 19-11, and back-to-back Murphy kills set the Gators up with set point and an Auburn service error sealed the set for Florida, 25-17.
The teams battled for the lead in set three, with the Tigers taking as much as an 8-5 lead. The Gators pushed their way back to tie the set at 9-9 with a blast from Jaeckel. Both sides battled, with neither side taking more than a two-point lead. Florida began to pull away late, courtesy of Jaeckel’s serve. A Ferrell overpass kill put the Gators ahead, 23-22 and forced a Tiger timeout. Auburn found their way back and tied the set at 24-24 with a block by Kathia Rud. A Kelly Fidero kill gave the Tigers a set point at 25-24 but Murphy slammed one to tie things up at 25-25. An Auburn hitting error gave the Gators match point and forced Auburn to take their second timeout of the set. Jaeckel slammed the overpass to give Florida the set and the match, 28-26.
Florida has one regular season match to go, as the Gators host travel partner South Carolina on Wednesday, November 23rd at 7 p.m. The radio broadcast for the match between the Gators and the Gamecocks will air live on Sportsradio 850 with Tom Collett and Missy Whittemore on the call.
#14 Tennessee Clinches at Least Share of SEC Title with Sweep of LSU
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – In front of 932 Orange-clad fans, the No. 14 University of Tennessee Lady Vol volleyball team (26-3, 18-1 Southeastern Conference) rode a blistering .415 hitting percentage to a 25-19, 25-18, 25-15, sweep over LSU (18-11. 11-8 SEC) to clinch at least a share of the 2011 SEC Championship on Sunday afternoon at the Thompson-Boling Arena.
Sophomore outside hitter Kelsey Robinson delivered her SEC-leading 20th double-double of the season with a team-best 16 kills and 13 digs, while hitting .400 overall. Freshman outside hitter Tiffany Baker contributed 10 kills, while junior outside hitter Leslie Cikra and junior middle blocker DeeDee Harrison added eight kills each. Freshman setter Mary Pollmiller recorded 39 assists on Tennessee’s 47 successful attacks during the match.
“We played one of our best all-around matches today,” Lady Vol Head Coach Rob Patrick said. “LSU has always been a great defensive team, and they lead the conference in digs. I really challenged our team to see if we could match their defensive intensity, and we did. I was really excited about that. When we are in system, it is pretty tough to defend all of our hitters.”
The Big Orange out-blocked the Tigers, 7-3, and out-hit the Bayou Bengals by a .415-.136 count. Five Lady Vols hit .300 or better, while Harrison and Baker led the Orange and White with five and four block assists, respectively.
“It is exciting for us to know that we clinched at least a share of the SEC, but we still have one more match,” Patrick explained. “We didn’t have some wild celebration after we won, we celebrated that we won one match. We are excited about that, and we are going to enjoy it tonight. Tomorrow we are going to get started on Kentucky. Kentucky is a great team who is playing as well as we are. We have to be willing to be out here for three hours if that’s what it takes to be successful.”
LSU jumped out to an early 4-2 lead in the opening set with Tennessee assistance as Harrison and Cikra each hit drives long. After a Harrison kill, the Tigers expanded their advantage to four, 7-3, before a Baker blast stopped a 3-0 Bayou Bengal run.
Tennessee soon cranked up the offensive pressure with its own 5-0 spurt, finishing it off with an ace by freshman Nikki Brice and a combined block by Baker and freshman Shealyn Kolosky to lead 8-7. LSU battled back using a kill by Nicole Willis and the combined block of Malorie Pardo and Desiree Elliott to dead-lock the set at 12-all.
A kill by Pardo pushed the Tigers back in front at 14-13, forcing Patrick to utilize a timeout. The brief break seemed to settle the Big Orange down, as it ripped off a 3-0 spurt behind Baker with her second and third kills of the set to lead 16-14. The run expanded to five in a row since Tennessee’s timeout as Cikra blasted home back-to-back drives to improve the advantage to 18-14, forcing LSU Head Coach Fran Flory to call for a break.
The Tigers clawed back within three on a UT net violation before Baker hammered home her fourth kill to make it 19-15. A huge combined block by Baker and Kolosky pushed the Lady Vol advantage back to five points, forcing another LSU timeout. At 22-17, “Senior Day” honoree Kelsey Mahoney delivered an ace to grant UT a 23-17 advantage. After a Bayou Bengal service miscue, a kill by Robinson, her team-best fifth, finished off the first set victory, 25-19.
After Robinson christened the second set with a kill, LSU built a small advantage that expanded to 6-4 before a Tennessee spurt, highlighted by the fifth kill of the match by Baker, which tied the count at 6-6. The back-and-forth contest continued as Robinson blasted home her eighth drive and Harrison her fifth to dead-lock the count at 9-9.
A run of four in a row, five of the last six and seven of the last nine points improved the Big Orange to its largest advantage of the set to that point, 12-9. At 13-11, Baker blasted home back-to-back kills to start a four-point run, as LSU made an error and then Robinson drove home a kill, expanding the lead to six points. LSU got back within four at 18-14 on a combined block by Marissa Maas and Willis before a kill by Tennessee’s Pollmiller, Robinson’s 10th kill and a hitting error by LSU’s Willis pushed the advantage back to six.
The lead grew to eight at 24-16 on a Robinson blast before LSU fought back within six at 24-18. Baker finished the second set off in style off an assist from Pollmiller as UT nabbed the 2-0 lead, 25-18.
LSU moved out to an early 2-0 advantage in the third set before Cikra came through with her fifth kill of the contest. A Tiger miscue tied the count before a Robinson serve clipped the tape putting pressure on the LSU offense. A huge combined block by Baker and Harrison granted UT its first lead at 3-2.
The Big Orange advantage improved to 6-3 before the Bayou Bengals managed an answer on a kill. Baker responded with her ninth blast of the contest, however, to make it 7-4. Robinson cranked things up with her 14th and 15th kills, and then she and Harrison combined for a stuff to improve the lead to 11-7. The fourth block of the set by the Big Orange came just seconds later and pushed the UT advantage to five, forcing Flory to burn a LSU timeout.
A pair of Tennessee miscues helped the Tigers claw within three at 12-9, before Cikra blasted one successfully inbounds. Then with Robinson serving, UT got a Bayou Bengals attack error, a kill on an overpass by Harrison and then a serving ace to make it 16-9 and force another LSU break.
At 16-10, Harrison managed a kill on a LSU overpass and then sophomore Ellen Mullins delivered an ace to push the gap to eight tallies, 18-10. Another blast by Baker helped keep the lead at eight points, 20-12. LSU managed to get within seven on two separate occasions, 21-14 and 22-15. Robinson’s 16th and final kill followed by back-to-back drives by Cikra clinched the 25-15 victory and UT’s 26th match win of the year.
The #14 Tennessee Lady Vol volleyball team wraps up its regular season slate on Wed., Nov. 23, at 7 p.m. ET by hosting Kentucky at the Thompson-Boling Arena. With a win, the Lady Vols will win the SEC outright.
Seniors Help UK Claw Back to Set-Up SEC Showdown
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Trailing 2-0 on Senior Day, the 16th-ranked Kentucky volleyball team received inspired performances from its senior trio to capture a dramatic 3-2 (18-25, 26-28, 25-23, 25-21, 15-13) victory over Arkansas on Sunday. The win sets up a showdown with 14th-ranked Tennessee on Wednesday, Nov. 23 for a chance to earn a share of the Southeastern Conference crown.
The senior trio of Becky Pavan, Gretchen Giesler and Ann Armes enforced their will to win on the Wildcats in aiding an improbable comeback effort to remain perfect on the season in matches that go five sets. With the victory, Kentucky improves to 26-4 and 17-2 in SEC action equaling a program-record for conference victories under the direction of Craig Skinner. Arkansas falls to 18-12 and 10-9 in league play.
“This group is just an absolute team,” Skinner said. “They will each other to win. They want each other to do well and they are not worried about who gets credit.”
With their backs again the wall the Wildcats seemed at their best storming back to capture the final three sets of the match including a thrilling 15-13 win in the decisive fifth frame.
UK raced out to an early 4-0 advantage thanks to kills from Pavan and junior Ashley Frazier. Arkansas responded with a 4-0 run of its own to knot the score at five apiece. From there the teams exchanged points back-and-forth answering each other kill-for-kill. Arkansas earned a lead at 13-12, but sophomore Whitney Billings quickly tied things back up for the home team.
A stifling defensive effort that induced 15 blocks and 64 digs for the match, forced the Razorbacks into an erroneous attack to earn match-point. Kentucky then turned to one if its youngest players on the court for the final swing and freshman Lauren O’Conner delivered her eighth kill of the match non more important than the match-clinching hammer.
Frazier led the offensive effort with 15 kills. Billings charted a double-double effort with 12 kills and 13 digs, and Pavan was the third player to reach double-figures with 11 kills including three in the final stanza.
O’Conner posted eight kills with Armes notching seven and Giesler adding six. Junior setter Christine Hartmann dished out 54 assists and added four blocks to the winning cause.
Pavan led the defensive effort at the net with seven rejections as UK had six different players record three more blocks in the match. Junior Stephanie Klefot contributed 16 digs and has now totaled 10 or more in a match in all 19 conference matches.
Sophomore Jessi Greenberg had perhaps the best match of her career with 16 scoops, one shy of matching a career-high, to provide an additional spark to UK’s defensive effort. Freshman Jackie Napper added nine digs and an assist in UK’s victory.
Trailing 2-0, UK needed to win the third set to keep the match alive. Kentucky responded with a tight 25-23 third set victory behind five kills from Frazier and five digs from Greenberg. The set featured 10 tie score and four lead changes.
Kentucky garnered the early lead with an ace from Frazier to make the score 5-3. Arkansas responded and eventually earned a three-point edge as late as 19-16. Kentucky capped the frame on a 9-4 run to lift 1,188 UK fans to their feet. In the run, Pavan and Billings both posted a pair of kills and Klefot added an ace.
The fourth set belonged to the Wildcats by a 25-21 margin. Giesler sparked the offensive effort with five kills and Greenberg once again led the defensive effort with six scoops.
Kentucky earned a 1-0 advantage off of a powerful Frazier kill and would never relinquish the lead, although Arkansas managed to knot the score including a 9-9 tie. UK then charted a 5-0 run with Giesler notching three consecutive kills in the run to break free for a 13-10 edge. UK also managed to put together four blocks in the frame to help its own cause. Giesler forced the deciding fifth stanza with her fifth kill of the set.
Arkansas earned a 2-0 lead into the locker room by earning 25-18 and 28-26 set scores to begin the match.
UK will now travel to Knoxville, Tenn., for the regular season finale and a chance to capture the SEC title on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET. Tennessee has already clinched at least a share of the crown with a win over LSU today. However, with a win over the Lady Vols, Kentucky would own the head-to-head tie breaker and claim the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
“We are excited,” Skinner said. “Tennessee is a great team, and they have been all year long. It's going to be a tough match, but you want to be in position to win it, and we are.”
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.
Tickets are now on sale through the UK Ticket Office. All-Session Tickets are reserved for all ages at $14. General Admission tickets for adults are priced at $12 and students or seniors' general admission is slated for $8.
South Carolina Closes Home Slate with Four-Set Win over Georgia
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Behind a relentless defensive effort and big offensive days from senior middle blocker Teresa Stenlund and redshirt freshman outside hitter Cara Howley, South Carolina (14-15, 5-14 SEC) downed Georgia (11-18, 7-12 SEC) in four sets, 15-25, 25-22, 26-24, 25-15, on Sunday afternoon at the Volleyball Competition Facility.
Howley led all attackers with her 14 kills, while Stenlund had 12, with both hitting over .300 to lead the Gamecocks. Stenlund also posted a team-high four blocks. Sophomore outside hitter Juliette Thevenin added a double-double with 10 kills and 13 digs. Sophomore libero Paige Wheeler tallied 28 digs, and junior setter Taylor Bruns contributed 45 assists and nine digs. Junior outside hitter Christina Glover posted eight kills and 11 digs in her reserve appearance.
Kathleen Luft led Georgia with 12 kills, while Elizabeth Reid and Briana Bahr had 11 and 10, respectively. Reid also topped the Bulldogs with five blocks. Carla Tietz had 19 digs, Allison Summers made 13 and Brittany Northcutt 11. Kathleen Gates had 37 assists, six kills, seven digs and two aces.
Georgia took the first set behind some stellar defense 25-15. The Bulldogs held the Gamecocks to a -.031 hitting percentage, blocking four shots in the frame. South Carolina held a 7-6 advantage before Georgia took control. A four-point run handed the Bulldogs a 10-7 lead that they would never relinquish. They closed the set on a six-point stand, with Gates posting two aces to start the run and two blocks ending it. Georgia had a balanced attack, with five players getting at least two kills. Wheeler made seven digs for the Gamecocks.
The second set went South Carolina's way from the outset. The Gamecocks took a 7-5 lead on a three-point skein that included two Howley kills. That lead grew to 15-11 after another three-point stand. Georgia tried to come back late, posting a six-point string to draw within one, but South Carolina came back to take three of the final four points to claim the set 25-22. Kent started the sequence with her fourth kill of the frame, and Stenlund ended it with her fourth kill of the second.
South Carolina held on to take the third set, 26-24. The Gamecocks held as large of a lead as six in the frame before Georgia fought back. A three-point Georgia run on Elena Perri's serve drew the Bulldogs within three at 18-15. The Bulldogs tied things after a 5-1 run made it 23-23, but the Gamecocks took back the advantage with a kill from Glover. A Gamecock service error tied it again at 24-24, but Glover came back with another kill to give South Carolina a set point again. Georgia missed with its next attack, ending the frame at 26-24 for South Carolina. Wheeler had nine digs in the set, while Glover, Howley and Thevenin all had four kills in the frame, Glover without making an error.
The Gamecocks ran away with the fourth set, taking a 25-15 win the clincher. Three early Georgia attack errors set the Bulldogs back, but they came back to tie it at 4-4 thanks to kills from Luft and Gates. South Carolina took over from there with a three-point run to gain control. The Gamecocks closed the match on a 12-4 skein, with Howley ending the match for the second outing in a row. Howley had five kills without an error in the fourth, while Stenlund had four without a mistake in the frame, her final one at the VCF.
South Carolina held advantages in kills, assists and digs and outhit Georgia, .204-.182. The Bulldogs had 10 digs and five aces compared to seven and four, respectively, for the Gamecocks.
The Gamecocks close the 2011 season on Wednesday at Florida, with first serve scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
Bulldogs Earn Series Sweep of Bama with 3-1 Win
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Caitlin Rance and Faith Steinwedell closed out their collegiate careers in impressive fashion, combining for 37 kills and registering double-doubles as Mississippi State (12-17/6-13 SEC) turned back Alabama (11-9/4-15) in four sets (25-19, 23-25, 25-17, 26-24) Sunday afternoon at the Newell-Grissom Building. The win gave the Bulldogs a sweep of the season series with Alabama and a third place finish in the SEC Western Division.
Rance, second in the SEC this fall with 443 kills, piled up 23 kills while Steinwedell tallied 14 kills and 14 digs in her final collegiate outing.
“I knew we’d have to play well today to beat Alabama, and though we were a little up and down at times, for the most part we did play well,” said head coach Jenny Hazelwood. “It was a good finish to a season that included a lot of firsts for us --- our first win over a ranked opponent and multiple attendance records. And Caitlin has been so amazing. I can’t say enough good things about what she has done to elevate our program.”
Rance finished her career-best season with 443 kills, third-most in a season at State, and with 1,138 career kills, seventh among State’s all-time leaders. Sunday she racked up her 11th career 20-kill performance and with 13 digs wrapped up her career with her 26th career double-double.
Steinwedell, a fourth-year junior, and sophomore setter Paris Perret also reached double-double status in the win over the Tide. Steinwedell, one of four departing veteran players honored prior to the match, finished with 14 kills and 14 digs and added four blocks, while Perret backed a 49-assist effort with 13 digs. Perret eclipsed the 1,000-assist mark for the second straight season, finishing with 1,016.
Senior middle blocker Hannah Wilkinson capped her career with nine kills on a .400 hitting performance and tacked on three blocks. She ended the campaign with a team-best .311 attack percentage and 87 blocks.
Alabama led by as many as four points in the opening set and did not trail until a kill by Rance put State on top 19-18. Rance would add two more kills in the frame and with Lainey Wyman at serve MSU reeled off seven straight points in a 25-19 win.
Wyman, who finished the day with eight kills and a match-leading five blocks, earned the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead with a kill to open the second set. But Alabama’s Andrea McQuaid was deadly in the second stanza, registering nine kills in 11 attack attempts as the Crimson Tide parlayed a match-best .250 hitting percentage into a match-evening 25-23 win. State made a late run, knotting the score at 23-23 before the tied prevailed on a pair of Bulldog miscues.
State took command of the match in the third set, hitting at a crisp .370 clip and using a pair of service aces by freshman Alex Scott and blocking combos by Steinwedell and Wyman to take an 7-3 lead. Rance, who opened the match with seven kills in the opening set, added six more in the third frame as MSU went up 2-1 in the match with a 25-17 win.
The two teams sparred on near equal terms in the fourth set. State led by as much as three in the early going while Alabama, riding the attacks of Kayla Fitterer, Leigh Moyer and McQuaid, kept pace and twice took two-point advantages late at 20-18 and 22-20. But MSU pout-pointed Bama 3-1 down the stretch to seal the match with a 26-24 win. Rance delivered six kills on 13 error-free swings while Steinwedell added five kills and a block in the frame.
MSU piled up 58 kills, its most in 12 matches, placed five players in double figures in digs and won the team blocking battle at the net 9-4. Steinwedell and libero Hillary Parker led the way with 14 digs while Rance and Perret followed with 13 and freshman Alex Scott tallied a career-high 11.
Bama’s Andrea McQuaid was impressive with 22 kills on a .340 hitting performance. Behind her, Fitterer had 12 kills and two blocks and Leigh Moyer finished with nine. Cristina Arenas took match honors with 19 digs.
Freshman outside hitter Kaitlin Parker from Addison, Ala., making her collegiate debut in Sunday’s season finale, tallied three kills and a block.
Mississippi State closed out its 37th season of volleyball with a 12-17 overall record and a 7-13 SEC worksheet. The Bulldogs, picked by league coaches to finish last in the SEC West, nailed down a third place finish in the West and came up a win short of matching the school record for SEC victories.