LMU (10-12, 1-7) fell in three sets to Saint Mary’s (15-4, 7-1), 25-14, 25-17, 25-18, on Thursday night to start the second half of the West Coast Conference schedule. With the victory and a No. 19 San Diego loss, Saint Mary’s took over sole possession of first place in the West Coast Conference. The Gaels took all six sets against the Lions this year, earning a sweep of LMU in Gersten Pavilion on October 3.
Despite a match-best 11 kills each from Alaina Bergsma and Ariana Covington, the Lions were unable to claim a victory in any of the three sets on Thursday. No other Lion had more that four kills as LMU hit just .067 as a team on the night. After dishing-out 48 assists in the victory over San Francisco last week, sophomore Alesha Young managed 29 on Thursday. She teamed that mark with 10 digs for a double-double, joining Covington who matched her 11 kills with 12 digs.
Saint Mary’s used a balance attack in the match to outdistance the Lions. Lauren Jaeckel and Chanteal Satele each had nine kills, while Shannon Lowell added eight. Kapua Kamana’o and Missy White split time at the setter position, dishing-out 17 and 16 assists, respectively, guiding the Gaels to a .267 combined hitting percentage. Saint Mary’s also teamed for 10 total blocks, including block solos from Lauren Corp, Lowell and Megan Burton. Lowell also had six block assists in the victory.
Satele led all players in the first set, notching five kills on six swings to help SMC to a 25-14 victory. Saint Mary’s hit .393 in the first period. The match was tied early at four points, but Saint Mary’s took over from there. A York kill and a Lion attack error made it 12-8 to force a Lion timeout before the teams played to a 13-10 Gael advantage. The home team rattled-off four straight points to run the tally to 17-10 en route to an 18-14 lead. LMU would not score another point in the set, allowing Saint Mary’s to score seven unanswered to take the first.
LMU hit just .039 in the second set as Saint Mary’s took the period by a count of 25-17. Covington contributed six kills in the set, but four from Lowell and three from Jaeckel were too much for the Lions. The second set proved much closer than the first as the teams battled to six tie scores and five lead changes. Saint Mary’s and LMU were even at 11 and then 13 before the Gaels scored three unanswered points to force a Lion timeout. The break did little to slow momentum as SMC quickly ran the tally to 20-14. The Lions would reach 17 points at 23-17 on a Becky Stehling kill, but the Gaels benefited from two Lion errors to earn the final two points of the set.
Continuing to struggle offensively, LMU hit .050 in the final set. Although it did not hit as well as it did in the first, Saint Mary’s did manage a .243 percentage to close-out the match. Jaeckel paved the way to the sweep with six of her nine kills in the final frame, aided by two service aces from White and Lowell. Bergsma contributed four kills on 17 swings for LMU, but it was not nearly enough, as the Lions fell 25-18. Trading blows once again in the set, the two teams fought to a 9-9 stalemate. Unfortunately for LMU, Saint Mary’s would score five of the next six points to open-up a 14-10 lead. The advantage continued to 19-15 on a Stehling service error before a Bergsma attack error pushed the Gaels to the 20-point plateau at 20-16. LMU would scratch to within four points at 22-18, but Saint Mary’s scored each of the final three points to earn the sweep.
The Lions return to action on Saturday at 1 p.m. when they travel to No. 19 San Diego. After today’s matches, the Toreros sit in sole possession of second place in the WCC.
Win streak reaches six for the Frogs
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The TCU Horned Frog volleyball team ran their win streak to six matches as they defeated Air Force 3-1 (25-15, 25-20, 23-25, 25-11) Saturday afternoon. The Frogs improve to 10-2 in league play, the first time they have reached 10 league victories since joining the Mountain West. Kourtney Edwards established a new school record for hitting percentage in a match at .867 (13-0-15).
Along with Edward outstanding day at the net, Christy Hudson finished with a team-high 14 kills. Irene Hester finished with 10 kills. Edwards paced a Frog defensive effort that produced 10 blocks with four. Kristen Hester served up three of the Frogs 10 aces and tallied three blocks to go along with seven kills. Lauren Otto racked up eight kills and tallied 10 digs. Katelyn Blackwood notched a team-high 17 digs to go along with two aces.
The Horned Frogs stormed out of the gates to take a commanding 15-5 lead in the first set. The Frogs were up 8-4 before a blast from Otto spurred a 7-1 run that forced a Falcon timeout. Edwards and Munce pitched in with kills around a block on the outside from Edwards and Irene Hester. Otto capped the run with an ace.
Air Force attempted to get back in the set with a 7-4 run of its own, but again Otto quelled the Falcon momentum with a kill. The trio of Edwards, Otto and Hudson put the Frogs up 23-13. A service error by Air Force gave the Frogs set point and Edwards finished it with her third kill of the set.
A much tighter affair in the second set saw Air Force jump out to an early 5-2 lead. The Frogs chipped away and eventually knotted the score at eight on an ace from Blackwood. Irene Hester and Kristen Hester teamed on a block to give the Frogs a two-point advantage, 10-8 and force a Falcon timeout after which, TCU continued to build on its lead. The Frogs worked it to 15-11 on kills from Kristen Hester, Irene Hester and Edwards.
The Falcons continued to battle and pulled back within one, 17-16 but back-to-back kills from Irene Hester and Kristen Hester gave the Frogs breathing room. Holding a 20-19 lead, back-to-back errors by the Falcons helped spur a 4-0 run that gave the Frogs set point. Hudson sealed the 25-20 win with her sixth kill of the match.
Similar to the second set, the Falcons jumped out to the early lead, but couldn’t hold off a Frog rally. Back-to-back blasts by Hudson on the right side pulled the Frogs within one, 7-6 and a kill from Otto pulled the Frogs even at 9-all. Air Force responded with a 6-4 run that would give it a 15-13 lead. A kill from Kristen Hester stopped the Falcon rally and turned the deficit into a lead as she capped a 4-0 run with an ace.
TCU battled to take a 22-20 lead on a kill from Edwards, but Air Force responded with a 4-0 run to give it set point. Hudson picked up a kill to try and get the Frogs back on track but Grace Konstanzer finished off the 25-23 Air Force victory in set three.
In the fourth set, Air Force again raced out to a 5-2 lead, but it would be all Horned Frogs from there. The Frogs offense was firing on all cylinders as they outscored the Falcons 23-6 to close out the match.
The Frogs pounded out 16 kills, five of which came from Edwards in the middle. Hudson pitched in with four, while Blackwood, Irene Hester and Victoria Hernandez combined to serve up four aces. Edwards 13th kill of the match locked up the 25-11 victory for Frogs.
TCU improves to 21-5 overall and 10-2 in conference play. The Frogs will return home for two key league matches as they host BYU Thursday night and Utah Saturday afternoon. First serve on Thursday is set for 7 p.m.
Berg leads the way with 17 kills
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Jena Berg had 17 kills to lead three players in double figures as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee claimed a 25-10, 18-25, 25-16, 25-23 win over Youngstown State Saturday afternoon at the Beeghly Center.
Kerri Schuh added 13 kills and Maddie Sueppel 10 for Milwaukee (9-14, 6-6 Horizon), which has won four-straight matches.
The Panthers hit a solid .208 in the contest, their best offensive performance since a win at Loyola in mid-September. UWM also got nine kills from Natalie Schmitting and seven from Mary Beth O'Brien, while Kellye Zaporski had 47 assists in directing the attack.
Ruth Boscaljon had 10 kills to lead Youngstown State (7-17, 5-9), but the Panthers' defense slowed the Penguin attack throughout the day. YSU hit just .126 in the match, with UWM collecting nine blocks and 77 digs. Lauren Felsing led the defensive charge with 26 digs.
UWM came out on fire in the first set and cruised to an easy win. The Panthers scored 14 of the first 17 points of the frame and then never let the Penguins get closer than nine points the rest of the way. A kill by Berg extended the edge to 19-5 and another kill by Berg kept the lead at 21-7. Kills by Sueppel, O'Brien and Schmitting then closed things out for Milwaukee, as UWM had 15 kills and just one error in the first set.
YSU bounced back in the second set, building a 7-3 lead it never gave back. The Penguin edge grew to 18-9 on a kill by Haley Kapferer and was 22-12 after a block by Boscaljon. UWM did fight back to within 23-17 and 24-18, but another kill by Kapferer evened the match.
Milwaukee pulled away in the third set. The Panthers took the lead for good at 11-10 on a Penguin error and extended their edge to 15-11 on a block by Schmitting and Schuh. The lead grew to 18-12 on a kill by Berg and UWM never let Youngstown get closer than four points after that. A run of four-straight points by Milwaukee ended the frame, with a kill by Schuh giving UWM a 2-1 lead in the match.
UWM then hung on in the fourth set. The Panthers snapped a 9-all tie with a 10-0 run midway through the frame. Two kills and two blocks by Sueppel highlighted the burst, with Milwaukee claiming a 19-9 lead. But, YSU nearly battled all the way back, fighting off six match-point chances for the Panthers. UWM finally closed things out, though, with a kill by Schmitting giving Milwaukee the narrow, two-point victory in the set and a victory in the match.
The Panthers now close the regular season with four-straight home matches. UWM starts its stretch run Friday night against Wright State.
The Canisius College volleyball team ended its three-match losing streak with a three-set sweep of Rider at the Koessler Athletic Center on Saturday afternoon. The Golden Griffins won 25-23, 25-20, 25-16 to improve to 11-14 overall and 8-6 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
Sophomore Layne Adams led the Griffs with 11 kills on 16 attempts, posting a .500 attack percentage. Junior Renee Lettow had 10 kills and nine digs while sophomore Carley Youngman had a match-high 12 digs. Freshman Allyson Severyn added nine kills, senior Kaela Glenn had 10 digs and sophomore Janelle Davis had 30 assists.
“We didn’t play a perfect match by any means, making some mistakes at critical times,” Canisius coach Cathy Hummel said. “However, we carried over our energy and enthusiasm from Tuesday’s match, and kept ourselves in contention for the postseason with this win.”
The teams played their closest set of the day in the first set as Canisius would open up an 11-7 lead, but Rider (3-21, 1-12 MAAC) battled back to tie the match at 13-13 on a block from Stephanie Nagy and Alex Chapla. Neither team took more than a two-point lead the rest of the way, with Canisius getting a kill from Davis and service ace from Severyn to take a 24-22 lead. Lettow would put the set away two points later.
Canisius pulled away midway through the second set and never relinquished the lead. A kill from Davis started a 4-1 run that put Canisius up 14-11 on a kill from Lettow. The Broncs would get within one at 16-15 on a kill from Katelyn Thompson, but Canisius won three straight points – two kills from Adams and a service ace from Glenn to go up 19-15 and eventually win the set on an ace from Davis.
The Griffs dominated the third set, leading by as many as 15 points. After dropping the first point of the set, Canisius won seven straight and never looked back. A kill from Adams closed out the match.
Canisius plays its final regular-season home match of the season on Sunday, against Loyola on Senior Day. Match time is set for 3 p.m. in the Koessler Athletic Center.
Match Notes: Canisius has now won three straight MAAC matches in the Koessler Athletic Center… The Griffs defeated Rider for the eighth straight time and improve to 12-2 against the Broncs under Hummel… Senior Michelle Godfrey played in her 100th career match… Canisius posted a season-high attack percentage of .307, committing just 12 service errors.
FAIRFIELD, Conn. - The Long Island University volleyball team continued to roll, with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-15) win at Sacred Heart. The victory improved the Blackbirds to 12-0 in Northeast Conference action and 15-13 overall. Senior Svetlana Simic (Klek, Serbia) led all players with 14 kills.
After taking the first set 25-19, the Blackbirds gutted out a win in the second frame, using late kills by Simic and freshman Breanna Cullity (Colorado Springs, Colo.) to close out the set. In the third stanza, Long Island benefitted from a 7-0 run en route to a 25-15 win.
Senior Martina Racic (Pula, Croatia) tallied 11 kills and a match-high 12 digs. Simic also tallied a double-double, adding 10 digs of her own. Cullity finished with six kills two digs and a block.
Long Island hit .391 for the match, while Sacred Heart hit .196. The Blackbirds held a 45-33 advantage in kills.
Sacred Heart was led by nine kills from Johanna Ovsenek and 10 digs by Ashlyn Trimble. The loss dropped the Pioneers to 18-8 (8-2 NEC).
Long Island will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 7 with a visit to Saint Francis (Pa.) at 6:00 p.m.
- LIU -
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The TCU volleyball team reached the 20-win plateau for the fifth time in program history with a 3-1 (25-18, 25-20, 22-25, 25-12) victory over San Diego State Thursday night. The Frogs improve to 20-5 on the year as their win streak reaches five. Irene Hester tallied her third double-double of the season with 15 kills and 10 digs.
The Frogs got contributions up and down the lineup as they posted three double-doubles on the night. Along with Irene Hester’s, Megan Munce notched her 11th of the season with 31 assists and 16 digs and Lauren Otto picked up her fourth with 12 kills and 12 digs. Kristen Hester pitched in with nine kills and Munce eight.
Katelyn Blackwood led the way defensively with 23 digs. TCU hit a sparkling .299 in the match and held the Aztecs to a .146 attack percentage. Kourtney Edwards dominated at the net with a match-high six blocks. Munce pitched in with four and also served up three aces.
A dominating start to the first set helped the Frogs withstand a late rally by the Aztecs as they took the early 1-0 match lead with a 25-18 win. Irene Hester dominated the net with six of the Frogs 16 kills in the set. TCU hit at a .341 clip with four big blocks in the set victory.
With the set tied at four, Edwards spurred a 5-0 run with four kills and a block as they Frogs built a 9-4 lead. The Frogs put together another impressive 9-1 run that put them in full control with a 21-9 lead. Irene Hester dropped in three kills and ace, while Otto pitched in with two kills. Kristen Hester teamed with both Otto and Christy Hudson on two blocks to help the lead grow.
A service error by the Frogs gave the Aztecs life as they went on a 7-2 run to pull back into the game, down 23-16. An attacking error by the Aztecs gave the Frogs set point and Munce finished the set with second kill of the match.
Another tight set early on in the second saw the Aztecs take their first lead of the match at 8-6. An attacking error spawned a 6-0 run by the Frogs that gave them a 12-8 lead. The Aztecs committed four attacking errors in that run, while Munce dropped in her third kill of the match and Blackwood served up an ace.
The Aztecs responded with a 6-1 run to regain the lead, but back to back kills by Otto quelled their momentum and put the Frogs back on top to stay. She teamed with Edwards on a denial on the outside for a three-point advantage at 18-15.
San Diego State would draw within one on a couple of occasions, but each time the Frogs came up with a stop in the form of a block from Munce and Edwards and a kill from Irene Hester. Back-to-back aces from Munce locked up the 25-20 set two victory for the Frogs.
In the third set, the Frogs had stormed out to a 6-1 lead only to see San Diego State rally back with an 8-1 run that gave it the lead. TCU battled to tie the set at 14, forcing an Aztec timeout. Out of the break, SDSU rattled off three straight points and it never looked back on its way to a 25-22 set three victory. The win by the Aztecs snapped TCU’s 14-set win streak.
A Munce ace got things rolling in the fourth set as the Frogs raced out to a 13-5 lead. The Frogs had contributions from everywhere on the court as Otto pitched in with two kills along with blasts from Hudson, Edwards, Irene Hester and Munce.
After a mini-run by the Aztecs, the Frogs used a 6-0 run to take full control of the set as they opened up a 19-8 lead. Hudson and Edwards teamed up on the Frogs 10th block of the match to give them match point and Otto finished things with her 12th kill of the night.
The Frogs are 20-5 on the season and 9-2 in league play. They head to Colorado to take on Air Force on Saturday afternoon. Match time is slated for 2 p.m. (CST).
LMU was swept for the second consecutive match.
LMU (10-13, 1-8) was swept for the second consecutive match, this time falling in three sets to No. 19 San Diego (15-5, 7-2), 25-16, 25-17, 25-21, on Saturday afternoon on the road in West Coast Conference action.
Freshman Alaina Bergsma led all players with 15 kills on Saturday, but it was not enough as LMU hit .240 as a team and allowed a .358 mark on the other side of the net in the loss. Bergsma teamed the 15 kills with a service ace and three digs to lead all players with 16 points. Junior Becky Stehling did her part offensively for LMU, collecting six kills on 10 attacks with only one error for a .500 hitting percentage. Sophomore Alesha Young dished-out 23 assists in the loss.
San Diego used a fairly balanced attack, benefitting from four different players with eight or more kills. Ali Troost paced the quartet with 12 kills on the day, followed by Kelsi Myers, Colleen Carlson and Carrie Baird with eight apiece. Myers also had 29 assists, a service ace and four digs serving as the Torero setter, turning-in an all-around solid day on the court.
The Toreros earned a 25-16 victory in set one, led by Baird with five of her kills in the first set alone. LMU hit just .152 in the period, paced by freshman Kenna Crouse with three kills and a service ace. After battling to an early 6-6 tie, USD won each of the next five points to take a comfortable 11-6 advantage. LMU cut the deficit to two points at 13-11, but the Toreros regained composure and a solid lead at 18-12, highlighted by a pair of Lion attack errors and two kills from Amber Tatsch. A Baird kill pushed the set to its final point at 24-15 before Crouse erred on a serve to hand USD the set.
San Diego led the entire way in the second set, a period that saw five kills from Troost and four apiece from Myers and Carlson. LMU managed to hit .357 in the set, led by six kills on 11 attacks from Bergsma, but San Diego hit a blistering .593 as a team, also collecting two service aces along the way. Myers was a perfect 4-for-4 in hitting, while Troost was 5-for-6 with no errors. San Diego held a narrow lead through the first half of the set, earning a 13-10 advantage on a Carlson kill. That lead advanced to 16-12 on a Bergsma attack error, forcing a Lion timeout. San Diego continued to march toward the win out of the break, pushing the lead to 21-14 on a Myers service ace to force LMU’s last timeout of the period. The Lions managed to spoil three set-points starting at 24-14, but another Lion service error, this one charged to sophomore Ariana Covington, once again spelled doom for the Lions.
In what proved to be the closest set of the three, USD earned a 25-21 victory in the third to sweep the Lions. Troost contributed five more kills for San Diego as the team hit .238 in the period. Bergsma gave it her best effort, notching seven kills on 17 swings for LMU. The two teams traded blows throughout the period, playing to ties at each point from 15 to 19. LMU led as late as 19-18, but the Toreros refused to allow LMU to gain any real momentum. After knotting the tally at 19, USD opened-up a 22-19 advantage on kills from Tatsch and Myers. LMU would put forth one more outstanding push, cutting the lead to one at 22-21 on back-to-back swings from Bergsma. Unfortunately for the Lions, USD would score each of the final three points, including the last two by way of Bergsma attack errors, to earn the sweep.
LMU will return to action on November 5 at home as it begins a three-match homestand starting with Gonzaga at 7 p.m.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Clemson volleyball fought back from a 2-1 deficit
to win in Chapel Hill in five sets (13-25,25-23,19-25,25-20,15-11) to
win their third consecutive ACC match. The Tigers (18-7, 8-5 ACC)
moved past North Carolina (11-12, 7-5 ACC) in the standings into
fourth place with the win. Sandra Adeleye had a career-best 19 kills,
while Lia Proctor had 19 of her own to go with 15 digs.
Kelsey Murphy had 46 assists and 11 digs, giving her and Proctor each
their tenth double-double of the season. Didem Ege fell one dig short
of tying her own record for most digs in a match, as she had 35 on the
afternoon. Freshman Serenat Yaz had a career-high eight kills and nine
digs in her first major playing time of the season. She had been used
primarily as a server before being inserted into the rotation in the
second set, and sticking throughout the match.
The Tigers hit .364 in the fifth set on their way to their third
five-set win of the season. The Tigers and Tar Heels each won on the
other’s home floor this season.
In the first set, Clemson jumped out to a 4-2 lead, but North
Carolina hit an astounding .444 for the set and were able to side out
on 11 out of 13 Tiger serves, including the last 11. Sandra Adeleye
had six kills to lead the Tigers, who hit.121 in the set.
In the second set, North Carolina looked like it might take control,
taking a 12-8 lead, and held a four point edge as far as 14-10.
However, Clemson started to put some offense together with a few
lineup changes from Hoover, who inserted Serenat Yaz into the
rotation. The Tigers rode Adeleye and Proctor for much of the set
offensively, but Murphy was able to find five different targets for
kills.
Clemson fought to tie the set at 17-17, and traded points until a
Fuller attack error put Clemson ahead 21-20. The Heels took a
one-point lead at 22-21, but a Hoover timeout rallied the team to a
4-1 run to close out the set, knotting the match at one apiece. There
were eight tie scores and three lead changes in the second set, as
Clemson allowed only a .143 hitting pct in the set.
In the third set, North Carolina ran out to a 5-1 lead, taking
advantage of three Clemson errors. The Heels were able to stretch the
lead to 13-6, opening a cushion they wouldn’t relinquish for the
remainder of the set. The Tigers fought back to within four at 20-16
and 21-17. However, a 3-0 Tar Heel run put the set out of reach, and
North Carolina won 25-19.
The Tigers weren’t done fighting, jumping out to a 5-2 lead in the
fourth set behind Proctor, who had two kills and an ace. The Tigers
were able to maintain a small cushion throughout the set, , even
stretching the lead to six at 17-11. With Clemson ahead 19-13, a North
Carolina timeout sparked a 7-2 run to bring UNC to within one at
21-20. However a Hoover timeout was exactly what the Tigers called
for, going on a 4-0 run and taking the fourth set, 25-20, to force a
fifth.
Clemson got a hard edge in the fifth set, taking a quick 3-0 lead
behind Adeleye, who had a kill and a block assist. The Tigers won a
crucial point at6-4 on a kill by Yaz that found the center of the Tar
Heel defense. Proctor then put a ball between two blockers for a kill,
and Alexa Rand’s solo block gave Clemson a 9-4 lead. Proctor found the
floor again to give Clemson a 12-8 lead out of a timeout. North
Carolina fought back to a 13-11 deficit, but a career-best 19th kills
from Adeleye and a solo block from Kelsey Murphy clinched the five-set
win for the Tigers.
The Tigers will go on the road for the second consecutive weekend as
they make a swing through Maryland and Boston College on Friday and
Sunday, respectively.
Meeter has season-high 19 kills in road win
SAN DIEGO, Calif. --- The University of New Mexico volleyball team exorcised a 2009 demon on Halloween Saturday in San Diego. For the first time this season, the Lobos won a match in which they lost the first set, beating San Diego State, 3-1 (24-26, 25-19, 25-18, 25-22). Junior Lisa Meeter had a season-high 19 kills for the Lobos, as they improve to 16-8 overall and 7-5 in Mountain West Conference action.
San Diego State (10-12, 4-7 MWC) held the lead for the whole first set until UNM tied the score at 23 and 24. The Aztecs finished the set off, 26-24.
UNM never trailed in the second set. After tying at 3-3, the Lobos built a 9-4 lead behind some solid kills by Meeter, Rose Morris and Taylor Hadfield. The Aztecs closed to within two at 16-14, but UNM pushed the lead back to a six-point spread on a double block by Meeter and Anna Lehne, 21-15. UNM held the lead to win 25-19 and put the teams even going into intermission.
The Aztecs put down some big kills to start the third set with a 5-3 lead. Hadfield tied the score at 5-5 with a kill, followed by UNM taking the lead, 6-5 on a SDSU error. The Lobos got the third set lead up to four, 15-11, but SDSU fought back to within one, 15-14. A block by Hadfield and Allie Suiter put the ball back in UNM’s hands, 16-14. The Lobos went on to out-score SDSU, 9-4 down the stretch to win 25-18 and go up 2-1.
New Mexico jumped out to a 9-3 lead in the fourth set, led by three Meeter kills and a service ace by Hadfield. The teams swapped points until SDSU started to chip away at the UNM lead, closing it to one at 20-19 and 21-20. Aztec errors put UNM up 23-20. Lehne put away two kills to seal the Lobo win, 25-22.
Meeter ended up with a double-double, adding 10 digs to her 19 kills. Three other Lobos recorded double-digit kills – Hadfield with 14, Lehne with 12 and Morris with 10. Allison Buck led the back row defense with 18 digs, while setter Jade Michaelsen had 52 assists.
The Lobos wrap up the home portion of the 2009 season this week when Utah and BYU come to the Johnson Center. Thursday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. against Utah is the Lobos’ Think Pink Night to raise breast cancer awareness. Saturday, Nov. 7 vs. BYU is Senior Night at 7 p.m.
-UNM-
