Lions Drop PCH Challenge Match to Pepperdine, 3-1
LMU fell in four sets in its final home match of the season.
LMU (12-14, 3-9) dropped its final home match of the season on Friday night to cross-town rival Pepperdine (15-10, 8-4) in Gersten Pavilion. The Waves earned the 3-1 victory, and 1.5 points for a road win in the PCH Challenge standings, by a count of 25-19, 25-19, 23-25, 25-11. Pepperdine now leads the PCH Challenge standings, 4-3.5.
Freshman Alaina Bergsma once again led the Lion attack with 12 kills on 53 attacks. Her best mark came in LMU’s third-set victory, as she posted five kills on 18 swings. The native of Chandler, Ariz. teamed the kills mark with 16 digs to record another double-double. Sophomore Ariana Covington and freshman Kenna Crouse chipped-in 11 kills in their own right, but it was not enough for the Lions over the course of the match. Covington joined Bergsma as one of two Lions with a double-double, collecting 10 digs to accompany the 11 kills. Freshman Nikki Lane made her first collegiate appearance, starting at setter for the Lions and dishing-out 28 assists. LMU hit just .133 as a team over the course of the four sets, allowing a .285 mark on the other side of the net.
Kim Hill led all players with an efficient 14 kills on just 28 attacks for a stellar .464 hitting percentage. Even better in terms of percentage, Victoria Adelhelm connected at a .476 clip with 10 kills on 21 attacks and no errors. Rachel Grochmal added 12 kills of her own to help Pepperdine to the win. Senior Kiah Fiers continued her solid play at the setter position, collecting 40 assists, six digs and two block assists. Grochmal (12 kills and 14 digs) and Caitlin Racich (10 kills and 12 digs) each collected double-doubles in the win.
The Lions never led in set one, as Pepperdine opened-up a 9-4 lead early on back-to-back Lion attack errors. Despite a set-best seven kills from Crouse in the opener, LMU hit just .180 as a team and could not make up the ground it allowed early in the period. With the score at 10-6, the Waves posted four unanswered points to take a comfortable 14-6 advantage, forcing the final LMU timeout of the set. The Lions managed to inch back into the contest, cutting the deficit to five points at 18-13, highlighted by kills from Crouse and Covington to bookend a four-point swing. Now trailing by just three points at 22-19, LMU saw Pepperdine regain its composure and score each of the final three points to take the set.
The second set mirrored the first as the Lions trailed virtually from the beginning. After earning the first point of the period, LMU quickly found itself in an 11-4 hole as Pepperdine rattled-off six straight points from 5-4 to 11-4. LMU refused to surrender so easily on its home court, crawling within three points at 16-13, highlighted by three of Bergsma’s four kills in the period. Just as it did in the first set, Pepperdine regained control when the pressure was heightened, opening-up a 22-16 lead on back-to-back swings from Hill and Lilla Frederick. The Waves took the set to set-point at 24-18 before Adelhelm found the floor two plays later for the win.
The Lions came out of the intermission fighting en route to a 25-23 victory in the third set. Bergsma led the way with five kills on 18 swings, but it seemed to be the serving that truly made a difference. The Lions did not have another player with more than one kill in the set, but they did record three service aces in the period after failing to record one in each of the previous two sets. Junior Becky Stehling had two of the three, while Covington collected the third. The two teams played even to 10 before LMU earned a 17-11 lead that forced a Pepperdine timeout. The break served its purpose as the Waves cut the deficit to two points at 19-17, highlighted by three of Hill’s six kills in the set. The momentum continued in Pepperdine’s direction after a Lion timeout, as the visitors evened the tally at 19 to make things very interesting. Fortunately for LMU, the Lions would right the ship by scoring four unanswered from that point to take a 23-19 lead. Showing a high level of fight, Pepperdine spoiled three straight set-point attempts for the Lions before LMU found Bergsma for the final swing of the period.
The fourth set was all Pepperdine as the Waves cruised to a 25-11 victory in the period to take the match. Racich contributed five kills, while Adelhelm and Grochmal each added four for Pepperdine. The Waves hit a blistering .481 in the period, while LMU managed a -.038 mark on the other side of the net. Although the set started close, with the team playing even to five and then to a 9-8 Pepperdine lead, the Waves quickly took momentum. Leading 11-9, Pepperdine scored nine unanswered points with Fiers in the service area to take a 20-9 lead. LMU would score just two more points in the period before succumbing to the loss.
LMU returns to action next week when in travels to Northern California to complete WCC play with matches against San Francisco and Santa Clara.
Denver Volleyball Women Fall
3-2 to UALR on the Road
Freshman Faimie Kingsley finishes with a career-high 16 kills, while senior Emmy Davidsmeyer add 16 kills and five blocks
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The University of Denver volleyball team (16-15, 11-6 SBC) fell 3-2 on the road to the Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans (15-13, 9-8 SBC) on Friday evening in the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock, Ark.
“We struggled tonight with execution,” said head coach Beth Kuwata. “We had some great rallies and both Faimie and Emmy turned in a great performance tonight, it was just a little disappointing that we couldn’t come away with a win.”
Freshman Faimie Kingsley (Brooklyn, N.Y.) finished with career-high 16 kills, while senior Emmy Davidsmeyer (Colorado Springs, Colo.) added 16 kills and five blocks for the Pioneers. Also turning in strong performances was seniorAlexis Ninos (Cypress, Texas) and Jordan Raines (Coppell, Texas) who finished with 14 and 10 kills, respectively.
Setter Kresson Vreeman (Raymond, Minn.) finished with 45 assists, while liberoKacie Wikierak (Crystal Lake, Ill.) finished with 12 digs. To go along with her 10 kills, Raines also contributed defensively for the Pioneers with 16 digs and three blocks.
Anita Bucur led the way for the Trojans with 20 kills and a .327 hitting percentage, while Becky Mann and Eva Chunyan added 16 and 12 kills, respectively.
Denver closes out the regular season on the road as they play their final match of the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 14 against Arkansas State in Jonesboro, Ark., in a 6 p.m. (MT) match.
- PIONEERS -
San Diego State defeats Air Force 3-1 in Colorado Springs this evening (19-25, 25-11, 25-18, 25-22).
The Aztecs improve to 12-13 overall (6-8 MWC) while Air Force falls to 8-19 (0-14 MWC)
SDSU's Kyley Sexton led all players with 18 kills and hit .457 while adding five blocks. Andrea Hannasch and Paije Pearson set career highs with 11 and seven blocks respectively.
San Diego State will next host Cal State Bakersfield on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 2:00 p.m. in Peterson Gym.
No. 6 UCLA Volleyball Edges No. 25 Washington State in Four
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. -- The No. 25 Washington State volleyball team fell at No. 6 UCLA Friday night at Pauley Pavilion with set scores of 25-23, 25-14, 23-25, and 25-23.
“We have to execute down the stretch and we made some critical decisions at the end of the fourth set. We had an opportunity to win this set and take it to a fifth,” WSU Head Coach Andrew Palileo said. “We did play better (than last week). Mostly steady. We hung in there. The difference between early in the season to where we are now is that we are not closing out sets. Players are not making the plays. We are putting ourselves in position (to win) but we have to keep battling.”
Jackie Albright’s double-double of 16 kills and 22 digs was not enough as Washington State (16-9, 5-9) lost its fifth consecutive Pacific-10 Conference match. Meagan Ganzer added 16 kills and both Albright and Ganzer had three blocks. Brittany Tillman’s nine kills and seven blocks, and Cassie Robbins’ seven kills and four blocks helped keep the Cougs in contention. Oceana Bush contributed 15 digs and Renee Bordelon had 51 assists. The Cougars hit .173 and had 13 blocks for the match.
Kaitlin Sather and Dicey McGraw combined for 31 kills to lead UCLA (20-6, 10-3). Lainey Gera had 26 digs as the Bruins had five players with double-digit digs. Amanda Gil (5), Sara Sage (4), Katie Camp (4) and Rachel Kidder (4) put up a potent block on the night. Lauren Cook had 54 assists. The Bruins did not land on ace on the night but hit .258 as a team and had 16 blocks.
WSU held the lead for most of the first set until UCLA tied it at 14-all and moved to an 18-16 advantage. The Cougars scoring three in a row to wrestle back the lead at 19-18. The teams traded scores but UCLA went up 21-20 on a block. After a WSU timeout, Albright’s attack found the back line to knot the set at 21. The teams traded scores again but Cougar errors placed the Bruins serving for set, 24-22. McGraw’s attack went long but Sather landed the final attack and the home team won the opener, 25-23. Albright had five kills, hit .400 and had six digs in this set. McGraw had five kills.
The Bruins raced out to a commanding 20-10 lead in the second set. Kills from Conley Kipp, Bordelon, Tillman and Ganzer could only get the Cougars to 14 while UCLA hit .385 on the way to its 25.
In the third set, WSU took an early lead at 11-6 and extended the lead to 19-16. UCLA chipped away to tie at 20-all. The Bruins went ahead 21-20 and again at 22-21. Back-to-back kills from Albright and Ganzer forced a UCLA timeout. On the next play the Cougars block attempt went out of bounds and the set was tied at 23-all. Ganzer finished the set with a solo block of Sather and a slam. WSU wins the set 25-23.
UCLA took a 14-9 led in the fourth set but WSU battled back, scoring six straight to take the 15-14 lead and forcing both UCLA timeouts. The teams tied it five more times before Ganzer landed three attacks to give WSU the 21-20 lead. Bordelon won a blocking joust at the net for the 22-21 lead but a UCLA kill and a Robbins attack that went long tied the set at 22. Gil’s two blocks put the Bruins serving for set. Robbins blocked Gil to stop the first set point but the set and match ended with a kill from Sather. UCLA takes the four of the final five points to get the 25-23 win.
The Cougars will play at No. 17 USC (16-9, 5-8) at the Galen Center at 5:30 p.m. Saturday. USC upset No. 4 Washington 3-2 Friday night.
EWU Volleyball -- Eastern Knocks Northern Colorado Out of BSC Lead
Eagles have chance to move into second on Saturday when Eagles have rematch with Northern Arizona on Senior Night
Senior Hayley Hills had 17 kills and 14 digs as the Eastern Washington University volleyball team swept co-Big Sky Conference leader Northern Colorado Friday (Nov. 13) at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash. The scores were 27-25, 25-21, 25-19.
Eastern snapped a two-match losing streak, and now stands at 10-4 in the Big Sky Conference and 16-9 overall. On Saturday (Nov. 14), Eastern hosts Northern Arizona on Senior Night at 7 p.m. Pacific time. The Eagles have two league matches left before hosting the four-team Big Sky Conference Championships Nov. 27-28 at Reese Court.
"I think overall Hayley Hills played really well -- she needed that bounce-back game and that was good," said Eastern head coachMiles Kydd. "We defended our home court and we have one more chance tomorrow.
"It felt a lot like when we played them down there," he said of his team's season sweep of the Bears. "We played pretty good, but we just gave up stretches of points with two or three unforced errors. Our six-point lead would become a two-point lead -- that is the part we need to clean up."
Chenoa Coviare added 13 kills and eight block assists, and JaNae Mortensen chipped in nine digs. Setter Ashley Hamilton had 39 assists, four digs and five block assists.
Kydd thought the play of Coviare and Hills was the key.
"This was a flip-flop I think of last weekend when we lost to Portland State," he said. "Because my comment to our coaching staff was when your best players are not your best players, you are going to struggle. So last weekend they were not our best players and tonight they were. If they do well then it helps the rest of the team."
The Eagles out-hit Northern Colorado .280 to .221, led by the .414 hitting percentage of Hills. The Eagles also had 9 1/2 blocks to just four for the Bears.
Eastern took a 5-0 lead in the first set, but the Bears battled back to knot the score at 22. However, Eastern scored the last two points of the set on a pair of kills by Hills.
The second set was tied at 10, but Eastern opened a 20-15 lead. A kill by Hills and her block assist along with Sara Todorovichprovided EWU's final points.
The final set was tied at nine before the Eagles took the lead for good. Eastern built a six-point cushion before scoring the final three points for the 25-19 win.
Eastern is currently third in the league standings behind Portland State at 12-2 and UNC at 11-3, and those two teams square off Saturday in Portland. Having defeated the Bears earlier this season in Greeley, Colo., victories by Eastern and PSU Saturday would move Eastern into a second-place tie with the Bears.
However, a UNC win would keep alive Eastern's hopes of repeating as Big Sky Conference regular season champions.
Saturday will be a rematch of a five-set match the Lumberjacks won on Oct. 15. Eastern responded with a four-match winning streak, but had lost its last two matches to Montana (3-1 on Oct. 31) and Portland State (3-0 on Nov. 6) prior to Friday's win. The Vikings also defeated EWU 3-1 in Portland on Oct. 9.
"We don't think we played very well and we're about to find out what the difference will be in the rematch," said Kydd, whose team allowed NAU to hit .556 in a pivotal second-set victory on Oct. 15. "This is a match we feel like we should come out on the positive side. They beat us once before, and they hit a higher percentage than what we would like to allow. But we were able to force it to a fifth game and then it's always a crapshoot."
Following this week's matches, Eastern plays a non-conference match at Washington State on Nov. 17 and then concludes regular season play in the Big Sky at Sacramento State on Nov. 21.
Eagles to Honor Four Seniors on Saturday -- Four seniors -- all of them starters for the Eagles -- will be honored in pre-game ceremonies prior to Eastern's game Saturday versus Northern Arizona. Leading the way is Hayley Hills, who ranks second in school history and in the top 20 all-time in the Big Sky Conference with 1,383 career kills. She has started all 25 Eastern matches this season and is averaging 3.63 kills and 2.66 digs per set with a .166 hitting percentage.
Ashley Hamilton has also started all 25 matches and is averaging 9.48 assists and 1.30 kills per set, and Amanda Yausie has started 18 of 24 matches. She is averaging 1.67 digs per set while JaNae Mortensen, a defensive specialist who is the team's libero, is averaging a team-high 3.20 digs per set. Yausie has a team-leading 20 ace serves, followed by Hills with 18, Mortensen with 17 and Hamilton with 15.
"All four of our graduating seniors are starters and that speaks well for them," said Eastern head coach Miles Kydd. "They have made a tremendous commitment to Eastern and have been major contributors to our program. We hate to lose such a great group of seniors, but that's the nature of college athletics -- they come and then they go."
#1 - JaNae Mortensen - DS - Pleasant Grove, Utah (Snow College / Pleasant Grove H.S. '06)
#3 - Ashley Hamilton - S - Alpine, Utah (Arizona / Lone Peak H.S. '06)
#9 - Amanda Yausie - S - Colonsay, Saskatchewan (Colonsay H.S. '06)
#13 - Hayley Hills - OH - Quesnel, B.C. (Correlieu Secondary '06)
Eagles to Host Big Sky Championships -- After claiming the Big Sky Conference's regular-season title in 2008, the Eagles earned the right to host the league's 2009 Tournament.
The semifinals will take place at 5 and 7 p.m. on Nov. 27, while the title contest will start at 7 p.m. the following evening. The winner of that match will earn the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, which starts the following weekend.
The Eagles previously hosted the tournament in 2004, 2003, 2002 and 1989.
Oregon State Volleyball Women Fall in Four to No. 12 California
Berkeley, Calif. – The Oregon State volleyball team outblocked No. 12 California 13.0-8.0, but fell in four (14-25, 25-23, 17-25, 20-25) on Friday evening in Haas Pavilion.
“What really held up tonight was our blocking,” head coach Taras Liskevych said. “But our defense and blocking never worked together. I thought we let Cal off the hook in set three when we led 16-13 and then it was 16-19. We had 13 missed serves – that’s the biggest stat.”
Senior Rachel Rourke (Queensland, Australia) killed a team-high 16 balls, adding eight digs. And junior Jill Sawatzky (St. Andrews, Manitoba) struggled early but came on strong in the final set, recording four of her six kills.
Defensively, Sawatzky led all blockers with five, including a pair of solos, followed closely behind by senior Lexie Rathgeber (White Rock British Columbia) and freshman Ashley Eneliko (Seattle, Wash.) with four each. In the backcourt, sophomore Betsy Devich (Kirkland, Wash.) had 14 digs.
Freshman setter Megan McBride (Auburn, Wash.) earned her first career double-double with 16 assists and 10 digs.
Oregon State took the first point of the second set after falling behind by a set on a McBride kill. The two teams traded points until the Beavers took the lead at 4-3, holding on to a small lead. Sitting at 23-18, Cal battled back to tie the score at 23 all. But a big Rourke kill and a block by Sawatzky and Eneliko against the Bears’ Hana Cutura tied the match up with both teams holding a set win.
California’s Tarrah Murray posted a match-high 18 kills, while libero Kirsten Kathan had 22 digs.
Oregon State is now 12-13, 3-10 Pac-10, while the Golden Bears improve to 16-8, 9-5 Pac-10.
The Beavers wrap up business in the Bay Area against No. 7 Stanford on Saturday evening at 7:00 p.m.
Oregon State Notes – Freshman Megan McBride recorded her first double-double with 16 assists and 10 digs.
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Southern Miss Volleyball Team Seals the Deal, Claims First Conference USA Regular Season Title
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Southern Miss volleyball team won its first regular season Conference USA title outright with a 3-1 (25-23, 22-25, 25-14, 25-25) victory over UCF Friday on senior night at Reed Green Coliseum.
Southern Miss improved to 26-4 and 14-2 in C-USA, while UCF dropped to 11-18 overall and 3-13 in league play. The Golden Eagles had already sewed up the No. 1 seed last weekend after a win over Tulsa.
“Obviously, we are very happy to win the regular season title outright, we didn’t want to share it,” Coach Ricci Luyties said. “This was a big match because we didn’t want to wait and see if Tulsa lost. We just wanted to go out and win the title at home.”
Ashley Mell led the way offensively with 14 kills, followed by Sarah Jane Bowden with 13 and Angela Hlavaty added 10. Kelsea Seymour handed out 49 assists to go with 17 digs. Maia Ivanova recorded a team-high 23 digs and Hlavaty and Mell added 14 and 11, respectively.
Both teams battled back and forth throughout the first set. After Southern Miss led 5-3, UCF’s Erin Campbell sparked a 4-0 run that put the Knights up, 7-5. The Golden Eagles tied the set on a Seymour kill and UCF error. Once again, Campbell put the pressure on the Eagles with her tough serving as the USM could not get any offense going and UCF had pushed ahead 14-9. Following a Southern Miss timeout, Lauren Sears ended the UCF fun, but the Knights came right back to add two more points for a 16-10 lead.
With UCF leading 21-16, Luyties called another time and, once again, Sears answered with a kill to get within 21-17. A USM service error gave UCF a five-point advantage. After a hitting error and a block by Bowden and Seymour, UCF was forced to take a time out, leading 22-19. Fisher then answered with a kill to give UCF a 23-19 lead. From there, UCF had back-to-back errors that helped Southern Miss get within two, 23-21. The UCF offensive woes continued as the Eagles closed out the, scoring the last four points for a 25-23 win.
I’m very pleased with the way our team played,” Luyties said. “I thought UCF played well in the first two sets. They were digging a lot of balls and serving us really tough so we never got into our offense. They caused us a lot of problems, but the girls kept fighting. We were scrappy in that first set and came back to win. We played well in the third set. We knew UCF would challenge us and not just let us win. They came back and played us tough, but again, like we’ve done all year, played tough at the end of the match. We didn’t take bad swings and we were mentally tough and we finished well.”
UCF came back to take the second set, 25-22. UCF opened the set scoring the first point. Southern Miss never led in the set, but was able to keep the set close. UCF eventually took the lead on two consecutive kills by Campbell. UCF led by as many as three points early, but Southern Miss made a run to tie the set at 13-13. Back-to-back kills by Campbell gave UCF the lead for good, as the Knights went on to win, 25-22.
After the 10-minute intermission, UCF came out and scored the first three points to start the set. The Golden Eagles rallied to take an 8-5 lead on an 8-2 run. Southern Miss continued its run, pushing its lead to 13-6 and cruising to a 25-14 win.
In the fourth set, Southern Miss ran out to an 11-5 lead to start the third set. UCF fought back to tie the set at 12-12, behind Campbell’s tough serving and taking advantage of several USM attack errors. The teams battled back and forth for the next 12 points between the two teams. With the set tied at 18-18, USM finished off the set with a 7-2 run.
“I’m just really happy with everybody,” Luyties said. “Ashley Mell had a good match, and so did Kelsea. She had a lot of digs as well. I thought those two stood out this match.”
Southern Miss finished the match with a .269 attack percentage and 13.0 team blocks.
“Everything just came together this year,” Hlavaty said. “We have worked hard all season and the dividends have paid off. It’s been a total team effort every night when we are on the court. It’s very exciting and it feels really great, especially for me.”
Campbell led UCF with a match-high 17 kills and 15 digs, while Kristin Fisher had 16 kills. Meredith Murphy tallied 24 digs.
“I’m very excited tonight,” Ivanova said. “I can’t believe that we won. It’s such a great feeling to go out as winners my senior year.”
Roos Keep Postseason Hopes Alive With 3-0 Win Over IPFW
Fort Wayne, Ind. – The UMKC volleyball team kept its postseason hopes alive on Friday night by beating IPFW, 3-0. The win, along with Oakland’s five set loss against Southern Utah, sets up a winner-take-all match between the ‘Roos and the Golden Grizzlies on Saturday, with a spot in The Summit League Championships on the line. With the win, the team improves its record to 14-15 overall and 9-8 in league play.
In a match featuring the top two blocking teams in the league, the ‘Roos out-blocked the Mastodons, 14 to 4.5. Offensively, a trio of ‘Roos led the way, as sophomores Elizabeth Beck and Kelsey Knoche and senior Jamie Hagerman all finished with double figure kills.
The Kangaroos took the early lead in the match, winning the first set in a come from behind win, 25-23. The ‘Roos scored three of the first four points in the set, but IPFW would go on a five point run to take a 6-3 lead. The ‘Dons would not allow UMKC to take the lead from that point, until the ‘Roos went on a 6-1 run with the score at 22-19, to take set one. Knoche’s six kills in the set paced the squad, while Erin Wellwood tallied seven assists.
The ‘Roos extended their lead in the match to 2-0 heading into halftime with a, 25-17, win over the Mastodons. The ‘Roos fell behind early in the set, dropping four of the first five points, but quickly rebounded with a 16-6 run to take a 17-10 lead. The ‘Dons did not get within four again in the set, as the ‘Roos closed it out on back-to-back IPFW errors. This time it was Beck’s turn to lead the squad, as the outside hitter notched six kills for the team. Setters Wellwood and Holly Schmidt added eight and six assists, respectively, while Nicole Kerkman finished with seven digs.
UMKC would close out the match in the third set with a, 25-22, win over the ‘Dons. IPFW led early in the set, but could never gain more than a one point advantage over the ‘Roos, as UMKC took its first lead at 5-4, and never trailed again. The ‘Dons did not go away quietly though, as the score was tied up late at 22, until UMKC used a 3-0 run, featuring two Hagerman kills, to take the match. Hagerman and Beck led the way offensively for the squad, as each finished with four kills in the set. Schmidt and Wellwood, meanwhile, each registered six assists.
In the match, Knoche recorded her 16th double-double of the season, finishing with 11 kills and 13 digs, while Kerkman chipped in a team-high 17 digs. At the net, Brittany Fossier finished with a team-high six blocks, while Christiana McQuin added five, Knoche added four, Hagerman and Schmidt added three each and Beck added two to the team’s total.
The match with Oakland will take place tomorrow at 3 p.m., with the winner advancing to The Summit League Tournament and the loser finishing its regular season.
Buckeyes Defeat Northwestern, 3-1 | |||||||
Related: Ohio State Box Score | |||||||
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COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio State (21-7 overall, 9-6 Big Ten) women's volleyball team, behind a 25-point performance by Katie Dull, defeated Northwestern (14-13, 5-10), 3-1 (25-16, 25-27, 25-10, 25-15) Friday night in St. John Arena. Dull posted match-highs of 20 kills (.333), six total blocks (two solo, four assists) and had one ace serve in the victory. OSU's Anna Szerszen added 12.5 points with nine kills (.304), two ace serve and three assist blocks. Alexandra Ayers had a team-high 13.5 points for Northwestern with 11 kills, two ace serves and one assist block. Sabel Moffett added 12 points with 10 kills, one solo block and two assist blocks for the Wildcats. Set one opened with six ties and five lead changes. Tied at six, the Buckeyes would score six consecutive points to open a 12-6 lead. The run began with a kill from Dull, two ace serves from Szerszen and a Kristen Dozier-Katie Dull block to make it 10-6. Kills from Ashley Hughes and Dull made it 12-6. The run was stopped by a Naomi John kill at 12-7. A Wildcat error, a Dull solo block and a Dull-Kelli Barhorst block made it 15-7. The Buckeyes expanded the lead to 11 at 21-10. At 23-12, an Ariel Baxterbeck kill and an OSU error cut the lead to nine at 23-14. The lead was eight, at 23-15, with a kill from Kathryn Chrystal. A Wildcat error made it 24-15 and set point for Ohio State. Baxterbeck, with a kill, stopped the set point at 24-16. A Wildcat error ended the set at 25-16 for Ohio State, giving the Buckeyes a 1-0 lead in the match. Ohio State hit .231 for the set to .108 for Northwestern. Northwestern opened set two with a Naomi John ace serve, a Moffett-Ayers block and an OSU error for a 3-0 lead. A Wildcat error, an Emily Danks kill and a Szerszen-Barhorst block tied the set at three. At five-all, two ace serves from Ayers and an OSU error gave Northwestern an 8-5 lead. At 12-9 Wildcats, two kills from Dull cut the lead to one at 12-11. At 13-12, a Wildcat error tied the set at 13. A Buckeye error and a Susan Oxnard ace serve put Northwestern ahead, 15-13. OSU trailed 21-17 when a Dozier kill, a Wildcat error, a Chelsea Noble ace serve and a Hughes-Barhorst block tied the set at 21. A Northwestern error and a Noble ace serve gave Ohio State a 23-21 lead. A Baxterbeck kill made it 23-22. OSU reached set point at 24-22 with a kill from Hughes. A Kathryn Chrystal kill stopped the set point and a Moffett kill tied the set at 24. A Buckeye error gave Northwestern set point at 25-24. OSU stopped the set point with a kill from Dull at 25-25. A Buckeye error made it 26-25 with Northwestern serving set point. An OSU error ended the set at 27-25 for Northwestern to tie the match at 1-1. Ohio State hit .143 for the set to .122 for the Wildcats. A kill from Dull, a Sarah Mignin ace serve and a Wildcat error gave OSU a 3-0 lead in set three. A kill from Ayers and a Moffett block cut the lead to 3-2. OSU scored the next 10 points to open a 13-2 lead. The run began with a kills from Dozier and Dull, two Wildcat errors and an ace serve from Noble to take the lead to 8-2. Two kills from Dull, one from Barhorst and two Wildcat errors completed the run. At 16-6, kills from Barhorst and Allie Schwarzwalder, two from Szerszen, a Szerszen solo block and a Szerszen-Hughes block gave the Buckeyes a 22-6 lead. Kills from Natalie Taylor and Ayers cut the lead to 22-8. Kills from Szerszen and Hughes gave OSU set point at 24-8. An OSU error and a Johnson-Chrystal block stopped two set points at 24-10. Ohio State won the set, 25-10, with a Dozier-Hughes block to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Ohio State hit .423 for the set to -.120 for Northwestern. Ohio State opened set four with a kill from Dozier and a solo block from Dull for a 2-0 lead. An Ayers kill cut the lead to 2-1. A Barhorst-Hughes block, a kill from Schwarzwalder and a Schwarzwalder-Dull block gave Ohio State a 5-1 lead. An OSU error and a kill by Schwarzwalder made it 6-2. A Dull-Barhorst block and an OSU error made it 7-3. Kills from Szerszen and Schwarzwalder gave OSU a six-point lead at 9-3. At 18-12, two Szerszen kills made the lead eight at 20-12. A Johnson kill and a Northwestern error made it 21-13. An OSU error and two kills from Dull made it 23-14. Ayers, with a kill made it 23-15. OSU reached match point at 24-15 with a Wildcat error. The Buckeyes won the set, 25-15 with a Schwarzwalder kill to win the match, 3-1. Ohio State hit .424 for the set to .088 for Northwestern. For the match, Ohio State hit .291 to .066 for Northwestern. OSU had a 53-41 advantage in kill and an 8-4 margin in ace serves. OSU's Noble posted a match-high three aces. The Buckeyes gave up eight service errors to five for Northwestern. Defensively, the Wildcats had a 50-49 edge in digs. OSU's Noble posted a match-high 20. At the net, Ohio State had a 13 to five margin in team blocks. OSU's Dull posted a match-high six blocks with two solos and four assists. At setter, Hughes posted a match-high 39 assists for Ohio State. Elyse Glab recorded 32 for Northwestern. Ohio State continues the home stand when they host fifth-ranked Illinois (20-4, 12-3) at 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon in St. John Arena. ### OhioStateBuckeyes.com ### Colonels Prevail in Five-Set Thriller to Secure Tournament SpotLAKE CHARLES - The Nicholls State University women's volleyball team (12-17, 6-9 Southland Conference) slugged it out with McNeese State (17-12, 5-10 Southland) over five sets on Friday night. Fortunately, the Colonels prevailed 3-2 (21-25, 27-25, 22-25, 25-20, 15-11) to clinch their second consecutive Southland Conference Tournament trip. After making the 2008 conference tournament, this marks the first time in school history that the Colonels have qualified for the league championship tourney in consecutive seasons. Nicholls entered the weekend tied for seventh with the Cowgirls. After beating McNeese 3-0 in Thibodaux on Oct. 10, Friday's win over the Colonels gives Nicholls a 2-0 sweep of the Cowgirls and a head-to-head tiebreaker over McNeese, thereby ensuring the Colonels will be no lower than the No. 7 seed at the conference tournament next week in San Antonio. A Nicholls win over Stephen F. Austin, or a loss by Texas-San Antonio at Texas-Arlington, would allow the Colonels to lay claim to the No. 6 seed at the Tournament. Senior outside hitter Manieka Golden (match-high 26 kills and 15 digs) and sophomore outside hitter Rachel Yezak (13 kills and 14 digs) each posted double-doubles to help the Colonel cause. Meanwhile, sophomore libero Danielle Daigle averaged 5.0 digs/set with 25 digs on the night, freshman middle blocker Jasmine Harris had a hand in four of the Colonels 7.0 blocks and senior setter Amy Whitehead posted a career-high 64 assists. McNeese struck first with a 25-21 win over the Colonels. However, Nicholls battled back by claiming a 27-25 victory in the second. The Cowgirls claimed a 2-1 lead with a 25-22 third set win, but the Colonels forced a fifth and decisive set with a 25-20 win in the fourth. In the fifth, McNeese got off to a fast start by jumping out to a 6-2 lead. However, the Colonels rallied once again. Nicholls went on a 7-4 run to take an 11-10 lead. The Colonel defense kept the Cowgirls in check the rest of the way as McNeese managed just one more point and the Colonels claimed a 15-11 win in the finale. The Colonels will return to action on Sunday when they head to Stephen F. Austin. First serve for the regular season finale for both teams is set for 3:30 p.m. Live stats will be available online at www.sfajacks.com. |
Cats Sweep Aside Sun Devils
No. 18 Arizona takes the season series over rival ASU with a 3-0 victory
TUCSON, Ariz. – Whitney Dosty went for 14 kills on .333 hitting while Courtney Karst and Tiffany Owens both tallied 11 kills as the No. 18 Arizona Volleyball team swept Arizona State 3-0 in front of 2,321 in McKale Center.
With the win, the Wildcats (18-7, 7-7) took the season series between the two in-state rivals. UA had last beaten ASU (13-13, 3-11) twice in one season in 2005.
The first set was close early as the score would find itself tied eight times. At 8-8, the Wildcats went on a 7-3 run to open things up and move comfortably ahead. After a comeback attempt from the Devils, Arizona closed the set on a 10-6 run to win, 25-19. Dosty recorded four kills and a block in the first set while setter Paige Weber dolled out 11 assists.
In set two, play was a bit more back-and-forth with ASU ripping off four consecutive points to close an early deficit. The Sun Devils would get no closer than a tie however as the Wildcats earned the big points when they counted and won the set, 25-21. Weber was instrumental in the set win with 14 hand-outs, most going to Dosty, who had seven kills over set two.
After the set break, ASU was determined not to go down without a fight and would jump out to an early 4-1 lead. Following an Arizona timeout, the Wildcats would chip away at the ASU lead, finally knotting things up at 12-12.
The Sun Devils looked to be in the driver’s seat after opening a 17-13 lead. UA then brought in backup libero Danielle Holloway to serve and the Cats would go on to rip off six unanswered points and lead 19-17. Arizona never looked back as Dosty put the exclamation point on the match victory with the deciding kill to end the set, 25-20.
Leading the Cats in digs was senior libero Alanna Resch, totaling 19 digs while also handing out five assists. Weber led the team with 40 assists. Owens’ 11 kills and 14 digs were good for another double-double, her sixth in a row and 14th on the season.
Next week, the Cats face Stanford and Cal to close out its home schedule. They’ll face the Cardinal at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 20 and the Golden Bears at 1 p.m. on Nov. 22. Sunday’s match against Cal will honor seniors Resch and Jacy Norton.
