Wake Forest Falls to Florida State, Houston, Saint Louis, Tulane Sweep, Marshall Messes With Memphis 3 -1

college volleyball game results sunday november 7, 2009

• Wake Forest Volleyball Pushes #16 Florida State To The Limit But Falls in Five
• Canisius Volleyball Women Drop Four-Set Match at Marist
• Temple Volleyball Comes From Behind in Five-Set Win at Fordham
• Houston Volleyball Women Fall to Tulane, 3-0
• UCF Women's Volleyball Falls to SMU on Senior Day 
• No. 21 Saint Louis Defeats Xavier Volleyball Women, 3-0
• UTEP Volleyball Falls 3-1 on Senior Day
• Seniors Lead The Marshall Volleyball Team Past Memphis, 3-1
• TULANE VOLLEYBALL RETURNS TO WINNING WAYS, DOWNS HOUSTON 3-0
• Southern Miss Volleyball Team Outlasts Tulsa in Five Set;

Wake Forest Volleyball Pushes #16 Florida State To The Limit But Falls in Five

Kelsey Jones and Kristen White each post a double-double in the setback

 

November 8, 2009

 

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – After dropping the first two sets, Wake Forest battled-back to force a fifth-set but No. 16-ranked Florida State regained control in the deciding set and would hold on for a 3-2 victory Sunday afternoon.

 

The five-set victory was the second straight for Florida State, who extended their ACC-lead to two matches with another five-set win over Duke on Friday night. FSU improves to 22-3 on year and 14-1 in the conference while Wake falls to 9-17 overall and 7-8 on the ACC.

 

Wake Forest junior Kristen White led all attackers with 18 kills on the afternoon which was a season-high. She also notched her fourth double-double of the year with 12 digs. Junior setter Kelsey Jones recorded her second-straight double-double by dishing out 47 assists and collecting 19 digs, which is one shy of her career-high. The double-double was the 11^th of the season for Jones.

 

Sophomore outside hitter Kadija Fornah continued her solid play for the Deacons with 14 kills and five digs. She was coming off a career-best 22-kill performance on Friday night at Miami. The West Palm Beach, Fla., native has now recorded five-straight matches with 10 or more kills.

 

Stephanie Neville led four Seminoles in double-figure kills with 13 while Jordana Price chipped in with 11 and Rachel Morgan and Sareea Freeman each added 10. Price also totaled 10 blocks in the match as she had eight block assists and two block solos.

 

Setters Nikki Baker and Duygu Duzceler both had good matches for Florida State as Baker recorded a double-double with 25 assists and 12 digs while Duzceler was just one dig shy of her own double-double, finishing with 28 assists and nine digs. Libero Jenna Romanelli led the Seminoles in the match with 17 digs.

 

For Wake, junior libero Megan Thornberry tied Jones with a match-best 19 digs while senior Abby Miller added 14 digs, two service aces and two assists. Freshman Andrea Beck led the Deacs at the net defensively with a season-high tying seven total blocks to go along with her six kills and one service ace.

 

Middle blocker Carlin Salmon finished the match with eight kills and three blocks for Wake while junior Lauren McIntyre notched seven kills and four total blocks. Sophomore Cambrey Oehler saw action in all five sets and recorded eight digs and one kill.

 

Florida State came into the week with the best hitting percentage in the conference at .301 but the Deacs held the ‘Noles to just .201 on Sunday. Each team recorded five service aces in the match but the Seminoles held the advantage at the net, blocking 14 attacks compared to 10 for the Deacs.

 

The teams traded runs early on in the first set and neither side would take more than a two-point advantage until FSU went on a 3-0 run to break a 16-16 tie. The Seminoles would extend the lead to four at 21-17 and then would go on to win the first set 25-20.

 

Freeman had four kills in the set for FSU as White notched three kills for the Deacs. Jones also had eight kills and seven digs in the opening frame.

 

With the strength of that first set victory, FSU ran out to an early 7-4 lead in the second. The lead stayed around three until a pair of kills from Fornah and another by Beck evened the score at 15-15, forcing a Florida State timeout.

 

After trading attack errors, the hosts would get hot and go on a 6-0 run to take control of the set, 22-16. FSU would then go on to take the second set by the same score as the first, 25-20. Neville led all attackers in the set with four kills while White and McIntyre each had three kills for Wake.

 

The third set started out just like the first as neither team could shake free. The largest lead of the set came when Florida State took advantage of a couple of Deacon errors to build a 17-14 lead. Wake then got back-to-back blocks from Beck and McIntyre to help even the score at 17-17 only to see the Seminoles retake a two-point lead at 20-18.

 

Wake then scored three of the next four points thanks to kills from Fornah and White and a block from Salmon to take a 22-21 advantage, leading to an FSU timeout. The hosts were never able to even the score as kills from Beck and White gave Wake a 25-23 victory.

 

Fornah, White and Jones all had three kills in the set for Wake while Thornberry had eight of the team’s 22 digs in the stanza.

 

Florida State came out in the fourth set with a purpose and again opened-up a 7-3 lead. But three-straight Seminole errors and kill from Salmon and White would pull the Deacons to within one at 10-9. Wake stayed on the attack as two kills from White along with kills from Fornah and McIntyre gave the Deacs at 14-12 advantage and forced FSU to burn a timeout.

 

The break was helpful for the Seminoles as they would score the next three points to retake the lead at 15-14. A kill by Fornah evened the score at 15-15 and the teams would trade sideouts until a block by Freeman and Neville followed by a kill from Neville gave FSU a 20-18 lead and it was Wake’s turn to call timeout.

 

Just like the Seminoles did earlier in the set, Wake came out of the break and ran off three-straight points on a kill and a service ace from Beck along with a kill from McIntyre to take a 21-20 lead. Again, the two sides traded points until a kill by Salmon followed by a block by Salmon and Fornah gave the Deacons a set-point at 24-22. After a Florida State timeout, White registered her 15^th kill of the match to give Wake a 25-22 victory.

 

The Deacons recorded a total of 17 kills in the fourth set and hit a match-high .286. White and Fornah combined for 11 of the team’s 17 kills while Miller collected a total of six digs.

 

Wake started the fifth set with kills by Fornah and Jones to take a 2-1 lead but FSU responded with four-straight points to snatch a 5-2 advantage and force Wake Forest to burn its first timeout. Again, the break helped the Deacs as Fornah smashed home a kill while McIntyre and Beck followed with a block and White then evened the score at 5-5 with her first kill of the set.

 

That’s when FSU’s Brianna Barry, the conference’s leader in hitting percentage, pounded-home two kills to give the lead right back to FSU at 7-5. A service ace from Morgan followed by an error by Fornah extended the Seminole lead to 9-5 and Wake was forced to burn its second timeout.

 

In a race to 15, a four-point advantage is huge and the 16^th-ranked team in the country took full advantage, closing out the set and the match 15-9.

 

With the win, Florida State sweeps the season-series with Wake Forest and has now won nine-straight matches between the two teams.

 

Wake will continue to the road trip next weekend as it heads to the state of Virginia. The Deacons will face Virginia on Friday night at 7 pm followed by a 5 pm match in Blacksburg against Virginia Tech on Saturday.

 

 

 

- WakeForestSports.com -

Canisius Volleyball Women Drop Four-Set Match at Marist

The Canisius College volleyball team lost in four sets to Marist College in the McCann Center on Sunday afternoon in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. The Golden Griffins lost 25-19, 25-18, 19-25, 30-28 and are now 11-17 on the season and 8-9 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

Freshman Samantha Good led the Golden Griffins with 18 kills in the match and also had five blocks for the second consecutive day. Junior Renee Lettow had her second straight double-double with 10 kills and 17 digs. Sophomore Janelle Davis also had a double-double with 32 assists and 10 digs. Senior Michelle Godfrey had eight kills and five blocks to go along with a .421 attack percentage while freshman Allyson Severyn recorded 18 digs.

“In today’s match, we had more emotion and effort, but didn’t take advantage of enough opportunities to get the win,” Canisius coach Cathy Hummel said. “Hopefully we can learn through this and our maturity catches up with our talent.”

Marist (16-11, 10-6 MAAC) jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the first set but Canisius battled back to take a 10-9 lead on a solo block from Godfrey. The teams stayed close until Marist won three consecutive points to take a 20-17 lead. Canisius came right back with a block from Godfrey and Good and a service ace from Severyn, but the Red Foxes won five straight points to close out the set.

After Marist won the second set, Canisius jumped out to a quick lead in the third set and never looked back. A kill from Good made it 10-5 in favor of Canisius, and the Red Foxes would get as close as 17-15 on a kill from Alexandra Schultze. The Griffs then won five straight points, capped by a service ace from Lettow and would win the set on an ace from Kaela Glenn.

Canisius played its longest set of the season in the fourth set. Marist had a match point at 24-23, but a block from Godfrey and Jasmine Brennan knotted the score at 24-24. The Griffs couldn’t convert on three set points to force a fifth set. The Red Foxes eventually won on their fourth match point, getting back-to-back kills from Schultze.

Canisius finishes its 2009 regular season at Niagara on Saturday, with match time set for 4 p.m.

Match Notes: Glenn had a career high in assists for the second consecutive match, recording 12 assists against the Red Foxes on Sunday… Lettow’s double-double was the ninth of the season for the junior, the second-most by a Canisius player in the last five seasons… Good recorded 15 or more kills in a match for the eighth time this season … Godfrey didn’t commit an attack error on the weekend, recording 17 kills and a .395 attack percentage.

Temple Volleyball Comes From Behind in Five-Set Win at Fordham

Yun Yi Zhang leads Owls with match-high 32 kills

 

BRONX, N.Y. - After narrowly losing to Fordham in the first two sets, the Temple volleyball team rallied to take the next three and win the A-10 match on the road against the Rams. Yun Yi Zhang recorded more than 30 kills for the second time this season, leading all players with 32 kills.

 

The Owls have secured a spot in the Atlantic 10 Tournament, which will be held at Dayton from Nov. 20-22. The seeding is yet to be determined, as the Owls could finish anywhere from third through sixth.

 

Temple won by scores of 23-25, 23-25, 25-18, 25-22 and 15-12 to improve to 12-10 overall and 8-5 in Atlantic 10 play, while Fordham drops to 13-17 overall and 3-10 in the conference.

 

Recording her 12th double-double of the season was Jackie Morrison with 54 assists and 10 digs. Ariel Pierre led Temple defensively with 14 digs, while Danielle Carrozza tallied 13 digs.

 

Temple led 17-13 in the first set before the Rams came back to tie the score at 17-17. After four more ties, Fordham's Sara Friede knocked down a kill to put her team up 24-23, and an attack error on the Owls put Fordham up 1-0 in the match.

 

Down 24-21 in the second set, Temple fought off two set points before a kill from Fordham's Kailee May put the Owls in a 2-0 hole.

 

Temple picked up the pace in the third set and held a solid lead throughout, with 12 team kills to Fordham's seven. The Rams were the ones who had to fight off two set points in the fourth set, but Temple's Cayleigh Ashman knocked down a kill to even the match at 2-2.

 

The teams were tied at 11-11 in the final set before Temple closed out on a 4-1 run with three kills from Zhang and one by Morrison.

 

The Owls have two regular season matches remaining. They will travel to Charlotte for a 5:30 p.m. match on Friday, Nov. 13, and return home for a 7:00 p.m. match against Saint Louis on Saturday, Nov. 14.

 

 

Houston Volleyball Women Fall to Tulane, 3-0

Sophomore Ingrida Zauere Records Team-High 10 Kills

 

New Orleans, La. – The University of Houston volleyball team lost its final match outside of the state of Texas Sunday afternoon, 3-0 (12-25, 22-25, 19-25) to the Tulane Green Wave at Fogelman Arena, falling to 9-21 on the season and 6-9 in league action.

 

With the win, Tulane improves to 16-8 and 11-4. Tulane also improves to 8-23  in the all-time series against the Cougars after UH won the initial meeting this season 3-2 at the Athletics/Alumni Center.

 

The match was also taped to air on Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. on CBS College Sports.

 

Sophomore Ingrida Zauere led all Cougars with 10 kills, while senior Kinsey Cave added six. Junior Amanda Carson continued to lead the Cougars in digs with 12 and senior Alik Cardoso de Sa had a team-high 19 assists.

 

The Cougars gave the opening four points in the first set to the Green Wave and that would set the tone for the remainder of the set. Tulane would go on the mount a 10 point lead, 20-10 and the Cougars would then only score two more points as the Green Wave took the first set, 25-12.

 

UH looked to even the match by playing a strong second set. They would play from behind but would pull within two, 24-22 but the comeback would fall short as the Green Wave took the second set on a Cougar attack error.

 

In their final chance to get back in the set, it would look like Houston would get their wish. They opened the set to a 4-0 lead but Tulane would storm back and regain the lead, eventually winning the set, 25-19.

 

Houston will wrap-up the regular season on Nov. 12 against Rice at 7 p.m. The match will be played at Autry Court on the Owls’ campus. The Conference USA Championship will also be held at Rice on Nov. 20-22.

UCF Women's Volleyball Falls to SMU on Senior Day  

The Knights honored seniors Erin Campbell, Lauren Williams and Andee Youngblood for their final home match.

               

ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) – The UCF (11-17, 3-12 C-USA) volleyball team held its 2009 Senior Day Sunday afternoon to honor its three seniors, Erin Campbell (Kansas City, Mo.), Lauren Williams (Lake Mary, Fla.) and Andee Youngblood (Castle Rock, Colo.) following a, 3-1 (25-23, 12-25, 20-25, 16-25), loss to visiting SMU at The Venue at UCF in Conference USA action.

 

“I think that it is unfortunate that the seniors couldn’t leave this match with the feeling that you hope your seniors do on Senior Day,” head coach Todd Dagenais said. “They certainly put forth the effort, the passion and all of the emotion we needed to rebuild and retool this program. I am proud that they were willing to stick it out and believe in a new mission and to be an active part of taking the program into a new direction.”

 

The match, which was broadcast by Bright House Sports Network, can be viewed tonight at 7 p.m. on Bright House channel 47 for digital cable subscribers in the central Florida area. 

 

The trio of fourth-years played their final home match against the Mustangs, with Campbell pacing the squad with a team-high 16 kills and 12 digs, her 12^th double-double of the year. Youngblood added her fifth double-double of the season with 48 assists and 10digs, while Williams contributed eight kills and two blocks.

 

Sophomore Kristin Fisher (Clearwater, Fla.) recorded 14 kills, nine digs and two blocks for the home team, with freshman Tory McCutcheon (Milton, Ontario) hitting a team-high .467 with nine kills and two blocks.

 

Libero Meredith Murphy (Austin, Texas) posted her seventh-straight match with 10 or more kills against SMU after registering a team-best 17 digs for the Knights.

 

The Black and Gold opened the match with a 25-23 victory in the first set. Behind the serving of Fisher, UCF jumped out to an early 13-8 lead and never looked back, carrying the advantage all the way to the finish. The Knights totaled 14 kills in the set, with Campbell accounting for seven kills and Fisher and McCutcheon posting three and two kills, respectively.

 

But, SMU regrouped to take the next three sets, 25-12, 25-20 and 25-16 and improved its record to 19-9 on the season and 9-5 in C-USA play.

 

When asked to say something about each of his departing players, Dagenais spoke of the three seniors with great passion.

 

“Lauren Williams never quit getting better and never stop improving,” Dagenais said. “That is all that you can ask for from an athlete is to just keep improving. I still feel like she is one year away from being one of the top two or three middles in the country, and yet we are going to lose her here at the end of this year.

 

“Andee Youngblood has done an admirable job of stepping into the setting role full time this year,” Dagenais said. “I have a lot of respect for Andee and all of the things she has gone through. She never quit and she always tried to find ways out of situations. She provided the excellent balance leadership to Erin, and we needed to have that second leader on our team. She stepped into that role wonderfully and has been a very important part of what we are trying to accomplish here.

 

“What can I say about Erin Campbell,” Dagenais said. “People have told Erin in the past that she is too small, that she is not skilled enough and she doesn’t have the right attitude, and those people are flat-out wrong. She plays bigger than what she is and she has all of the heart, compassion and toughness of a warrior. She brought it every single day. Not only is Erin a better volleyball player now than what she was, but I think Erin will tell you that she has really become a great person. She has always had that in her, but she has now become a giver, and that is a characteristic that helps out the volleyball team and that is a characteristic in life that is going to carry Erin a long way. Because now she has all of the grittiness, all of the determination, all of the heart and all of the compassion to go forth with compassion and I am really, really proud of where Erin has ended up.”

 

UCF concludes C-USA play Nov. 13, when it travels to Hattiesburg, Miss., to take on league-leader Southern Miss at 8 p.m. ET.

 

For the latest news on the Knights, log on to www.UCFAthletics.com – the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF’s new online apparel store. Also visit www.UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.

 

-UCF-

 

No. 21 Saint Louis Defeats Xavier Volleyball Women, 3-0

Loss Snaps Four-Match Winning Streak 

	Junior Claire Paszkiewicz

Nov. 8, 2009

Box Score

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The Xavier volleyball team fell to No. 21 Saint Louis, 3-0 (18-25, 19-25, 15-25), Sunday afternoon at SLU's Chaifetz Pavilion in Atlantic 10 conference action. The loss snapped the Musketeers four-match winning streak but XU remains in third place in league standings.

Senior Kelly Ruth led the Musketeers with eight kills in the contest while freshmanStephanie Vorherr was the primary passer with 16 digs. Freshman Alex Smith added five kills and junior Claire Paszkiewicz set 26 assists.

Xavier (17-11, 9-4 A-10) scored the first two points of the match but Saint Louis answered with five straight to take the 5-2 lead. The Billikens never looked back as they held control for the remainder of the set. SLU led by as many as 10 but XU rallied near the end using a 3-0 run to pull within six, 24-18, but the Billikens took the frame with a kill from Alyssa Deno.

Saint Louis (19-6, 12-1 A-10) fell behind early in the second frame as Xavier jumped out to the 4-1 lead. A kill from SLU's Bridget Fonke even the teams at six apiece and the two squads battled from there. There were eight tied scores and three lead changes in the set and XU's last lead came at 16-15 on a kill from Smith. Saint Louis closed out the frame with a 10-3 run to take the 25-19 win, and the two-set advantage.

The only tie of the third set came at 1-1 but SLU scored on back-to-back plays to go ahead 3-1. The Musketeers cut the lead to five, 11-6, after a kill from Ruth and then consecutive Billiken attack errors set the score at 11-8. The SLU advantage would not be less than three again in the set as Saint Louis took the frame, 25-15, and the match, 3-0.

The Billikens were led by Fonke with a match-high 11 kills and Megan Boken with a team-high nine digs.

The Musketeers return to action Friday, Nov. 13 as they play host to George Washington. First serve is set for 1 p.m. at Cintas Center.

 

 

UTEP Volleyball Falls 3-1 on Senior Day

EL PASO – Seniors Catherine Chavez and Amy Sanders posted double-double performances as five Miners played their final game at home on Sunday afternoon at Memorial Gym.

Rice defeated the Miners 3-1 to improve to 18-8 and 10-4 in Conference USA competition, while UTEP fell to 11-17 and 4-11 in league play. With the loss the Miners are automatically eliminated from the 2009 Conference USA Volleyball Championships to take place in Houston, Texas, on Nov. 20-22. Host Rice secured a spot in the tournament last week.

Senior Aidan Mooney led all Miners with 12 kills with four total assists for the day. Chavez recorded her 12th double-double this season tallying 10 kills and digs. Sanders also had 10 kills against the owls and 11 digs in her last showing before her family and friends.

Irma Blanco had nine kills for a .500 hitting percentage while KeAnne Langford lifted six digs for the Miners.

The UTEP squad came out eager to play its final match at Memorial Gym before a crowd of 582. Three consecutive points put the Miners up early. The Miners retained the early lead before relenting it as the Owls evened things out at seven. The teams traded leads and five ties later the Miners again scored on three consecutive rallies to take a 16-13 lead and never fell behind. Rice came within one at 16-15 and 17-16 but kills by Mooney set the Owls back each time. The Owls threatened a tie once again down the stretch at 20-19, but an attack error put UTEP up by two once again. The Miners ran off with the 1-0 lead in the match at 25-20.

Freshman Cassandra Burruel got things started for the Miners in the second frame and the set remained close up until the midway point. Knotted up at 14, Rice went on a four-point run before UTEP sided out following a Miner timeout.  The Owls came back from the huddle to score three more points and take a four-point lead. UTEP responded with a point off a Patty Jarmoc kill and the Miner defense forced an attack error to bring the Miners within two at 19-17.  A serve later, however, started another rally for the Owls sealing things off with an explosive kill by Nancy Cole to even out the match with the scorea at 25-18.

The story repeated itself through set three as neither team was willing to give up a significant lead. An explosive Owl offense backed by a relentless defense proved too much for the Miners finishing the Miners 25-22 in the third and 25-17 in the fourth and final set.

UTEP will play its final game of the season on the road on Nov. 11 at Tulane.

Seniors Lead The Marshall Volleyball Team Past Memphis, 3-1
Marcum and Sullivan Shine on Senior Day

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Seniors Kristin Marcum and Emily Sullivan recorded 10 and 12 kills, respectively, in the pairs final home match of their careers as the Marshall University volleyball team rounded out its home schedule with a 3-1 (25-17, 25-22, 24-26, 25-19) victory against Memphis on Sunday afternoon at the Cam Henderson Center.

The Herd now stands at 21-7 overall and 9-5 in Conference USA play and concluded its home schedule with an 8-1 record on the season. 

Memphis dropped to 7-23 and 3-12 against conference opponents.

Along with her 10 kills, Marcum added 11 digs to total her 11th double-double of the season.  The senior added a match-best four services and one block assist on the afternoon.  Fellow senior Sullivan hit at a .310 (12K-3E-29TA) attacking average and chipped in with two solo blocks and four block assists.

“Kristin has learned how to be a player that puts it away when she’s got the swing and doesn’t hurt us when she doesn’t have the kill,” head coach Mitch Jacobs said.  “I think she is one of the best passers and ball control players in the entire league. She has to handle that for us and she does a good job.”

Leading 3-2 in the opening set of the afternoon, MU utilized an 8-3 rally to hold an 11-5 lead into the Tigers first timeout of the match.  Memphis would close the gap to three points (19-16) on a kill by Altrese Hawkins, causing the Herd to call a timeout.  The Herd would score four-straight points, three of which were service aces by Marcum, as MU won set one 25-17.

The Herd came out charging in the early goings of the second set, owning a 9-4 early advantage.  During the early run, Kelley Bugler picked up a pair of kills, while Marcum added a kill and a service ace.

After a timeout from the Tigers, the MU lead grew to as much as seven, 18-11, thanks to a pair of kills from Sullivan and Abby Tomas.  After Memphis burned its second timeout, the Herd advantage shrunk to three, 21-18.  A timeout by Jacobs calmed down his team, as the Herd closed out the set, 25-22.

In the third set both teams hit at an extremely high percentage, with Memphis posting a .692 (19K-1E-26TA) attacking average, while MU hit at a .517 (17K-2E-29TA) clip.  In the frame, a total of 16 ties occurred, with the last being at 24-all, thanks to an Elizabeth Herman kill.  The Tigers tallied back-to-back kills to close out the set and send the match into a fourth frame.  Herman connected for eight of her team-high 18 kills in the third set.

The Herd bounced back after dropping the third set, to hold a 10-3 cushion.  Memphis went on a 6-0 run to get within one point, 10-9, but an Emily Sullivan kill and four errors by the Tigers offense put the Herd back up six, 15-9.

Memphis got within five at 23-18, but Emily Sullivan sandwiched two kills around an attacking error to close out the set and match, 25-19.

Elizabeth Fleming helped orchestrate an efficient MU offense on the afternoon.  The setter dished out a match-high 45 assists, while the team hit at a .328 (55K-16E-119TA) attacking percentage.

Hawkins totaled a match-high 19 kills for the Tigers, while Marija Jovanovic just missed a double-double with nine kills and nine digs.

“We are a team that knows we didn’t have the depth going into this year, but we are doing a great job just playing and giving ourselves an opportunity to win,” Jacobs said.

MU is slated for two more matches in the regular season.  The first will be a trip to Birmingham, Ala., to play the UAB Blazers on Thursday, Nov. 12 at 8 p.m.; followed by a match against East Carolina in Greenville, N.C., on Saturday Nov. 14 at noon. 

 

www.HerdZone.com

TULANE VOLLEYBALL RETURNS TO WINNING WAYS, DOWNS HOUSTON 3-0

Djurdjevic, Milosavljevic combine for 24 kills as Green Wave snap two-match losing streak

 

NEW ORLEANS – Sophomore outside hitter Visnja Djurdjevic and freshman middle blocker Marija Milosavljevic combined for 24 kills as the Tulane University volleyball team swept Conference USA foe Houston, 3-0, Sunday afternoon at Fogelman Arena.

 

The Green Wave defense tallied 43 digs and 8.0 blocks on the day to help limit the Cougars to a .029 attack percentage. The win snapped a two-match skid for Tulane, which improves to 16-8 on the year and 11-4 in league play. Houston, meanwhile, falls to 9-21 overall and 6-9 in conference action.

 

“We played well, especially in defense and blocking,” first-year Tulane head volleyball coach Sinisa Momic said. “We came up with some good blocks. Overall, we were pretty steady. The offense was working, everyone was scoring and we hit .231. Basically, we were able to stop Houston’s offense and at the same time we were able to keep going. It was tough to come back after two losses in a row, but I thought we did a good job today.”

 

Djurdjevic led all players with 13 kills and chipped in with a pair of aces to finish the day with 15.0 points. Milosavljevic, meanwhile, connected at a .714 clip with 11 kills and just one errors in 14 swings. She also tallied eight block assists to tie Djurdjevic for team-high point honors.

 

Senior setter Rachel Lindelow led all players with 32 assists and senior outside hitter Ksenija Vlaskovic finished second to Milosavljevic with five block assists. Senior libero Jenn Miller posted a match-best 14 digs while Vlaskovic was next with 10.

 

The Green Wave opened the match in fine fashion, scoring the first three points and building a 13-8 lead which caused the Cougars to call a timeout. The halt in play did little to stop the Tulane momentum as the advantage swelled as the stanza progressed and the Green Wave cruised to a 13-point win.

 

Tulane ran out to a 6-1 lead early in the second set, but Houston found a way to get back into the match. While the Green Wave never lost the lead, the Cougars crept within two at 6-4, 9-7, and 21-19. Tulane used a 3-1 rally to make it set point, and following a pair of Houston sideouts, the Green Wave finally closed out the set on a Cougar error to take a 2-0 lead into the locker room at the break.

 

The momentum of Houston’s come-back attempt carried over to the early part of what proved to be the final stanza as the Cougars went up 4-0. Following a Tulane timeout, the Green Wave settled in and used a 6-1 rally to claim a one-point lead they would not relinquish. Houston hung around for a while, but with the score at 11-9 in Tulane’s favor, the Green Wave went on a 6-3 rally to create some separation and went on to win by six.

 

Ingrida Zauere led Houston with 10 kills and Ashley Applequist paced the Cougar defense with 12 digs. Alik Cardosa de Sa had 19 of Houston’s 27 assists while Erin Rice led the Cougar front-line defense with three block assists.

 

The Green Wave return to action on Saturday, Nov. 14, when they close out the 2009 regular-season against UTEP at 1 p.m. in Fogelman Arena. That contest will be the final home game for Tulane seniors Lindelow, Miller, Jaye Loyd and Stephanie Stromath, and the quartet will be honored with a special ceremony immediately after the match. For ticket information, contact the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office at 504-861-WAVE.

 

COACH MOMIC’S COMMENTS FOLLOWING SUNDAY’S 3-0 C-USA WIN OVER HOUSTON

 

Overall thoughts on the match

“It is a good come-back win. We played well, especially in defense and blocking. We came up with some good blocks. Overall, we were pretty steady. The offense was working, everyone was scoring and we hit .231. Basically, we were able to stop Houston’s offense and at the same time we were able to keep going. It was tough to come back after two losses in a row, but I thought we did a good job today.”

 

On the performance of freshman middle blocker Marija Milosavljevic

“She was blocking better than usual, which was nice to see. She put a lot of over passes away. Our servers were making them pass over and she was putting those away. On offense, she scored a couple there too. It was a good overall performance by her. Jovic had a couple of good blocks, Rachel was doing a good job of spreading the ball around. Overall, it was a good performance.”

 

On the performance of sophomore outside hitter Visnja Djurdjevic

“She had 13 kills and on top of that, there were probably another five that she could have done a better job with and wound up making errors. But she’s still just a sophomore so there are better things to come from her. Hopefully, she can put herself in a position to improve because she has a very high ceiling.”

 

On how high he thinks the team can finish in the final Conference USA standings

“Who knows? We can end up tied for first or finish as low as fourth. We’ll just get ready for UTEP and see how it develops.  Next weekend, a lot of the top teams play each other. Tulsa and SMU play each other twice in a row. Up until that last Sunday, we won’t know what our seed is going to be. Our job is to win and get the highest seed possible for the tournament.”

 

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Southern Miss Volleyball Team Outlasts Tulsa in Five Set;

Wins at Least a Share of the C-USA Title

 

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Southern Miss volleyball team defeated Tulsa 3-2 (25-9, 22-25, 25-22, 19-25, 17-15) Sunday afternoon at Reed Green Coliseum to clinch at least a share of the Conference USA regular season championship.

 

The Golden Eagles have one game remaining in the regular season, while Tulsa has two. Should Southern Miss defeat UCF on Friday, they will win the title outright.

 

With today’s win over Tulsa, Southern Miss (25-4, 13-2 C-USA) captured at least a share of their first conference title since the sports inception in 1979. The loss today by Tulsa (22-6, 11-3) snapped their 11 match win streak, all in C-USA play.

 

“This was a great match,” Coach Ricci Luyties said. “I believe it was two good teams going back-and-forth throughout the whole match. We played probably our best set of the year in that first set. To beat them (Tulsa) 25-9, I felt good that we played that way, but I knew that it was going to go at least four, maybe five sets. I told my team that we were ready to go the distance.”

 

The Golden Eagles placed four players in double figure kills, led by senior Angela Hlavaty with 17, followed by Caitlin Clarke with 16, Ashley Mell and Sarah Jane Bowden added 12 and 11, respectively.

 

Maia Ivanova led a group of four defensively with double digit digs, tallying 16 followed by Kelsea Seymour with 13, Mell added 12 and Lisa Knecht chipped in 11. Seymour handed out 50 assists for her 18^thdouble-double of the season.

 

“I knew there were going to be ups and downs and I knew they (Tulsa) were going to get on runs and score bunches of points on us,” said Luyties. “We talked about being able to go through those stretches and we did. I thought our players did a fantastic job of that.”

 

The match went down to the wire with Southern Miss taking the fifth set, 17-15.

 

“At the end of the match when it all tied up at 13, our players again, they came through all the tough situations and did not let up at all,” Luyties said. “I thought Angela had a standout match with 17 kills. She dug balls and started out with a lot of blocks against their best hitter. I thought she set the tempo for this match. Brianna came in and did a good job for us blocking in the middle, including a great end of the match block.”

 

Southern Miss set the tone from the start with a decisive 25-9 victory in the first set including a 15-1 run to end the set. The Golden Eagles attacked the nets hard and often with 13 kills, five by Hlavarty, in the set. The black and gold flexed their muscles at the net as well with eight blocks, including two solos.

 

Tulsa took set two 25-22 in a game that was tied at five different points. The 
Golden Hurricane rallied behind 19 kills, including seven from Tyler Henderson. Southern Miss countered with 15 kills, spread among five players.

 

The Golden Eagles battled to take the third set 25-22. Southern Miss recorded 14 kills and forced seven Tulsa errors to take the set. The set saw four different lead changed and was tied at seven different times.

 

Tulsa rallied with four late points to tie the set at 22, before Southern Miss pulled away on a Tulsa serving error and attack error to force set point. At set point, it was a kill by Bowden on a set from Seymour that iced the set, 25-22.

 

With momentum swinging back and fourth in a critical game four, it was Tulsa who was able to grab the lead, maintaining it long enough to force a fifth and final set with a 25-19 victory. The Golden Hurricane used 18 kills in taking the set while Southern Miss recorded 12 kills, led by Hlavaty’s four.

 

The decisive fifth set was just what one would expect out of the top two teams in the conference. The two teams traded points back and fourth with neither team holding a two point advantage until Southern Miss rallied for three consecutive points to make the score 11-9. The first 13 points of the match featured seven lead changes and six tie scores.

 

After a timeout, Tulsa answered the Golden Eagles 11-9 advantage with two consecutive points to tie the game at 11. Southern Miss had match point at 14-12, but Tulsa answered right back to tie the set at 14.

 

With the Conference USA Championship on the line, Southern Miss answered with two points on a kill by Seymour and the match winning point came on a block by Hlavaty and Brianna Arvin.

 

The Golden Eagles came up big at the net, out blocking the Golden Hurricane 14.5 to 10.0. Four USM players recorded four or more blocks.

 

Tulsa’s Henderson posted a match-high 31 kills, while Jessica Adams controlled the back row for 30 digs for the Golden Hurricane. Jennifer Eichler added 13 kills to go with 12 digs.

 

Southern Miss concludes its regular season at home, hosting UCF, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. Following the match, both seniors (Hlavaty and Ivanova) will be honored.