- Oregon State Volleyball Women Upset #18 Arizona,
- Stanford Sweeps Washington State Beats ,
- UC Irvine Volleyball Team Beats Cal State Northridge,
- Bulls Fall To Kent State,
- Ohio State Over Wisconsin
Bulls Volleyball Team Drops MAC Contest To Kent State, 3-0
KENT, OH The University at Buffalo volleyball team travelled to Kent Stateon Saturday night, dropping a 3-0 contest to the Golden Flashes at the
M.A.C. Center. The loss drops the Bulls to 15-13 on the season and 5-9 in
the MAC. The Bulls are now in 4th place in the MAC East and eighth overall
as they head into the final weekend of regular season play.
The Golden Flashes took the contest, 25-17, 26-24, 25-20 as they hit
.250 for the match, opposed to .108 for the Bulls. Both teams hit extremely
well in the first set as the Bulls hit .324, but Kent State nearly doubled
that by hitting .607. Neither team was able to keep up those numbers in
sets two and three, but the Golden Flashes prevailed in both of those.
³I give credit to Kent State for extending the rallies tonight,² said
head coach Todd Kress. ³They kept the ball off the court and that fight was
the difference in the match tonight. We must get better this week as we
prepare for Akron and Toledo.²
The Bulls were led by a career-high eight kills from sophomore Abby
Niekamp (Celina, Ohio/Marion Local/Florida State). Dani Silvers
(Waynesville, NC/Tuscola/Mars Hill) added seven kills while junior Lindsey
Schlegel (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) had five kills and 24 assists.
Kent State was led by 15 kills from Arjola Prenga and 10 kills from Liva
Brivule. Jenny Keck had 36 assists and Kristen Barr added 15 digs.
The Bulls remain on the road on Thursday as they head to Akron for their
final road match of the year. UB hosts Toledo on the final night of the
season on Saturday.
No. 5 Stanford Volleyball Women Led By Alix Klineman
Sweep No. 24 Washington State
PULLMAN, Wash. -- Alix Klineman’s 18 kills led the No. 5 Stanford volleyball team (16-7, 9-4) to a 25-17, 25-20, 25-22 win over No. 24 Washington State (16-8, 5-8) Saturday night before 1,231 fans at Bohler Gym.
WSU’s Cassie Robbins led the Cougars with 12 kills and six blocks while Jackie Albright had 10 kills and 17 digs. Setter Renee Bordelon had 35 assists and Oceana Bush had 20 digs. Meagan Ganzer added nine kills and five blocks. The Cougs hit a mere .108 for the match.
Stanford’s Jessica Walker led the match with seven blocks with Janet Okogbaa and Stephanie Browne each contributing another six blocks. Gabi Ailes had 25 digs and two service aces, and Karissa Cook had 27 assists.
“I think it was similar to last night from the stand point of you really saw the difference in the outside position in these two matches,” WSU Head Coach Andrew Palileo said. “Number one, the differences in the teams’ two outsides in terminating balls, and number two, the defenses were pretty good tonight. We only won two out of the many long rallies. Stanford was able to sustain their momentum. We would get ahead and then Klineman would come in and bring them back. Stanford came in and was just another team ready to play and is getting ready for the end of the season. They did a good job coming in here.”
The Cardinal took a 17-9 lead in the first set and extended it to a 20-13 advantage. WSU came back to close the gap to four, still down 21-17. The Cardinal tallied the final four points of the set for the 25-17 win. Klineman had six kills as SU hit .310. Ganzer and Robbins each had four kills for WSU with Robbins hitting .667 but the Cougars were held to a .059 hitting percentage.
WSU took early control of the second set, taking a 10-7 lead and holding it until Stanford tallied a trio of points for a 14-12 lead. The Cougars battled back and the score was knotted at 17 when WSU’s Robbins landed back-to-back kills to put the home team ahead, 19-18. Stanford roared back, scoring seven of the next eight points for the 25-20 win. Klineman contributed seven of SU’s 16 kills in this set. Robbins had five kills and Albright added four kills for the Cougs.
The Cougars took an 8-3 lead in the third set before Stanford scored five consecutive points after a timeout. The teams see-sawed back-and-forth, contributing to the 13 ties in the set. With the score tied at 19-all, Stanford scored four straight points, only one on a WSU serving error, to take a 23-19 lead. Cougars Rachel Todorovich and Ganzer landed kills to bring WSU to 21 points but Browne’s attack put SU serving for match. An attack error by Klineman gave WSU its 22nd and final point. Browne’s tip ended the set in the visitor’s favor, 25-22.
Next weekend WSU volleyball takes to the road playing No. 7 UCLA (19-6, 9-3) Friday night and No. 17 USC (15-9, 4-8) Saturday night in Los Angeles.
Oregon State Volleyball Rebounds with Upset over No. 18 Arizona
Corvallis, Ore. – Senior Rachel Rourke (Queensland, Australia) hit .373 with 31 kills to lead the Oregon State volleyball team to a four-set upset over No. 18 Arizona (30-28, 23-25, 25-16, 25-22) on Saturday evening in legendary Gill Coliseum.
“Rachel [Rourke] for a while didn’t even have an error in the match, and I think she really played well,” head coach Taras Liskevych said. “The freshmen that played tonight did a great job. Megan [McBride] also did a great job at setting. We had four freshman right there on the floor, which will build great things. We hit better, we sided out better. The only negative thing was we missed too many serves. But we persevered, which was the main thing of the night.”
Oregon State (12-12, 3-9) hit .299, nearly a season-best, while holding the Wildcats (17-7, 6-7) to .156. And the Beavers outblocked Arizona 14.0 to 4.0.
Rourke recorded her fifth double-double of the season, adding a career-high tying 12 digs and three blocks. Freshman Megan McBride (Auburn, Wash.) posted a number of career bests, playing in all four sets, with seven kills, 38 assists, six digs and four blocks.
Defensively, sophomore Betsy Devich (Kirkland, Wash.) dug a match-high 19 balls with junior Jill Sawatzky (St. Andrews, Manitoba) and freshman Alyssa O’Neil (West Linn, Ore.) adding 15 each. Senior Lexie Rathgeber (White Rock, British Columbia) set a new season-best with eight blocks.
Leading 24-21, the Beavers looked to have locked down the first set, holding the lead from the first rally. But Arizona came back to tie things at 24, pushing the set into extra points, reminiscent of the first meeting in Tucson. Tied at 28-28, Rourke recorded her 10th kill of the match, followed by McBride’s first to close out the set with the Beavers holding a 1-0 edge.
Arizona held on for the second set win to tie the match at one set each, but coming out of the break the Beavers regained the lead in set three. The two teams exchanged sideout points before Oregon State took the definitive lead at 6-5, led by Rourke’s nine kills.
In the deciding set, the two teams tied things six times before Oregon State took the one lead change at 6-5, again, behind a Rathgeber and McBride block. The Beavers led by as many as four at 20-16, but Arizona continued to battle, tying things at 21 all. But A pair of unforced Wildcat errors, coupled with kills by Rourke and Sawatzky put the match away.
Arizona’s Tiffany Owens paced the Wildcat offense with17 kills, while libero Alanna Resch had a team-high 18 digs.
The Beavers head to No. 13 California next Friday at 7:00 p.m. before facing No. 5 Stanford on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.
Oregon State Notes – Freshman Megan McBride set new career bests for kills (7), digs (6) and assists (38) … Senior Rachel Rourke recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 31 kills and 12 digs; Rourke joins the 30-kill club for the second time this season, third in her career; Rourke tied her career-best for digs ... Senior Lexie Rathgeber set a new season-best for blocks with eight … Freshman Camille Saxton tied her career-best for kills with seven … Arizona is the fourth ranked team Oregon State has defeated this year … Oregon State is now 13-36 all-time against the Wildcats, winning three of the last six, all at home.
Support Oregon State University Athletics by making your tax deductible donation to the Beaver Athletic Student Fund. For more information follow this link or call 541-737-2370. You can make an “everyday champion.” Follow Beaver Athletics on twitter.
UC IRVINE Volleyball Women SWEEP CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE
IRVINE, Calif. --- Juliane Piggott recorded a match-high 18 kills to lead UC Irvine to a sweep (26-24, 26-24, 25-17) of Cal State Northridge Saturday at Crawford Court. The win lifted UCI to 19-6 overall (8-4 Big West) while CSUN fell to 7-18 overall and 3-8 in conference matches.
Piggott hit .359 for the match, committing just four errors in 39 swings while Larissa Nordyke blasted a .370 percentage, putting away 11 of 27 attempts with one miscue. Kristin Winkler led all players with 18 digs while Taryn Robertson handed out 38 assists while picking up 12 digs and putting up a pair of blocks. Alexandra Hauser and Courtney Moeller each had four block assists.
CSUN was led by Lynda Morales, who had 11 kills while Angela Hupp totaled 17 assists, seven kills and nine digs. Monica McFarland totaled a team-best 16 digs.
The two teams traded points in the first set until at 13-13, UCI went on a 4-1 run to take a 17-14 lead on a kill by Piggott. The margin extended to four points at 20-16 as Piggott and Moeller denied Morales at the net. However, at 22-17, the Matadors scored seven straight points to take a 24-22 lead. UCI answered, reeling off four consecutive points, winning the frame on consecutive attack error by Puneet Pataria.
The Anteaters built an early four-point lead at 9-5 on a kill from Nordyke to cap 4-1 rally. CSUN chipped at the lead, scoring three straight to close the gap to two points at 17-15 on a kill from Hupp. At 19-15, Brittney Graff’s attempt rode the tape and dropped in for a kill, sparking a Matador rally. CSUN eventually tied the set at 23-23 on a service ace by Tela Burnett and a kill by Morales. Moeller put away the ball on the slide to give UCI set point at 25-24 and Nordyke tooled off the block to stake UCI to a 2-0 set lead.
In the final set UCI pulled away from an 11-11 tie and used an 8-2 run to take a 19-13 lead. The Matadors never threatened in the frame and at 22-17, the Anteaters scored the final three points for the win.
CSUN 24 24 17
UCI 25 25 25
Kills: Piggott (UCI) 18; Morales (CSUN) 11
No. 19 LSU Women's Volleyball Team Faces Arkansas on CST
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. The No. 19 LSU volleyball team continues its four-match road swing Sunday at Arkansas. First serve is slated for 1 p.m. and the match will be televised on CST.
You know we have to take of our matches if we want to have a chance at the overall SEC title, head coach Fran Flory said. Arkansas is a scrappy team, and well have to be ready for another tough match.
LSU (19-5, 13-2 SEC) has won 12 of its last 13 matches and secured its fifth consecutive SEC Western Division crown with a 3-0 triumph over Ole Miss on Friday. The Tigers connected for a season-best .416 hitting percentage against the Rebels.
Brittnee Cooper and Marina Skender have powered home 289 kills on the season and their 3.44 spikes per set are tied for sixth in the SEC. Skender ripped a season-best .556 clip against Ole Miss, while Cooper enters Sundays match one kill away from reaching 1,000 for her career.
Michele Williams and Lauren DeGirolamo join Cooper in the SEC Top 5 in blocks per set. The duo ranks fourth and five in league matches with 1.18 and 1.17 per set average, respectively.
Sam Dabbs has fueled five Tigers to at least 1.50 kills per set. She ranks second in the SEC and passed out 11.14 assists per set. She has set LSU to over a .300 hitting percentage in five of the last eight matches.
Lauren Waclawczyk and Sam Delahoussaye have combined for 26 double-digit dig efforts to anchor the back row. Waclawczyk posts 3.45 digs and 0.25 aces per set to rank 10th in the SEC.
Arkansas (11-14, 5-9 SEC) is paced by four-time SEC Freshman of the Week winner Jasmine Norton. She is third in the SEC with 3.92 kills per set and reached double-figure kills in 10 consecutive matches. Defensively, Amanda Anderson has averaged 0.87 blocks per set and Janeliss Torres-Lopez follows closely with 0.85 swats pet frame. Behind the block, Phoebe Bautista has corralled 3.86 digs per set.
Live stats are available in the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net and fans can follow in-match updates of the five-time SEC Western Division champions via www.twitter.com/lsuvolleyball.
Ohio State Volleyball Women Over Wisconsin
COLUMBUS, Ohio
- The Ohio State (20-7 overall, 8-6 Big Ten) women's volleyball team completed a weekend trip with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-19) sweep at Wisconsin (11-12, 6-8) Saturday night in Madison, Wis. OSU's Kristen Dozier posted a team-high 14 points in the match with Katie Dull adding 12.5. Dozier recorded seven kills (.467), three solo blocks and eight assist blocks with Dull adding 11 kills (.320), one solo block and one assist block.Wisconsin's Allison Wack posted a match-high 14.5 points with 14 kills (.273) and an assist block. Brittney Dolgner contributed 12 points with 11 kills and one ace serve for the Badgers.
Two Kelli Barhorst kills and a Badger error opened set one to give Ohio State a 3-0 lead.
Wisconsin responded with the next six points starting with two OSU errors. a kill and ace serve from Dolgner and kills from Alexis Mitchell and Kirby Toon made it 6-3 Wisconsin. Two Badger errors and a Dozier solo block tied the set at six. The score advanced for both teams with eight ties to reach 15-all. Buckeye kills from Dozier and Anna Szerszen gave OSU a 17-15 lead. An Elle Ohlander-Wack block cut the lead to one at 17-16. A Wisconsin error and a kill from Dozier made it 19-16 OSU. Wisconsin cut the lead to one at 19-18 with kills from Wack and Janelle Gabrielsen. A solo block from Dull and a Dolgner kill made it 20-19. Buckeye kills from Barhorst and Emily Danks and a Wisconsin error gave OSU a 23-19 lead. A kill and ace serve from Gabrielsen cut the lead to two at 23-21. A Dull kill made it 24-21 to give Ohio State set point. The Buckeyes won the set, 25-21, with a Szerszen-Barhorst block to take a 1-0 lead in the match. The Buckeyes hit .200 to .053 for Wisconsin.
Tied at eight in set two, Ohio State took an 11-8 lead with a kill and solo block by Szerszen and a Barhorst ace serve. At 12-9, two kills from Dolgner cut the margin to one at 12-11. Dozier responded with two kills to make it 14-11. At 16-13, a Toon-Mitchell block, a Toon kill and an OSU error tied the set at 16. The Buckeyes responded with kills from Dull and Danks and a Badger error to lead 19-16. The teams exchanged points to reach 23-20, OSU. A Dozier-Dull block made it 24-20 and set point for Ohio State. An OSU error stopped the set point at 24-21. The Buckeyes won the set, 25-21, with a kill from Dull to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Ohio State hit .452 for the set to .265 for Wisconsin.
The Badgers broke a 2-2 tie with a kill from Mitchell and a Gabrielsen ace serve to take a 4-2 lead. Trailing, 6-4, Ohio State tied the set with a kill from Dull and a Chelsea Noble ace serve. At seven-all, an OSU error and a Dolgner kill gave Wisconsin a 9-7 lead. At 10-8, two Wisconsin errors tied the set at 10. At 11-all, a Dozier solo block, a Wisconsin error, an Ashley Hughes-Dozier block and a kill by Hughes gave Ohio State a 15-11 lead. Kills from Dolgner and Wack cut the OSU lead to 15-13. At 16-14, a kill from Dull gave OSU a three-point lead at 17-14. The Badgers cut the lead to one at 17-16 with a Wack kill and a Gabrielsen-Mary Ording block. Kills from Barhorst and Wack made it 18-17. A Barhorst kill and a Badger error made it 20-17, OSU. A Dolgner kill made it 20-18. A Danks-Szerszen block and one from Danks and Dozier gave OSU a 22-18 lead. An OSU error made it 22-19. A Szerszen kill followed by a Wisconsin error set match point at 24-19. Ohio State won the set, 25-19, with a Dull kill to sweep the Badgers, 3-0. The Buckeyes hit .414 for the set to .071 for Wisconsin.
For the match, Ohio State hit .347 to .123 for Wisconsin. The Badgers had a 41-39 advantage in kills with the Buckeyes having a 4-3 margin in ace serves. Wisconsin's Gabrielsen recorded a match-high two aces. Ohio State had eight service errors to four for Wisconsin. Defensively, the Badgers had a 46-41 advantage in digs. OSU's Noble posted a match-high 17 digs in the contest. At the net, Ohio State had a 16-4 advantage in team blocks. Dozier posted a match-high 11 total blocks for the Buckeyes with three solos and eight assist blocks. At setter, Hughes recorded a match-high 33 assists for Ohio State. Gabrielsen posted 29 assists for Wisconsin.
Ohio State, with the Wisconsin victory, has 20 victories this season. It marks the first season since 2006 that the Buckeyes have reached 20 wins. The eight wins in the Big Ten also marks the most conference victories in a season since 2006.
### OhioStateBuckeyes.com ###
