Powerful Phoenix Too Much As Eagles Fall In Three

The Hilton RTP/NCCU Volleyball Tournament defending champions showed why they stand undefeated in this weekend's two-day event as the Elon Phoenix cruised past the North Carolina Central University Eagles, 3-0, Saturday morning at McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium.

NCCU struggled to match the intensity of Elon, who stands undefeated in tournament play after defeating the Eagles 25-13, 25-10 and 25-15. With the loss, the Eagles fall to 0-4 on the season.

Freshman middle hitter Kalin Russell was the lone Eagle to put on a positive hitting performance with a .333 clip. She also added a block assist to the Eagle defense. Outside hitter Belinda Behncke-Biney led NCCU in kills with four, while contributing on defense with a block of her own. Jzima-Malaki Kalao added 11 assists in the mix.

The Eagle defense totaled two blocks and 33 digs with Maritsann Sinclair dominating the defensive effort with 10 digs. Alexis John added eight and Raven King collected six. Assisting Russell on the block was senior right side Shantel Moore, who was second on the team in kills with three.

Elon was led Allison Johnson with eight kills and Carly Ledbetter with five, making up two of the Phoenix's six student-athletes to put up positive marks. Ledbetter clipped a .625, remaining flawless in the match. Elon totaled 34 kills and just 14 errors to hit .225 on the day.

Contributing to the Elon offense was Megan McMahon with a match-high 20 assists.

Eagles Take Down Delaware State For First Season Win

North Carolina Central clinched its first victory of the 2010 season Saturday night as they concluded the Hilton RTP/NCCU Volleyball Tournament with a nail-biting 3-1 win over MEAC foe Delaware State in McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium.

The Eagles, who kicked off their first season as MEAC members in July, faced their first conference opponent in the Hornets as they proved that the can stand strong in conference play. NCCU improved to 1-4 on the season after coming from behind to cruise by Delaware State by scores of 22-25, 25-11, 37-35 and 25-16.

Belinda Behncke-Biney was named to the All-Tournament Team after her performance over the two-day affair. She topped the weekend off with her first double-double of the season with 16 kills and 16 digs, proving to be too much for the Hornets to handle. Aside from her power on the outside, the senior added two service aces.

The Hornets were led by the power of Jessica Barnes, who hit .161 with a team-high 10 kills. She also collected four blocks. Delaware State had three student-athletes record double-digit digs as Ashley Herman, Jessica Croucher and Sonja Banicevic collected 11, 11 and 17 digs, respectively. Their blocking game was anchored by Herman and Martina Ferrari with five blocks apiece.

For the complete story, visit www.nccueaglepride.com

Lady Pirates Close Out Tiny Laster Memorial Tournament

Hampton closed out the Tiny L. Laster Memorial Tournament on Saturday in Holland Hall, losing both of its matches in straight sets.

The Lady Pirates (0-4) got started against Towson, which won 3-0 (25-12, 25-11, 25-20). The Tigers had a .230 team hitting percentage, thanks to 35 kills and just 12 errors in 100 total attacks. Towson had a .310 hitting percentage (12 kills, three errors, 29 attacks) in the first set, backing that up with a .290 hitting percentage (13 kills, four errors, 31 attacks) in the second set.

Towson also had eight service aces to Hampton's two.

The Lady Pirates had a .036 hitting percentage, with 24 kills and 20 errors in 111 attacks. Hampton's best set in terms of hitting percentage was the third, as the Lady Pirates hit .070 with 10 kills and seven errors in 43 attacks.

Freshman Sheileen Pagan led Hampton with eight kills, while Mariah Baylor and Aaryn Harrison each added four. Lina Cordoba had one kill and no errors in four total attacks, giving her a team-best .250 hitting percentage.

The Lady Pirates closed out the afternoon against Maryland Eastern Shore, with the Lady Hawks taking a 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-14) win. UMES (1-3) hit .211 as a team, thanks to 36 kills and 17 errors in 90 total attacks. UMES hit a team-best .292 in the third set, recording 11 kills and just four errors in 24 attacks.

UMES also had five service aces, while Hampton had none.

For the complete story, visit www.hamptonpirates.com

Hawks Split On Day 2 At Tiny Laster Memorial Tournament

Maryland Eastern Shore split two matches Saturday, dropping a 3-2 decision to Wofford to start the day and beating host Hampton, 3-0, on Day 2 of the Tiny Laster Memorial Tournament at Holland Hall.

UMES (1-3) dispatched the Lady Pirates by scores of 25-22, 25-16 and 25-14, in just 63 minutes to claim its first win of the season after three consecutive five-set losses to start the season, the last of which came by an 18-25, 25-15, 25-23, 23-25 and 13-15 tally to the Terriers in a morning match.

In the Hampton match, the freshman duo of Maline Vaitai  and Kaveingna Lea'Aetoa  registered 11 and 10 kills, respectively to power the Hawks' offense which hit .211. UMES held Hampton to .042 from the floor.

Sophomore Stephanie Sierra (El Paso, Texas) had 23 assists and nine digs in the win.

Sheileen Pagan had eight kills for Hampton.

Against Wofford, junior Zoe Bowens recorded 22 kills and Lea'Aetoa added 13 but UMES dropped its third straight five-set match to start the season. UMES played just two five-set matches in 2009, going 1-1. With the win Wofford improved to 2-1 on the season.

The Hawks dropped the first game by a seven-point margin before taking the second and third games by 10 and two points,respectively. Wofford rallied for 25-23 and 15-13 wins in the final two games to take the match.

Vaitai also chipped in with 11 kills while sophomore Chang Liu had six kills in 10 attacks to supplement Bowens' career match for the second consecutive day.

For the complete story, visit www.umeshawks.com.

Hornets Improve To 2-1 With Win Over Charleston Southern

Senior Sarah Wheatcroft and freshman Jessica Croucher recorded "double-doubles" for the second straight match to lead Delaware State to a 3-1 win over Charleston Southern in the North Carolina Central Tournament today.

The Hornets (2-1) dropped the first game (18-25) before winning the next three (27-25, 26, 25-20) to earn their second straight victory.

Wheatcroft led Delaware State with 15 kills and 16 digs, while Croucher had 13 kills and 10 digs. Martina Ferrari assisted on 46 points, while collecting 13 digs for the Hornets.

Megan McDonald had nine kills on 16 chances (.562 attack %) for Delaware State.

For the complete story, visit www.dsuhornets.com

New Mexico State Sweeps Lady Rattlers, 3-0

Florida A&M dropped a 3-0 (15-25, 17-25, 20-25) decision to New Mexico State, here Saturday evening at the Alfred Lawson, Jr., Multipurpose Center and Teaching Gymnasium.

FAMU (0-2) was led by Maria Ceccarelli with seven kills, followed by Katherine Huanec with six.  Jessica Bond tallied a team high 27 assists, while Susan Egoavil garnered nine digs.

In the third set, the Lady Rattlers fought valiantly as the Lady Aggies took an 11-4 lead capped off by a Desiree kill.  FAMU would then go on an 11-5 run capped off by a Pamela Barrera kill giving the Lady Rattlers a 16-15 lead.  

The Lady Aggies would then close out the FAMU as they went on a 10-5 run for the 25-20 win in set three.

NHMS (2-1) had a pair of Lady Aggies to finish with double-digit kills, with Kayleigh Giddens leading the way with 19 kills, followed by Kelsey Brennan with 10.  Jennah DeVries led the NHMS in assists with a game high 37, while Ellen Miks finished with a game high 13 digs.

For the complete story, visit www.famurattlersports.com.

Norfolk State Drops Two at Spartan Classic

Norfolk State fell to UNC Greensboro and Kent State in the Spartan Classic Saturday at Joseph Echols Hall.

After jumping out to a 2-0 lead, NSU dropped the last three sets to UNCG for the 3-2 loss, while Kent State took care of the Spartans, 3-1.

Freshman Noelle Eagles set the school record with 30 digs against UNCG, breaking the previous mark of 29 set by April Johnson in 1996. A marathon first set saw NSU finally win, 36-34, before taking the next set, 25-21. UNCG won the last three, 25-16, 25-8, 16-14.

NSU also came up 10 kills and two assists short of tying the program records in a single match.

Against Kent State, the Golden Flashes won the first set, 25-11, before NSU stormed back to win the second, 25-20. Kent State won the last two, 25-23, 25-16, for the final 3-1 margin.

For the complete story, visit www.nsuspartans.com.

Howard Drops First Round Match to Host

Bonnie West recorded a game-high 20 digs and Serinna Russo added 10 digs and 10 kills to lead West Virginia University, 3-0 over Howard in the opening round of the West Virginia Classic at the WVU Coliseum.

Under new head coach Dawn Barnes, the Lady Bison (0-1) got off to a fast start in the first set before the Mountaineers rallied to take the first set, 25-21.  With West, a senior All Big East second team selection leading the way, West Virginia (1-0) would go on to win the next two sets, 25-18, 25-18.

Howard got inspired play from junior Jiyana Brown and senior Nicole Brown, who recorded 11 and 10 digs, respectively.  Senior Gazelle d"Artois, the pre-season MEAC Player of the Year, chipped in with 8 digs and 7 kills while junior Tosin Elebute had a game-high 12 kills in a losing effort.

For the complete story, visit www.howard-bison.com

Bethune-Cookman Falls to Houston Baptist and UCF

Houston Baptist defeated B-CU 3-1 (25-20, W-25-21, 25-20, 25-13), while UCF swept the LadyCats, 3-0 (25-14, 25-22, 25-15).

The LadyCats returned to action on Saturday morning against Houston Baptist, who took the first set, 25-20, only barely outhitting B-CU (.162 Hit %). In the second, B-CU swung the momentum, creating more rallies and earning the win over the Huskies, 25-21. In the third set, HBU fought back and despite outhitting B-CU, only claimed a 25-20 win. In the final set, B-CU couldn't produce enough offense, and HBU finished off the 3-1 win with a 25-13 victory in the set.

Middle blocker Linda Nwabuko led the team with nine kills on a .350 hitting percentage. Jessica Wilson chipped in eight kills, along with her three blocks and 15 digs. Alexis Bliese notched 32 assists setting up for the LadyCat attack. On defense, both liberos contributed well, with Jacqueline Woodyear turning in 19 digs, while Jennifer Jimenez tallied 12.

The LadyCats returned in the afternoon matchup to face UCF. Though the LadyCats started on a tough note, falling 25-14 with a negative hit percentage, they bounced back cutting the second set close in a 25-22 loss, notching their second highest team hitting percentage of the tournament, .235. In the final set, UCF simply wore B-CU down with their athleticism, winning 25-15 for the 3-0 win in the match.

For the complete story, visit www.bcuathletics.com