SC State Women's Volleyball Goes 1-2 in Spartan Invitational
Norfolk, Va.-SC State went 1-2 this weekend in the Spartan Invitational. The tournament, which was hosted by Norfolk State, was contested Friday-Saturday, Sept. 21-22, at Echols Hall on the campus of Norfolk State.
SC State (3-7) jumped out to a one set to none lead over Hampton in its first match of the tournament on Friday but could not sustain the momentum. The Lady Pirates went on to win the next three sets enroute to the 3-1, (25-23, 21-25, 22-25, 12-25), victory. Junior outside hitter Desire Waller and freshman setter Melanie Williams teamed up for 23 kills and 33 set assists, respectively. The Lady Bulldogs had three players to record double-digit digs led by senior E. Paige Webb with 14. Sophomore Dorian Corbett picked up 13 and Williams recorded a double-double adding 11 digs to her numbers. Waller had an good all-around game as she had nine digs and four block assists in the contest.
The Lady Bulldogs rebounded nicely in its first match on Saturday, defeating host Norfolk State, 3-1. After dropping the first set of the match, 18-25, SC State went on to win the next three sets, 25-22, 25-22 and 25-20, respectively. Waller recorded her second straight double-digit outing with 19 kills. She also picked up 12 digs along with four total blocks (1 block solo-3 block assist). Webb picked up 18 digs while junior Taylor Bailey had seven block assists in the match. Junior Alyse Lewis and freshman Shandice Sluch contributed greatly in the win as they put down seven kills and five block assists and seven kills and four block assists, respectively.
SC State battled but fell to Texas Pan American, 2-3, (26-24, 26-24, 19-25, 25-18, 6-15), in their final match of the tournament. After dropping Set One, the Lady Bulldogs used a .273 hitting percentage and solid defense to lead them to a Set Two victory. The Broncos rebounded to win Set Three but the SC State would not let up. The Lady Bulldogs began Set Four with a 10-3 run. SC State managed to stay poised as Texas Pan American made a mini run to close the gap to 14-9. The Lady Bulldogs closed the set on a11-6 run enroute to capturing the 25-17 win which forced a fifth and deciding set. The Broncos controlled Set Five from the first serve as they began with an 8-3 run. The Lady Bulldogs went on a 3-1 run to pull within three at, 6-9, but could not get any closer, dropping Set Five 15-6, and the match 3-2.
The Lady Bulldogs had two players to record double-digit kills as Waller had a game-high 20 and Sluch contributed 10. Defensively, SC State had three players with double-digit digs as Webb had 22, Waller with 18 and sophomore transfer Maya Bell had 14 in the loss.
For the complete story, visit www.scsuathletics.com
North Carolina A&T Falls to Campbell
BUIES CREEK, N.C.- North Carolina A&T played one of their best matches of the season on Saturday afternoon against the Campbell Fighting Camels in Gore Arena at Pope Convocation Center, setting season-highs in kills (58), service aces (19) and assists (55).
But despite playing one of their top offensive matches, the Aggies lost in five matches to the Camels. The Aggies (0-17) fell to the Camels (7-11) by 25-23, 24-26, 18-25, 25-18, 9-15. It was the second time that the Aggies have played a five-set match this season, after losing in five to Bryant on Sept. 1. The Aggies haven't played in two five-set matches in a season since 2008.
Middle hitter Aprill McRae finished the match with 14 kills, while middle hitter Jeana Daniels had 13 and freshman Aleena McDaniel posted 10. The last time the Aggies had three players with 10 or more kills in a match was in their victory against Savannah State in Corbett Sports Center on Oct. 16, 2011. The Aggies also had three players post double-doubles in the contest, as Chelsea Fox had 11 digs and 26 assists, Ali Way had 14 digs and 19 assists, and McDaniel had 10 kills and 11 digs.
Both Daniels and McRae hit .500 for the match, and the team had a team attack percentage of .224, which is their best since hitting .228 against Coppin State on Aug. 31. The two set victories that the Aggies collected on Saturday, to put them at 10 on the year, helped them surpass last season's total of set wins (8).
For the complete story, visit www.ncataggies.com
Wild Match Falls in Favor of Hampton, 3-2
NORFOLK, Va. -Norfolk State and Hampton capped the 2012 Spartan Invitational with a shootout, including a huge Spartan rally in the first set, but unfortunately for NSU the Spartans came out on the wrong end of a 3-2 final Saturday night at Joseph Echols Hall.
Earlier in the day, South Carolina State rallied from a 1-0 deficit to defeat NSU, 3-1.
Against the Pirates in a match that began at 8 p.m., things looked bleak early in the first set, as NSU stared down a 19-5 deficit to start off. The Spartans then did their best Jekyll and Hyde impression, rallying all the way back on the heels of a 20-4 run to win that first stanza, 25-23.
The Pirates won the second and third sets, 25-22, 25-23, before the Spartans came back to win the fourth, 25-20. Hampton, though, had too much in the fifth set and won, 15-7, dropping NSU's record to 2-15 on the year. Hampton improved to 9-10 overall, while S.C. State saw its record go to 3-7 after a setback to Texas-Pan American later in the day.
Earlier on Saturday, NSU looked sharp in taking the first set over the Bulldogs, 25-18, in a mid-afternoon matchup. South Carolina State came back to win the next two sets by 25-22 scores before finishing off the Spartans in the fourth set, 25-20.
A pair of Spartan records fell, as senior Charlotte Armstead became the program's all-time leader in kills against South Carolina State. Then against Hampton, redshirt sophomore Noelle Eagles broke her own school record for digs in a match with 31, topping her previous best of 30 set twice in 2010.
NSU got contributions from two unlikely sources in the second match, with freshman Angie Darcus and sophomore Jasmin Flowers each posting a career-high 12 kills. Darcus, in her most productive match to date, also added 14 digs.
Armstead and senior Beatriz Ferreira had 14 and 13 kills, respectively, while freshman Darcy Moore posted a double-double of 43 assists and 10 digs.
Armstead and Ferreira led the charge for NSU against South Carolina State as well, tallying 16 and 15 kills, respectively. Armstead had six in the first set alone, and with her first kill of the second set, became the program's all-time leader in career kills. She passed Kim Mumford, who set the original program record with 937 kills from 1992-95.
Flowers set what was at the time a career high with 10 kills against South Carolina State. Eagles had 14 digs, and Moore just missed on a double-double with 43 assists and nine digs.
Eagles earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team along with Desire Waller of South Carolina State, Krista Kraskura and Vendula Strakova of Hampton, and Nycole Masaki and Maria Kliefoth of Texas-Pan American. Kliefoth earned tournament MVP honors after leading the Broncs to a 3-0 record on the weekend.
Kraskura led the Pirates with 21 kills and 16 digs, while Strakova added 18 and 13, respectively. Sonja Maksimovic had 51 assists, nine digs and six blocks, while Mariah Baylor totaled 10 blocks on the night for Hampton. Samantha Sours had a team-leading 21 digs.
For the complete story, visit www.nsuspartans.com