Norfolk State opens season with 3-1 win over Sam Houston State
BOONE, N.C. – The Norfolk State volleyball team got its season off on the right foot with a 3-1 victory over Sam Houston State on Friday afternoon at the Appalachian Invitational hosted by Appalachian State.
Senior Goda Jankauskaite and sophomore Jessica Johnson carried the NSU offense in the team's season opener, combining for 31 of the team's 46 kills on the day. No other player had more than six.
Redshirt junior Noelle Eagles, meanwhile, totaled 21 digs and in the process became the first NSU player ever to top 1,000 digs for her career. Eagles needed just nine digs coming into the match to reach that mark.
Jankauskaite had a big match as the Spartans won, 22-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-12. She finished with 17 kills and just two attack errors while hitting a blistering .469. Johnson, a player the coaching staff identified as needing to step up this year, did just that. She added 14 kills and joined Eagles in double figures in digs with 14.
NSU started slow against the Bearkats, dropping that first set before taking off from there. Johnson and Jankauskaite each had five kills in the fourth set to help NSU pull away. Eagles' service ace finished an 8-2 run to start the fourth set. Jankauskaite eventually had a hand in four of six plays at one point as the Spartans went up 21-10.
Johnson finished the match off with back-to-back kills. Sophomore Darcy Moore had 10 assists in that final set and finished with 33 assists and eight digs in the match.
For complete story, visit www.nsuspartans.com
Hampton opens season with victory over NCCU
DURHAM, N.C. – There’s an old adage is baseball: Three up, three down. The same was true for the Hampton University volleyball team, which opened the 2013 season Friday evening with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 28-26) win over North Carolina Central at McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium.
This marks the second straight season in which the Lady Pirates (1-0) opened with a win.
Junior Vendula Strakova led the way with 16 kills for the Lady Pirates, hitting .387. She also led Hampton with four service aces, while also adding five digs on defense. Junior Krista Kraskura added eight kills and a team-high 11 digs, while sophomore Allysa Medina added five kills.
Senior Bibiany Fonseca had 31 of Hampton’s 34 assists.
For complete story, visit www.hamptonpirates.com or www.nccueaglepride.com
Bethune-Cookman drops pair at FAU Invitational
BOCA RATON, Fla. – Bethune-Cookman opened its 2013 season Friday with a 3-1 loss to Jacksonville and a 3-0 setback to Southeast Louisiana at the FAU Invitational.
Delicia Pierre posted a double-double of 15 kills and 10 digs against Jacksonville. The sophomore from Trinidad and Tobago also matched her career high for blocks (five) and added two service aces for the Wildcats, who had a late lead in the opening set and rallied from a 17-12 deficit to take the third set.
Rhea Simon finished with eight kills, five digs and two service aces for B-CU. Phylecia Armstrong added four kills and a career-high six blocks, and DestinyHudson posted four kills. Freshman setter Alexas Thomas finished with 24 kills and eight digs, while another freshman, Normarie Rolon, shared the team digs lead with Jennifer Jimenez at 11.
Against SLU, Pierre and Simon each had five kills for the Wildcats while freshman Lauren Turner, who started in the place of injured Phylecia Armstrong, had four.
Alexas Thomas and Jill Alraud posted 15 assists and eight digs, respectively.
For complete story, visit www.BCUathletics.com
Maryland Eastern Shore falls against UT-Martin
PEORIA, Ill. - The season opener didn't go as hoped for the Hawks of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) as they dropped a 3-0 decision to the University of Tennessee-Martin in the Renaissance Coliseum on the campus of Bradley University.
The Hawks got a team-high nine digs from lone returner Jingqiao Li, but the UT-Martin offense found other openings, hitting .382 for the match and tallying 44 team kills.
Lynsey Hazelwood led the Skyhawks with a match-high 10 kills.
UMES was led by sophomore transfer Ashley Smith who knocked down nine balls for kills and hit a team high .261. Diara Lewis, another sophomore transfer, added seven kills but had 25 swings and committed four errors. The Hawks hit just .108 for the match as two Skyhawks had double-digit digs with Chelsea Bowles getting 17 and Emily Keaton getting 10.
For complete story, visit www.umeshawks.com
Howard blanked during season-opener loss to American
Fairfax, Va. — The Howard University women's volleyball team dropped its season opener to American University, 3-0 in the first round of the Seventh Annual Bender Blue Out at the George Mason athletic.
The Bison (0-1) dropped the match, 25-9, 25-15 and 25-20 to the Eagles. The young Howard squad were led by junior setter Stephanie Shults who had 18 assists, freshman outside hitter Katherine Broussard with 9 digs and 8 kills and junior Allyson Lods with 10 digs in a losing cause.
American (1-0) was paced by Monika Smidovc, who had 22 assists and Kristyna Lindovski, who had 15 kills and 7 digs.
For complete story, visit www.hubison.com
North Carolina A&T falls during opening match at Radford Invitational
RADFORD, Va. – The North Carolina A&T volleyball team lost its opening match of the season in three sets (25-9, 25-14, 25-7) on Friday night at the Dedmon Center. It was the Aggies’ first match at the Radford Invitational, a three-match tournament over the weekend.
It was a tough opener for the Aggies who had -.056 hitting percentage. Sophomore Brooke Stamnes led the Aggies with five kills and sophomore Aleena McDaniel added nine digs. But the Highlanders were too strong for the Aggies. Radford had a .471 hitting percentage, and the Aggies went without a block.
Cheyanne James led the Highlanders with 11 kills on 20 total attacks and just two attack errors. Emma Deininger and Savannah Cantrell had seven kills apiece without errors.
For complete story, visit www.ncataggies.com
Florida A&M drops two matches at Georgia Tech Invitational
ATLANTA - In their season openers, the Florida A&M Volleyball team dropped a 3-0 (19-25, 17-25, 17-25) decision to Georgia Tech in their first match of the Georgia Tech Invitational, here Friday afternoon at O’Keefe Gymnasium.
FAMU was paced by Scharae Steel as she was the only Lady Rattler to finish in double-digit kills with 10, followed by Katherine Huanec with four. Diana Gonzales led FAMU in assists with 14, while Joanie Del Castillo led the team in digs with 10.
In its second match of the Georgia Tech Invitational, the Florida A&M Volleyball team dropped a 3-0 (19-25, 17-25, 19-25) to College of Charleston, here Friday night at O’Keefe Gymnasium.
FAMU (0-2) was paced by Yeisha Arcia with eight kills, followed by Ginna Lopez Chavez with six kills. Both Diana Gonzales and Jordyn Wright finished with 10 assists each, while Del Castillo tallied a team high 14 digs.
For complete story, visit www.famuathletics.com