Women’s Volleyball Sweeps Day One of Sugar Bowl Classic
NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Howard women's volleyball team pulled out a pair of impressive five-set victories in their first day of action at the 2014 Allstate Sugar Bowl Invitational, defeating Florida Atlantic University and host Tulane University. The wins brought Howard back to .500 on the season and extended their current win streak to three games.
HOWARD 3, FAU 2
Down two sets to one and trailing early in the fourth set, Howard (4-5) rallied to defeat FAU (5-3) in five sets.,Three Lady Bison notched double doubles in the contest, literally doubling the number of times the feat had been accomplished by the team this season (from three to six).
Freshman outside hitter Khaila Donaldson finished with a game-high 20 kills and 17 digs while sophomore outside hitter Katherine Broussard logged 10 kills and 14 digs. Senior middle blocker Assata Conway blocked 13 attacks to go along with the 11 kills she put down herself.
HOWARD 3, TULANE 2
Despite losing some key battles on the stat sheet, the Lady Bison were able to find a way to defeat the host Green Wave in the last match of the evening. Howard (5-5) took sets one and three and conceded sets two and four to Tulane (1-7), paving the way for their second five-set match of the day.
For complete story, visit www.hubison.com
Hawks Rise Over Aggies in Tense Five-Set Match
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- A tense and well fought game awaited the patrons of Moore Gymnasium on Friday night for the home opener of the North Carolina A&T (NCAT) Aggies. However, it was their challengers, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), who rose to the top by winning a decisive fifth set to take the match, three sets to two. The win puts UMES at 3-5 overall while NCAT drops to 0-9.
Tight at the start, the first set went the Hawks' way in the middle of the set. With the scored tied at ten, the Hawks went on a 9-3 run with help from senior Ksenia Sukhareva (Moscow, Russia), in both kills and on the serve. However, the Aggies pulled it even at 21 before the Hawks rallied the score the final four points for the win 25-21. The Hawks squashed the Aggies dreams of a comeback with junior Ashley Smith (Huntley, Ill.) taking charge much the way Sukhareva did, thru attacks and serves.
NCAT jumped out early in Set 2 before the Hawks found their rhythm. Down 23-19, the Hawks relied on sophomore Allison Woods (Magnolia, Texas) to bring the Hawks back. She was able to lead a nice rally before serving into the net with the Hawks down 23-22. The service error proved to be costly at the Aggies captured the second set, 25-23, thus tying the match at one set apiece.
Set three belonged to UMES from the start. The Hawks brought a ferocious rally with sophomore Haley Robinson (Honolulu, Hawaii) contributing two service aces. Before the Aggies knew it, the Hawks had run up a lead to 24-14. The Aggies did not go down quietly though, as they amassed a five-point rally before UMES clinched it, 25-19.
For complete story, visit www.umeshawks.com
Hayden, Fernandez Record Double-Doubles in Win Over Providence
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (Sept. 12, 2014)- Arianna Hayden recorded a double-double with a team-high 13 kills and a team-high 14 digs to lead Morgan State past host Providence, 3-1 (25-17, 25-17, 13-25, 25-17) on Friday night at Alumni Hall on Day 1 of the 10th Annual Friar Classic.
Morgan State (3-5), which improved to 4-0 all-time against Providence, also received a double-double from Carmen Fernandez, who finished with a match-high 35 assists and 12 digs. Samantha Prescott tallied 10 kills and eight digs, while Tamara Leslie totaled 10 digs and had three assists in her first match of the season.
Providence (0-9) was led by Kayla Fitzgerald, who had a match-high 15 kills and nine digs. Michelle Cruz had a match-high 16 digs, while Jordan Wiesler finished with 27 assists.
After jumping out to a 2-0 lead, including a set-high .409 hitting percentage in the opening set, the Lady Bears had a .000 hitting percentage in a Set 3 loss. Morgan State would finish the match with a .174 hitting percentage (45 kills, 24 errors), while the Friars would record 33 kills and also had 24 errors for a hitting percentage of .073 for the match.
For complete story, visit www.morganstatebears.com
Aggies Lose Aggie-Spartan Invite Opener in Five
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The North Carolina A&T volleyball team gave its all against UMES in the opening match of the Aggie-Spartan Invitational but came up short in a 3-2 (25-21, 25-23, 25-19, 27-25, 15-6) heartbreaking loss, Friday evening at Moore Gymnasium.
Aggie fans filled Moore Gym to cheer on the volleyball team in its season-opener, and their energy was felt the entire match as the Hawks (3-5) went head-to-head with the Aggies (0-9).
Junior Aleena McDaniel fueled A&T with a team-high 12 kills and 16 digs to tab her eighth career double-double. Junior Te'Borah Hawkins-Hollingsworth added 11 kills and a game-leading eight blocks. Freshman Samara Brown also added support for the Aggies and had a solid all-around performance with seven kills, 11 digs, seven assists, and five blocks.
Sophomore Liz Martino finished with 24 assists and junior Ashley Johnson recorded 26 digs.
For complete story, visit www.ncataggies.com
Spartans Drop 3-1 Contest to Niagara
PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Several players hit career high marks during the Norfolk State volleyball team's 3-1 loss to Niagara on Friday afternoon in the Panther Classic.
Junior Jessica Johnson posted a career-high 21 kills to lead the Spartan attack. NSU stayed with Niagara throughout most of the match at Pitt's Fitzgerald Field House. The Purple Eagles won the first set in extra points, 30-28, while the Spartans took the third set, 25-23.
Niagara (4-4), though, won the second and fourth sets by 25-17 and 25-22 scores to come away with the win.
Johnson hit .220 and tied her career high with 50 attacks. She was not the only player to have a career match, though. Seniors Adriana Ramos and Kylee Thiim and sophomore Sydney Dailey also reached career thresholds on the afternoon for NSU (0-7).
For complete story, visit www.nsuspartans.com
Volleyball Falls to Georgetown in Tiny Laster Opener
HAMPTON, Va. – The opener of the 2014 Tiny Laster Memorial Classic was a nail-biter Friday evening at Holland Hall, as the Hampton University volleyball team battled Georgetown before the Hoyas escaped with a 3-1 (25-23, 17-25, 25-18, 29-27) win.
The Lady Pirates are 5-4 on the young season.
Senior Vendula Strakova (Brno, Czech Republic) led three Lady Pirates in double figures in kills with 19, while also recording 13 digs on defense for her fourth double-double of the season. Senior Krista Kraskura (Kuldiga, Latvia) added 16 kills, while senior Sonja Maksimovic (Belgrade, Serbia) had 11 kills and 10 digs.
Senior Kitija Megne (Kuldiga, Latvia) and junior Allysa Medina (Menifee, Calif.) each had a team-high 14 digs. Megne also had 38 assists for her fifth straight double-double.
For complete story, visit www.hamptonpirates.com
B-CU Volleyball Falls to UC-Irvine
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Bethune-Cookman dropped a 3-0 (25-17,25-14,25-16) decision to UC-Irvine at the Lobo Invitational Friday.
Rhea Simon had nine kills and eight 8 digs for the Lady Cats while Delicia Pierre added five kills and seven digs.
Freshman Rakaya Neely and Jill Arlaud added three kills each.
Hazel Ortiz-Rosado had 18 assists and five digs.
For complete story, visit www.bcuathletics.com
Women’s Volleyball Falls 3-0 at Charleston Southern
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The South Carolina State women's volleyball team fell 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-18) at Charleston Southern on Friday in the 2014 Wingate Invitational. CSU improves to 4-5 on the season, while SC State drops to 0-8.
The Bucs went on a 5-0 run to start the first set and led by nine (15-6) after a Lady Bulldog attack error. But SC State scored five straight points to stay in the game. CSU edged SC State 10-8 for the rest of the set for the win.
Set 2 was more competitive. Down by three (15-12), Marissa Lawrence had three straight kills to tie the set at 15-all. An attack error by Lawrence broke the tie, however, giving the Bucs a lead they would hold on to for another win.
In the third set, the Lady Bulldogs were limited to just 18 points.
For complete story, visit www.scsuathletics.com
Eagles Suffer Two Setbacks in Charleston
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The North Carolina Central University volleyball team dropped a pair of matches during opening day of the Wingate Invitational, hosted by Charleston Southern. In the tournament opener, the Eagles fell 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 27-25) to Jacksonville, followed by a 4 p.m., 3-0 (25-18, 27-25, 25-21) loss to USC-Upstate on Saturday, Sept. 12.
Senior outside hitter Da'sha Brown (Gaston, S.C.) led NCCU offensively during the day as she collected a team best 17 combined kills.
During the first match with Jacksonville, the Eagles and the Dolphins saw 16 ties and five leads changes although JU was able to pull off the 3-0 sweep over NCCU.
Brown led the way for the Eagles with nine kills on 33 attempts, with two errors (.212) while sophomore outside hitter Kelsey Murphy (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) contributed an additional eight kills in the match with Jacksonville.
For complete story, visit www.nccueaglepride.com
FAMU Volleyball Drops 3-0 Contest to UCF
AUSTIN, Texas - On Friday, FAMU opened play with a 3-0 setback (8-25, 23-25, 16-25) to Central Florida, rebounding to push the Knights hard in the second set (23-25) after scoring just eight points in the first set.
Yeshia Arcia led the Lady Rattlers with six kills, followed by Pamela Soriano with five kills and a team high eight digs. Valeria Lopez dished out 18 assists.
For complete story, visit www.famuathletics.com
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