Sept. 19, 2009

No. 19 'Noles Blow Away 'Canes
The No. 19 Florida State volleyball team began the Seminole Tri-Tournament Friday night at Tully Gym by sweeping Miami (25-20, 25-15, 25-17) in both team's first Atlantic Coast Conference game of the season.

By sweeping the Hurricanes (7-3, 0-1 ACC), the Seminoles (9-1, 1-0) enacted a little revenge on a program that defeated them two times last year. With the win, FSU has now lost just six sets all season long and has swept its opponent in all but three games this year.

Three Seminoles led the way on the offensive end as Brianna Barry, Rachael Morgan and Jordana Price all had eight kills apiece. Mira Djuric and Stephanie Neville also combined for 12 kills.

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Duke Handles Demon Deacons 3-0 for First ACC Win
Amanda Robertson finished with 10 kills and a .643 hitting percentage to lead Duke to a 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-18) sweep over Wake Forest in the ACC opener Friday evening in Reynolds Gym.

Robertson, a 6-3 middle blocker, made just one attack error on 14 attacks while also contributing one service ace, five digs and three blocks. Her efficiency was part of an offensive outburst that saw Duke (9-2, 1-0 ACC) hit .326 against the Demon Deacons.

Robertson also helped Duke rack up 10.5 blocks against Wake Forest (0-10, 0-1 ACC), which is the most by the Blue Devils in a three-set match since Nov. 13 against North Carolina. Robertson was one of six Blue Devils with multiple blocks, joining freshman Christian Gray - who had a team-high five - and Becci Burling and Kellie Catanach, who had four stops apiece.

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Virginia Downs Virginia Tech in ACC Opener
The Virginia volleyball team extended its home win streak Friday evening to four-straight matches by defeating conference-foe Virginia Tech, 3-1 (29-27, 25-19, 22-25, 11-25) in Memorial Gymnasium on the first day of the Marriott Cavalier Invitational. The win moves Virginia to 6-4 on the season and 1-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and keeps the Cavaliers undefeated at home this season with a 4-0 mark. The loss was the first for Virginia’s in-state rival, as the Hokies fall to 9-1 this year and 0-1 in the league.

Sophomore Simone Asque led all players with 16 kills, while senior Lauren Dickson knocked down 15 kills and freshman Tobi Farrar had a personal-best 10 kills. Junior Sydney Hill hit a personal-best .636, landing seven kills on 11 attempts, while committing zero errors.

Defensively, junior AJ Cushman led all players with 19 digs and freshman Jessica O’Shoney and Asque contributed four blocks each.

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Boston College Takes First Home Match Of The Season, Tops Connecticut, 3-2
The Boston College volleyball team won its home opener in thrilling fashion to beat Connecticut, 3-2 in the Power Gymnasium in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

The Eagles moved to 8-1 on the season while the Huskies dropped to 6-7.

After a long stretch of road matches, the Eagles looked to capitalize on the home court advantage that had eluded them thus far this year. BC came out of the gate strong and attacked the Huskies with three service aces, two by sophomore Jordan Meredith, and 12 kills to take the first set 25-20. 

Clemson Defeats Presbyterian, 3-0, in Clemson Classic
The Clemson volleyball team moved to 8-2 on the season with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-14, 25-16) win against Presbyterian College (4-7) in the Clemson Classic on Friday afternoon. The Tigers will now regroup to play against #17 Michigan State at Jervey Gymnasium at 7:00 pm. Livestats will be available at ClemsonTigers.com.

The Tigers put forth a complete effort, registering a season-high .441 hitting mark, while holding the Blue Hose to a .012 mark with15.0 blocks. Alexa Rand notched 10 total blocks for the Tigers, all in the final two sets, which ties for third most by a freshman in Clemson history. She entered the match ranked tenth in the nation in blocking and tops in the ACC individually, while Clemson ranks first in the ACC as a team and tenth nationally.

Kelsey Murphy added 31 assists on 37 Clemson kills, and also had five block assists, moving her past Meg Steiner into seventh in Clemson history in career block assists. Natalie Patzin and Lia Proctor each tallied seven kills to lead the Tigers, while Lisa Jedlicka had five kills in five chances. Freshman Sandra Adeleye made the most of her start, recording six kills and four blocks.

NC State Puts Away La Salle, 3-1
NC State volleyball grabbed a 3-1 decision in its first-ever meeting with La Salle on Friday, Sept. 18 at the UNC Greensboro Volleyball Tournament. The win moves the Wolfpack to 7-6 on the year, while the Explorers fell to 2-13.

Keri DeMar (15) and Kelly Wood (11) led the offense, combing for 26 of the team’s 54 kills, while Kelly Burns put up 45 set assists. The defense put together a solid effort, fronted by Lindsay Benac’s team-best 29 digs, while Wood (22), DeMar (13) and Burns (10) combined for 45 more. Jana Angel had four total blocks, while Benac and Taylor Pritchard both recorded service aces.

The first set of the evening was the most competitive, featuring 11 tied scores and six lead changes. The Pack led early on but allowed La Salle to knot the score at 24-all when serving for set point before grabbing consecutive scores to close the stanza. Isis Gardner put up four kills for the Pack, while Burns, DeMar and Wood all had three. 

Clemson Volleyball Drops Five-Set Thriller to #17 Michigan State
For more than two hours, the Clemson volleyball team fought tooth and nail with the 17th-ranked Michigan State Spartans, eventually falling in five sets. The Spartans (11-0) gave the Tigers (8-3) an excellent match-up with each set score falling within three points (23-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-22, 12-15). The crowd of 1,304 was the second-largest of the season in Jervey Gymnasium.

Lia Proctor led the Tigers with a game-high 18 kills. She entered the match as the ACC's kills/set leader. The Tigers recorded 16.0 blocks, with Sandra Adeleye leading the way with eight. The nation's tenth best blocker, Alexa Rand, had seven in the match, and 17 overall on the day, averaging 2.13/set in the doubleheader. The nightcap loss was Clemson's only loss of the season when playing two matches on one day. The Tigers held Michigan State to a .211 hitting average, more than .100 below their season average, which is ranked fifth nationally.

Jessica Williams had a career-high 15 kills to go with 11 digs, and Kelsey Murphy had 41 assists, leaving her 41 shy of second in Clemson history, which she will likely attain sometime in the next two matches. Murphy led Clemson to a .219 mark, while also registering 12 digs.

Georgia Tech Falls To Denver, 3-1, In Pioneer Classic
Senior Brittany Roderick had 14 kills but it was not enough as the Georgia Tech Volleyball team (7-3) saw its four-match winning streak come to an end at Denver (4-6), 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 18-25, 13-25) Friday night in the Pioneer Classic. Roderick, who came up just one kill short of her career-high, hit .462 for the night.

Sophomore Asia Stawicka hit .562 as she added nine kills, while sophomore Bailey Hunter chipped in with 13 kills. Junior Jordan McCullers and freshman Susan Carlson added 10 digs apiece for the Yellow Jackets. Georgia Tech hit .206 as a team for the match.

In set one, the Yellow Jackets had to rally twice to go up one. Down 13-9, Tech reeled off five straight points to take a 14-13 lead. Denver came back to re-take the lead, 16-15, but another run of 4-0 by the Jackets gave them the lead again at 19-16. Denver, however, would not go quietly. The Pioneers tied the set at 20 apiece, but Tech scored five of the next six points to win the first set, 25-21.

Wolfpack Drops to High Point
NC State lost to High Point, 3-0, in its first match at the UNC Greensboro Volleyball Tournament on Friday, Sept. 18. The loss moves the Wolfpack to 6-6 on the season, while the Panthers climb to 8-5.

Keri DeMar led the Pack offense with 12 kills, while Kelly Wood added nine. Kelly Burns lifted 26 set assists, and Jana Angel had four total blocks and dropped the team’s lone service ace. Lindsay Benac etched 19 digs, while DeMar (12), Taylor Pritchard (11), and Wood (10) all recorded double-digit dig totals of their own.

High Point led throughout the entire first frame, winning 25-18. The Pack bounced back in the second, hitting a match-high .171 with 12 kills, but still fell 25-23. NC State trailed late in play at 23-20, but quickly knotted things up with three consecutive scores. Two straight Panther points followed however, ending the Pack’s chance at taking the set.

Maryland Falls to VCU in Four
Katie Usher led the University of Maryland volleyball team with 13 kills on .435 hitting Friday evening, but the Terrapins were defeated by Virginia Commonwealth, 3-1, on the opening night of the Spring Hill Suites at Arundel Mills Terrapin Invitational at Comcast Pavilion.

Maddi Lee finished with 11 kills, Lisa Scott added 10 and Sam Rosario posted a match-high 27 digs as the Rams won by scores of 25-21, 19-25, 25-22 and 25-20.

VCU (8-4) led almost the entire first set, hitting .333 as a team in the opening frame. The Rams never ran away with the set, but also never led by less than two points after falling behind 5-4 early. 

Heels Fall In Five To Blue Hens
North Carolina dropped their third consecutive match Friday night 3-2 to Delaware. The Heels got off to a great start winning the first two sets 25-21 and 25-19. The Blue Hens fought back to win the next three 25-22, 25-20 and 15-12. The Heels were led by Ingrid Hanson-Tuntland's 17 kills and Kaylie Gibson's 39 digs. Carolina falls to 4-6 on the year and Delaware improves to 5-5 on the young season.

Carolina built a 2-0 lead behind senior middle blockers Heather Brooks and Hanson-Tuntland attack. Hanson-Tuntland's tied a career high in the match with 17 kills, a mark she matched a week ago against Tennessee. The Heels were able to hold the the Blue Hens to a .169 hitting percentage in the match behind libero Kaylie Gibson's career high 39 digs.

The third set was certainly the turning point of the match as Carolina built a quick 17-10 lead. Megan Owens and Suzanne Haydel led the early attack in third set with assists from setter Erica Behm, who posted 48 assists in the match. The Blue Hens fought back to tie the set at 22 and never looked back winning the set 25-22.