Sept. 1, 2007

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - The Boston College volleyball team extended their winning streak to four games by beating both New Hampshire and Sacred Heart on Friday at Power Gym.

The Eagles went undefeated in the Boston College/Northeastern Invitational, winning all four games, improving their overall record to 4-3 on the season. After defeating Northeastern and Holy Cross Thursday, the Eagles beat New Hampshire, 3-1, and swept Sacred Heart, 3-0, on Friday. Over the four matches, BC posted a 12-1 game record, sweeping every opponent but New Hampshire. +Read More

Maryland 3, Liberty 2

RICHMOND, Va. - The Liberty Flames seemed to have the Maryland Terrapins' volleyball team on the ropes, but it was the Terps who caught fire to post a come-from-behind victory (30-21, 21-30, 27-30, 30-21, 15-7) in the opening night of the VCU/Third Degree Sportswear Invitational Friday evening at the Alltel Pavilion at the Stuart C. Siegel Center.

Trailing two games to one, the Terps (3-1) fell behind 16-15 in the fourth stanza before embarking on a 15-5 run to tie things at two apiece. The Flames (2-2) made nine errors down the stretch of game four.

With defeat temporarily avoided, the Terps built a working margin early in the fifth game, jumping out to an 8-2 lead en route to a match-clinching 15-7 victory. +Read More

Duke 3, Mercer 0

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- No. 14 Duke opened the USC Classic with a 3-0 (30-13, 30-15, 30-26) win over Mercer Friday afternoon in the Galen Center.

Duke (4-0) finished with a season-high .349 hitting percentage while holding the Bears to a mark of .069. The Blue Devils surrendered just 28 kills to Mercer (1-2) while racking up 49 of their own in addition to eight total blocks.

Juniors Sue Carls and Aana Wherry paced Duke with 11 kills apiece, while both turned in hitting percentages of over .400, including Carls' match-high and career-high .667 mark. Both outside hitters recorded two blocks apiece while Wherry led the team with 12.5 total points and recorded a career-high in kills. +Read More

USC 3, Duke 2

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - No. 14 Duke flirted with an upset over No. 4 Southern Cal at the USC Classic Friday evening, but dropped a hard-fought 3-2 (26-30, 30-26, 30-20, 24-30, 19-17) loss to the Trojans on their home court at the Galen Center.

Duke (4-1) set the tone early with a game one victory, but USC (5-0) responded with two straight victories in games two and three. Duke would not go easily, however, and fought back from an early four-point deficit in game four to retake the lead and force the match to game five. The deciding game saw a close battle between the teams, as USC jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, but could not put Duke away after the Blue Devils rallied to tie the score at 11-11. The teams then continued to trade points until the Trojans gained a slight upper hand and held on for the 19-17 game five victory. +Read More

Virginia Tech 3, Fairfield 1
St. John's 3, Virginia Tech 1

QUEENS, N.Y. - Six Hokies set career-highs to lead the Virginia Tech volleyball team to a close 3-1 (30-25, 27-30, 30-27, 31-29) victory over Fairfield University to open the St. John's Volleyball Invitational in Queens, N.Y., marking the first time in program history that the Hokies won their first four matches. But, Tech couldn't keep the win streak alive as they fell in the nightcap to host St. John's University, 1-3 (16-30, 30-28, 27-30, 18-30).

Against Fairfield, seniors Jen Albrecht and Amanda Cloyd, junior Kristen Cunningham, sophomore Michelle Lang, and freshmen Amy Wengrenovich and Felicia Willoughby each posted personal-bests. Albrecht, Cunningham and Wengrenovich each landed a career-high in kills, with Albrecht knocking down a game-high 16, Cunningham with 11 and Wengrenovich with 15. +Read More

Missouri State 3, Florida State 2

EAST LANSING, Mich. - In the first road match of the season the Florida State volleyball team fell three games to two to Missouri State at the Spartan Invitational. The Seminoles drop to 2-1 on the season while the Bears improve to 5-0.

Florida State led the first half of game five before Missouri State took the lead at 8-7 and then held the Seminoles scoreless in the last five plays of the game. The Bears, a 2006 NCAA Tournament team, took the match with a 15-11 victory. +Read More

Marquette 3, Miami 2

MILWAUKEE, Wis. - Despite forcing a fifth game after a 30-24 win in game four, the Miami volleyball team lost a close match Friday night to Marquette, 3-2, at the Marquette Kick-Off Tournament at the Al McGuire Center. After falling behind 4-0 to start game five, Miami pulled to within one at 9-8 before the Golden Eagles went on a 6-3 run to end the match.

"The match was hard-fought and I thought we put forth a really good effort," head coach Nicole Lantagne Welch said. "We just couldn't execute key points when we needed to in game five."

Five players finished with double-figure kills for UM (2-2). Ciara Michel led the group with 13 kills, Maria Andersson and Genny Mayhew each finished with 11 while Ariell Cooke and Ashley Woods each recorded 10. In a homecoming weekend for for Wisconsin native Bridget Bomhack, the junior had a strong match with eight kills, 25 assists, 13 digs and six total blocks. +Read More

Pittsburgh 3, Wake Forest 2

OXFORD, Ohio - Wake Forest battled back from an early two-game deficit but came up just short in a season-opening, five-game loss to Pittsburgh Friday evening at the Best Western/Sycamore Inn Classic hosted by Miami (Ohio) University. The Panthers defeated the Demon Deacons 31-29, 30-20, 23-30, 27-30, 15-12.

Junior Jessica Furlong picked up where she left off last season with the 26th double-double of her career. Furlong turned in 20 kills and 13 digs to lead the Deacs in both categories.

Classmate Natalie Mullikin and senior Jackie Lucas joined Furlong in double digit kills with 19 and 15 respectively. Mullikin also posted four block solos and five block assists. A 2006 All-ACC performer, Mullikin hit .548 on the night with just two errors in 31 attempts. Lucas had just three errors in 32 attempts for a percentage of .375. +Read More

Utah 3, North Carolina 1

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The North Carolina volleyball team opened the Mortar Board Premier on a sour note Friday, dropping a 3-1 decision to Utah. The Tar Heels fall to 2-2 on the year and will take on host Purdue at 10 a.m. and Dayton at 5 p.m. on Saturday. Brianna Eskola picked up 18 digs in the mtach for Carolina.

Carolina hit a match-high .241 in game one but it was not nearly enough as the Utes hit a remarkable .645 to take the game by a 30-15 margin. The Tar Heels kept it close early in the initial game at 5-4 before Utah went on a roll scoring eight consecutive points to go up 13-4. UNC was able to cut the lead to seven (16-9) but that was as close as the Tar Heels would get in the game as they fell behind one game to none. +Read More

Arkansas 3, Virginia 0

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The Virginia volleyball team (2-2, 0-0 ACC) fell to Arkansas 3-0 Friday in the second match of the 2007 Marriott Jefferson Cup at Memorial Gymnasium. The Cavaliers stayed close in each of the three games, losing 30-27, 31-29 and 30-25.

The squad played without second year outside hitter Lauren Dickson, who was sidelined because of illness. Several teammates had battled the same illness earlier in the week as well. +Read More

Santa Clara 3, NC State 0

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - NC State dropped three close games (30-22, 30-25, 30-23) to No. 19 Santa Clara on Friday, Aug. 31, in its first match at the Campus USA Credit Union Invitational in Gainesville, Fla. Lauren Zaniboni led the squad with 10 kills, while Megan Rehmer posted six. Nikki Sweet added 11 digs as Alex Smith (12) and Allison Davis (11) combined for 23 assists. Smith also launched a team-high three service aces. With the loss, State falls to 3-2 on the year while the Broncos climb to 4-0.

SCU took the first game 30-22 despite a close Wolfpack effort and a late push that saw Zaniboni and Rehmer each post three kills. State cut the lead to two points at 24-22 late in play on an Ashley Wallace kill, but the Broncos reeled off six-straight points afterwards to seal up the game. The red and white posted a match-high .259 hitting percentage, but Santa Clara did the same with a .433. +Read More

Florida 3, NC State 0

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - No. 7 Florida moved its home regular season tournament winning streak to 22 straight with a 3-0 decision (30-15, 30-14, 30-21) over NC State on Friday, August 31 at the Campus USA Credit Union Invitational in Gainesville, Fla. The Pack falls to 3-3 on the year with the loss, while the Gators remain undefeated at 4-0.

Lauren Zaniboni led the Pack's offensive effort with seven kills, while Keri DeMar added six. Alex Smith hoisted 16 assists and Nikki Sweet posted six digs. Taylor Pritchard recorded the team's lone service ace. +Read More