Southern Miss
Mcneese State
Volleyball Sweeps Past McNeese State, 3-0
9/20/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 20, 2008
 Lauren Sears recorded nine kills with an attack percentage of .400  | |
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss volleyball team got a solid performance offensively and defensively in sweeping past McNeese State, 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-18), to place second in its own Southern Miss La Quinta Inn Invitational Saturday to improve to 10-4 on the season.
Southern Miss' Angela Hlavaty and Ashley Petrinec tallied double digit kills with 10 apiece, while Maia Ivanova recorded 18 digs and Petrinec added 11 for her third double-double this season. Sarah Jane Bowden and Hlavaty combined for 15 of the 20 Southern Miss total blocks.
Chanel Tyler led McNeese State (3-7) with a match-high 11 kills to go with 16 digs. Kelly Gauthreaux added 16 digs, Amanda Allen had 13 digs and Deanna Sanchez chipped in 10 digs.
In the opening set, Southern Miss roared out to a 3-0 lead before McNeese State knotted the set at 3-3. From there, the Golden Eagles pushed their lead to 16-10 on timely hitting and blocking. With Southern Miss leading 20-15, McNeese went on a 5-1 run that cut the lead to one, 21-20. Following a timeout by the Golden Eagles, Southern Miss then finished the set on a 4-1 run for a 25-21 win.
The second set featured 14 ties and seven lead changes. Both teams put together long rallies, highlighted by exceptional defensive play both at the net and in the back row. With the score tied at 21-21, the Golden Eagles were able to regain the lead on a Petrinec kill and held on for the 25-22 win.
In the final set, McNeese popped out to a 5-2 lead before finally pushing that lead to 9-5. Southern Miss, then, used an 8-2 run to take the lead for good at 13-11. McNeese did cut the lead to one on a couple of occasions with the last coming at 16-15. Southern Miss took the final set, 25-18.
UCF was the tournament title with a 3-0 record. UCF's Erin Campbell earned MVP honors as teammate Stephanie Serna received all-tournament honors. The remaining all-tournament members included Hlavaty and Lauren Sears of Southern Miss, Amy Huddleston of North Texas and Chanel Tyler of McNeese.
Southern Miss returns to action Sept. 26 and 28 when the team travels to Tulsa and SMU for a C-USA series.
