Volleyball Soars Past East Carolina, 3-0
10/25/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 25, 2009
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss got back on the winning track, posting a 3-0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-19) over East Carolina in Conference USA action Sunday to improve to 21-4 overall and 9-2 in league play.
Redshirt sophomore Ashley Mell put down a match-high 18 kills to lead the Golden Eagles offensively, while Maia Ivanova patrolled the back row for 17 digs in the contest.
"I was definitely worried about this match and how we would play after Thursday night's match against Marshall," Coach Ricci Luyties said. "That was definitely was the worst match we've played all year. I'm real happy because our team came out and played all three sets all the way through and didn't have any let downs. We played well as a team. It was a good effort by everybody. I thought Mell stood out with her 18 kills, offensively, but I believe everyone chipped in at some point and time in the match."
East Carolina scored the first point of the set but Southern Miss quickly scored the next three points to take a 3-1 lead. The teams battled back-and-forth, until the Golden Eagles put together a 5-0 run for a 12-5 lead. Southern Miss was able to take the first set, out hitting ECU .320 to -.049, for a 25-13 win.
Tied at four early in the second set, Southern Miss took three of the next four points, to open a 7-5 lead. ECU answered with two points to tie the set at 7-7. After four more ties, Southern Miss inched ahead 14-12 behind two kills and a couple of ECU miscues. The teams traded points back-and-forth until Southern Miss took an 18-17 lead and turned it into a 7-0 run to down the stretch to capture the 25-17 win.
Out of the 10-minute intermission, Southern Miss kept the pressure on as Mell put down four of five kills and a Halie Ecker ace aided an early run that placed the Golden Eagles in front 6-1. ECU scrambled back, cutting the lead to two points on two occasions, the last coming at 9-7. Kelsea Seymour then served four-straight points to widen the lead to 13-7. The Pirates cut the lead to three, 14-11, forcing Southern Miss to take a timeout. From there, Golden Eagles were able string together a 4-1 run to push the lead to six, 18-12. Southern Miss won the final set, 25-19.
SJ Bowden added nine kills and three block solos, while Lauren Sears chipped in seven kills. Seymour had 38 assists.
ECU's Lizzy Bruin and Melissa Zentner finished with seven and six kills, respectively.
Southern Miss hits the road for a pair of matches at Memphis (Oct. 30) and UAB (Nov. 1).