Southern Miss
Tennessee State
Volleyball Team Opens Season With A Win
8/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 28, 2009
|
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Southern Miss volleyball team opened the 2009 season winning its first match of the season, defeating Tennessee State in three straight sets, 25-11, 25-22, 25-20, at the Samford Invitational.
"Everybody played well," Coach Ricci Luyties said. "We did a good job of not making errors."
Sophomore Caitlin Clarke led the attack with a team-high 12 kills. Sarah Jane Bowden and Lauren Sears tallied five total blocks apiece, while senior Maia Ivanova paced the defensive effort with 16 digs followed by Kelsea Seymour and Ashley Mell with 13 and 12 digs, respectively. Southern Miss also added five aces.
Southern Miss ran out to a 10-3 lead and never looked back as the Golden Eagles controlled the tempo. Clarke put down four kills in set one.
Set two was a lot closer with Tennessee State jumping out to a 5-2 lead. Southern Miss would battle back using a 9-5 run to take an 11-10 lead. TSU regained the lead, scoring four of the next five points. Southern Miss took the lead for good in set after the TSU offense had three errors while the Golden Eagles put away two kills. The set remained close down the stretch, but Southern Miss was able to hold on for a 25-22 win.
Set three featured eight ties and four lead changes in the early going until Southern Miss scored six consecutive points to take a 17-14 lead. TSU used a 5-4 run to regain the lead. From there, Southern Miss outscored TSU 7-3 to take the final set, 25-20.
The Golden Eagles will play two matches Saturday, an 11 a.m., match against host Samford followed by a 5 p.m. match against ULM.
Southern Miss will travel to Thibodaux, La., to play Nicholls State on Sept. 1 at 7 p.m.
