Southern Miss
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UTEP
Volleyball Sweeps UTEP in Conference USA Action
10/17/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 17, 2010
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss volleyball team swept the visiting UTEP Miners Sunday afternoon by a score of 25-19, 25-20, 25-15, improving to 10-9 overall and 3-5 in Conference USA.
"I was pleased with our play today," Coach Abbey Sutherland said. "I believe our team has been successful the past couple of matches because we have passed well and played amazing defense. We've been very scrappy. I'm pleased that SJ (Sarah Jane Bowden) is coming back from her injury. She had double-digit kills and no errors. She's been a great contributor."
Only one Golden Eagle player reached double-digit kills as junior middle blocker Sarah Jane Bowden (Sioux City, Iowa) led the way with 10 kills on .667 hitting, while Ashley Mell (Yorba Linda, Calif.) and Amelia Hendrickson (Belle Chasse, La.) added eight kills apiece. Hendrickson recorded a .571 hitting percentage.
Junior setter Kelsea Seymour (Long Beach, Calif.) dished out 36 assists and added in four kills on 11 attacks and no errors. Mell led all players with a career-high 22 digs as Lisa Knecht (Metairie, La.) posted nine.
Southern Miss recorded six blocks in the match, led by Bowden with four.
"We have played well as a team today and I believe that frustrated UTEP," Sutherland said. "But you have to give UTEP credit as well because they played some good defense too."
The first set stayed close early, with a Halie Ecker (Moline, Ill.) kill and two UTEP errors giving USM the 6-3 lead. UTEP battled back to tie the set at 8-8 and continued to stay close throughout the middle portion of the set. With the score tied at 12-12, Mell put-away a kill and added a block solo to put the Eagles ahead, 14-12. Back-to-back kills by Seymour and Bowden aided USM in taking the 16-13 advantage. UTEP continued to keep within striking distance until the Miners committed two errors and Seymour added a kill for the 21-17 lead. Out of a UTEP timeout, a Miner error and Ecker back-to-back kills put the Southern Miss ahead 24-17, before a the set ended with two UTEP attack errors give USM the 25-19 win.
The teams started the second set with consecutive service errors before trading kills. With the set tied at 4-4, Eagles kills from Bowden put USM up 6-4. UTEP bounced back with a kill, block and ace to take a 7-6 lead. Following a Miner service error to tie the set, Southern Miss used a 5-1 run in taking a 12-8 lead. Out of a UTEP timeout, an Ecker kill sparked Southern Miss to score four of the next eight points to pull ahead 17-11. From there, USM was able to maintain the six-point advantage down the stretch. UTEP cut the lead to three, 23-20, but Seymour and Bowden got a block and Seymour ended the set with an ace for the 25-20 win.
Southern Miss grabbed the 7-2 lead in the third game behind four kills from Lauren Sears (Ashburn, Va.), Mell and Bowden. A Sears (Ashburn, Va.) aces made it 8-2. The Miners found themselves down by double-digits and as Hendrickson pounded down five kills during a 9-4 run by the Eagles for the 17-6 lead. USM continued to get timely kills from a different Eagle player and went on for the 25-15 win.
Southern Miss continues its five match homestand with a match against Tulane on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The match has been designated as the "Dig Pink" match in honor of breast cancer awareness month.
